ALKHOBAR, 18 February — Chinese visitor arrivals to Thailand showed a sudden jump in January, according to Imtiaz Muqbil, executive editor, Travel Impact Newswire, because thousands of Chinese turned up in Bangkok to seek visas for the Haj.
Each year only a very limited number of Haj visas are issued in China. This means that thousands more Chinese set out to find ways to get to the Haj indirectly. Bangkok is seen as an easier point to apply for a Haj visa because Chinese citizens can get local visas on arrival as against Singapore or Kuala Lumpur where they need visas in advance.
Muqbil, who is based in Bangkok, claims that many of the Chinese Haj applicants were successful; Saudi visas were issued provided the necessary documentation was in place.
Muqbil saw that several group leaders of Chinese pilgrims were at the Saudi mission in January, carrying stacks of passports. Compounding the rush were the representatives of many of the 44 Thai travel agents officially recognized by the Saudi government to process visas for Thai pilgrims. To cater to the numerous Chinese applicants, Muqbil noticed that some of the public signs outside the Saudi mission were posted in Mandarin, in addition to Thai and English.
“It happens every year,” Muqbil was told by one of the Chinese Muslim tour leaders who identified himself as Noor Deen, a teacher from Henan Province in Central China who was trying to get visas for his group of 21 friends and relatives.
On average, the cost per person coming from China for the Haj ranges from US$5,000 to US$7,000, including air-fare, accommodation, land transportation, visa fees to travel agents and miscellaneous expenses.
The travel to Thailand by the Chinese pilgrims, plus their several nights of accommodation, board and lodging, generated substantial revenue for Thai tourism. Noor Deen’s group was staying at a small guesthouse in Bangkok, paying 400 baht (about $9) for each double room. He was trying to help cut costs by negotiating for three people to stay per room, for which the hotel was asking 535 baht per night ($12).
Returning to the Saudi mission in the afternoon, Muqbil found that Noor Deen had been interviewed and received word that the visas would be issued, but that he would have to return the following day due to the rush.
Asked by Muqbil what would have happened had they been denied, Noor Deen replied, “I would have had to try one of the official Thai travel agents, but then I would be expecting to pay another $150 or US$200 per person just for that.” What if even that had failed? “We would have had to go back,” answered Noor Deen.
Noor Deen admitted to Muqbil that he knew such action was unlikely, although he grumbled about the long wait before being interviewed. A major asset in achieving his goal was Noor Deen's fluent Arabic, dating back to his days at university in Kuwait where he had received a scholarship for a degree in Arabic studies. He also spoke fluent English and a bit of Urdu.
Noor Deen’s group planned to stay in Saudi Arabia for about four weeks and then return home via Muscat and Hong Kong. The group was booked on a Gulf Air flight due to leave for Jeddah via Bahrain, which meant a total stay in Bangkok of about four nights. Several other Chinese groups were on other flights heading out of Bangkok on airlines such as Emirates and Royal Jordanian. Of course the Chinese weren’t the only pilgrims flying out of Thailand.
Most of Thailand’s Muslims live in the south. Thai International organized 12 special charter flights this year to ferry an estimated 4,000 pilgrims from the southern Thai cities of Haad Yai and Phuket.
