A fresh blow for Thai tourism

Thailand’s battle-hardened tourism sector may have finally come unstuck with the violent scenes that ended a major Asian summit at a major beach resort, industry experts warned. It weathered the SARS epidemic in 2003, the 2004 Asian tsunami and a 2006 coup, but the latest turmoil, just months after Bangkok’s two airports were closed by separate protests, has left foreigners fearful.

Supporters of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra breached police lines on Saturday to storm into a meeting of 16 Asian leaders in Pattaya, forcing an embarrass government to airlift them to safety.

The conference was originally due to be held in Bangkok in December but was rearranged at various points, with the northern city of Chiang Mai and the southern tourist isle of Phuket both mooted as possible destinations. Thailand’s tourism industry accounts for five percent of gross domestic product and employs some two million people, or up to seven percent of the country’s total workforce. It was hit badly last December when rival demonstrators seeking to oust Thaksin’s allies from government shuttered Bangkok’s airports for nine days.

The blockade left hundreds of thousands of visitors stranded and prevented 3.4 million tourists from visiting Thailand, costing the country 290 billion baht (8.3 billion dollars), according to a central bank study. Thai people they can go about their normal activities.” But reaction was swift among those countries whose nationals frequently visit Thailand.

Tourism operators were most fearful about fewer numbers from the Asian market during the long-haul low season, in particular from China. “We would expect more visitors from the Asian market (at this time of year), adding that he feared Monday would bring cancellations from China. The market is so important to Thailand that Abhisit dispatched a government minister to Beijing earlier this year to persuade China to remove its travel warning to Thailand.