No change in Britons' travel plans after murders on Koh Tao

[webfact]

No change in Britons' travel plans after murders here
Suchat Sritama
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The number of air travellers from the United Kingdom to Thailand has not been affected by the murders of two British nationals at a resort island in the South of Thailand on Monday, airline officials said.

Two major airlines, Thai Airways (THAI) and British Airways (BA) have confirmed that there was no change in bookings in the aftermath of the crime, while new bookings were increasing ahead of the upcoming high season.

The airlines also believed that the murders in Koh Tao and the subsequent travel advisory would not have a huge impact on the industry, unlike the political unrest earlier in the year.

Suraphon Israngura na Ayuthya, THAI executive vice president of commercial department, said the current average load factor of THAI flights from London to Bangkok is 65-68 per cent, which is normal for the off season.

He added that new bookings from UK and other markets from Europe for the high season is increasing, as a lot of tourists still planned their vacations in Thailand.

"We don't see any impact now. The numbers should increase significantly during the high season from October to April.

Billy Chomsakorn, country commercial manager Thailand at BA, said its load factor for Bangkok to London remained high at 90 per cent while origin booking from UK also was doing well.

"Our business is running as usual, no cancellations or change in travel plans," said Billy. The airline on Wednesday launched a round-trip promotion for Bangkok via London to New York or Boston at Bt44,000, all inclusive.

Earlier, it had introduced a special round-trip ticket priced at Bt33,000 for the Bangkok-London route. Also, alternative seat upgrading was also used to boost sales.

Billy said 870,000 tourists from the UK visited Thailand last year. The airline hoped the number would increase to 900,000 next year. A report said that 11 British nationals have been killed in Thailand since 2010, with the deaths caused by accidents, murder or robbery.

According to Thai officials, the government is targeting 6.9 million tourists from Europe next year, a 6 per cent increase over this year's projection. Europeans are expected to generate Bt500 billion income next year.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/No-change-in-Britons-travel-plans-after-murders-he-30243621.html


-- The Nation 2014-09-19

[MJP]

Sensitive announcement at such a time.

[ClutchClark]

Seems like useful information to me.

[NongKhaiKid]

What does traffic on London - Bkk have to do with anything ?

[JohnThailandJohn]

 

Sensitive announcement at such a time.

Looks like this one is on The Nation and not the governmememt

[MJP]

 

Sensitive announcement at such a time.

Looks like this one is on The Nation and not the governmememt

Regardless . . .

[Tokay]

Classy. Real classy.

[MJP]

. . . yet predictable.

[Thai at Heart]

Classy.

[wellred]

Pathetic

[ClutchClark]

It appears difficult for many TV posters to comprehend a world where they are not the center of attention.

Cannot grasp that many Thai nationals livelihoods depend on tourism and they might be anxious to learn Britons' reaction to the gruesome murders.

Edited September 18, 2014 by ClutchClark

[NongKhaiKid]

Pathetic

You have summed it up in a word.

LoS is being seen in a bad light so let's churn out meaningless propaganda that proves nothing.

People are still flying into Bkk, wow !

[ClutchClark]

Rather than just sniveling on here, those of you offended by the article in the Nation should boycott the paper.

Quit buying it. Quit reading it.

[Thai at Heart]

It appears difficult for many TV posters to comprehend a world where they are not the center of attention.

Cannot grasp that many Thai nationals livelihoods depend on tourism and they might be anxious to learn Britons' reaction to the gruesome murders.

I am not sure what mentioning the figures a week later has to do with it. 99% of these holidays were bought and paid for already so it doesn't prove much.

And mentioning prices and offers in an article derived around a tragedy is in incredibly bad taste and I hope head office apologises.

Didn't the embassy ask for the media to show some decorum. Great effort by BA.

[LanceGringo]

It appears difficult for many TV posters to comprehend a world where they are not the center of attention.

Cannot grasp that many Thai nationals livelihoods depend on tourism and they might be anxious to learn Britons' reaction to the gruesome murders.

