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Thai tourism has by no means been adversely affected by martial law enforced throughout the country over the past several months, said Tourism and Sports Minister Korbkarn Wattanawarangkun on Wednesday.
The woman member of the cabinet reassured that martial law, enforced since the Thai military seized power in the May 22 coup, has not caused any negative impact on the flourishing tourist industry and that no travel agents or others involved in tourist industry have called for an end to it as yet.
Thai Premier Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha has remained non-committal when asked how soon martial law will be lifted and only said it has been declared basically to ensure public peace and order, following politically-motivated, violent street turmoils which finally prompted him and his military colleagues to stage the coup.
He raised concerns over "political undertows" which, he said, might possibly instigate a mass uprising against his military-led government at any time, thus, he said, necessitating the prolongment of martial law to preclude future political conflict among different groups of people.
"Nobody in tourist industry has demanded that martial law be lifted sooner or later. We hoped that all parties concerned would understand the current situation which warrants martial law," said Korbkarn.
According to the minister, Prayuth cabinet has not yet taken into account how much longer martial law should be enforced or whether it should be waived up at certain places in near future.
Tourism promotion campaigns are being launched in the capital and at major tourist spots in all regions of the country as high season has already begun, Korbkarn commented.
She forecast that an estimated 25.5 million tourists will have visited Thailand throughout this year, marking a drop by about one million visitors from last year.
Of that total, some 4.3 million tourists will have come from China throughout this year, according to Association of Thai Travel Agents President Sisdivachr Chewarattanaporn.
The number of Chinese visitors to Thailand is expected to increase to about 4.5 million throughout next year, however.
The predicted decline in the number of visitors from around the globe was largely attributed to the Thai political unrests which culminated in the bloodless coup earlier this year, she said.
Meanwhile, Korbkarn added that the 2014 Asian Beach Games scheduled from upcoming Friday until Nov. 23 in Phuket province will considerably help promote tourist industry at varied spots throughout southern Thailand other than the world-renowned island resort.
The Asian Beach Games will see an estimated 2,700 athletes, plus some 1,600 officials and staff members, from 43 countries competing in 26 categories of sports in Phuket, which has already been prepared to host, she commented. Enditem
