The president of the Thai Tourism Services Association, Charoen Wang-ananont, has told the Thai News Agency that the ongoing political unrest has resulted in the number of international arrivals falling 70 per cent.

He further said that local tourism figures had fallen by 60 per cent and that tourists bookings amongst some nationalities had almost all been cancelled for the the short and medium term.

While the association had projected a tourism boom in the fourth quarter of this year, the annual peak period, now  it was projecting foreign tourists visiting Thailand will drop by around 300,000 and hotel occupancy by between 30-40 per cent.

The country’s national airline, Thai Airways International, was also quoted as saying the number of THAI passengers, particularly from Asian countries such as China, Korea, and Japan, had dropped by around 20 per cent, while passenger numbers from Europe had fallen by up to 10 per cent in August.

The full original article can be read here: http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=6210

Ed.