Thai travel industry faces fresh setback after new outbreak

Bangkok

AS PHUKET and other Thai tourist destinations prepare for a slight bump in business from the countdown to 2021, a new virus outbreak among seafood factory workers near the capital Bangkok could not have come at a worse time.

Thailand discovered a record cluster of infections in Samut Sakhon province last week, prompting a 14-day lockdown of the industrial district. The government is mulling whether curbs need to be expanded to other locales.

News of the widespread outbreak in a seafood market took Thailand's total infections to 5,716 on Tuesday, came just after the government announced plans to ease some restrictions on tourists from 56 countries, including the US, Japan and Singapore.

As of early Tuesday morning, there were 1,063 confirmed positive cases out of 6,156 tested.

The majority of the new cases are workers from Myanmar, who toil on shrimp boats and in processing factories linked to the multi-billion-dollar Thai seafood industry.

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Another nationwide lockdown or restrictions on domestic travel could be the final nail in the coffin for many tourism-related companies, according to Phuket Hotel Association President Anthony Lark.

"Everyone's losing money and just trying to break even," he said by phone on Monday. "If the government cannot control the virus, and any domestic air travel or inter-provincial travel restrictions are introduced, then you will absolutely see hotel, restaurant and boat owners mothball their businesses."

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that he will take about a week to assess whether more stringent curbs are needed.

Thailand is betting on a revival in tourism to help it exit a recession, although the central bank forecasts it may take two years for Southeast Asia's second-largest economy to return to pre-pandemic growth levels.

Foreign tourist arrivals generated more than US$60 billion in revenue from about 40 million visitors in 2019.

While the international market has been virtually dormant for months, domestic travellers have kept many places afloat, including in Phuket, where businesses were counting on a bump during the year-end holidays.

Travellers from the Thai capital account for 99 per cent of Phuket's tourists since the nation closed its borders late March, according to Mr Lark.

Before the pandemic, foreign tourists comprised two-thirds of the island province's visitors but contributed about 90 per cent of Phuket's tourism revenue.

"Bangkok's weekend warriors have been propping up all supporting businesses," he said, noting that some hotel occupancy rates have hit 80 per cent at times. BLOOMBERG