STORY: Thai businessmen seek opportunities in Chinese night market
DATELINE: July 12, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:04
LOCATION: HAIKOU, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Baishamen cultural and creative bazaar
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHENG SISI, Tourist from Guangdong Province, China
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ARINTHARAT TEPPAWAN, Thai businessman
4. various of the Baishamen cultural and creative bazaar
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): KITISAK OSATHANUNKUL, Organizer of Thai businesses in Baishamen cultural and creative bazaar

STORYLINE:

As night falls, the Baishamen cultural and creative bazaar in Haikou, the capital of south China's island province of Hainan, bursts into bustle.

The bazaar, covering about 60,000 square meters, opened about one month ago with more than 600 stalls selling snacks and cultural handicrafts. Among those 300 snack stalls, more than 160 are run by Thai people.

As a new hot destination in Haikou, it has received about 800,000 tourists within 20 days since its opening.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHENG SISI, Tourist from Guangdong Province, China
"There is a strong Thai ambiance here. Many Thai dishes. And some vendors speak Thai. It makes me feel like I were in Thailand."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ARINTHARAT TEPPAWAN, Thai businessman
"In this market, there are many kinds of Thai food. I think the most famous in this market are Pad Thai and Tom Yam Gong. I heard that tourists from China and from other countries in the world come to Hainan. It's the right choice (to do business here) I think. I hope this market will be famous in China and in the world, and many tourists come to China and come to the Baishamen market."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): KITISAK OSATHANUNKUL, Organizer of Thai businesses in Baishamen cultural and creative bazaar
"I think there are a lot of opportunities for us to invest and start a new business in China. We found that a lot of Chinese have a lot of power in consumption and there are a lot of tourists in the city. This is like a door, the first door to enter China. Maybe after we have settled down in this market, we can try to expand our business later on. I try to find something like Thai massage or a Thai restaurant. It could be an opportunity for us."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Haikou, China.
(XHTV)