Bangkok, 8 August 2012 (NNT) – Bank of Thailand or BoT has
revealed that the southern border unrest is yet to have a major impact on Thai
economy and suggested that the government take control of the situation.
The Bank of Thailand (BoT)’s Macro-Economy Division Director
Songtham Pinto has said the impact of the southern unrest has only slightly
affected Thai economy, while the tourism segment has not been affected at all.
He added that the southern part of Thailand is the country's
important economic zone, of which major industries include those in tourism,
fishery, and agriculture. If the ongoing violence escalates and expands to
Songkla province, it will have a bigger influence on the Thai economy. To
prevent this happening, the government has to quickly rein in the situation.
According to the survey from hotels and resorts in the
Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand areas, the occupancy rate in the third
quarter is at the same level as that of the same period last year. The
increasing number of foreign visitors are those from China, Malaysia, and
Korea.
Unevitably, the number of tourists in Songkla province has
considerably dropped as a result of the impact from the explosion at Lee
Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hatyai on March 31. The occupancy rate has dropped to
40-70 percent from the previous 70-90 percent.
(thainews.prd.go.th)
