Foreign tourists at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, one of Bangkok's most popular attractions, on Jan. 10. © EPA/Jiji

Thailand and Indonesia gear up for return of Chinese tourists

After a three-year lull, is Southeast Asia's travel sector ready for a rush?

NANA SHIBATA, PAK YIU and FRANCESCA REGALADO, Nikkei staff writers

January 20, 2023 06:00 JST

JAKARTA/HONG KONG/BANGKOK -- When Beijing decided to drop the COVID-era border controls that had shut China off from the rest of the world for three years, Komang, a souvenir seller at the traditional tourist haunts of Sanur beach in Bali, could not have been happier.