Chiang Mai welcomes more tourists from Europe, Middle East

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, July 26 (TNA) - Thailand's northern resort Chiang Mai Province now sees more tourists from Europe and the Middle East. Wisut Buachum, Director of the state-run Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Chiang Mai office, told journalists of the prospect on July 25. Wisut said despite a drop in the number of Chinese tourists, the rising tourists from Europe and the Middle East has shored up local tourism in Chiang Mai during the ongoing green or rainy season. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Chiang Mai has dropped over the past couple of months following a ban on Chinese motorists' entry with their cars into the Thai territory through a border checkpoint in the nearby Chiang Rai Province. The Department of Land Transport, under the Thai Ministry of Transport, imposed the ban on June 27, 2016 following an influx of visiting Chinese motorists in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Wisut proposed, however, that authorities and local entrepreneurs pay attention to the repercussion from Chinese tourists to prevent any long-term impact. Based on TAT statistics, about 700,000 Chinese tourists visited Chiang Mai last year alone. (TNA)