Hat Yai's Tourism Sector Badly Hit By Bomb Attack

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WEEKEND BLASTS

Hat Yai's tourism sector badly hit by bomb attack

The Nation

HAT YAI: -- This year's Songkran festival in Hat Yai is likely to be less crowded than usual, as the hoteliers' association is reporting that more than half of the rooms booked for the festival in Hat Yai and Songkhla have been cancelled in the wake of last weekend's deadly bombing.

The cost to the industry is more than Bt50 million.

Hat Yai-Songkhla Hotel Business Association President Somchart Pimthanapoonporn said that the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel car bombing last Saturday that killed three persons, two of them Malaysians, and wounded more than 350 tourists and shoppers, has significantly affected the tourism business in the province.

He said the number of tourists has dropped to around 20 per cent.

The attack has severely shaken the confidence of both residents and tourists. Somchart estimates that it will be at least three months before the tourism business starts picking up.

The public and private sectors along with residents of Hat Yai this morning held a multi-faith religious ceremony in front of the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel to make merit for those killed in the hotel bombing.

Also today, the authorities began removing vehicles from the hotel's car park, mostly cars that were not heavily damaged. It is estimated that there were 200 vehicles in the facility at the time of the attack.

-- The Nation 2012-04-06