Thai water festival goes on, but tourists check out

Thailand tourism had barely started picking up from last year’s shutdown of Bangkok airports by protesters when violence returned to the capital as troops and demonstrators swapped gunfire and firebombs this week. Hundreds of local and foreign tourists still gathered on Monday to celebrate the water festival in Bangkok’s Khao San Road, a magnet for budget travelers, but some businessmen wondered how many foreigners would be back next year.” This could be the last time you see such joy and celebration here in Thailand,” said a less-than-festive Surat Wongcharnsilp, chairman of the Association of Khao San Business Operators.” Around 80 percent of tourists have checked out and more tourists are expected to leave after Songkran,” Surat said.

The Songkran water festival marks the start of the Thai New Year. A public holiday began on Monday, officially three days but for many Thais stretching into a week, a period to soak passers-by on the streets or spend time upcountry with family. With many Thais moving around the country, the festival is normally one of the year’s high points for tourism, which employs around 1.8 million people out of a population of about 65 million and accounts for around 6 percent of gross domestic product.

In all, the industry generates about 540 billion baht ($15.3 billion) annually, but maybe not this year. By Monday four countries — Singapore, Canada, Australia and Britain — had issued advice to their people to defer non-essential travel to Bangkok after the government declared a state of emergency there.