Bangkok protests - bad news for tourism

The travel trade has convened in today’s urgent meeting to evaluate the tourism situation as a result of last week’s political protests, which led to the seizure of the Government House, halt of rail services and closure of international airports in Phuket, Krabi and Hat Yai.

About 15,000 passengers were left stranded at Phuket International Airport, which was forced to close last Friday by the protestors, according to a Bangkok Post report. Phuket and Krabi airports were forced to close for two days and reopened on Sunday while Hat Yai Airport was reopened on Saturday.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor, Ms Phornsiri Manoharn, has appealed to the private sector to work closely among themselves and with the TAT for contingency plans to handle the situation on a daily basis.

At press time, neither TAT nor the private sector has clear information as to how severe the impact of the political turmoil on Thai tourism is.

Thai Hotels Association president, Mr Prakit Chinamournphong, has reported member hotels recorded some cancellations on hotel bookings, but he is still waiting for all members to come back with exact figures within three days.

He said he feared the tourism situation would plunge gravely if the situation prolonged as next month was the start of the high season for South Korea, particularly for honeymooners, who might opt for Bali and the Maldives as alternatives.

The prospect of Thailand welcoming the first groups in the series of retirements from the UK and US to Chiang Mai would be clouded by the prolonged political situation too, he added.

Association of Thai Travel Agents president, Mr Apichart Sankary, has reported onward bookings for the coming high season, from October to March or April, has dropped by five per cent “partly from the world economy and partly from the protests in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand”.

However, Mr Apichart said the number of charter flights from Scandinavian to Phuket and Krabi in the coming high seasons remained unchanged. He said TUI Nordic and Thomas Cook had today jointly launched the first flight of the twice-weekly charter flights from Scandinavia to Phuket.

“Fortunately the airport has re-opened; otherwise it would have been a different story, and would most likely affect the plan for more charter flights, starting from end-October,” he added.

The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) too has called for the Thai government and the protesters to put national interests first, citing the already visible negative impact on domestic and international tourism. “If the situation continues, it will result in several countries issuing travel warnings, which will make it difficult to convince tourists to come back (to Thailand),” it warned.

South Korea, UK, Canada, Japan and Australia have issued travel advisories on Bangkok’s political situation.