Thai Travel Industry Fears Effects Of Japan Quake

[webfact]

Travel industry fears effects of quake

By Business Reporters

The Nation

The Thai travel industry faces seriฌous negative impact from the tsunaฌmi in Japan yesterday. Airlines and tour operators expect the disaster to hit travel to and from Japan during the coming school holidays.

During the school break in March and April, many Japanese travel to Thailand. Japanese tourists number almost 1 million per year.

"We will see negative impact on both outbound and inbound travel," said Anake Srishevachart, president of the ThaiJapan Tourism Business Association (TJTBA). However, he said it was too early to estimate the size of the impact.

Yesterday China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea were bracing for possible tsunamis after the 8.9magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast of Japan, sending waves crashing through coastal towns.

Tsunami warnings were issued in the Philippines and Taiwan, after the northeastern Japanese city of Sendai, 300 kilometres north of Tokyo, was struck by the waves.

In Thailand, authorities warned that the tsunami could reach the southern provinces of Narathiwat and Pattani today.

Surin Pitsuwan, secretarygenerฌal of Asean, said the earthquake in Japan would affect investment in Thailand and Asean as Japan had previously been planning foreign investment because of the strength of the yen.

The disaster will weaken the curฌrency, forcing the Japanese government to review investment outside the country. Japan will need the funds to help its own population and repair the damage caused by the quake and tsunamis, he said.

The number of Japanese tourists expected to travel to Thailand will also fall significantly, he said.

Asean will convene an urgent meeting to help Japan with relief and recovery efforts, he added.

Thai stock investors reacted negatively to disaster, selling off shares and putting downward pressure on the composite index.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand lost 13 points when afternoon tradฌing resumed. The index gradually moved up again, but by 3.19pm the index had shed 11.93 points or 1.17 per cent to 1,007.29 points.

The Japanese yen slumped immediately after the quake made headlines. It weakened against 15 major currencies. At the time of writing the yen was at 83.30 against the US dollar.

Anake said the disaster would hit Thai tourism to Japan.

About 20,000-30,000 Thais visit the upper part of the country, few compared with the southern region, he said.

According to the TJTBA, 500-1,000 Thai tourists visit Japan per day, with the figure normally rising during the school break and Songkran festival.

"I have asked staff at my company, Thai Sin Express, to stand by at the office and keep communicating with partners in Japan," he said.

Anake believes the incident will damage the tourism sector in Thailand, as Japan is one of the country's biggest markets with nearly 1 million visitors a year.

Charoen Wangananond, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said the association was calculating the damage from the disaster. He was confident the industry would be hit hard.

According to Thai Airways International (THAI), the airline flies to five destinations in Japan with a total of 10 flights per day. Flights serve Narita, Haneda (Tokyo International Airport), Nagoya, Kansai (Osaka) and Fukuoka.

The airline has suspended servicฌes from Bangkok to Narita and Haneda airports, both of which serve Greater Tokyo. More than 200 THAI passengers remain in the Japanese capital.

Chaiyaporn Nompitakcharoen, head of tactical research at Bualuang Securities, said the earthquake would not hurt Thai market fundamentals. However, it would boost food export sales to Japan, as well as outsourcing orders for electrical appliance manufacturing.

Boonlert Siripatvanich, chief executive officer of Ausiris, said gold prices could fall as well, as after natural disฌasters investors prefer to hold cash over other types of assets. In war, gold is a safe haven, he noted.

Teerana Bhongmakapat, dean of Chulalongkorn University's economics faculty, said economic damage from the disaster would depend on whether aftershocks hit Tokyo and other big cities.

"Damage to the economy may be limited but the cost in human lives could be much higher," Teerana said.

Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai ordered all Thai Trade Centres overseas to assess the effects of the disaster on export businesses. The information will help the ministry provide urgent assistance to companies affected.

Porntiva has also ordered the centres to monitor political unrest in the Middle East closely in preparation for the launch of measures that will encourage Thai exports.

Vuthichai Duangratana, deputy directorgeneral of the Department of Export Promotion, said Thai Trade Centres in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka were asking Japanese importers and Thai exporters how they had been affected. Japanese importers may be unable to load goods at ports, affecting payment of Thai exporters.

The ministry will ask the government for financial support to ensure cash flow for Thai exporters during the disaster.

