Thailand - State of emergency spooks Asian travellers

“STATE OF WAR” was what “state of emergency” conjured in the mind of an Austrian tourist.



“It reminds me of the terminology used to describe the situation in Georgia,” said Rudolf Hausegger. His sentiments were shared by not a few from the West.



The state of emergency was declared by Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on September 2 and it came in the wake of, among others, the closure of several Thai airports over the weekend that stranded thousands of tourists bound for and departing Phuket, Krabi and Hat Yai in southern Thailand. (See side bar.) Some 15,000 passengers were stranded in Phuket alone, where anti-government protesters marched down the runway, prompting the government to close the airport down.



The political crisis came at a time when the Kingdom was preparing for the high season starting in October.



The PM vowed that the state of emergency would only last for a few days. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately stepped up behind the PM to explain all about the state of emergency. According to Virasakdi Futrakul, Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, tourists should not cancel their travel plans to Thailand and that tours can still take place as normal. PATA also sent a message to the travel industry and all media to confirm that tourists’ safety was not affected by the situation.



Indeed, tourists coming to Bangkok wouldn’t notice a difference in the life of the capital: same traffic jam, same rush in the shopping malls and same crowds at night touring their favourite spots. After a few hectic days, air transport to the Southern part of the country was back to normal – especially in Krabi and Phuketand trains started to operate again after a two-day strike



But the effect of images on television will linger for a while, especially in Asia. Travel warning advices have already been issued by 13 countries, including Britain, Canada, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. Australia and New Zealand, on the other hand, advised their citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” when travelling to Thailand.



First cancellations came from Asian travellers, especially Koreans and Japanese who remain more sensitive than Europeans on security issues. If unrest was due to continue into October, it would then impact on European markets as well. During the high season, Thailand braces for 1.5 to two million international visitors each month. Five days after the state of emergency, the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) said that arrivals of foreign tourists in Bangkok were down by 30 percent.



ATTA president, Apichart Sankary, told AFP that the political turmoil was costing Thailand THB 400 million (US$ 11.7 million) a day in lost revenue. On an average day, the country earns about THB 1.5 billion from tourism.