Thailand’s tourism industry may eventually go bankrupt if the current political violence is prolonged, says an industry executive.
Kongkrit Hiranyakit, chairman of the Tourism Industry Federation of Thailand, said the federation agreed at the meeting that a relief center for tourism operators be set up to act as their representative to work together with the state sector to find assistance measures for operators affected by the political rally.
He said the federation had evaluated the situation since the political violence erupted in April and found the tourism industry had shrunk by 10 per cent, but since the violence persisted until now, the industry is expected to contract by 20 per cent.
It is also forecast the number of foreign tourists would be less than 13 million this year.
In addition, Mr Kongkrit estimated the incident would cause a Bth100 billion in damages to the tourism industry, which could affect Thailand’s tourism competitiveness in the future.
If the political rally drags on, he warned, the tourism industry might finally go bankrupt.