Tourism seen taking a hit if border conflict persists

Tourism operators in the Northeast are worried that the Thailand-Cambodia border clashes might heavily impact the industry if it cannot be resolved within 3-7 days, as both local and foreign tourists would avoid travelling to nearby provinces.

- NARUMON KASEMSUK

Rungroj Santadvanit, president of the northeastern lower chapter of the Thai Hotels Association, said hotels in the lower northeastern area were closely monitoring the clashes around the border yesterday, and expected that local tourists might cancel their trips to nearby provinces.

He said around 90% of hotel guests in this region are local tourists. They would typically flock to recreational area such as Khao Yai during weekends, particularly this week, which has a three-day holiday.

As an incident yesterday caused fatalities among civilians, he said the business sector would like the government to solve this issue within 3-7 days to restore security for communities, or else more local tourists would shift to other destinations, along with foreign tourists who may avoid visiting this area if the news spread worldwide.