Earthquake to cut Thailand tourism revenue by 10-15%, says THA

THA president Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun said that requests from tourists for early hotel checkouts surged by 8-10% nationwide after the earthquake, particularly in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Ayutthaya.

Some tourists opted to change their destinations to Pattaya and Phuket instead, he said.

The association anticipates that the incident will affect foreign tourists’ confidence in safety over the next two weeks, both for those who have booked travel but have yet to arrive and for those still deciding whether to travel, he added.

He expects hotel and tourism business revenue to decline by at least 10-15%.

“The association expects that the earthquake will have a lasting impact on the Songkran tourism atmosphere, making it more subdued than in the past two years. It is estimated that it will take a month to return to normal,” he said.

Trial on safety

Thienprasit pointed out that the collapse of the State Audit Office in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district has gone viral on social media, triggering concerns over safety in Thailand.

He said the government should impose strict measures to ensure the safety of people during the Songkran festival, noting that it is a trial that should be carried out alongside measures to alleviate the suffering of victims.

Security-related issues arose in Thailand in the first three months of this year: the disappearance of Chinese actor Xing Xing near the Thai-Myanmar border, the crackdown on call centre gangs, concerns about the repatriation of Uyghurs to China, and the recent earthquake.

If another security issue arises, the Thai tourism sector may not recover and could suffer long-term impacts, he warned.

Thienprasit said it would be difficult for Thailand to attract 39 million to 40 million foreign travellers this year after the earthquake. He expects foreign arrivals to be on par with last year’s 35.54 million people.

“When foreign tourists fall short of the target this year, it will be necessary to stimulate the domestic tourism market to compensate, such as the ‘Tiew Thai Khon La Khrueng’ co-payment scheme, which the government is preparing to consider soon,” he said.

Safety is priority

Following Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s order to inspect hotels to boost confidence among tourists, Thienprasit said the THA has cooperated with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to deploy more than 4,000 engineers to inspect buildings.

He said TAT will announce a list of hotels that have passed the inspection. Large hotels already have their own engineers and technicians to carry out inspections, which can quickly reassure tourists, he added.

However, he called on the government to support inspection costs for small hotels that are not financially prepared.

“Safety must come first to ensure sustainable tourism growth, as we have lost many foreign tourists due to safety issues,” he said, adding that Chinese travellers prefer to visit Japan over Thailand due to safety concerns.

He also advised the government to study how Japan manages safety to boost confidence among travellers from China and other countries.