Article in Bloomberg about SARS and tourism

[Nicke]

SARS Scares Tourists Away From Phuket's Beaches (Update1)
By Arijit Ghosh
Phuket, Thailand, April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Taxi driver Wesakwanyee Hawan is making so little money ferrying tourists around the Thai beach resort of Phuket that he's planning to switch to wiring homes to boost his income.

On the island's famed Patong beach, Ayo Chuchosi says he's renting out only about half of his 60 sets of beach chairs. Hotel operator Laguna Resorts & Hotels Pcl is offering some workers a month of unpaid leave because rooms are empty.

Phuket, with miles of sand, dive sites with whale sharks and turtles, and tours to the location of a James Bond movie, has fallen victim to SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. The travel slump caused by outbreaks of the deadly pneumonia in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore is taking its toll on the island, whose local officials estimate it attracted 4 million tourists last year, almost two-fifths of all visitors to Thailand.

``The effect has been devastating,'' said James Batt, managing director of Laguna Resorts. Room occupancy at Phuket's more than 500 hotels is expected to be about 30 percent in the next couple of months, he said.

For Thailand, where tourism contributes 6 percent of national output, the economic impact of SARS looms larger than the disease itself. The country has been spared the worst of the infection, with eight cases, including two deaths. Worldwide, the disease has infected at least 4,439 people, killing 263, most of them in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Those were among the Asian markets that Thailand was counting on to keep the tourist dollars flowing after travel from Europe and North America waned because of the Iraq war, Batt said. As people cancel holiday plans to avoid air travel, which helped spread the disease globally, the effects are rippling through Thailand's tourism industry.

Firing Workers

``My company is laying off quite a few people,'' said Roberto Jotikasthira, managing director of the Bangkok-based Turismo Thai Group, whose bookings have collapsed to 1,000 a month from 12,000 last year. The company employs 220 people, making it one of the country's biggest tour operators.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand hotels and travel services index has dropped 5.8 percent in the past month, led by luxury hotel operators Oriental Hotel (Thailand) Plc, down 16 percent, and Rajadamri Hotel Pcl, down 14 percent. Laguna Resorts has fallen 5.2 percent.

``This is the most serious problem to affect Thailand,'' said Juthamas Siriwan, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, who plans to visit Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. to try to persuade travelers there that her country is a safe place to visit.

Thailand last week cut its forecast of 2003 tourist revenue by 5.5 percent to 340 billion baht ($7.9 billion). Finance Minister Suchart Jaovisidha has said Thailand's economic-growth forecast of 5.1 percent could be trimmed by 1 percentage point if the virus outbreak persists.

Not So Golden

Taxi driver Wesakwanyee, pausing while trying to drum up business among German tourists on Phuket's Bang Tao beach, mourns the loss of Asian visitors.

``Tourists from Hong Kong didn't have any problem paying 700 baht for a three-hour tour. Europeans don't pay as much,'' he said. ``Hopefully, Allah will solve this problem soon.''

A surge in tourism in the past five years helped families in Phuket become the third-richest among Thailand's 73 provinces in 2000, up from seventh place two years earlier. Average household income stood at 20,700 baht a month, 70 percent more than the national average.

SARS may change that. Suthep Panchalad, who runs the Bangtao Bay Travel agency on Bang Tao beach, now spends more time reading newspapers than organizing trips to what's now known as James Bond Island, used as a backdrop to the 1974 thriller ``The Man With the Golden Gun.''

``We had sales of 100,000 baht in March,'' said Suthep. ``For the first 13 days in April, we had turnover of 10,000 baht.''

Thai Air's Slump

Manus Pipathananunth, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, forecast last week that 10 percent of Thailand's 500 registered travel agencies will close because of the effects of SARS and the Iraq war, the Bangkok Post reported.

Thai Airways International Pcl shares yesterday dropped 7.3 percent to 25.50 baht, a six-month low, on concern the virus outbreak will erode profit growth at the national carrier. Its shares were unchanged at 10:32 a.m. in Bangkok.

To compensate for the drop in overseas tourists, Thailand's government is trying to encourage locals to travel. Its Small & Medium Development Bank will lend as much as 2 billion baht in low- interest loans to help hotel and tour operators, the Manager Daily reported last week. Hotels and airlines such as Thai Airways plan to sell discount packages.

That may not help a great deal, according to taxi driver Wesakwanyee. ``Thais don't want to spend too much,'' he said.

[Gazza]

HI if the tourist problem is as bad as they are saying will there still be loads of BG around when i go 2 weeks today?
I don't mind it being a little quiet BUT AS LONG AS THERE IS PLENT OF ENTERTAINMENT TO KEEP ME BUSY?

[Nicke]

Don't worry, there are lot of girls to entertain you.

[Schmeen]

At least the good thing is the taxi drivers of Patong are hurting.....GOOD!

[eric-the-viking]

yeah but have you ever seen the state of their idea of wiring a plug !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Schmeen]

Yeah...they are probably safer on the roads...preferably under the wheels of a large bus!!

[Baz]

if thai electricians are bad, whats the state of the electrics in some places after a few taxi drivers start doing it for a second job

[Schmeen]

Actually i had a house rewired a few years ago...the labour cost for 2 days work was....300B.....materials around 1800B. The guy did a superb job....but I'd ne'er let a taxi driver touch it...particularly of the the F****** W****** from Patong. May they all go bankrupt. No sympathy from this guy!!!