Tourism, Airlines Hit Hardest By Thai Floods

[george]

THE BUSINESS COST

Tourism, airlines hit hardest

By SUCHAT SRITAMA,

SIRIPORN CHANJINDAMANEE

THE NATION

Published on November 3, 2010

Damage to the business sector caused by the floods affecting several areas of the country since early last month is now estimated to have topped Bt50 billion, according to the Federation of Thai Industries.

The tourism and airline industries are among those hit hard by the natural disaster, with the southern city of Hat Yai and Samui Island in Surat Thani being the major sufferers.

FTI chairman Payoongsak Chart-sutipol said the federation’s members would soon meet to decide measures to help affected industries and businesses.

Besides tourism, the food processing and rubber sectors have been affected by the flooding, while bank and stock brokerage offices as well as retail and other business outlets in flood-ravaged areas have had to temporarily shut down.

On the resort island of Samui, the airport was closed yesterday morning due to unfavourable weather and airlines suspending services to the destination.

Bangkok Airways, which has 14 flights per day from Bangkok to Samui, said it would resume services shortly if the weather conditions allowed it to do so. Its suspension resulted in at least 700 passengers being stranded.

Nok Air also said it had suspended some flights from Bangkok to Surat Thani, and to Hat Yai.

Thai AirAsia, which operates five flights per day from Bangkok to Hat Yai, reduced the service to four yesterday while maintaining two daily flights between Bangkok and Surat Thani.

Regarding hotels, most operators in the city of Hat Yai and in Surat Thani town have been hit hard.

Maiyarat Phreerayakoses, president of the Association of Domestic Travel, said the flooding had hurt travel across the country, not only southern destinations.

“The flooding will also likely affect this year’s high season because it will take a few months to recover,” she said.

Tourism Authority of Thailand deputy governor Prakit Piriyakiat said the agency would have to work with the private sector to quickly clean up the mess once the flood waters recede.

Floating markets and temples in central provinces are among the top priorities, while there will be promotional tour packages to help restart businesses, especially those in Hat Yai and Surat Thani.

A total of 123 bank and brokerage branches, 121 of them in the South, have been closed as a result of the floods, according to the Bank of Thailand.

Besides, the central bank an-nounced the closure of its southern office until November 23. It |asked anyone wishing to conduct financial institutions with the office to contact its head office instead.

“It is premature to quantify the damage caused by the flooding,” said senior director Mathee Supapongse.

Fifteen brokerage houses have temporarily closed their Hat Yai offices, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They include Country Group Securities (three branches) and Kiatnakin Securities (two branches).

TEMPORARY CLOSURE

Single-branch operations that have closed include those of Finansia Cyrus Securities, Trinity Securities, Kim Eng Securities (Thailand), KGI (Thailand) Securities, SCB Securities, Siam City Securities, Thanachart Securities, Bualuang Securities, BFIT Securities, Philip Securities (Thailand), UOB Kayhian Securities (Thailand) and Asia Plus Securities.

Prasit Srisuwan, president of Country Group Securities, said that despite the temporary closure of its three branches in Hat Yai, the company had set up a system through which clients can trade via the marketing channel. Moreover, clients can put in trade orders via the Internet and telephone to the company’s head office.

He said the company would ask the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and the SEC to extend clearing and settlement on a case-by-case basis should payment via the Automatic Transfer System run into problems.

Montree Sornpaisarn, chief executive officer at Kim Eng Securities (Thailand), said the company’s branch in Hat Yai was a major one, whose temporary closure would affect overall trading volume in the short term. The trading volume at the branch is normally about Bt200 million per day, or 23 per cent of Kim Eng’s volume.

The company has told clients to contact its head office, while Kim Eng marketing officers could forward orders from their homes, he said.

Finansia Syrus Securities managing director Kuntra Ladavalya Na Ayudhya said he hoped share payments due today and tomorrow could be extended. The SET will consider such a move, he added.

Regarding the retail sector, Central Retail Corp said the severe flooding affecting Hat Yai district since Monday had impacted all its stores: Central Department Store Hat Yai, Robinson Department Store Hat Yai, a Tops Supermarket, two Tops Daily branches, PowerBuy, Supersports and Office Depot (located inside Carrefour Hat Yai). All of the stores are now temporarily closed.

Central Retail has provided disaster relief packages to staff affected by the flooding in the Hat Yai area.

The flooding in the South has also affected the communications and Internet networks, especially in Hat Yai, of all state telecom agencies and private telecom operators.

This is due to the damage to fibre-optic networks and the Provincial Electricity Authority having stopped supplying electricity to flooded areas in order to minimise the risk of electrocution.

Telecom operators are trying all means to maintain and restore the communications system for the public’s convenience. For example, they have sent mobile units to provide back-up communications service in seriously hit areas.

Information and Communica-tions Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh said that according to a preliminary report, flooding in the South had affected 80 of CAT Telecom’s cellular base stations. Some TOT cellular base stations have also been affected, but they can still function.

Yoo Chienyuenyongpong, chairman of the Land Transport Federation of Thailand, said the logistics route at Sadao in Songkhla province had seized up completely following the storm that hit the area two days ago.

Chanchai Srisudh, managing director of Asian Fruit & Food Intertrade, said the company was facing extreme difficulty in exporting his products due to the logistics problems.

-- The Nation 2010-11-03

[phiphidon]

Meanwhile the North and Northeast of Thailand were completely unaffected by the floods as there is no tourism or airports up there, a source told us............

[astral]

Tourism, airlines hit hardest

Road and rail transport are not affected????????????

Come on, pull the other one.

[kuffki]

Not to worry, tourism does not play much of a role in Thai economy, nor does the farming(since the 6 veg were banned exports grew)

[rreddin]

Tourism, airlines hit hardest

Road and rail transport are not affected????????????

Come on, pull the other one.

It shows the priority of the journalist, or those of the newspaper's owner, when they say "tourism, airlines hit hard". Bt50 billion damage done to the economy of the affected areas. Homes, crops and business have been lost and road and rail transport disrupted, but a few cancelled flights is is considered more newsworthy. Being stranded on Samui for 24 hours is a minor inconvenience compared to losing your livleihood.

[mommysboy]

Tourism, airlines hit hardest

Road and rail transport are not affected????????????

Come on, pull the other one.

It shows the priority of the journalist, or those of the newspaper's owner, when they say "tourism, airlines hit hard". Bt50 billion damage done to the economy of the affected areas. Homes, crops and business have been lost and road and rail transport disrupted, but a few cancelled flights is is considered more newsworthy. Being stranded on Samui for 24 hours is a minor inconvenience compared to losing your livleihood.

Limited impact I guess, just like the riots, the decline in agriculture, the rising baht, the social divides, ahh, it must be great being so invulnerable.