Bangkok: Anti-government protests in Thailand may hamper the tourism industry's recovery from the global recession and political turbulence of last year, the Tourism Council of Thailand said.
"We expect to see a drop in foreign tourist arrivals this month," Wilaiporn Liwgasemsan, the council's executive director, said by phone yesterday.
"Not only foreign tourists, the political tensions also discourage Thai people from travelling."
Opponents of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva gathered for a fifth day in Bangkok, threatening to spill the blood of protesters outside his office and home in a bid to force an early election.
Authorities in Hong Kong and Australia issued travel warnings for Thailand after the Thai government invoked an internal security law earlier this month.
"The protests caused some clients to cancel or delay their stays, but the number is not alarming yet," said Prapharat Tangkawattana, senior finance director at Minor International, which manages hotels in Thailand under the Four Seasons, Anantara and Marriott brands.
All Hong Kong tours to Bangkok have been cancelled since last week after the outbound travel alert to the Thai capital was upgraded to red.
The Australian government advised its citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution" because of the "strong possibility" for violence and civil unrest in Thailand, particularly in Bangkok.
Record arrivals
Thailand's tourist arrivals reached records of 1.42 million in December and 1.43 million in January, according to the central bank.
Income from foreign tourists is equivalent to about 6 per cent of the nation's economy, and helped lift the nation out of its first recession in a decade last quarter.
"Tourists' confidence is very sensitive," said Charoen Wangananont, President of Thai Travel Agents Association.
"Now the impact to the industry is still limited. But if the protests drag on beyond this week, the impact may be more."
The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, which backs fugitive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra, has pledged a peaceful demonstration.
The protest is the latest incarnation of a power struggle mostly between the urban elite and rural poor that has been marked by airport blockades, rioting and grenade attacks since the military ousted Thaksin in 2006.