I couldn't care less about the Thai peoples livelihoods being affected by this crime. Two innocent young people have been murdered whilst they were guests on this island, so the how this affects tourism for Thailand/the Thai people is absolutely of zero importance considering what has happened.

[ClutchClark]

It appears difficult for many TV posters to comprehend a world where they are not the center of attention.

Cannot grasp that many Thai nationals livelihoods depend on tourism and they might be anxious to learn Britons' reaction to the gruesome murders.

I couldn't care less about the Thai peoples livelihoods being affected by this crime. Two innocent young people have been murdered whilst they were guests on this island, so the how this affects tourism for Thailand/the Thai people is absolutely of zero importance considering what has happened.

Thank you for making my point.

Blame the entire society for the crime of one. Make the entire country suffer because of the actions of one.

Thats justice, eh?

Edited September 18, 2014 by ClutchClark

[metisdead]

A post containing an overly derogatory comment has been removed.

[rhythmworx]

Anyone who fly's BA either has the flight paid for from their employer in which case will probably not be visiting Koh Tao or has too much money.

Maybe a gullible gap year student who wants to go island hopping flight paid by mummy and daddy.

[LanceGringo]

It appears difficult for many TV posters to comprehend a world where they are not the center of attention.

Cannot grasp that many Thai nationals livelihoods depend on tourism and they might be anxious to learn Britons' reaction to the gruesome murders.

I couldn't care less about the Thai peoples livelihoods being affected by this crime. Two innocent young people have been murdered whilst they were guests on this island, so the how this affects tourism for Thailand/the Thai people is absolutely of zero importance considering what has happened.

Thank you for making my point.

Blame the entire society for the crime of one. Make the entire country suffer because of the actions of one.

Thats justice, eh?

Nobody is blaming anybody, my point is that two innocent young people being murdered, and bringing the criminals to justice is far more important and of concern that anything related to tourism, or lack of tourism. Let's get our priorities straight.

[cardinalblue]

Hey CC,

Why such a thai apologist? Can you not comprehend the lack of insensitivity and the timeliness of the Thai gov and Thais in general only concern is about tourism and tourism numbers. Their priorities are all screwed up. It is not the time nor place to whip out an article about how does it impact me,me,me, me...

If they showed some compassion and not worry so much about how is this going to impact tourism. This event will have zero or very little impact on Tourism. Isolated murders have in all major cities/countries. .Now if there was a crime pattern or volume occurring against tourists or foreigners (like in Florida car rentals) then that is a different matter and then it is justified to come out with a study on how tourism has been impacted positively or negatively. But not within a week of a horrific crime and their tourism statements are nothing but projections and speculations anyway as they really don't know what the future brings. The point is that tourism shouldn't even being discussed in the media at this point in time.

For them to even think and put into public statements at this time is more of a reflection of insecurity even paranoia on their part. They got their priorities upside down and it reflects badly internationally..

Can you not see that?.

CB

[halloween]

"........the deaths caused by accidents, murder or robbery."

Personally, I would consider a death during a robbery as murder, unless it was the robber who ended up dead.

[crazykopite]

Many people fly into Thailand on route to another country , these murders only took place a few days ago let's wait and see what the bookings are like when after a month no one has been brought to justice for these terrible crimes. Koh Tao is a beautiful island and I have always found the elders of the island very sincere and polite sadly the young Thais have got used to the western culture and want what westerners have iPhones, laptops and more importantly the money to buy them when there is no income coming in people resort to robbery a couple of years ago when living on the island my house was broken into they were not interested in my credit cards that is to complicated they were after cash, cameras, computers and even the wife's Ray-bans. The islands are very close knit families who will protect there siblings even when they know they could be involved in crime but of course it would never be a Thai's fault has to be a migrant or tourist from another country.

