Travel And Tourist Organizations In Urgent Crises Meeting

[george]

Political protests prompt trade meeting for contingency plans

BANGKOK: -- The travel trade has convened in today’s urgent meeting to evaluate the tourism situation as a result of last week’s political protests, which led to the seizure of the Government House, halt of rail services and closure of international airports in Phuket, Krabi and Hat Yai.

About 15,000 passengers were left stranded at Phuket International Airport, which was forced to close last Friday by the protestors, according to a Bangkok Post report. Phuket and Krabi airports were forced to close for two days and reopened on Sunday while Hat Yai Airport was reopened on Saturday.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor, Ms Phornsiri Manoharn, has appealed to the private sector to work closely among themselves and with the TAT for contingency plans to handle the situation on a daily basis.

At press time, neither TAT nor the private sector has clear information as to how severe the impact of the political turmoil on Thai tourism is.

Thai Hotels Association president, Mr Prakit Chinamournphong, has reported member hotels recorded some cancellations on hotel bookings, but he is still waiting for all members to come back with exact figures within three days.

He said he feared the tourism situation would plunge gravely if the situation prolonged as next month was the start of the high season for South Korea, particularly for honeymooners, who might opt for Bali and the Maldives as alternatives.

The prospect of Thailand welcoming the first groups in the series of retirements from the UK and US to Chiang Mai would be clouded by the prolonged political situation too, he added.

Association of Thai Travel Agents president, Mr Apichart Sankary, has reported onward bookings for the coming high season, from October to March or April, has dropped by five per cent “partly from the world economy and partly from the protests in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand”.

However, Mr Apichart said the number of charter flights from Scandinavian to Phuket and Krabi in the coming high seasons remained unchanged. He said TUI Nordic and Thomas Cook had today jointly launched the first flight of the twice-weekly charter flights from Scandinavia to Phuket.

“Fortunately the airport has re-opened; otherwise it would have been a different story, and would most likely affect the plan for more charter flights, starting from end-October,” he added.

The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) too has called for the Thai government and the protesters to put national interests first, citing the already visible negative impact on domestic and international tourism. “If the situation continues, it will result in several countries issuing travel warnings, which will make it difficult to convince tourists to come back (to Thailand),” it warned.

South Korea, UK, Canada, Japan and Australia have issued travel advisories on Bangkok’s political situation.

-- TTG Asia 2008-09-01

[george]

More misery tipped for Thai travelers

BANGKOK: -- There may be more frustration on the way for travelers to Thailand.

Despite the re-opening of the airport at Phuket – where thousands of travelers were delayed because of anti-government demonstrations at the weekend - the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has threatened to close seven airports if Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej refuses to resign.

The Nation reported that shutting airports was one of the measures PAD planned to adopt. The newspaper quoted Sunthorn Rakrong, a PAD coordinator.

The airports in PAD's sights are Hat Yai, Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi, Samui, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Trang.

They also plan to block all roads leading to the south of the country.

Phuket International Airport resumed services on Sunday. Two other southern Thai international airports, in Krabi and Hat Yai, reopened Saturday.

Methee Thanmanatrakul, chairman of Thai Hotels Association in the south, said the protest had caused losses and tarnished the country's image as about 15,000 tourists use Phuket's airport each day.

Qantas budget offshoot Jetstar is facing a hotel bill of about $100,000 for accommodating stranded passengers in Phuket before they were flown back to Sydney on a chartered aircraft on Monday.

Meanwhile, Railway services in Thailand's northern region have been paralysed after all northern line train services in Chiang Mai were suspended on Sunday following protests from rail workers.

-- travelmole.com 2008-09-02