BRITISH tourists seem to have been undeterred by the Suvarnabhumi duty free scam scandal and continued to fly to Bangkok in July in substantial numbers, latest statistics reveal.
However the figure for Australians declined considerably, along with a dramatic plunge in visitors coming from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.
Many people for whom Phuket is the ultimate destination transit through Bangkok, yet the bottom line figures reflect different outcomes for the city and the island.
The number of overseas travellers flying to Bangkok dropped by 15.78 percent year on year in July while on Phuket, as Phuketwan has previously reported, total incoming and outgoing passenger numbers dipped by a mere 3.09 percent.
Added to that, the number of flights to Phuket rose for the first time in more than a year by 6.42 percent.
The British media has been especially intent on reporting the alleged extortion scam at Bangkok's international airport, and officials this week were investigating the matter and cracking down on ''black'' taxis, illegal guides, and thefts from baggage.
However, 55,646 Britons were among 244,246 arrivals from Europe in July in the capital, with both totals slightly up on the previous year.
French (31,504) Germans (28,377) Dutch (25,049) Italians (11,345) Russians (10,504) and Swiss (10,457) also continued to come despite the economic downturn, political uncertainty in Thailand, and the H1N1 pandemic.
The number of Australians and New Zealanders (41,480) dipped by 17.71 percent, and Americans (43,831) by 9.44 percent, which was relatively tiny compared to the lack of action across the countries of South East and East Asia.
Notoriously sensitive to the slightest hint of trouble on their travels, Thailand's southern and eastern neighbors stayed away in droves. China (38,021) down 45.53 percent was disastrous, with Malaysia (21,984) down 37.89 percent Taiwan (25,116) down 35.59 and Singapore (25,235) down 29.93 percent almost as bad.
There are no pluses to be found, a sharp contrast with South Asia where visitor numbers bounced up by 6.54 percent with India (43,326) showing a small gain and larger ones from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka.
While Kuwait (8635) moved up 27.68 percent and Israel (9191) improved 11.41 percent the Middle East as a whole lagged by 16.81 percent with the UAE (14,771) nosediving by 40.62 percent. Dubai's economy may not be as healthy as some people claim.
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However the figure for Australians declined considerably, along with a dramatic plunge in visitors coming from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.
Many people for whom Phuket is the ultimate destination transit through Bangkok, yet the bottom line figures reflect different outcomes for the city and the island.
The number of overseas travellers flying to Bangkok dropped by 15.78 percent year on year in July while on Phuket, as Phuketwan has previously reported, total incoming and outgoing passenger numbers dipped by a mere 3.09 percent.
Added to that, the number of flights to Phuket rose for the first time in more than a year by 6.42 percent.
The British media has been especially intent on reporting the alleged extortion scam at Bangkok's international airport, and officials this week were investigating the matter and cracking down on ''black'' taxis, illegal guides, and thefts from baggage.
However, 55,646 Britons were among 244,246 arrivals from Europe in July in the capital, with both totals slightly up on the previous year.
French (31,504) Germans (28,377) Dutch (25,049) Italians (11,345) Russians (10,504) and Swiss (10,457) also continued to come despite the economic downturn, political uncertainty in Thailand, and the H1N1 pandemic.
The number of Australians and New Zealanders (41,480) dipped by 17.71 percent, and Americans (43,831) by 9.44 percent, which was relatively tiny compared to the lack of action across the countries of South East and East Asia.
Notoriously sensitive to the slightest hint of trouble on their travels, Thailand's southern and eastern neighbors stayed away in droves. China (38,021) down 45.53 percent was disastrous, with Malaysia (21,984) down 37.89 percent Taiwan (25,116) down 35.59 and Singapore (25,235) down 29.93 percent almost as bad.
There are no pluses to be found, a sharp contrast with South Asia where visitor numbers bounced up by 6.54 percent with India (43,326) showing a small gain and larger ones from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka.
While Kuwait (8635) moved up 27.68 percent and Israel (9191) improved 11.41 percent the Middle East as a whole lagged by 16.81 percent with the UAE (14,771) nosediving by 40.62 percent. Dubai's economy may not be as healthy as some people claim.
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