People flee following shots fired at the luxury Siam Paragon shopping mall, in Bangkok, Thailand, October 3, 2023. China is vital to that effort as the biggest source of foreign visitors to Thailand in pre-COVID years. 'SHOCKED'Chinese visitors accounted for 11 million of a record 39.9 million foreign tourists to Thailand in 2019, before the pandemic. Thailand recorded 20 million foreign tourist arrivals in the January to October period, who spent 839 billion baht ($22.58 billion). At the re-opened Siam Paragon mall, on a typically gridlocked thoroughfare, crowds were trickling back.

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Persons: Devjyot, Srettha Thavisin, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, Somsong Sachaphimukh, Dong Peijian, Napat Wesshasartar, Thomas Suen, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Police, Siam Paragon, Tourism Authority of, Tourism Council, Thomson Locations: Siam, Bangkok, Thailand, Rights BANGKOK, China, Myanmar, Asia's, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai, Southeast Asia