Ayon kay Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, mahigpit na magtunggalli ang dalawang bansa sa pag-akit ng mga turista.
“But do not forget that we are fierce competitors with Thailand when it comes to Tourism. So I’m sure their statement that we are the Land of COVID is also motivated by the fact that they are struggling to invite people to come visit Thailand again. And of course, they’re worse off in so far as they have a bigger tourism industry than us ‘no, so that’s the context by which we should listen to this comment coming from our ASEAN neighbors,” pahayag ni Roque.
Ayon kay Roque, bagamat matalik na magkaibigan ang Pilipinas at Thailand, magkalaban din ito pagdating sa economic interests.
“We are the closest of friends but we’re also the closest competitors as far as economic interests are concerned because we’re dealing with exact same commodities and in the case of Thailand, it’s tourism in particular,” pahayag ni Roque.