Southeast Asia feels the burn as virus keeps Chinese tourists at home

Yahoo – AFP, Aidan Jones, with Dene-Hern Chen in Pattaya, Thailand, February 16, 2020

Across Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, tourist takings have plummeted as
Chinese travellers find themselves subject to a host of travel restrictions (AFP Photo/
Mladen ANTONOV)

Elephant parks unvisited, curios at markets unsold as tuk-tuks sit idle: Southeast Asia is facing billions of dollars in losses from a collapse in Chinese tourism since the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus.

From Luang Prabang in northern Laos to Pattaya in Thailand, Hoi An in Vietnam and the Cambodian casino town of Sihanoukville, takings have plummeted as Chinese travellers find themselves subject to a host of restrictions at home and abroad.

"We haven't had any Chinese for 10 days since they closed the road from Yunnan," says Ong Tau, 47, from behind her stall of fruit shakes in the temple-studded Laotian colonial town of Luang Prabang.

"Business is down 20-30 percent... it will get worse."

Tour guides, mall workers and restaurant staff are all feeling the burn as Chinese -- the world's biggest travellers -- stay at home in the middle of a global health crisis.

"My friend has lost four or five big tour groups... they would have paid for his low season," said Tee, a guide in Luang Prabang, giving only one name in the tightly-controlled communist country, a mass of tuk-tuks standing idle behind him.

Business is also slow at the Chang Siam Elephant Park in Pattaya, a few hours 

south of Bangkok (AFP Photo/Mladen ANTONOV)

But in one of Southeast Asia's least well-resourced countries, there may be one bright side to the sudden economic pain.

"We don't know how to protect ourselves," he added. "The government doesn't tell people anything... so maybe less Chinese is a good thing for now."

Loans and job losses

The slump is being felt sharply in Thailand, where tourism authorities say arrivals from China -- usually close to one million a month -- have plunged by 90 percent so far this February.

At the Chang Siam Elephant Park in Pattaya, a few hours south of Bangkok, owner Nantakorn Phatnamrob fears he will soon be pressed into debt to float a business which has lost nearly $65,000 since the outbreak.

"People are afraid to visit," he told AFP. "If it stays like this, I will have to get a loan from the bank."

In Cambodia's Sihanoukville, a southern beach resort known for its casinos, the 

tourist take has shrivelled (AFP Photo/TANG CHHIN Sothy)

Crocodile farms and tiger sanctuaries -- controversial tourist beacons where visitors can pet the animals -- are also deserted, leaving owners to feed expensive star attractions.

The outbreak has also spooked western tourists at the height of peak season in what has already been a tough period for Thai tourism thanks to a strong baht.

Thailand anticipates shedding five million tourists this year, taking with them "250 billion baht (over $8 billion) in revenue", according to Don Nakornthab, director of economic policy at Bank of Thailand.

"Our hopes that the economy will do better than last year are very low... it's possible it could grow below 2 percent," he added.

That will spell bad news for the untold number of Thais working in the tourism sector.

Ma Mya, 22, who sells trinkets in Pattaya, says she may soon have to return to her home in northern Thailand.

"There's no more profit -- everything has gone bad."

Vendors wait for customers at the main tourist market in Luang Prabang, northern 

Laos (AFP Photo/Aidan JONES)

Things can only get better

With so much riding on the seasonal influx, some Mekong countries are desperate not to deter those Chinese still travelling.

Thailand offers visa on arrival for Chinese tourists despite having one of the highest numbers of confirmed infections -- 34 -- outside of the mainland.

At least two of those cases were Thais who contracted the virus after driving infected Chinese passengers, raising fears that the economy was taking priority over tackling the health crisis.

For staunch Beijing ally Cambodia, where only one case of the virus has been confirmed so far despite a large Chinese presence, strongman leader Hun Sen has repeatedly played down the risk to his country.

Still, Cambodian tourism is taking a hammering.

Ticket sales at the famed Angkor temple complex in Cambodia have fallen
between 30 and 40 percent (AFP Photo/Manan VATSYAYANA)

Ticket sales at the famed Angkor temple complex in Siem Reap have fallen between 30 and 40 percent this year, while in Sihanoukville, a southern beach resort notorious for its casinos, the tourist take has shrivelled.

"I used to make $100 a day," said Chantha Reak, a ride-hailing driver. "Now it's $10."

Businesses are praying for a bounce back if and when the virus is controlled.

With 10 million Chinese visitors each year, Thailand hopes the pain will ease in a few months.

Regular visitor Yen Ran, 25, from Chengdu, came to Pattaya despite the health warnings.

"I am a little concerned how other countries perceive us," she told AFP. "But when there's a cure, things will get better."

Bat for sale at Indonesia's wildlife market despite virus warning

Yahoo – AFP, February 12, 2020

Scientists are debating how the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than
1,100 people in China and spread to dozens of countries around the world,
was transmitted to humans (AFP Photo/Ronny Adolof Buol)

Bats, rats and snakes are still being sold at an Indonesian market known for its wildlife offerings, despite a government request to take them off the menu over fears of a link to the deadly coronavirus.

Vendors at the Tomohon Extreme Meat market on Sulawesi island say business is booming and curious tourists keep arriving to check out exotic fare that enrages animal rights activists.

But scientists are debating how the new virus, which has killed more than 1,100 people in China and spread to dozens of countries around the world, was transmitted to humans.

A wildlife market in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, is thought to be ground zero and there is suspicion it could have originated in bats.

The possible link wasn't on many radar screens at the Indonesian market, however.

