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Blood-splattering Protests Wreck Thai Tourism
In late 2008, the pro-establishment Yellow Shirts staged a months-long sit in at government offices and blockaded Bangkok's two airports for nine days, stranding hordes of frustrated travelers.
Last April the Reds, most from the country's poor, forced the early closure of a key Asian summit and caused riots in Bangkok that left two dead and scores injured and only ended when troops hit the streets.
"The tolerance of tourists is decreasing. They worry they will be blocked again, that they will face problems. It is always a matter of security. I think it's really negative in the long term," said the marketing director of an international hotel brand, who refused to be named.
April is the month of Songkran, a water festival that celebrates the Thai new year and usually attracts thousands of tourists to the country. But this year, bookings are down.
"We have lost 25 million baht (780,000 dollars) since March 11, but what worries me are the bookings for April... things are quiet," he said.
The picture on Thailand's stunning palm-fringed beaches is not so bleak in the short term, said Bill Barnett, a Thai media columnist on tourism who runs a consulting firm based on the southern tourist isle of Phuket.
Barnett said many people were opting to avoid Bangkok and rerouting their flights to Phuket at the last minute to catch some sun amid peace and quiet.
But longer term prospects were less rosy, he said, hit not only by political turmoil, but also health fears over the 2003 SARS outbreak and safety concerns after the Asian tsunami in 2004 that left 5,395 people dead in Thailand.
"In the long term there will be damage. Tourist figures usually follow a cyclical pattern but here it's a lot more volatile -- instead of peaks and valleys it looks like an ECG machine after a heart attack."
Source-AFP
TRI
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