Thai tourists seem to be rallying behind the social media hashtag “Ban Korea,” with the boycott campaign seemingly influencing a shift in travel preference to other countries.
The social media-led boycott of South Korea appears to have swayed Thai tourists to favour Japan and China as holiday spots over South Korea.
The boycott movement was initiated by disgruntled Thai tourists who were denied entry into the Asian country, criticising the South Korean immigration service for being overly strict. South Korea attributes the issue at the border to the arrival of illegal workers from Thailand.
They are now urging fellow Thai nationals to consider alternative destinations like China and Vietnam.
Despite an overall rise in foreign visitors to South Korea this year, the number of Thai tourists to the country has seen a significant drop, largely due to the introduction of the electronic travel authorisation system, K-ETA.
The hashtag gained momentum on social media late last year, and by the first four months of this year, Thai tourist numbers had fallen 21 percent to 119,000, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.
Many Thai tourists have spoken out about their experiences with South Korean immigration.
Eve Khokesuwan, a 42-year-old housekeeper from the northeastern town of Kalasi, told Nikkei Asia: “I was rejected by the immigration and was sent back to Bangkok immediately last year.”
Due to her limited English proficiency, she had no choice but to comply with the Korean authority.
She added: “I don’t want to go to Korea anymore because it was the most stressful trip ever. I felt a very bad impression [of South Korea]”.
According to South Korean government data, there were 157,000 Thai nationals residing illegally as of September 2023, triple the number recorded in 2015.
The government said last year that since 2016, Thais have accounted for the largest portion of foreigners staying in the country illegally.
