Violence rattles Thailand's tourism industry
Violence rattles Thailand's tourism industry
Jack Barton, Agence France-Presse, Bangkok
Thailand's top tourism destinations have been hit with
cancellations in the aftermath of attacks in the kingdom's deep
south which left scores of Muslim militants dead, industry
experts say.
The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) secretary
general, Chidchai Sakornbadee, said last week's troubles in the
southern provinces bordering Malaysia had had an immediate
affect.
"There were about 60,000 Chinese tourists booked for May Day
vacations in Thailand from the first to the seventh of May," he
told AFP.
"But the turmoil in the south caused cancellations of between
30 to 40 percent," he said, adding that bookings had already been
steadily falling since violence erupted in the region in January.
About half of all tourists from China -- one of the largest
contributors to Thailand's tourist arrivals -- had itineraries
which took them overland through the restive south and on to
Malaysia and Singapore, said Chidchai.
After the clashes between security forces and separatists that
left 113 people dead, Australia, Britain, Denmark and New Zealand
advised their citizens not to travel to the five Muslim-majority
provinces.
But the threat widened to regions further north after outlawed
separatist groups told foreigners to avoid the top resort islands
of Phuket and Phi Phi and the popular destinations of Krabi and
Phang Nga.
"Patani people are not responsible for anything happens to you
after this warning," militant group Bersatu said in a statement,
without elaborating.
Australia then widened its travel warning for Thailand to
include many popular tourist destinations, saying its citizens
should "exercise particular vigilance" in Phuket, Krabi, Phang
Nga and other areas.
So far there have been no attacks outside the five Muslim-
dominated provinces, and the resort islands mentioned in the
Bersatu warning are several hundred kilometers to the north.
Kitti Pattanajinda from the Phuket Tourism Association said
the premier destination had suffered since last week's
unprecedented violence, but that operators were optimistic
bookings would recover.
"Of course it's affected (business). We are aware of some
cancellations but it's not that many... it is about 10 to 20
percent," he said.
Kitti said authorities had boosted security at the airport and
increased marine patrols including at the bridge connecting the
island to the mainland.
Violence in the south has already seen Malaysian tourist
numbers fall by up to 30 percent according to TAT figures, which
show Malaysians account for 10 percent of the almost 10 million
tourists who visit Thailand each year.
Officials in the deep south, which hosts the majority of
Malaysian visitors, predicted shortly after the attack that the
industry there would be completely devastated.
"Who will come to those three provinces after this incident
has happened," said Uthai Varaonasukul, TAT assistant director
for the region, adding that cancellations were as high as 100
percent in some areas.
Tourism officials have been anxiously monitoring the south
since January when a fresh wave of violence flared in the region
which has been plagued by sporadic separatist conflict for
decades.
The crisis is only the latest shock to hit Thailand's tourism
industry, after an outbreak of bird flu which killed eight people
earlier this year .
Arrivals dropped 3.3 percent in 2003 to 9.7 million due to
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) which caused panic
around the region and claimed nearly 800 lives worldwide.
The government predicted in January that with the SARS crisis
behind it, tourist arrivals would bounce back in 2004 to a record
high of 12 million.