Thai Martial Law Seen Hurting Bangkok, Phuket Tourist Arrivals

Bangkok’s bustling night life and

James Bond Island near Phuket, shunned by tourists amid

political turmoil, must brace for empty cash registers as the

imposition of martial law in Thailand deters holidaymakers.

Visitors to the country may fall 5 percent this year, the

biggest drop since 2009, as the U.S. and Hong Kong governments

tell their people to be “cautious” while traveling to the

nation. Foreigners arriving in Thailand already dropped 4.9

percent in the first four months of 2014 from a year earlier to

8.62 million, according to the Department of Tourism.

With tourism accounting for as much as 10 percent of gross

domestic product, keeping hotels and shopping malls open and

busy is key for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, famous

for its ancient Buddhist temples and pristine beaches. Over the

last decade, Thailand’s travel industry had been bruised as a

siege of the Suvarnabhumi airport by protesters and political

violence in capital Bangkok prompted airlines to stop services.

“It’s not good for Bangkok and not good for tourism in

Thailand,” said Mario Hardy, chief operations officer at the
Pacific Asia Travel Association in Bangkok, which made the

visitor forecast. “Tourism is a huge income for the country, so

this is not helping.”

Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Tourists walk past deck chairs on Patong beach in Phuket. Close

Tourists walk past deck chairs on Patong beach in Phuket.

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Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Tourists walk past deck chairs on Patong beach in Phuket.

Thailand’s army imposed martial law nationwide after months

of political turmoil that brought down the government of Prime

Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and tipped the economy into a

contraction. The move is not a coup and people should not be

concerned, Army Chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha said.

Bangkok Streets

The military is seeking to restore order and is asking

political groups to halt their protests, he said. Soldiers and

military vehicles were on the streets of Bangkok, although no

curfew had been imposed.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA), Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier,

is closely monitoring the situation in Thailand and hasn’t cut

any flights so far, the carrier said in an e-mailed statement.

The airline had scrapped 43 flights to Bangkok between Jan. 14

and Feb. 27. Thai Airways International Pcl (THAI) and Cathay Pacific

Airways Ltd. also said their flights haven’t been affected on

Day 1 under martial law.

“Things were starting to get better, but unfortunately

this announcement is going to put the situation back to where it

was a few months ago,” Hardy said. “Hotels are now worried

that travel advisories will impact their business again.”

Photographer: Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg

English tourists chat beside market stalls outside the Siam Center shopping mall in Bangkok. With tourism accounting for as much as 10 percent of gross domestic product, keeping hotels and shopping malls open and busy is key for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. Close

English tourists chat beside market stalls outside the Siam Center shopping mall in… Read More

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Photographer: Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg

English tourists chat beside market stalls outside the Siam Center shopping mall in Bangkok. With tourism accounting for as much as 10 percent of gross domestic product, keeping hotels and shopping malls open and busy is key for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and Hong Kong today issued

warnings to citizens to be cautious when traveling in Thailand,

where protests began in October.

Hotel Bookings

While political unrest has slowed demand for travel to

Thailand, it has yet to cause any cancellations in bookings,

according to Chan Brothers, a Singapore travel agent.

Three-month advance bookings for hotels in Thailand was 26

percent in March, compared with 32 percent a year ago, according

to the Bank of Thailand. The rooms were 58 percent occupied that

month, compared with 72 percent a year earlier.

Bangkok, which hosts more than half of the foreigners

coming into the country, posted a 14 percent decline in visitors

in the first four months of this year. Tourism has been hit

adversely by the political stalemate, DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (DBS)’s

research arm said in a May 16 report.

The hotel occupancy rate has now fallen by about 13

percentage points compared with the third quarter of last year,

while the monthly number of tourists is down by about 450,000,

DBS said.

“These numbers are pretty much equivalent to those seen

during the deadly clashes” in March-May 2010, it said.

New Checkpoint

Thailand has been without a fully functioning government

since December, when then-premier Yingluck called snap elections

in a bid to ease the unrest. Political polarization has

escalated in the past decade over the role of her brother and

former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies in a

nation that’s seen 11 coups since the end of direct rule by

kings in 1932.

On Ramkhamhaeng Road, which links a major highway that is a

gateway to the eastern and central provinces on the outskirts of

Bangkok, at least 20 soldiers have set up a checkpoint. They

used a military truck to block half the four-lane road, with two

Humvees also in the area.

The army in a statement warned the media against inciting

unrest and said it would ban the broadcast of news that could

“trigger fear among the public.” It said it planned to take 11

satellite TV and radio stations off the air, including Bluesky,

which is affiliated with the opposition Democrat party.

News coming out of Bangkok is making travelers like Rachel

Tan and Maria Joseph Khoo in Singapore think twice about

visiting Thailand.

Tan is reconsidering a trip to Bangkok with her boyfriend

and her mother this Sunday, while Khoo is looking for an

alternative destination after her parents objected to her plan

to visit the country in June.

“I would love to go ahead with the trip,” said Tan, an

events producer at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. “But, it

would depend on how the government advisory changes.”

To contact the reporter on this story:

Kyunghee Park in Singapore at

kpark3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Anand Krishnamoorthy at

anandk@bloomberg.net

Stephanie Phang

Thai Martial Law Seen Hurting Bangkok, Phuket Tourist Arrivals