Vendors at the Tomohon Extreme Meat market on Sulawesi island say

business is booming (AFP Photo/Ronny Adolof Buol)

Its grubby stalls feature a dizzying array of animals including giant snakes, rats impaled on sticks and charred dogs with their hair seared off by blowtorches -- a gory scene described by some critics as "like walking through hell".

Bat seller Stenly Timbuleng says he's still moving his fare for as much as 60,000 rupiah ($4.40) a kilogram to buyers in the area, where bats are a speciality in local cuisine.

"I'm selling between 40 and 60 kilograms every day," the 45-year-old told AFP.

"The virus hasn't affected sales. My customers still keep coming."

Restaurateur Lince Rengkuan -- who serves bats including their heads and wings stewed in coconut milk and spices -- says the secret is preparation.

"If you don't cook the bat well then of course it can be dangerous," she said.

Stalls at the Tomohon Extreme Meat market on Sulawesi island feature

a dizzying array of animals (AFP Photo/Ronny Adolof Buol)

"We cook it thoroughly and so far the number of customers hasn't gone down at all."

This despite a request from the local government and the health agency to take bats and other wildlife out of circulation -- a call that has been all but ignored.

"We're also urging people not to consume meat from animals suspected to be carriers of a fatal disease," said Ruddy Lengkong, head of the area's government trade and industry agency.

Indonesia has not yet reported a confirmed case of the virus.

In the capital Jakarta, vendors selling skinned snakes and cobra blood on a recent Saturday night didn't have any trouble finding takers.

"It's good for you, sir," said one vendor of his slithering fare.

"Cures and prevents all diseases."

Landmark case says Aboriginal Australians cannot be deported

Yahoo – AFP, Holly ROBERTSON, February 11, 2020

Australia's highest court says immigration law does not apply to Aboriginal
Australians (AFP Photo/SAEED KHAN)

Aboriginal Australians are exempt from immigration law, the country's top court ruled Tuesday, in a historic decision that found indigenous people born overseas cannot be deported.

Australia had been trying to deport two men -- Papua New Guinea citizen Daniel Love and New Zealand citizen Brendan Thoms -- under laws that allow a convicted criminal's visa to be cancelled on character grounds.

Both men identify as Aboriginal Australians, each has one indigenous parent, and they have lived in the country since they were small children.

Love, who served time for assault, and Thoms, who had been jailed for domestic violence, have been battling in the courts to stay in Australia, arguing that they may be "non-citizens" but they are also not "aliens".

The High Court ruled in a decision that split the judges 4-3 that Aboriginal Australians "are not within the reach" of constitutional provisions relating to foreign citizens.

Indigenous people have inhabited the vast continent for more than 60,000 years, while the modern nation's constitution only came into force in 1901.

Thoms -- who was already recognised as a traditional land owner -- was accepted by the court as Aboriginal.

But the judges could not agree on whether Love was under a three-part test that considers biological descent, self-identification and community recognition.

Lawyer Claire Gibbs, who represented the men, hailed the decision as "significant for Aboriginal Australians".

"This case isn't about citizenship, it's about who belongs here, who is an Australian national and who is a part of the Australian community," she told reporters in Canberra.

"The High Court has found Aboriginal Australians are protected from deportation. They can no longer be removed from the country that they know and the country that they have a very close connection with."

The case marked the first time an Australian court has considered whether the government has the power to deport indigenous people.

But it also touched on the contentious question of how Aboriginality is defined in the law.

Gibbs said she was "confident" that they would eventually be able to prove Love's status as he was "accepted by his community as Aboriginal" and had "biological proof" that he was a descendant of the First Australians.

Lawyers will now pursue compensation claims on behalf of both men, who Gibbs said had suffered "severe embarrassment" and been "subject to ridicule" as a result of being Aboriginal men held in immigration detention.

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge described it as a "significant judgement" that has "implications for our migration programs".

"On the face of it, it has created a new category of persons; neither an Australian citizen under the Australian Citizenship Act, nor a non-citizen," he said in a statement.

The government was reviewing the decision and its implications, Tudge said.

Thoms was freed from immigration detention following the ruling, while Love had been released back in September 2018.

Indonesians protest use of island for virus quarantine

Yahoo – AFP, February 3, 2020

Health officials disinfect the evacuees from Wuhan, who will be quarantined on
the island of Natuna for two weeks (AFP Photo/HANDOUT)

Hundreds of residents of a remote Indonesian island protested Monday at the government's decision to use it to quarantine evacuees from the Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Indonesia has evacuated 237 citizens and one foreign national, married to an Indonesian, from Wuhan.

The evacuees, mostly students, landed Sunday and will be quarantined for 14 days on Natuna island, which lies between Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia.

"The government's decision to quarantine Indonesians who returned from China has made people feel uneasy, so we strongly reject it," Fadillah, one of the protesters who like many Indonesians goes with one name, told AFP.

The protesters, wearing green surgical masks, demonstrated in front of the local parliament building, demanding the local authorities relocate the evacuation centre away from a residential area.

"Whatever the reason and the explanation, we don't believe it. We believe this virus is very dangerous for people in Natuna," Fadillah said.

In response to the growing protest on the island, President Joko Widodo said the returnees had to be quarantined to ensure they were in good health before they can return home.

"Those people are healthy, however several stages are needed in health protocol before they can be returned to their family," Widodo said.

Following the evacuees' arrival on Natuna, the local government has shut down schools for two weeks and urged students to limit outdoor activities.

The coronavirus epidemic has infected more than 17,000 people across China and reached 24 nations, although Indonesia has not reported any confirmed cases so far.