If the number of live-in trailers travelling into Thailand rises in the future, there will be measures to accommodate them including space allotment, as they require water, electricity, and garbage and sewage disposal.

Sophon Rattanasiri, the care-taking chief of the Chiang Khong Customs House, said yesterday that house trailers were registered for customs purposes as personal vehicles.

There were a few of them passing through during this Chinese New Year.

From February 1-16, 4,500 personal vehicles went through the customs house. About 0.2 per cent of them were trailers.

Many Chinese visited Thailand during the Chinese New Year and some brought their own vehicles for convenience.

Lerdchai Wangtrakoondee, director of TAT’s Chiang Rai office, said few trailers came into the province and there had not been any impact on the country’s tourism from them yet.

“A father and son drove their house trailer to Thailand from the middle of China. Both stayed at a hotel as usual. They brought bicycles to ride.

“If they were tired from travelling, they would stop and take a break at rest areas,” he said.

In Europe, it costs vacationers more to stay at a trailer park than at a hotel, given the road tax, parking-lot tax and sewage fees involved.