Thais Worry About Tourism Taking Big Hit : Hospitality: Shootings of pro-democracy protesters last month have already cut reservations, especially from Japan.

The captains of Thailand’s tourism industry, its biggest foreign exchange earner, say last month’s political violence could cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.

“The cumulative effect of these events is a serious lack of confidence which must be of concern to anybody who is involved in the travel and tourism industry,” said Chatrachai Bunya-Ananta, executive vice president of Thai International Airways.

“This turmoil has had a vast, devastating effect on this industry. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

He said he expected tourism earnings for the last two weeks of May and the first two weeks of June to be $200 million less than last year’s figure. Thailand earned more than $4 billion from tourism in 1991.

Scores of people died and hundreds were wounded when soldiers opened fire on unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators last month. The unrest ultimately forced the May 24 resignation of Prime Minister Suchinda Kraprayoon.

The biggest blow to the tourism industry has come from canceled bookings by Japanese vacationers, who constitute the lion’s share of Thailand’s tour market.

Cancellations by the big-spending Japanese are running as high as 40%, travel industry officials said.

Last year 559,000 Japanese visited Thailand, the second largest group after neighboring Malaysia.

Among the businesses hit hardest are Bangkok’s premier hotels, now reporting 20% to 30% occupancy rates, an industry spokesman said.

“What we’ve been through over the last two weeks has had a big impact on the hotel industry,” said Brian Hladnik, general manager of Bangkok’s five-star Shangri-La Hotel.

Commenting on the effects of the street violence, Hladnik said: “Tourists are very sensitive to such issues, and that’s where most of the cancellations have come from.

“We hope by September, October to be back to reasonable levels again, depending on the political situation.”

Robert Jotikasthira, managing director of Turismo Thai, was less optimistic.

“I want to tell you, the situation is not normal yet. People are more and more concerned about what is happening to our country,” he said.

“When we have people dying, how do we go overseas and promote tourism? Tourists don’t accept this.”

Big European tour operators have told him that tourism is unlikely to return to its previous levels without the removal of military officers connected with last month’s violence.

A Thai tribunal last week rejected an opposition appeal against an amnesty for the military officers who ordered the shooting of the pro-democracy demonstrators.

Activists said the decision could provoke new protests.