Figures show tourism being decimated by continuing crisis. International arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport have dropped 30 per cent, while average hotel-occupancy rates in Bangkok and Phuket have plunged 40-50 per cent from last month.
The dramatic drop-off has occurred since the anti-government protests started disrupting public services last week, said the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA).
As tourists try to avoid political turbulence, the number of visitors arriving at Suvarnabhumi has fallen to 56,000-70,000 a day since last Friday – when three southern airports were closed by protests – from a daily average of 80,000-100,000 last month, ATTA president Apichart Sankary said yesterday.
The number of international arrivals could deteriorate further, as Singapore, China, Taiwan, New Zealand, Switzerland, France and Denmark yesterday issued warnings about travelling to Thailand. Australia, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Canada had already taking similar action, advising their nationals against visiting the Kingdom at this time.
