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Thais going abroad for Songkran

By  SUCHAT SRITAMA
6 Apr 2010
The continuing red-shirt protest is badly affecting Bangkok's tourism and hotel sector, because Thais are choosing to spend their Songkran holidays overseas.

"The three weeks of the red-shirt rally has brought down the tourism and hotel businesses by 20 to 30 per cent," Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of Dusit International, said.

Hotels located in and around Bangkok's Rajprasong area, namely Siam Square, Pratunam and Phloenchit, are reeling under the impact. In fact, the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel in the area has reported huge cancellations, but is operating as per normal.

Chanin said operators were worried that tourism might be affected even further if the situation is not brought under control.

In addition, it is feared that investors are losing confidence in the Kingdom.

"There may not be any new investments or advance bookings from overseas," he said, adding that the government should control the protest and that the red shirts should stop hurting the country.

"This is the only country in the world where a handful of people can hurt 99 per cent of the population and get away with it," he lamented.

Charoen Wangananon, spokesperson of Federation of Thai Tourism Associations (FETTA), said the number of tourists, especially from Asia, was continuing to fall. China alone cancelled more than 50 chartered flights planned for Thailand during Songkran next week.

Meanwhile, according to Kongkrit Hiranyakit, chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), the number of arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport had dropped by 15 per cent and the closure of major shopping malls had brought tourist spending down by 10 per cent.

"The country has already lost approximately Bt4 billion since the red shirts took over Rajprasong area, and this doesn't include the additional 25 per cent lost from tourist spending," he added.

Kongkrit urged the government and the red shirts to negotiate, and advised businessmen to work out the damages and find ways to boost their sales.

The local political chaos, however, is having a positive impact on other countries as Thais head off overseas for Songkran. This year, Japan and South Korea have reported the highest number of Thai arrivals, followed by China and Singapore.

Resort World at Sentosa in Singapore recently opened its doors to international tourists with its new Universal Studio and gamblingcomplex.

Marina Bay Sand is scheduled to open its hotel, entertainment and casino complex on April 27.

Mid-year, China will host World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, which is expected to draw visitors from across the world.

Charoen, who is also president of Association of Thai Travel Agents, said more Thais were going overseas after finding the constant political squabbles boring-probably explaining why so many locals bought overseas travel packages at last month's tourism fair.

Resource
The Nation