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Published on August 23, 2007

The hotels are located along Sukhumvit Road and on Siam Square.

A tourism industry source said the properties deciding to postpone opening dates included The Crown Plaza Sukhumvit, a five-star hotel originally set to open next year.

The Millennium Sukhumvit, near Asoke, is also considering postpone its opening.

Another is The Watt Hotel, owned by Charoen. The hotel used to operate as the Impala Hotel on Sukhumvit 24, a four-star property under his Imperial Group of Hotels. The group had planned to reconstruct it under a new brand.

"The speculation is that the opening of this hotel will be delayed by at least two years," the source said.

The source also said that Kempinski Hotel, the famous European chain, was revising its investment in Thailand. The group had planned to open a hotel on Siam Square, but there has been no further progress.

Claude J Scheffer, general manager of Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, said the economic slowdown and a decrease in the tourism industry were the major reasons for investors changing their plans.

He said many hotel investors were worrying about the future of Thailand's tourism, due to poor growth of international arrivals this year following foreign-exchange fluctuations.

Moreover, very tough competition in Bangkok, particularly in the low season, has forced operators to cut prices, plunging hotels into financial difficulty.

But many other Bankgok projects are expected to open on schedule, including Centara World Hotel, Le Meridien Bangkok and Novotel King Power.

Meanwhile, Banyan Tree, Sofitel, Le Meridien, Pan Pacific, Shangri La, Veranda and Manathai Village will open in Chiang Mai this year, along with Centara Khao Tao Village and Guti Kiri Resort in Hua Hin.

On Koh Samui, new hotels to be developed are Banyan Tree, Dusit Resort Samui, Four Seasons, Intercontinental, Melati Resort, Sofitel Nang Yaun and the Library.

Pattaya is expected to see new projects from the Central Group, All Season Pattaya, Inter Continental, Le Meridien and Mantra Resort and Spa.

Phuket is attracting new investors along with the new hotels of Kata Thani Group, Angsana Resort, Mercure Karon, Mercure Patong, Phuri Phiman, Raffles Phuket, Sofitel and Sala Phuket Resort.

Prakit Chinamourpong, vice president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), said earlier that more than 50 hotels and resorts were scheduled to open this year and next.

The new properties will raise the Kingdom's capacity close to 200,000 rooms.

However, the THA added that local operators, particularly small and medium-sized, were struggling hard to compete with giant international chains.

According to the association, 10 four- and five-star hotels are being developed by local and overseas investors in Bangkok, seven in Chiang Mai and the rest in southern Thailand, including Koh Phi Phi, Koh Samui and other resort-islands.

The 50 new properties are the biggest investment in Thailand since the Kingdom began promoting the tourism industry 40 years ago.

In 2006, 44 hotels and resorts opened across the country. Many of these were rebuilt after a switch in ownership due to financial problems.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation