Prime Minister's Office Minister Puangpet Chunlaiad has told the Chinese ambassador that the Chinese film 'No More Bets' may deter Chinese from visiting Thailand.
Ms Puanpet met ambassador Han Zhiqiang at the Public Relations Department on Monday evening.
She told him that the movie depicted fraud, human trafficking, trading in organs, call scams and the abduction of rich people for ransom.
Some scenes showed messages written in Thai and that led to criticism being posted on China's Weibo social media platform. "Chinese tourists may now have concerns about visiting Thailand," Ms Puangpet said, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's Pheu Thai Party.
She said such crimes did not happen in Thailand, and the Thai government had effective measures to protect tourists. She asked the Chinese ambassador to publish her message.
In response, the Chinese ambassador said he did not think the movie would have a negative impact on the number of Chinese tourists, especially during the Lunar New Year celebration early next year, according to the statement.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, Thailand was a major destination of Chinese tourists, with more than 10 million coming here in 2019.
In the wake of the pandemic, the number of Chinese tourists was increasing, the ambassador said. He was confident that Chinese tourists still liked to visit Thailand, and that more Thais would visit China, the government statement said.
A promotional poster for 'No More Bets', a film some feel could drive Chinese tourists away from Thailand.