Martial law in Thailand more bad news for embattled tourism industry

[webfact]

MARTIAL LAW
Martial law more bad news for embattled tourism industry
The Nation, Agencies


Tarik Asraoui, a tourist from Morocco, right, adjusts an army helmet as he poses for souvenir photographs with soldiers on a military vehicle at Ratchaprasong Intersection in Bangkok yesterday.

BANGKOK: -- Tourists may start avoiding Thailand in droves now that the military has declared martial law, as many countries have issued advisories warning their citizens about the political crisis here.

Travel and related associations yesterday met with tourism authorities to hash out some measures to deal with the expected negative impact on the entire tourism industry.

Martial law was declared early yesterday. The military stated that it intended to preserve law and order more efficiently after the crisis dragged on for months without any solution in sight.

Chidchai Sakonbadi, vice president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said the tourism industry had been in decline now for more than six months since the political conflict flared up. More than 50 countries have issued travel warnings, mostly advising their citizens to avoid travelling in protest areas.

"I expect that we may not attract a lot of tourists now because of this martial law," he said.

According to the Department of Tourism, the number of visitors to the country may fall by 5 per cent this year, the biggest drop since 2009. In the first four months, arrivals were down by 4.9 per cent from a year earlier, to 8.62 million.

Bank of Thailand statistics showed that three-month advance bookings for hotels in Thailand were 26 per cent in March, compared with 32 per cent a year ago, while the occupancy rate was 58 per cent compared with 72 per cent a year earlier.

Mario Hardy, chief operations officer at Pacific Asia Travel Association in Bangkok, warned that the announcement of martial law would not be good for Bangkok tourism.

ATTA, for its part, urged the military to revoke the law as soon as possible to regain tourists' confidence, especially from short-haul markets.

ATTA members are advising tourists who arrive in the Kingdom to adjust their schedules and head to places other than Bangkok, such as Chiang Mai, Phuket or Samui. The association is also working with travel associations in the provinces to come up with strategies.

James Ramage, group managing director for sales and marketing at one of the giant inbound operators, Diethelm Travel Group, yesterday advised all visitors to Bangkok to avoid protest sites and surrounding areas, political rallies and marches, as previously communicated.

However, beach resorts and other destinations within Thailand have not been affected by the political situation and the airports and other transportation systems are running as normal.

Thai Airways International, AirAsia and Singapore Airlines affirmed they would continue operating, but strongly recommended that passengers allow at least three hours' travel time to either of Bangkok's airports and closely follow traffic updates.


-- The Nation 2014-05-21

[draftvader]

That's it! TAT declared martial law to help them cover up their poor figures.....

.....and Tarik looks just a little bit silly. Globally!

Edited May 20, 2014 by draftvader

[NongKhaiKid]

When will TAT announce it's all been a tourist promotion and visitors are flocking back ?

[bangkokheat]

there is going to be a lot of hungry mouths, crime will escalate, is this the beginning of the end for thailand

[taff33]

As the old saying goes "you reap what you sow"unless you tell lies and every thing is OK.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Pralaad]

I still find TAT figures funny.

They state a drop of 5% and make it sound big, in reality the place is deserted.

Not sure about other towns but Pattaya is pretty empty.

TAT may also have a bigger shock now that back to back visa runners have been targeted, so the tourist number will "drop " further

[metisdead]

Posts containing abusive and inflammatory comments have been removed as well as the replies.

[Bkkbound]

Paradoxically the country is much better off for having the army in charge, the constant sense of uncertainty has evaporated and for the medium term things look better now than they have done for months..

[Somtamnication]

It is the traditional low season. Low figures anyway. But just as it did in 2006 coup, tourists will avoid BKK and go all over Thailand.

[impulse]

That picture in the OP is priceless.

Come to Thailand and go home with a snappy in a real Jeep, complete with .30 cal machine gun.

Lemons. Lemonade.

I'll be looking for one of those, to take a photo to send back home.

Edit: I'll have to flip the photo, because the wheel is on the wrong side- and I wouldn't want to be accused of faking it...

Edited May 21, 2014 by impulse

[TimCM]

The big issue for this is that travel insurance will not cover people in countries under martial law. This will turn many off coming here while it is enacted. It also means those that have booked are covered to cancel their trips. The real effect on tourism may be much higher in a few months if still in place

[Scarpolo]

While required to get the gov't safely operating again, and for officials to be able to go to work without fear of Sutep and his hordes coming in to take over their offices,

Thailand will not soon recover this time

[lovetotravel]

I am on a very popular island right now. It's literally a ghost town. Incredible. Bands playing to empty venues. Not a person there enjoying the music. I feel sorry for the locals.

[Pralaad]

I am on a very popular island right now. It's literally a ghost town. Incredible. Bands playing to empty venues. Not a person there enjoying the music. I feel sorry for the locals.

