FORWARD bookings for Phuket resorts have dropped to 15 percent for June as the Andaman region confronts the flow-on damage and unnecessary pain of the political crackdown in Bangkok.

Global coverage of the violent urban guerrilla standoff in the streets of the capital has put Thailand's tourism industry into a downward spiral that will cost thousands of jobs, drive investment dollars to rival destinations and wipe the smile off the country's welcoming face.

Frustratingly for a destination that remains largely peaceful and highly appealing, nothing can be done about it.

The good news: If you are looking for a luxury holiday with all the extras at a five-star resort, the next six months will give you the opportunity to indulge at some of the world's swankiest resorts on Phuket and along the Andaman coast, with spa packages and other extras all at discount prices. If you happen to be cashed up and looking to buy a great resort with what amounts to an exclusive beach or a private tropical villa, now is the time to make a reasonable offer.

The bad news: If you have just invested hundreds of millions of baht in a new resort or a theme park or both, you may have to redraw your profit-making graph over a much longer period. If you have just invested in a guesthouse, those five-star discounts will soon be coming at prices that may force you to close. Go lie on a beach.

Timing in the tourism industry in Thailand is everything. Whether you are buying, selling, building or branding, the natural attractions of the destination and its hospitable people must now be weighed against the chances of a return to something approaching political stability, or a descent towards civil war.

Informed guesses are all that's possible in the current uncertain climate of burning tyre smoke and bamboo spears.

The trouble is that mayhem hundreds of kilometres away in Bangkok means pain for Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga.

The Marketing Officer for the Thai Hotels Association, Southern Chapter, Bhuritt Maswongssa, said today that forward bookings for Phuket in June were down to 15 percent, dramatically lower than usual for this time of the year.

But it's worse in Phang Nga and Krabi, where many resort and guesthouse owners will lay off staff and walk away until November and the next high season.

If there is such a thing as good timing for death and destruction, then at least the Andaman is now in the low season. Only Grade A optimists could possibly refer to it by the new marketing tag of ''summer.''

Phang Nga Governor Yiamsuriya Palusuk told Phuketwan that the province has about 6000 rooms compared to 40,000 on Phuket and 14,000 in Krabi. Khao Lak was the main centre for tourism there, he said.

''Normally it's quiet in Khao Lak for six months of the year,'' he said. ''People who work here know that low means low. They understand the circumstances. Even without this tragedy, many places close for the low six months.

''The five-stars and four-stars, on the other hand, do ok all year long and are at 40 to 50 percent occupancy at the moment,'' he said.

The region, badly hit by the tsunami in 2004, had many natural attractions and could rely upon a strong core of returning guests.

''We also hope to get some money from the government to revive the tourism industry just as soon as the current crisis comes to an end,'' he said.