Wooing Chinese tourists, Thai leader says she has 'Chinese blood in her'

BEIJING: Thailand's prime minister, seeking to allay security concerns among Chinese tourists visiting Thailand, said she had "Chinese blood in her" and that she had personally looked into security protocols in place to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens.

Security in Thailand has become a trending topic of conversation among Chinese nationals, by far the largest group of foreign tourists to Thailand, since a minor Chinese actor was rescued from a scam centre in Myanmar after being abducted in Thailand last month.

"Thai people always come to China and feel like home, so I hope that Chinese people can come to Thailand and feel like home as well," Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told state-run China Daily in Beijing on Thursday.

Paetongtarn is the daughter of Thai businessman and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose family traces its ancestry back to Guangdong in southern China. She was on her first official visit to the Chinese capital this week taking office in August.

Apart from bolstering cooperation with China on infrastructure, electric vehicles and the digital economy, assuring the Chinese public while visiting the Southeast Asian nation was a top priority.

One day before her arrival in Beijing, the Thai government said it would suspend electricity supply to some border areas with Myanmar to rein in scam centres that have ensnared vast numbers of people of multiple nationalities.

The move earned Paetongtarn compliments in China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping commended Thailand's efforts in suppressing transnational crimes by cutting off electricity and water linked to criminal operations, according to her government.

"You know, the prime minister of Thailand has Chinese blood in her," said Paetongtarn. "I guarantee that it's going to be very safe for Chinese people."