Bumrungrad suffers fall in foreign patients through political problems

"The number of foreign patients, in particular from the United States, fell by 8 per cent last month as they were concerned over their safety because of the US government warning to beware of travel to Thailand," said CEO Curtis Schroeder.

The number of European patients also dropped slightly last month. Normally, the third quarter is the peak season for international medical services.

The number of Middle East patients also declined slightly during the Ramadan month for Muslims.

Schroeder expects that when politics is back on track and Ramadan ends, the number of foreign patients will recover, probably early next month.

Meanwhile, in order to regain foreign visitors, caretaker Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said that the ministry was sending a team to seven major destinations - China, India, Scandinavia, the European Union, Russia, Japan and South Korea - to promote the peaceful nature of Thailand and its efficiency at serving visitors.

Weerasak said that despite the slight decline in the number of tourists, the income of the sector should still grow on target, by 5 per cent to Bt630 billion, this year.

In addition, the ministry is proceeding with the "cluster development concept" to bring foreign investors to invest in the tourism sector of the country.

"Many investors, especially from the Middle East and China, are interested in investing in tourism, including building boutique hotels and resorts and developing infrastructure for tourism in many areas of the country," said Weerasak.

He added that under the cluster development scheme the government would proceed to develop areas along both the Andaman and Gulf of Thailand coasts to serve rising numbers of tourists.

Under the seven-year project, the government plans to invest Bt10 billion in infrastructure development and is seeking Bt20 billion from private-sector funds.