Political unrest in Thailand could affect tourism, association warns

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POLITICAL EFFECT
Political unrest could affect tourism, association warns
Bamrung Amnatcharoenrit,
Sucheera Pinijparakarn
The Nation


Supporters of opposition Democrat Party take part in a rally against an amnesty bill in Bangkok, Thailand, 31 October 2013.

BANGKOK: -- Political demonstrations could have a negative impact on country's tourism, especially if the situation turns violent, Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), has warned.

Key inbound markets for Thailand's tourism industry - Japan, South Korea and China, which make up 30 per cent of total foreign arrivals - could be especially affected, as they are key drivers for the country's tourism growth, said Sisdivachr. Those three markets are especially important at the present time, as arrivals from the European Union are down because of its economic downturn.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) projects 24.5 million foreign-tourist arrivals this year. Among Asians, Japanese tourists are the most sensitive to economic change.

Sisdivachr said Thailand's political impasse had so far only slightly affected arrivals to the country, with the number of forward bookings during this year's high season dropping by only 5 per cent compared with the same period last year. However, he said foreign travel agents were keeping a close eye on the country's political unrest in case it turned violent.

"When political demonstrations start, they are likely to have a negative impact on the tourism industry - undermining tourists' confidence," he said.

Local tour operators, said Sisdivachr, had also expressed concern that violence could lead to casualties and travellers from key markets would be warned not to come here.

Sisdivachr recalled the political chaos between the red and yellow shirts in 2008, after which the tourism industry was severely hit - taking six months to recover. Package tours to Thailand were affected the most, with almost 100 per cent of business lost. Many foreign tour agents have quit doing business in Thailand - permanently as well as temporarily, he added.

Sisdivachr urged demonstrators to protest peacefully and not to damage downtown areas and tourism sites - the heart of economic activity.

The TAT projects 1.5 million Japanese arrivals this year and 1.3 million from South Korea, while arrivals from China are expected to be between 4.3 million and 4.5 million. New Chinese legislation on outbound "zero-dollar tours" from that country is expected temporarily to affect the number of arrivals from there.

The new legislation, which took affect on October 1, saw the number of Chinese outbound arrivals to Thailand on package tours drop by 70 per cent, a decline of between 40,000 and 50,000 arrivals in October - down from the average of 140,000-150,000.

TAT offices in South Korea and Japan are also worried about the political situation hurting tourism from those markets. They said domestic politics was the main threat to inbound tourism to Thailand from those two nations. However, the TAT's office in Kunming said it believed unrest in Thailand would not adversely affect outbound tourism arrivals from China as instability in this country was nothing new.

Nittaya Amubhitaya, director of TAT's Tokyo office, said that to date, the Japanese Embassy in Thailand had only posted warnings on its website telling people to avoid areas where political protests were taking place. As long as there is no violence, Japanese arrivals to Thailand will not be affected, she said.

Meanwhile, Sutapa Amornvivat, chief economist and executive vice president of the SCB Economic Intelligence Centre (EIC), said she believed political instability in Thailand would only have a short-term impact on business, as many foreign companies had remained in the country despite political instability over the past decade. However, the Kingdom has lost opportunities to attract new local and foreign investment, she added.


-- The Nation 2013-11-01

[soi41]

The good news is that all the demonstrators had to travel to get to the protestsite.

So at the moment TAT is busy adjusting up the numbers in the domestic tourism statistics!

Thailand the destination for adventure-tourists: Get gassed in the taxi or get involved in streetfights.

The choice is yours, just remember to spend your $$!!

[Halion]

It makes absolutely no sense to me to put so much editorial into the bloody tourist figures whilst almost ignoring and accepting the pathetic and nepotistic state of the current administration.

If you want stability and the development of your tourist market then you must first put your own house in order.

Stabilize your legal ,administrative and social systems in a manner that they are efficient ,transparent and operate in a manner beneficial to all Thai people and not just the rabid few who think the are beyond reproach.

[CraigSchuler]

Just ONE of hundreds of reasons why Thailand is losing their tourists.

[JulesMad]

Don't worry! As usual, TAT will give this a positive spin and TAT numbers will go up

I am not a gambler at all, but I would like to put ALL my money on this bet. Any takers?!?

[hellodolly]

I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand.

Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up.

They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy.

More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand.

[moe666]

Yeah we all know one more nail in the coffin heheheheh been hearing that for years but the numbers always come back and keep going up.

[charmonman]

I never understand all this whining about tourist numbers. Only 5 years ago (or less) the number was around 15 million, now its 25 million, back in 1987, "Visit Thailand Year", it was only 3 million. Nothing seems to stop people from coming here. Thailand is already one of the most heavily touristed countries in the world - what is the magic number that would stop all the whining - 50 million, 100 million, 1 billion?

[jpeg]

Phuket's practically deserted (good). They only had the Chinese and Russians last season, a smattering of Euros returning to maintain their properties, and that's it.

Today is the official opening of 'High Season', but my guess is, the declining (not the TAT bs), numbers, (now the Chinese are on the wane - Russians, who knows? So long as Egypt's still at it), bar the fortnight leading up to and after Christmas will continue to decline. Excellent.

