Bangkok, 8 August 2012 – 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.
