Each year, more than 30,000 international tourists come to Thailand for Songkran, particularly from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Japan and Malaysia. Apichart Sangkary, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said thousands of Asian tourists would this year head to other destinations during the Songkran period.

He said Chinese tourists would be the biggest group of cancellations, estimated at more than 15,000, or 50 per cent of arrivals in April. Thousands of Singaporean, Japanese and Malaysians are also expected to postpone their trips to Thailand next month.

However, Apichart said the association was unable to estimate the total number of cancellations since many tourists have adopted a wait-and-see attitude about the political situation.

"These people have been in wait-and-see mode, and some have postponed their travel plans," Apichart said. "The travel industry has been nervously monitoring advance bookings to measure the repercussions of the political turmoil. People are not sure about the future, so they feel they'd better hold on to their money."

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has revealed that the ongoing political crisis has led to the cancellation of more than 60,000 tourist trips from China and Singapore. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Chatusripitak, expressing concern over the growing slump affecting the country's economy over the past few months, has urged the TAT to work harder and prevent a further downturn in tourist arrivals.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation