Thailand moves to lure Asian tourists afraid of tsunami ghosts
Faced with a poor response to efforts to lure visitors back to Thailand after December’s tsunami, tourism authorities will launch a campaign aimed at helping Asians overcome a fear of ghosts.
Under the plan, private companies will be given grants totaling 500 million baht (HK$93.5 million) for marketing and advertising focused on luring back Japanese, Chinese and Korean tourists, whose numbers have declined sharply. ”Asian tourists are scared of ghosts and what not, and these are factors that have made our tourist arrivals drop short of our goal,” said Tourism Minister Somsak Thepsuthin.
Many Asians worry that the ghosts of the disaster victims may be haunting beaches and bungalows. A popular superstition in Chinese societies holds that if bodies are not recovered and properly buried, the spirits restlessly wander the world. Some believe the lost souls try to drag living beings into their spiritual limbo land.
[via The Standard]
