Thai tourists appear to be acting on the grassroots social media hashtag “Ban Korea,” with the boycott campaign appearing to have manifested a travel preference for Japan and China over South Korea.

From the Thai perspective, problems with South Korea’s strict immigration checks have festered since last year. After landing in the country, some Thais with electronic preapproval are being turned back by immigration agents, costing the would-be tourists hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

South Korea blames the trouble on illegal workers showing up from Thailand.

“I was rejected by the immigration and was sent back to Bangkok immediately last year,” said Eve Khokesuwan, a 42-year-old housekeeper from the northeastern town of Kalasin. As she could not speak fluent English, she had no choice but to obey the Korean authority.

“I don’t want to go to Korea anymore because it was the most stressful trip ever. I felt a very bad impression [of South Korea],” she said.

The Thai hashtag began spreading on X in the final quarter of last year. Then, in the first four months of this year the number of Thais visiting South Korea fell 21% from the year-earlier trimester, to 119,000, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.

In 2019, before COVID shut down global travel, 572,000 Thai tourists made it through South Korean immigration.