Are our Chinese Guests Annoying? : An Analysis of Thai Hosts’ Perceptions of the Chinese Tourists

Abstract

Along with the positive economic impact brought by the Chinese market, the negative social impacts have been the cultural clashes which have been reflected through complaints and comments made through several media. This study aimed to examine how the Thai hosts consisting of 401 respondents, working in the tourism industry including hotel staff, tour guides, tour operators and airline flight attendants, perceive the behaviors of the Chinese tourists or their guests. The behaviors studied were identified by reviewing bulletins, discussion boards, reviews and comments on online media. A previous study of similar topic done in Macao was closely reviewed. 19 behaviors of the Chinese tourists were perceived by the Thai hosts as frequent and annoying. These behaviors, which require immediate attention to, included talking loudly in public, making noise eating in a restaurant, rushing into a place/vehicle in a chaotic manner, bumping into/shoving others in a crowd, shouting/calling others in a hotel/public place, spilling food on the table, cutting a queue, allowing children to run around disturbing others, smoking in a non-smoking area, getting into the elevator/vehicle before others get off, walking obstructing others in the footpath, not caring to observe or learn local customs, littering carelessly, dropping cigarette butts, spitting in public, not flushing the toilet after use, not observing or breaking local traffic rules, wearing indecent clothes /not observing local dress code, and expecting to be served before locals. The relevant stakeholders should pay attention to these 19 behaviors as they occurred frequently and were annoying to the hosts. Other 19 behaviors were perceived to be annoying. However, they occurred less frequently. These behaviors have to be watched out. Three behaviors can be ignored as they were not annoying and not frequent. The tourist’s trying to get a bargain took place frequently but it was considered not annoying. Therefore, this behavior is of low priority. The conclusion gave some ideas on how to deal with the frequent and annoying behaviors.