Thai political protests watched carefully by local CEI industry

At press time, the CEI industry in Bangkok was keeping a close watch after the poll on April 2 that kept prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in power. Thai opposition activists who boycotted the elections have called on Shinawatra to resign or face fresh street protests. Diethelm Events executive manager of events, David Barrett, said there had been a noticeable effect on business tourism, especially into Bangkok. He said: "There has been some concern in the industry, especially in the area of requests for proposals." "The rate of new business requests is definitely lower when we compare it year on year. "Economic, social and political stability are three elements fairly close to the top of the list when companies are selecting a destination. "These elements are having some impact on our business and I, for one, can't wait for things to get back to normal." Barrett added that in conversations with his hotel partners, they too had been affected by event cancellations, especially by business coming from within the region. However, he said this was particular to Bangkok and that other CEI destinations such as Phuket, Hua Hin and Chiang Mai had largely been unaffected. However one of the largest hotel groups operating in Bangkok, Accor, claimed that, as of late March, there had been no "noticeable" effect on business nor mass cancellations due to the social action across the range of its brands. Accor has a network of 11 hotels in the Bangkok metropolitan area. "While travel agents and (business event) planners always check to confirm media reports, the current situation warrants only that and not much more," an Accor spokesman said. "Given the recent television images of student protests in Paris, the situation in Bangkok pales in comparison. "The real test comes after the election and what happens when protests are scheduled to resume in early April." Tourism Authority of Thailand governor, Juthamas Siriwan has also been insisting the ongoing turmoil won't effect the number of visitors entering the country.