Local Businesses Expect Fallout From Thai Strife

The seizure of Bangkok international airport by anti-government protesters has hurt more than just Thailand. With air services suspended to and from Bangkok, tourists have been stranded in Cambodia, visitors who use the Thai capital as a jumping-off point for Cambodia have found their travel plans scuttled, and the Cambodian economy could be further hurt by the long-term impact of the Thai unrest, several local businesspeople said Wednesday.
 
Normally, about 25 percent of arrivals to and departures from Cambodia?s two major airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap go through Bangkok?s Suvarnabhumi Airport, according to the Societe concessionaire Des Aeroports, which operates both airports.
 
Using passenger figures from SCA for the first nine months of 2008, about 2,250 passengers traveling to of from Cambodia will be affected each day the Thai airport remains closed.
 
?The problem is that Cambodia is vulnerable to this situation,? said Bobby Tho, CEO of Skha Hotels and Resorts. ?Over the next couple of days [the effect] could be a small percentage. It will depend on how long it lasts,? he said.
 
About five tourists at Sokha hotels have been stranded, But the number of no-shows won?t be clear until late Wednesday night, Tho said.
 
Even if the airport reopens, the turmoil in Thailand over the past few months, which has prompted some foreign governments to issue travel warnings, could further reduce the number of tourists who visit Cambodia on package tours from Thailand, he said.
That turmoil, along with the global financial crisis, has already begun affecting the local tourism industry, Tho said.
 
?This is just more bad news for Cambodian tourism,? he said, adding that part of Cambodia?s problem is that there are no regular direct flights from Cambodia to Europe, the market that relies on Bangkok the most for travel to Cambodia.
Philip Setkao, general manager of Borei Angkor Spa and Resort in Siem Reap Town, said so far 10 to 15 guests have canceled reservations because of the Bangkok situation and six have had to remain at the 188-room hotel.
 
Setkao said he was still assessing the rapidly changing situation but one thing is clear: ?When these things happen, it will hurt tourism,? he said.
 
Ministry of Tourism officials could not be reached for comment or declined to speak with a reporter on Wednesday. Several Ministry of Commerce officials also declined to comment.

 

Sourced The Cambodia Daily