Chiang Mai has started a campaign to try to lure back Chinese tourists, whose visits have dropped significantly lately. The drop in visits is thought to be related to the Thais’ constant criticism against Chinese tourists on social media, causing the them to boycott visits to Thailand.

The city is trying to woo their tourists back by making signs, hanging posters in public places and putting stickers at shopping centers telling Chinese tourists that they are very welcome in Chiang Mai.

The campaign is sponsored by the government and the private sector.

The signs are written in Chinese and are meant to assure chinese visitors that the government, locals and business owners all want them to be there. The campaign’s stickers show a Thai elephant shaking hands with a Chinese panda. They are being stuck in the windows of all shops catering to tourists, reported Thai PBS.

Regarding the widely-shared social media posts about Chinese tourists behaving badly, Chiang Mai deputy governor Mongkol Suksai said that people from different parts of the world have different behaviors.

He noted that what they regard as normal might be unacceptable or considered bad manners by Thais. “But that doesn’t mean that they are wrong,” he said.

“It is just a significant difference between cultures which, on many occasions, we Thais are not accustomed to. That is why it is vital that we make them understand how Thai people are. It is our job to show them what is acceptable, and more importantly, what is inappropriate in Thai culture,” the governor said.

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