Thai Tourism Ministry: Effects of bombing to be short-lived

[webfact]

MOTS: Effects of bombing to be short-lived



BANGKOK, 2 September 2015, (NNT) - Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul is confident that the bombing at the Ratchaprasong Intersection on July 17th will only affect tourism temporarily.

Ms. Kobkarn expects the repercussion of the incident to last only a couple of months at the most. According to her, accommodation booking dropped 10 percent immediately after the incident. However, it has jumped by 20 percent for September, with reservation for October expected to increase by 30 percent.

She is strongly convinced that Thailand will still be able to attract 28.8 million tourists, generating up to 2 trillion baht for the tourism industry, as earlier targeted.

She attributed the strong forecast figure to the government's reliable security measures and the recent news that the suspects have been arrested.


-- NNT 2015-09-02

[puukao]

In astronomy, "short-lived" can be one billion years.

[peterjackson]

The July 17th bomb effects may only be short lived, because no one has heard of it. But the August bombing might be a different matter.

[Kannikapor88]

She is praying for that of course but the facts will be somewhat diff than her propaganda nonsens ...

[DLock]

"Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul is confident"

"Ms. Kobkarn expects the repercussion"

"She is strongly convinced"

Glad to see superior market research, data, industry analysis, surveys and hotel booking figures are at the core of her insightful analysis.

Popkorn speak.

[Yunla]

I think that Ms. Kobkarn is right, the initial shock makes people pause briefly for thought, but tourists are not shop-dummies, they are adults who understand the relative risks in life, and are always balancing these risks in their global travels. A person is far more likely to be the victim of traffic accidents or other common accidents in most countries they travel to, than to be caught up in things like bombings.

A person visiting Thailand should balance the very low risk, with the many wonders to be found in this beautiful nation. I think that most tourists will balance these things and find a holiday in Thailand to be a joyful and memorable experience. This has been my own experience too, and that of countless friends who also visited this great nation as tourists, and go home safely with nothing but happy memories of their time in Thailand.

[WhizBang]

God forbid that this atrocity would effect tourism. This woman, just like most Thais that have a camera/microphone pointed at them, should learn to heep her mouth shut. Better to be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

[clockman]

She has all the qualifications, being the a wife of a general!

[mark131v]

She has all the qualifications, being the a wife of a general!

Spooky that...

Who would have thought it

[upena]

And, to think, we have to listen to her for at least one more year.

[Thai at Heart]

I think that Ms. Kobkarn is right, the initial shock makes people pause briefly for thought, but tourists are not shop-dummies, they are adults who understand the relative risks in life, and are always balancing these risks in their global travels. A person is far more likely to be the victim of traffic accidents or other common accidents in most countries they travel to, than to be caught up in things like bombings.

A person visiting Thailand should balance the very low risk, with the many wonders to be found in this beautiful nation. I think that most tourists will balance these things and find a holiday in Thailand to be a joyful and memorable experience. This has been my own experience too, and that of countless friends who also visited this great nation as tourists, and go home safely with nothing but happy memories of their time in Thailand.

You think Chinese tourists think this long term about Uighur terrorists? How is tourism in Xinjiang these days?

[Baerboxer]

I think that Ms. Kobkarn is right, the initial shock makes people pause briefly for thought, but tourists are not shop-dummies, they are adults who understand the relative risks in life, and are always balancing these risks in their global travels. A person is far more likely to be the victim of traffic accidents or other common accidents in most countries they travel to, than to be caught up in things like bombings.

A person visiting Thailand should balance the very low risk, with the many wonders to be found in this beautiful nation. I think that most tourists will balance these things and find a holiday in Thailand to be a joyful and memorable experience. This has been my own experience too, and that of countless friends who also visited this great nation as tourists, and go home safely with nothing but happy memories of their time in Thailand.

You think Chinese tourists think this long term about Uighur terrorists? How is tourism in Xinjiang these days?

All the tourists stopped visiting the US after 9/11; London after the Moslem and IRA bombs; Bali after the nightclub bombs; Spain after the ETA bombs; Cyprus after the Turks invaded and stole half the Island; Corsica after separatist bombs etc etc.?

It takes a long and sustained turbulent violent period to put people off. A short time, extra caution and security for a while and soon the risk is seemingly diminished in people's minds.

