Over the past few days, a startling story has emerged from Southeast Asia’s tourism industry.
Su Cha Surachai, a Chinese businessman who has been running tourism-related businesses in Pattaya, Thailand, for more than 30 years and is linked to multiple hotels, restaurants, cafés and travel agencies, has reportedly been identified as Zhu Zhishan, a murder suspect who fled Taizhou, Zhejiang, 36 years ago.
Zhishan Zhu initially worked as a tour guide before moving into tourism investment. He is currently linked to five companies whose businesses span hotels, restaurants, cafés and travel agencies, with a combined registered capital of more than 89 million baht (about USD2.7 million)
Notably, Pakarang Daeng, one of the companies linked to Zhu, was established in 2018 with an initial registered capital of just 2 million baht(about USD 60,000). On July 31 this year, its registered capital suddenly jumped to 60 million baht(about USD 1.8 million).
Zhu entered Thailand in the 1990s, just as the country’s tourism industry was undergoing rapid expansion.
As the part of the tourism supply chain closest to tourists, local tour guides can directly observe visitors’ spending power while also becoming familiar with how transportation, restaurants and hotels operate and settle payments.
In the early days, some of the first Chinese tour guides to establish themselves in Thailand, after building up a stable customer base, moved from simply leading tours to organizing entire tour groups, while incorporating dining and shopping into their itineraries.
As their businesses expanded, accommodation and transportation could also be supplied by affiliated companies. Tourism revenue could then be channeled into land and property, allowing a business originally dependent on the flow of tourists to gradually accumulate fixed assets.
The travel agencies, restaurants and hotels linked to Zhu fit the combination commonly seen in traditional inbound tourism operations. He later came to hold substantial amounts of land, completing a transition from a customer-driven tourism business to a more asset-heavy operation.