To all you who have opened businesses which actually makes life more convenient for the expat contingent, and which does not include more bars/dive shops/property shops/over priced 'farang' restaurants, my sympathies.

Edited November 1, 2013 by jpeg

[JetsetBkk]

Phuket's practically deserted (good). They only had the Chinese and Russians last season, a smattering of Euros returning to maintain their properties, and that's it.

Today is the official opening of 'High Season', but my guess is, the declining (not the TAT bs), numbers, (now the Chinese are on the wane - Russians, who knows? So long as Egypt's still at it), bar the fortnight leading up to and after Christmas will continue to decline. Excellent.

To all you who have opened businesses which actually makes life more convenient for the expat contingent, and which does not include more bars/dive shops/property shops/over priced 'farang' restaurants, my sympathies.

I've just been to Phuket town and back from Rawai, and I wouldn't exactly call it "deserted"!

But I know what you mean.

Last night Kata was full of tourists. Wish they'd all read more about the troubles here and go home!

[jpeg]

I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand.

Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up.

They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy.

More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand.

Name the very worst on the Corruption Index and i'll simply sail through it Having learned every bloody trick in the book from my current alma mater.

[Neilly]

"When political demonstrations start, they are likely to have a negative impact on the tourism industry - undermining tourists' confidence," he said.

Nice to see Captain Obvious out and about again ...and of course TAT saying there isn't a problem at all

[hellodolly]

I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand.

Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up.

They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy.

More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand.

Name the very worst on the Corruption Index and i'll simply sail through it Having learned every bloody trick in the book from my current alma mater.

37

4

33

40

88

Thailand

37

8

34

40

88

Zambia

37

8

32

42

94

Benin

36

6

29

44

94

Colombia

36

7

32

40

94

Djibouti

36

3

22

50

94

Greece

36

7

30

42

94

India

36

10

33

40

94

Moldova

36

8

31

40

94

Mongolia

36

7

32

40

94

Senegal

36

9

33

39

102

Argentina

35

8

31

39

102

Gabon

35

5

32

38

102

Tanzania

35

8

31

38

105

Algeria

34

6

29

40

105

Armenia

34

6

29

38

105

Bolivia

34

7

28

40

105

Gambia

34

5

22

45

105

Kosovo

34

3

32

37

105

Mali

34

6

27

40

105

Mexico

34

9

31

37

105

Philippines

34

9

30

37

113

Albania

33

7

30

36

113

Ethiopia

33

8

30

36

113

Guatemala

33

6

28

37

113

Niger

33

5

28

38

113

Timor-Leste

33

3

23

42

118

Dominican Republic

32

6

28

37

118

Ecuador

32

6

28

37

118

Egypt

32

7

27

37

118

Indonesia

32

9

27

37

118

Madagascar

32

8

26

37

123

Belarus

31

5

25

37

123

Mauritania

31

5

25

36

123

Mozambique

31

7

29

34

123

Sierra Leone

31

8

28

34

123

Vietnam

31

8

27

35

128

Lebanon

30

6

27

34

128

Togo

30

5

24

35

130

Côte d´Ivoire

29

8

25

33

130

Nicaragua

29

7

26

32

130

Uganda

29

8

25

32

133

Comoros

28

3

15

40

133

Guyana

28

4

25

31

133

Honduras

28

6

24

32

133

Iran

28

6

20

35

133

Kazakhstan

28

8

21

35

133

Russia

28

9

25

32

139

Azerbaijan

27

6

23

31

139

Kenya

27

8

24

31

139

Nepal

27

5

23

31

139

Nigeria

27

9

22

31

139

Pakistan

27

8

23

31

144

Bangladesh

26

7

20

33

144

Cameroon

26

8

20

32

144

Central African Republic

26

4

22

30

144

Congo Republic

26

6

20

31

144

Syria

26

5

22

31

144

Ukraine

26

8

24

29

150

Eritrea

25

4

10

40

150

Guinea-Bissau

25

4

22

29

150

Papua New Guinea

25

5

18

32

150

Paraguay

25

5

20

29

154

Guinea

24

7

19

28

154

Kyrgyzstan

24

6

21

27

156

Yemen

23

6

20

27

157

Angola

22

7

20

25

157

Cambodia

22

7

17

27

157

Tajikistan

22

5

15

28

160

Democratic Republic of the Congo

21

5

16

27

160

Laos

21

3

19

23

160

Libya

21

6

14

27

163

Equatorial Guinea

20

3

18

22

163

Zimbabwe

20

8

12

27

165

Burundi

19

5

14

23

165

Chad

19

5

15

23

165

Haiti

19

5

14

23

165

Venezuela

19

7

15

22

169

Iraq

18

4

14

22

170

Turkmenistan

17

3

12

22

170

Uzbekistan

17

6

14

20

172

Myanmar

15

4

9

21

173

Sudan

13

6

8

17

174

Afghanistan

8

3

2

13

174

Korea (North)

8

3

2

13

174

Somalia

[Thai at Heart]

I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand.

Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up.

They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy.

More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand.

Thus if they recount the ever increasing number of visa runners they can achieve exponential growth.

I can believe the numbers are up, whether it is providing the same economic return as the first 10mn of mainly European visitors is the issue.

I doubt it but TAT is never going to admit it anyway.