"Japan has to import more goods to rescue its people, and other countries may have to provide assistance as well," he said.

Phongsak Assakul, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern about Japan's purchasing power, as its government would now focus on recovery of the country and the population's mental wellbeing.

-- The Nation 2011-03-12

[gotlost]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

[richieudon]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

hear hear.. very sad

[Soutpeel]

Agreed.....what offers of aid have the Thai goverment made ?....my guess zero

[BuckarooBanzai]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

Right on. The whole article borders on the absurd. "In Thailand, authorities warned that the tsunami could reach the southern provinces of Narathiwat and Pattani today." I wonder who drew up their timing charts or is this a further attempt at "we are victims too"?

[PaulHamon]

yeah, who cares... who puts out a story like this?

[jonclark]

Thoroughly agree with all previous posts. Selfish, self centered comments. Put simply the TJTBA is only worried about the size of its wallet and not the immense scale of suffering of its "valued' customers.

[AZBill]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

Given this country's ignorance of anything happening outside of Siam Paragon I'm suprised they even reported on it! Of course their only focus is on how much money the scammers are going to lose here. Pathetic! They have very short memories here!

[geriatrickid]

I'm not going to join the bandwagon of condemning the statement. Yes, it is in poor taste, but the story is relevant for those that serve the Japanese tourist market. Perhaps it will impress upon those in the tourist industry to be more respectful of those visitors that do come and perhaps it will encourage those with a vested interest to reach out and help those in need. Towns like Minamisoma have been washed away. And when I write that, I mean everything is gone. The earth sunk and the water now occupies where the town once was.

The Japanese eat rice. No doubt many food warehouses may have been damaged by the tsunami. There are poor people in Japan. A few tonnes of Thailand's rice sent as food aid for the poor would be a good start. I don't see the article so much as a statement of self interest, but rather one that may sensitize Thais to the suffering that is starting in Japan. Maybe I am naive, but I hope that's the impact.

[londonthai]

yes, very insensitive in the face of the great tragedy. Still, there would be more victims, as the tsunami will affect all the pacific basin, almost 50 countries.

the first figure for the 2004 xmass tsunami was some 5-10k, but ended with 250k

[chooch7]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

its a disaster!

life moves on!

money is what makes the world go round! just ask the wrongg kind of thai girls

im not a fan of biased news, but be4 they gave condolences they were asking the question what effect will the eq.uake have on oil prices and japans gdp

and on a sidenote some were questioning how thai girls income will be reduced due to lack of mr nakata and nishimura and nikaido

Edited March 12, 2011 by chooch7

[AZBill]

Just heard on CNN that Thailand is offering a whopping $165,000 US in aid to Japan! What generosity! I suspect the US will spend more than that in just starting up one of it's aid aircraft!

[TheWalkingMan]

Agreed.....what offers of aid have the Thai goverment made ?....my guess zero

I thought I saw something which said the Thai government offered 5m baht. Nice gesture, but that seems kinda small when compared to the amount of aid Japan has given Thailand in the past.

TheWalkingMan

[Soutpeel]

Just heard on CNN that Thailand is offering a whopping $165,000 US in aid to Japan! What generosity! I suspect the US will spend more than that in just starting up one of it's aid aircraft!

Improvement over Haiti then....didnt they offer $10k ?

[dumpling]

Although the timing of this article stinks at least someone is looking ahead , Japan invest heavily in this region and this will have a knock on effect for the whole region.

There will be less money going into foreign economies as the Japanese focus on the rebuilding effort ,its good to know that some people in power are giving this some thought its just a little tasteless that the only agency to publicly mention this is the tourist board.

My thoughts are with those effected by this disaster and lets hope the numbers are no where near as many as 2004.

[chooch7]

please dont knock los for being stingy with haiti.

i wouuldnt give half a penny to that freakin sorry state......it all flows to those dictators. same w n korea.

[slapout]

When I first looked at this article, early this morning, I decided not to post a comment due to the reaction I had, as noted by earlier posts.

At least start the article with verbal concern for all those affected by this disaster. This is another exhibition of of self concern, "what will it cost me/us?"

This mind set is why we see scavengers at a crash site picking thru the debris for personal gain, looters after man made or natural disasters, etc.

