Jobs go as Thailand rues airport blockade
BANGKOK – While a new prime minister – Thailand’s 27th – takes the reins, the fall out from recent political disturbances by anti-government protestors continues to inflict damage on Thailand’s tourism industry.
In Phuket some hotel workers are being asked to work only half their normal hours – for half pay. They are the lucky ones.
Others are expected to lose their jobs as hotels threaten to close down because of lack of business.
”Conditions may grow a lot worse yet,†Sasiwan Anantagool, an Employment Department official based in Bangkok, told Phuketwan.
Her advice to people in work and people looking for work is the same: be cautious with your spending because next year is going to get even tougher than this high season.
”To survive the coming downturn, people need to take whatever jobs are available now, and hope they last.”
Up to December 2, 519 resorts and other businesses around Thailand had laid off 44,797 workers, she said.
In another consequence of the political protests that blocked Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports for eight days, stranding hundreds of thousands of international visitors, international airlines are asking Thailand to pay for the cost of disruption and loss of revenue.
Jeff Poole, director for industry charges, fuel and taxation at IATA, told the Bangkok Post , “We want to see the costs of disruption and revenue ‘ring-fenced’ either by the Airport Authority of Thailand or the Thai government. We don’t want to see those charges coming to the airlines.”
IATA suggested that the Thai government could follow the precedent set by the US government, which compensated airlines and others in the travel industry after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ian Jarrett
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