Several tourists were hospitalized after this bus lost its top to a height-limiting barrier on Oct. 8.
The dark side of Thai tourism is in the news almost every day. The bus accidents. The shankings and balcony-dives. Altercations between taxi drivers and tourists. Not to mention the old jet-ski and gem scams.
The Tourism and Sports Ministry calls for a joint meeting with the Transport Ministry and the Tourism Council of Thailand on November 26, following threat a possible boycott from Russia.
The injury of 30 Russians in a Nov. 15 bus accident in Sri Racha province was enough to prompt a Russian tourism group to threaten a boycott of Thailand unless authorities here take steps to improve safety.
Several government agencies will meet Tuesday to discuss the situation.
In a letter, the Russian Union of Travel Industry insisted Thailand address matters of tourist safety by the end of this month, indicating it might redirect all chartered flights from Russia from December through March to other Southeast Asian destinations.
Russians have accounted for almost 6 percent or 800,000 of the nearly 14 million arrivals this year, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, a 34 percent increase over 2012.
On the criminal side, Thailand’s special investigations will respond to allegations of cheating customers by investigating jewelry shops in the Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya and Samui locations
At least 20 tourists have reported filed complaints, most recently a Portuguese citizen who claims to have been fooled into buying fake jewelry in Bangkok.
Gem and jewelry scams damage the viability of legitimate trade, which accounts for THB2 billion to THB3 billion in economic activity each year.
Tourism Minister Suwat Sidthilaw said his ministry will work with the Department of Special Investigations on a joint operation targeting the scammers who target tourists, The Nation reported.
Photo: al2t
