Shares of Airports of Thailand (AOT), hotels and airlines plunged on Monday on concerns that Chinese tourist arrivals might fall short of this year's estimate of 8 million as looming trafficking fears prompted Chinese travellers to cancel their planned visits to Thailand.
AOT lost 2.58% in morning trade on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on Monday as the overall index lost 0.8%.
Shares of the Erawan Group (ERW), Thailand's leading hotel investment company, plunged 5.81% while those of Central Plaza Hotel (CENTEL) dropped 4%.
Bangkok Airways (BA) tumbled 4.29% while low-cost carrier Asia Aviation (AAV) fell 2.5%.
The decline in tourism-related stocks could be linked to recent developments involving Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was reported missing near the Thai-Myanmar border earlier this month.
Mr Wang was rescued from a fraudulent online scam operation in a city in Myanmar thanks to swift action taken by the Thai authorities amid a high level of public scrutiny.
The incident, followed by similar reported cases, has dampened the appetite among some Chinese tourists for travel to Thailand.
Chinese media has reported that many Chinese people planning to visit Thailand for the upcoming Lunar New Year have expressed concern on social media and some had even cancelled their trips to Thailand.
Nattapol Kamthakrua, director of the securities analysis department at Yuanta Securities (Thailand), said decreased bookings among Chinese travellers during Lunar New Year late this month reflected a decline in confidence among Chinese nationals following Mr Wang's case.
"The confidence issue of Chinese tourists awaits action to be launched by the government in addressing the negative sentiment and how to attract visitors from other countries to offset the fall in arrivals from the mainland," he said.
Daol Securities (Thailand) said Chinese tourist arrivals during last year's Spring Festival, which ran from Jan 29 to Feb 18, averaged 181,080 per week.
A potential decrease of 10-20% in 2025 has been estimated by the Association of Thai Travel Agents due to these unfortunate events, means weekly figures could drop to between 145,000 and 163,000 tourists or a loss of 36,216 tourists per week.
"That might cause overall Chinese tourist arrivals to fall short of this year's estimate of 8 million," said the brokerage.
Asia Plus Securities said tourism stocks have also been affected by the spread of a surge in human metapneumovirus infections, a respiratory virus that mainly spreads in winter, mostly affects children and has symptoms similar to other viruses.
"We estimate the number of tourists in 2025 at 38.6 million, growing 9% year-on-year, below the Bank of Thailand's projection of 39.5 million," it noted.