All the business, conference attendees and holiday makers I know are still planning on traveling. Not one has cancelled. In fact, not one has even asked about if it's too dangerous.

[jerojero]

More BS. Blah... Blah... Blah. Will it ever stop?

[Thai at Heart]

I think that Ms. Kobkarn is right, the initial shock makes people pause briefly for thought, but tourists are not shop-dummies, they are adults who understand the relative risks in life, and are always balancing these risks in their global travels. A person is far more likely to be the victim of traffic accidents or other common accidents in most countries they travel to, than to be caught up in things like bombings.

A person visiting Thailand should balance the very low risk, with the many wonders to be found in this beautiful nation. I think that most tourists will balance these things and find a holiday in Thailand to be a joyful and memorable experience. This has been my own experience too, and that of countless friends who also visited this great nation as tourists, and go home safely with nothing but happy memories of their time in Thailand.

You think Chinese tourists think this long term about Uighur terrorists? How is tourism in Xinjiang these days?

All the tourists stopped visiting the US after 9/11; London after the Moslem and IRA bombs; Bali after the nightclub bombs; Spain after the ETA bombs; Cyprus after the Turks invaded and stole half the Island; Corsica after separatist bombs etc etc.?

It takes a long and sustained turbulent violent period to put people off. A short time, extra caution and security for a while and soon the risk is seemingly diminished in people's minds.

All the business, conference attendees and holiday makers I know are still planning on traveling. Not one has cancelled. In fact, not one has even asked about if it's too dangerous.

Chinese are fickle. It will hurt their tourism greater than other countries. Particularly since these are Uighur issues.

[Alwyn]

Amazing... Don't these people gives a rat's about the security of their country? Rhetorical question obviously but the way they view tourists as simply a cash cow (which is fair enough, that's what they are) without a thought about their future safety is mind-boggling

[phoenixdoglover]

Nothing!!!

Nothing, will prevent the arrival of 28.8 million tourists in 2015! Not a military junta, nor a devalued Ruble, nor an economic decline, nor a collapsing Chinese stock market, nor human trafficking, nor drought, nor a bombing in downtown Bangkok!

We are invincible! We are Thailand!

[Yunla]

I think that Ms. Kobkarn is right, the initial shock makes people pause briefly for thought, but tourists are not shop-dummies, they are adults who understand the relative risks in life, and are always balancing these risks in their global travels. A person is far more likely to be the victim of traffic accidents or other common accidents in most countries they travel to, than to be caught up in things like bombings.

A person visiting Thailand should balance the very low risk, with the many wonders to be found in this beautiful nation. I think that most tourists will balance these things and find a holiday in Thailand to be a joyful and memorable experience. This has been my own experience too, and that of countless friends who also visited this great nation as tourists, and go home safely with nothing but happy memories of their time in Thailand.

You think Chinese tourists think this long term about Uighur terrorists? How is tourism in Xinjiang these days?

I think a better comparison for Thailand to observe, is Acapulco. This tourist paradise had a golden-age in the mid-20th century, it was a shining jewel in a developing nation. And then fell it from grace with the family-tourist market. It did not lose the tourist paradise image due to occasional terrorist bombs, but due to daily drug-related gangland crime, poor safeguards in tourist areas, and tourists being harassed and hustled on the beaches.

These things deter tourists more than terrorist bombs, because unless you are in an unstable warzone situation, terrorist bombs are rare. Drug-related gangland crime and hustling, by comparison, can be a daily event in poorly regulated developing nations. A tourist is typically looking to avoid the daily-risk problems, rather than the very infrequent problems such as bombings. As such, Thailand should continue to concentrate on increasing security regulations, road safety, clean beaches, cracking down on gangland crime and tourist-scams and soforth. Obviously preventing terrorism is also essential, stopping further attacks whenever possible.

[ChrisY1]

20+ people killed in central BKK........no convictions yet...and she hopes that the world will forget.........go back to Toshiba!!

[Thai at Heart]

I think that Ms. Kobkarn is right, the initial shock makes people pause briefly for thought, but tourists are not shop-dummies, they are adults who understand the relative risks in life, and are always balancing these risks in their global travels. A person is far more likely to be the victim of traffic accidents or other common accidents in most countries they travel to, than to be caught up in things like bombings.