[ebean001]

you can deduce which part of the world and which ethnic group contains people who are genetically the most similar to your own ancestors and gain an understanding of which ethnic group has the strongest ties to your genetic lineage. DNA testing can also allow you to determine your Haplogroup. Haplogroups are ancient family groups dating back to over 100,000 years ago that have migrated around the world to form our current populations. Certain Haplogroups are found exclusively in certain parts of the world. For example, all native americans fall into exclusive Haplogroups which are found either only in North America or in North America and Asia (since Native Americans are originally from Asia). Likewise, Europe contains many Haplogroups which are specific to Europeans and are not found in Native American and rarely found in Asians or Africans.

[Plutojames88]

The deaths occurred less than a week ago-

Too early for the impact to be felt.

Last minute cancellations are not easy with everything arranged and 90% of bookings are made ten days prior to departure.

However, when planning a holiday those doing so might well be influence by this.

Especially in light that the crime is unsolved and various comments made in relation to these terrible murders.

So take these boasts that it hasn't affected things with a grain of salt .

[lovelaos]

you can deduce which part of the world and which ethnic group contains people who are genetically the most similar to your own ancestors and gain an understanding of which ethnic group has the strongest ties to your genetic lineage. DNA testing can also allow you to determine your Haplogroup. Haplogroups are ancient family groups dating back to over 100,000 years ago that have migrated around the world to form our current populations. Certain Haplogroups are found exclusively in certain parts of the world. For example, all native americans fall into exclusive Haplogroups which are found either only in North America or in North America and Asia (since Native Americans are originally from Asia). Likewise, Europe contains many Haplogroups which are specific to Europeans and are not found in Native American and rarely found in Asians or Africans.

What???

[halloween]

you can deduce which part of the world and which ethnic group contains people who are genetically the most similar to your own ancestors and gain an understanding of which ethnic group has the strongest ties to your genetic lineage. DNA testing can also allow you to determine your Haplogroup. Haplogroups are ancient family groups dating back to over 100,000 years ago that have migrated around the world to form our current populations. Certain Haplogroups are found exclusively in certain parts of the world. For example, all native americans fall into exclusive Haplogroups which are found either only in North America or in North America and Asia (since Native Americans are originally from Asia). Likewise, Europe contains many Haplogroups which are specific to Europeans and are not found in Native American and rarely found in Asians or Africans.

So let's be clear here. If you have Asian haplogroups, you could be a N. American with some AmerInd ancestry, or a Briton the descendant of that N. American who sired a child during WWII, or maybe a Russian with Tartar ancestry, or a German the descendant of that Russian?

Well that should narrow the field of suspects!

[dBrown]

No change in Britons' travel plans after murders on Koh Tao

Oh fine, lets continue raping an murdering tourists then, since we are untouchable .

[jaltsc]

"According to Thai officials, the government is targeting 6.9 million tourists from Europe next year..." (Hopefully all of them will be ugly)

http://nypost.com/2014/09/18/thailands-pm-only-ugly-people-are-safe-in-bikinis-here/

"Thailand’s prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, has sparked outrage with his comments in the wake of the brutal murders of two tourists.

Chan-ocha warned that female visitors who wear bikinis may not be safe — unless they are ugly, the Huffington Post reports."

Edited September 19, 2014 by jaltsc

[keith89]

you can deduce which part of the world and which ethnic group contains people who are genetically the most similar to your own ancestors and gain an understanding of which ethnic group has the strongest ties to your genetic lineage. DNA testing can also allow you to determine your Haplogroup. Haplogroups are ancient family groups dating back to over 100,000 years ago that have migrated around the world to form our current populations. Certain Haplogroups are found exclusively in certain parts of the world. For example, all native americans fall into exclusive Haplogroups which are found either only in North America or in North America and Asia (since Native Americans are originally from Asia). Likewise, Europe contains many Haplogroups which are specific to Europeans and are not found in Native American and rarely found in Asians or Africans.

What???

what you on about? never read so much rubbish in all my life

[sangfroid]

Phew!!! That's alright then...........<deleted>.