Try the business owners, bills still coming in, wages still need to be paid, only no income at all

[alant]

The big issue for this is that travel insurance will not cover people in countries under martial law. This will turn many off coming here while it is enacted. It also means those that have booked are covered to cancel their trips. The real effect on tourism may be much higher in a few months if still in place

I hadn't realised this Tim (I assume Tim is ok) but if so the effect will be massive. Do you know of a source of info this can be looked into?

Thanks

[laurentbkk]

Arrived from Europe last friday around 6pm .... immigration empty , very few people in the airport ...was very strange actually ... But I can understand the interrogation of people , tourists want quiet places and quiet political situation otherwise what's the point of having holidays ..

[dcsw53]

However, beach resorts and other destinations within Thailand have not been affected by the political situation and the airports and other transportation systems are running as normal.

Looking at all the empty and many closed down bars around Pattaya I would beg to differ. Most "tourists" seem to be residents from Bangkok.

[Khun Loong]

I'm all in favour of almost anything that will lower to tourist numbers.

[Somtamnication]

I am on a very popular island right now. It's literally a ghost town. Incredible. Bands playing to empty venues. Not a person there enjoying the music. I feel sorry for the locals.

Must be a dedicated band, playing at 8 in the morning!

[TimCM]

The big issue for this is that travel insurance will not cover people in countries under martial law. This will turn many off coming here while it is enacted. It also means those that have booked are covered to cancel their trips. The real effect on tourism may be much higher in a few months if still in place

I hadn't realised this Tim (I assume Tim is ok) but if so the effect will be massive. Do you know of a source of info this can be looked into?

Thanks

Tim is fine. I used to work in private banking in Australia and we used to organise this for our clients. We have had this issue at the time in various countries and I believe that once imposed, they had 48 hours of cover left. This was 5 years ago say may have changed since then. Most of the coverage was done through the platinum card insurance but was the same as the stand alone policies we had.

To check your own policy, look up who is underwriting it on your banks website as it would most likely vary between countries

cheers

[johnnytuc]

Why one who believed that democracies were useless, but better than any other option!! In Thailand's case maybe a dictatorship is the answere

[landslide]

I was checking the cost of hotels in Bangkok. It appears that the prices are going up, just when there is a drop in tourism.

[Emster23]

Was watching ChannelnewsAsia other day and they said numbers in Thailand down 18%, which still seems to underestimate what I've seen (or haven't seen). Back when younger I used to like to go to places under martial law. Was in Sri Lanka at height of their dust up. Went to some beach hotel, asked how much a room was: "Whatever you want to pay".

[Scarpolo]

Bars closing down in Pattaya?

I dont suppose the bar girls have much saved in the bank,

It sounds like the entire food chain in Thailand will feel this, all the way up to the indebted families up north.

The pinch will soon give way to a flood of blood as hungry people start stealing, from their neighbors

[BudRight]

If Thais keep working hard for the common goal of ending foreign presence in the kingdom I'm sure they can do it.

Ban those border runners! Kick out those bum teachers! Get the land back from those retirees wives! Go Thailand! Yeah!!!!!

[bangarang]

I wonder how much they charge for those military photo ops? It's certainly much cooler than having a snake around your neck or a lizard sitting on top of your head.

[crazykopite]

And know doubt the economy will suffer like hell the rich will get richer the poor will be a lot poorer and the baht will get weaker but should the latter happen I will not complain more baht in my pocket !

[slipperylobster]

That picture in the OP is priceless.

Come to Thailand and go home with a snappy in a real Jeep, complete with .30 cal machine gun.

I was thinking an M60, but perhaps my eyes (and the times) have changed. 7.62mm

Edited May 21, 2014 by slipperylobster

[ChoakMyDee]

The only good thing to come out of this might be the thinning down of the wall to wall businesses with their very aggressive sales people in Patong. Anything that would return it to an island paradise is OK in my books.

[TomAikins]

Martial law is the best thing that could have happened to the tourist industry and anyone with half a brain should know this. What happened last time? Hundreds of pictures were sent all over the world of guys just like the one in the Jeep and everyone realized that a coup, or martial law, here in Thailand just ain't the same as elsewhere. Now there will be no more violence and both sides will have a chance to back down without losing face and eventually they'll work out a deal behind closed doors just like last time. If the TAT were smart, which of course they're not, they would seize upon this opportunity to come up with a clever slogan and start a big marketing campaign world wide. And since they're too dumb to do it themselves I am hereby offering my services to them. For the measly sum of 500,000 baht I'll come up with a brilliant slogan for them to use that will get tourists here in droves. Of course, as long as there is a sex industry here in Thailand the numbers are never going to go down much anyway. 4.9% in the first four months? That's nothing considering all of the turmoil this place has been through. As a business owner whose livelihood depends somewhat on tourists I am very happy the generals are in charge. Long live the army.