Southern Thailand

Chinese tourists take photos of the sunrise on a small boat near Ko Lanta, Krabi in southern Thailand. (People's Daily/Zhang Jinruo) The Wat Arun, a Buddhist temple by the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, was crowded with sightseers, including Yu Fan, from east China's Zhejiang province, who was looking for the best angle to take photographs, wearing a traditional Thai outfit with a matching Thai-style hairpin. She told People's Daily that her trip to Thailand was inspired by a mutual visa exemption agreement between China and Thailand. "I've already been to attractions like Siam Square and Wat Paknam in Bangkok, and in a couple of days I'll be going to Phuket as well," she said. On March 1, the mutual visa exemption agreement between China and Thailand officially took effect, leading to a continuous rise in the enthusiasm for travel between the two countries. According to Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports, as of March 31, Thailand received over 9.37 million foreign tourist visits this year, generating around 454.7 billion Thai baht ($12.38 billion) in revenue. Over 1.75 million visits were from China, making China the biggest source of tourists for Thailand during this period. The arrival of Chinese tourists has…