Bangkok on the brink

By John Le Fevre

If anyone needed any proof of how important tourism is to the economy of Thailand they need look no further than the gamble the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) took to launch a massive public relations campaign aimed at travel journalists while the political turmoil in the country remained unresolved.

With thousands of anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) members still occupying the nations Government House, TAT and Thai Airways International (TAI) launched a massive public relations campaign that will be remembered forever as one of the most ill-timed events ever.

From the northern most point of Mai Sai to the southern most point of Tanon Sukyang, 1,648km away, the word on the lips of everyone in the Thai tourism industry is “nit noi” (a little bit).

In the normally bustling backpacker section of Bangkok tour and travel shop operators all say this is the quietest September and October they can remember.

In the Northern tourist destination of Chiang Mai the glistening new 384-room, 4-star Le Meridien hotel has again postponed its opening, standing like a giant yellow monolith overshadowing the sparsely patronised night bazaar where vendors sit and chat among themselves due to the lack of tourists.

Likewise hundreds of rental motorbikes stand forlornly awaiting customers, street massage girls while away the hours plaiting each others hair or talking on mobile phones, bar staff polish already impeccably clean glassware, and restaurant wait staff um, wait – optimistically scouring the empty streets for customers.

In the southern tourist destinations the situation is almost identical.

Beach deck chairs remain empty, the normally jammed clubs and beer bars blast music to empty dance floors, and diving instructors spend most of their time out of the water.

With tourism in Thailand accounting for more than six per cent of GDP, or around $US16 billion in revenue, there is little doubt that TAT and Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has been under considerable pressure to act in the face of plummeting arrivals figures.

Following the lifting of the state of emergency that was applied in Bangkok on September 2, 2008 after PAD protesters clashed with police and stranded 150,000 tourists by closing the Phuket, Krabi and Hat Yai airports, the ministry wrote to 26 embassies which had earlier issued warnings to their citizens to avoid visiting Thailand, to inform them of the current situation.

It then dispatched a team of officials for a roadshow mission in China “to clarify the real political situation in the kingdom.”

With tourism operators Thailand-wide reporting massive cancellations, similar roadshows were planned for Japan, Korea, India, Russia and various European countries.

Tourism in Thailand has increased from 630,000 foreign tourists in 1970 to 14.6 million last year. The industry accounts for more than 11 per cent of the economy and TAT was forecasting 15.5 million foreign tourists this year.

However following the first round of clashes between anti-government demonstrators and police and the closure of the three previously mentioned airports, arrivals plummeted.

Last month Maiyarat Pheerayakoses, president of the Association of Domestic Travel Agents, broke down in tears as she reported at a meeting at the Tourism and Sports Ministry that agents were reporting 90 per cent cancellations for local tour packages.

Across the “Land of Smiles” similar reports were turning the smiles into grimaces.

As the high season got underway on September 15, official figures for Pattaya indicated a drop in tourism for August of around 20 per cent from 2007.

On the holiday island of Phuket things were not much better. Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) president Somboon Chirayus was quoted saying, “there have been many cancellations among foreign tour groups.

“Cancellation rates among Japanese visitors are the highest, at about 50 per cent.

Bhuritt Maswongssa, the marketing director for the Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter, reported that hotel occupancy on Phuket for September was 50 per cent, compared to 70 per cent the previous year.

Phuket’s Marriot Hotel alone reported more than $US4.5 Million in cancellations for September, mostly from corporate bookings.

Charoen Wang-ananont, president of the Thai Tourism Services Association said last month that foreign tourist arrivals had fallen by 70 per cent, while local tourism was down 60 per cent and hotel room occupancy down by up to 40 per cent.

Weekly “crisis management meetings” by TAT officials showed that the political turmoil was likely to result in an 8 per cent fall in international tourists to below 14 million.

With the political situation appearing to have stabilised somewhat, even though the government was forced to convert Thailand’s old Don Muang airport into a temporary government house, TAT took a gamble and decided to launch a massive rescue operation for the country’s ailing tourism industry.

Showing a total lack of originality, coming on top of the “Visit Thailand Year 2008-2009” campaign, TAT decided to launch the “Visit Amazing Thailand Year 2009” campaign and flew in 1,000 international travel journalists and tour operators from Asia, Europe and North America.

At the same time as TAT’s governor, Phornsiri Manoharn, was welcoming delegates, police and PAD demonstrators were clashing on the streets in the bloodiest day of protest since the ant-government protesters began their campaign six weeks ago.

For TAT, it’s going to take more than a few incense sticks at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha or free elephant rides for travel industry scribes to write eloquently enough to reverse Thailand’s slump in tourist arrivals.

Read John Le Fevre’s full story here

http://photojourn.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/thailand-tourism-in-crisis-as-protesters-die-in-bloody-bangkok/