Projections of income for any sector/company normally take into account past incidences which have had an effect, in the past. The unrest in some of the middle east countries, south Thailand, past natural disasters here and abroad, etc have probably affected Thai tourism to some degree as had the world recession. My first reaction to this news was a feeling of sorrow/loss for the people and countries affected. This seems to be the same with most of the prior posts made by members.

I am thankful that most of the world has not regressed to the self gratification desire that this article would seem to portray.

[Bagwan]

Just heard on CNN that Thailand is offering a whopping $165,000 US in aid to Japan! What generosity! I suspect the US will spend more than that in just starting up one of it's aid aircraft!

Enough to rebuild one house but we should compare like with like. How much is five million baht as a %age of the Thai GDP? What %age of their GDP will the developed countries send?

No doubt a few senior civil servants and their criminal bedfellows are rubbing their hands at the thought of supplying gangs of 'coolies' to help in the rebuilding, after all, as I read in the other BKK newspaper some years ago, Thailand is renowned for it's expertise in civil engineering - although the state of the pavements here leads me to question this..

Edited March 12, 2011 by Bagwan

[hardy1943]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

Given this country's ignorance of anything happening outside of Siam Paragon I'm suprised they even reported on it! Of course their only focus is on how much money the scammers are going to lose here. Pathetic! They have very short memories here!

Well women are usually the educated and smart ones here however I do have to agree with you about " The Boys in BKK "

Edited March 12, 2011 by hardy1943

[animatic]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

hear hear.. very sad

Yes, my instant thought also.

[Skywalker69]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

Sad, but true.

[LPCustom69]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

I couldn't agree more!

[rkidlad]

This is very poor timing indeed.

I was watching TAN news network yesterday because it's the only news channel I have in English. The presenters were interviewing a so-called expert from Thailand about the earthquake. To be fair, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Only problem was his English wasn't very good. He couldn't quite remember when the Asian tsunami was. Luckily for viewers like me - the female news presenter confirmed it was '6' as in 2006. She even said it twice.

Just another example of poor media.

Is there a relief fund set up where we can donate money? This would be a better link on the news board.

[EyesWideOpen]

This article is not insensitive, this is simply bordering on moronic. Especially so with bodies still floating around...So every time a disaster hits somewhere in the world, we can look forward to Thailand wringing its hands to it's tourism being hit by it. Sheeesshhh.... Hey wait a minute !! So this means when I go to a Nana Plaza gogo bar, I will not be competing with the endless Japanese men for the cute girls. Hey I am starting to like this Thai way of thinking.... NOT !!!

[Jimi007]

Amazing Thailand once again... As the Thai Government states that tourism is only 7% of GDP, there are sure a lot of articles from many different agencies every week about how one thing or another will affect tourism here. Maybe a bit of compassion and treating the tourists that do come here better may just help. Articles like this certainly won't!

[jackr]

Can we remove this tasteless thread please? This is not the time to be posting impacts to Thai tourism of all things - although can understand TV wanting to cover all bases. There are possibly many thousands of people dead here!

As typical as it is, could they not at least remove one freakin joker show/soap opera on Thai TV in favour of ongoing reports for this very real event? Where's the empathy for Christ's sake! It wasn't long ago our genial hosts were lapping it up.

[jimbeam1]

Agreed.....what offers of aid have the Thai goverment made ?....my guess zero

What offers have they made? They are hopeing that their exports to Japan will rise. Such compassion.

jb1

[GM1955]

Just heard on CNN that Thailand is offering a whopping $165,000 US in aid to Japan! What generosity! I suspect the US will spend more than that in just starting up one of it's aid aircraft!

Improvement over Haiti then....didnt they offer $10k ?

How much did you offer ?

[Cnxforever]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

thanks for the post.....exactly my thoughts too!!

In the wake of such a terrible disaster these greedy bastards can't think of anything but some money they might loose!

Japan is always one of the first countries to help others unfortunate enough to be hit by disasters - my heartfelt sympathy goes out to everybody affected by this terrible tragedy.

[midas]

People are dying as we are reading this and all the tourist industry of Thailand can thank of is its pocket book.

That is nothing gotlost !

Within 2.5 hours of the earthquake yesterday afternoon ( Friday ), I received an

email advisory from Bualuang Securities advising which sectors in Thailand

will show the best profits as a result of the Japanese disaster.

And they did the same a few months ago regarding another disaster in another

country but i can't remember which one.

I realise they to make money but in the same afternoon - really

Bloody ambulance chasers !