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Thailand Tourism, Economy Face Huge Hits from Capital's Closure

Thursday, January 2, 2014
PHUKET: Tourists are not expected to brave Bangkok next week with protesters threatening to shut down the city - but the main alternative of Phuket has little extra capacity to offer.

With tour agents and visitors scrambling for information today, Phuket International Airport's General Manager Prathuang Somkhom said he was assessing whether seats and even extra flights could be made available ''for those who change their minds about Bangkok.''

But the outlook was bleak. A Phuket Land Transport expert said the 34 Bangkok-Phuket daily rounds offered by four bus companies could be increased - if there was room at resorts and guesthouses.

Thailand's baht fell for an eleventh day, the longest losing streak on record, with tourism to the country also bound to suffer for days if not weeks in advance of the mass street ''shut down'' protest announced for January 13.

The struggle between the caretaker government and its opponents now puts at risk the proposed February 2 election and billions of baht in tourist income for Thailand.

Cancellations for the capital, though, are not expected to affect high season traffic flowing to Phuket, where direct flights insulate the holiday island almost entirely from Bangkok's woes.

''With Chinese New Year on January 31 Phuket is booked at 90 percent through to the end of February,'' said Suchart Hirankskkun, president of the Thai Hotels Association (Southern Division). ''Bookings have increased and so have the number of resort rooms.''

Most visitors at this time of year were Europeans, he said, and they had a good understanding of Thailand's politics.

The outlook is also good in Phang Nga north of Phuket, said a local Tourist Association spokesperson. ''Khao Lak is 100 percent booked,'' she said.

Ithirit Kinglek, the director of the Tourist Association of another neighboring province, Krabi, was even more positive. ''We have 18,000 rooms and they are fully booked now,'' he said. ''Krabi is doing well with 'quality' tourists and doesn't need the mass market.''

Thailand's tourism boom continued in November with Airports of Thailand (AoT) reporting 4.71 million international passengers passing through its six outlets, a year-on-year growth of 7.61 percent.

But the protest now presents a crisis from January 13. Tourism is always delicately balanced, and airport GM Khun Prathuang said the recent discovery in Phuket City of an unexploded car bomb led to a 10 percent cancellation rate from Chinese tourists immediately.

Comments

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Why do some websites say the figures are down at least 10% whilst others say they are up?

Posted by Fiesty Farang on January 2, 2014 15:06

Editor Comment:

We're quoting AoT figures for November. We don't know what the other websites are quoting.


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