A person visiting Thailand should balance the very low risk, with the many wonders to be found in this beautiful nation. I think that most tourists will balance these things and find a holiday in Thailand to be a joyful and memorable experience. This has been my own experience too, and that of countless friends who also visited this great nation as tourists, and go home safely with nothing but happy memories of their time in Thailand.

You think Chinese tourists think this long term about Uighur terrorists? How is tourism in Xinjiang these days?

I think a better comparison for Thailand to observe, is Acapulco. This tourist paradise had a golden-age in the mid-20th century, it was a shining jewel in a developing nation. And then fell it from grace with the family-tourist market. It did not lose the tourist paradise image due to occasional terrorist bombs, but due to daily drug-related gangland crime, poor safeguards in tourist areas, and tourists being harassed and hustled on the beaches.

These things deter tourists more than terrorist bombs, because unless you are in an unstable warzone situation, terrorist bombs are rare. Drug-related gangland crime and hustling, by comparison, can be a daily event in poorly regulated developing nations. A tourist is typically looking to avoid the daily-risk problems, rather than the very infrequent problems such as bombings. As such, Thailand should continue to concentrate on increasing security regulations, road safety, clean beaches, cracking down on gangland crime and tourist-scams and soforth. Obviously preventing terrorism is also essential, stopping further attacks whenever possible.

Well, despite not living there any more, Chinese friends of mine are asking if it's safe and my previous company has cancelled it's yearly sales knees up in Bangkok.

Saying it will have little or no effect when the figures are so massively dominated by Chinese arrivals is very optimistic in my opinion.

[davehowden]

Lets just hope there isn't another bomb from amongst all these wonderful Chinese Tourists!

[changnaam]

Sorry for the loss of life, sorry for the bungled Investigation, sorry this could easily happen again..........

As long as we can deflect and keep them coming, that is all that matters here.

[silent]

Realistically what's being said is that among all other factors, the bombing was an isolated incident that in a short while probably won't even be on the list of tourist concerns. (See all the happy tourists).

[jesimps]

I think that Ms. Kobkarn is right, the initial shock makes people pause briefly for thought, but tourists are not shop-dummies, they are adults who understand the relative risks in life, and are always balancing these risks in their global travels. A person is far more likely to be the victim of traffic accidents or other common accidents in most countries they travel to, than to be caught up in things like bombings.

A person visiting Thailand should balance the very low risk, with the many wonders to be found in this beautiful nation. I think that most tourists will balance these things and find a holiday in Thailand to be a joyful and memorable experience. This has been my own experience too, and that of countless friends who also visited this great nation as tourists, and go home safely with nothing but happy memories of their time in Thailand.

You think Chinese tourists think this long term about Uighur terrorists? How is tourism in Xinjiang these days?

All the tourists stopped visiting the US after 9/11; London after the Moslem and IRA bombs; Bali after the nightclub bombs; Spain after the ETA bombs; Cyprus after the Turks invaded and stole half the Island; Corsica after separatist bombs etc etc.?

It takes a long and sustained turbulent violent period to put people off. A short time, extra caution and security for a while and soon the risk is seemingly diminished in people's minds.

All the business, conference attendees and holiday makers I know are still planning on traveling. Not one has cancelled. In fact, not one has even asked about if it's too dangerous.

Notice how all the junta groupies get pear shaped if anyone criticises Thailand under the present regime? They really take it personally.

[Jingthing]

Cracking down on Uighur terrorists will surely help ...

Edited September 2, 2015 by Jingthing

[godden]

The bodies of the victims have only just turned cold and it's back to the money.

[geriatrickid]

Tourism Ministry has a point.

The Indians and Chinese are oblivious to this sort of thing.They have their own murder and mayhem and have an equal or greater likelihood of being rundown, murdered or blown up in their own countries. In any given week, a factory blows up, or shoddy building collapses or a school bus runs off a bridge in China or India.

The European, American and Australian junketeers will still come to Thailand. They too are oblivious to these types of events. All that matters is a good "deal".

Face it, there hasn't been much of an exodus of farangs from Thailand over the past 5 years. For everyone who leaves, there's another sucker waiting to come in.