Fears for Thailand tourism after coup

Thailand’s tourism industry suffered yet another setback yesterday, as the military took control of the country in a coup d’etat.

Army leaders, who had already declared martial law in the country on Tuesday, confirmed they had taken over the running of the country from 4.30pm on Thursday 22 May 2014, after brief negotiations with Thailand’s rival political factions ended without resolution. A curfew was imposed from 10pm last night to 5am this morning, and all TV channels – included foreign networks – were taken off the air.

The move marks another blow to Thailand’s previously thriving tourism industry. Data from the country’s Department of Tourism showed that the number of international arrivals to Thailand fell 4.9% to 8.62 million in the first four months of the year. Hotel occupancy has slumped more than 30% in the first quarter and Thailand’s airlines have suffered losses.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has once again tried to reassure visitors, advising that all tourist facilities remain open for business. In addition, it confirmed that air passengers with flights scheduled during the curfew “can travel to and from the airports… as usual”.

It did note however, that the opening hours of bars, restaurants and other facilities would be adjusted in line with the curfew and advised that passengers travelling on flights during curfew hours should “prepare all travel documents when travelling to and from the airports”.

Since the last coup in 2006, Thailand’s tourism industry has suffered a string of setbacks, including an airport shutdown, street protests and severe floods. But despite this, visitor arrivals continued to climb. In 2006 – the year of Thailand’s last coup – 13.8m international visitors travelled to Thailand. By 2013 this number had risen to 26.7m, an increase of 93%. It is also worth noting that in 2006, overseas arrivals to Thailand actually increased 20% compared to 2005, although the coup did occur later in the year (September 2006, as opposed to May 2014) and in 2005 Thailand was still recovering from the 2004 tsunami.

In Bangkok this morning, the streets appear only slightly quieter than usual, and the general mood of the city seems calm. But everyone in the country, and especially its tourism sector, will be hoping the military rule is lifted soon and democracy restored.

Thailand tourism arrivals between coups:

2006: 13.82m (+20.0% year-on-year)
2009: 14.15m (-0.3%)
2011: 19.23m (+20.9%)
2013: 26.74% (+19.6%)