Asia tourism reopens with big-spending Chinese stuck at home

13 Sept 10:36 Key points summarised by AI

Asia's tourism sector is gradually reopening to international visitors, but China maintains strict zero-COVID policies, keeping its international air capacity at just 2% of pre-pandemic levels.
The absence of Chinese tourists, previously the world's largest outbound market, has created a $255 billion annual spending gap, severely impacting destinations like Thailand that heavily relied on their high spending.
Tourism operators are actively shifting their marketing strategies to attract visitors from new source markets such as Europe, the United States, UAE, Russia, and India to compensate for the loss of Chinese travelers.
Experts predict Chinese outbound travel will not recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2025, and future Chinese tourism will likely evolve towards independent travel, smaller groups, and a greater focus on natural scenery over traditional shopping tours.

Suspected drug couriers killed in Phetchaburi; half a tonne of Ice seized

Yesterday 16:06 Key points summarised by AI

Two suspected drug couriers were killed in a shootout with narcotics officers in Phetchaburi province.
Authorities seized approximately half a tonne of crystal methamphetamine, also known as Ice, during the operation.
The incident occurred on Tuesday night after officers tracked a network suspected of transporting large quantities of drugs to southern Thailand.
The suspects, identified as Chattharin and Rungarun, both 27, opened fire when confronted by officers, who returned fire, resulting in their deaths.