Bangkok turmoil par for the course, says operator
BANGKOK — Thailand’s tourism sector continues to function despite political turbulence, cancelled travel plans and worries from investors.
“Our concerns are two-fold,†said Mark Siegel, CEO of Golfasian, a Bangkok-based golf tour operator.
“While 99 percent of the country’s hotels and golf courses and restaurants are operating as normal, the more important concern is that we continue to have dozens of clients in country.
“We have to look out for their welfare and assure them that their safety isn’t an issue because, in my view, it isn’t.
“There can be no minimising the fact that 21 people are dead. But the reality is, I was all over Bangkok that day [10 April], out to the airport and downtown, and if you weren’t surfing the Net or watching TV, you would not have known anything was amiss.â€
Siegel said the second concern is the long-term toll these events, still ongoing, will take on Thai tourism — one of the country’s largest industries.
“It’s hard to strike the right balance in assessing the effects going forward,†said Siegel, American-born but a Thai resident since 1995.
“It’s disrespectful and simply untrue to assert that things are going forward as normal, and will go forward as normal. This is the worst political violence in 20 years.
“But it’s also true that this is a country where the military has staged 18 separate coups since the 1930s, a country where politics are raucous and protests are common place.
“I mean, the past week’s events have shaken the Thai people. No question. But from a tourist perspective, things will recover quickly. They always have.â€
In December 2008, red-shirted protestors staged a peaceful but extremely disruptive protest at Suvarnabhumi, closing the international airport for three days.
“There was no real violence there at all, but that incident spooked a lot of travellers and prompted a lot tourists to change their plans,†Siegel said.
“No one would have predicted it, but 2009 turned out to be our biggest year ever in terms of golfer visitorship. Things rebounded much stronger than anticipated.â€
Siegel said the same Saturday that 21 were killed in Bangkok, Golfasian welcomed a party of 16 golfing Australians at Suvarnabhumi. Siegel said he escorted them to the Westin Sukhumvit in the heart of downtown — all without incident.
Widespread SMS and cell phone usage amongst tourists makes communication fairly straightforward, and Siegel said Golfasian is determined to keep current and scheduled visitors fully apprised of what’s happening — and not happening — in Bangkok.
Ian Jarrett
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