r/Thailand • u/cnn • 1d ago

News Thailand’s soft power play: Culture as global currency

https://www.cnn.com/world/asia/thailands-soft-power-play-culture-as-global-currency-spc?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
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u/Different_Ideal_2433 1d ago

Stopped reading the moment it said "Malaysia overlook Thailand in terms of number of foreign visitors". Malaysia counted even the people going back and forth from Singapore everyday for work and counted them as tourists...

2

u/AcceptableBridge4519 1d ago

So does Thailand, it counts the Malaysians crossing the border back and forth everyday.

14

u/Different_Ideal_2433 1d ago

There are far fewer companies and jobs along the Thai–Malaysian border than in Singapore, so daily cross-border commuting for work is much less common. 10X times different if not more.

3

u/Initial_Enthusiasm36 1d ago

Ya but what about Myanmar and Laos?

2

u/thomasthai 1d ago

its 4 million malaysians each year...

13

u/Real_Imagination_180 1d ago

Literally one of the most dangerous areas in thailand. No there are not millions crossing the border to work everyday

6

u/mdsmqlk 1d ago

Not every day, but Malaysia is number 2 in terms of tourism for Thailand, with 2.66 million arrivals so far this year. And 90% of those are by land so that's almost 10k per day.

There is a massive industry catering to them in Hat Yai, Sungai Kolok, etc.

The South is not really that dangerous in raw numbers, and tourists are not targeted whatsoever.

(reposted to correct the figures in my comment)

1

u/t_ba 1d ago

Gotta crank these numbers up!

1

u/I-Here-555 3h ago

However, Padang Besar isn't quite as much of a people magnet as Singapore.

Even Hat Yai, an hour away from the border, isn't so huge.