Chinese Celebrities and Tourists Think Twice About Thailand

Chartered flights have been canceled. Performances have been called off or postponed. Tour agencies have fielded requests from travelers who want to change their plans.

Chinese travelers have been scrapping trips to Thailand, frightened by the story of a Chinese actor who was abducted there, taken to Myanmar and forced to work in an online scam compound. The incident is a blow to Thailand’s tourism sector ahead of the peak Lunar New Year holiday at the end of this month, when many Chinese had been expected to visit.

The disappearance of the actor, Wang Xing, from the Thai border city of Mae Sot this month, has fanned public concerns about safety in Thailand. Mr. Wang was later rescued from a scam compound in Myanmar, but many travelers and event organizers were already rattled.

Eason Chan, a Hong Kong pop star, canceled a sold-out concert scheduled to take place next month in Bangkok’s Impact Arena, with organizers citing “safety concerns for Chinese citizens and fans around the world traveling to Thailand.” Zhao Benshan, a Chinese comedian known for his sketches in the Chinese state broadcaster’s Lunar New Year gala, also postponed an appearance in Bangkok next month.

Nuntaporn Komonsittivate, an executive at the low-cost carrier Thai Lion Air said on Wednesday that 20 percent of the company’s chartered flights between China and Thailand — serving routes to Chinese cities other than the six cities the airline normally operates in — have been canceled.

On Weibo, a Chinese social media outlet, people discussed travel refunds and whether Thailand was safe, using hashtags that rose in popularity on the platform. Travel agents in China said that they had received requests from travelers to cancel trips to Thailand or to change their destination.

Zhang Zhihong, a sales representative with Baochunguo Travel Agency, a company based in the southern city of Shenzhen focused on travel to Southeast Asia, said that a quarter of the Thailand trips his company handled had been canceled in the past week. “It was all because of the public opinion around this incident. People felt that traveling to Thailand was unsafe, and requested refunds.”

This anxiety could complicate Thailand’s efforts to revitalize its tourism sector after the pandemic. Thailand has eased visa requirements for Chinese travelers and offered discounts through Chinese travel platforms in a campaign the country has called “Nihao Month,” using the Mandarin term for “hello.” Nearly 7 million Chinese people traveled to Thailand in 2024, making them the largest group of international visitors.

The public outcry over Mr. Wang’s abduction raises the pressure on the Thai and Chinese governments to do more to prevent Chinese from being abducted and trafficked into scam compounds in Myanmar.

“The cancellation of performances and public attention may force Thai authorities to become more serious about combating human trafficking and scams,” said Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.

Hundreds of thousands of people, often lured by offers of high-paying jobs, have been ensnared by such cybercrime operations in Myanmar and Cambodia and forced to work in sophisticated scams to defraud people online. Many captives land first in Thailand before being smuggled across the porous border into lawless areas mostly controlled by Chinese organized crime syndicates.

Thai police said that Mr. Wang had traveled to Bangkok for what he believed to be a casting opportunity. After he went missing on Jan. 3, his girlfriend filed reports to the Chinese police and embassy in Thailand. She called for help on social media, and her posts, which were shared by Chinese celebrities, spread widely.

On Jan. 7, Thai authorities said that Mr. Wang had been found and rescued, but they did not provide details. Criminal gangs often demand hefty ransoms to free their captives from such compounds.

Mr. Wang, in video interviews with Thai media outlets after his release, said that he had been forced to shave his head and to learn how to type quickly.

Thai officials sought to use his rescue to assure Chinese travelers about visiting Thailand. In one video, a Thai police officer urged Mr. Wang: “You think Thailand is safe for you. Can you say in Chinese?”

Mr. Wang’s swift rescue set off a wave of appeals for help from the families of other Chinese victims, some of whom have been missing in Southeast Asia for months or years. A log containing details of the disappearance of more than 170 other Chinese victims was widely shared on Weibo.

Thai officials have scrambled to show that they are working to protect the safety of visitors. Thai police met with Chinese diplomats to discuss setting up a center to coordinate efforts to track missing people and exchange information. And on Monday, Thai authorities said that two Chinese women who had been abducted in Thailand had been rescued by the Chinese authorities and repatriated.

Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said he hoped the Thai government would do more to assuage the concerns of Chinese tourists.

“We are nervous that it will have long-term effects,” he said.

Siyi Zhao contributed research.