Some travelers wary after Thailand coup, but tourism impacts expected to be brief

Some travelers have cancelled trips to Thailand in the wake of the military coup, but the impact on Thailand's lucrative tourist industry should be brief and small, travel agents said Thursday. One said about 60 percent of his clients, mostly those due to visit Bangkok, had called off trips soon after the armed forces seized power on Tuesday and dismissed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government.

"But more than half of them came back and booked for the next few weeks," he said. Thailand expects nearly 14 million visitors this year, more than 1 million of them Japanese.

The Japan Travel Bureau, Japan's largest travel agency, said it was cancelling some Bangkok-bound tours until Sept. 26th. "But from the people on our tours who are already in Bangkok, we aren't hearing reports that they're changing their itineraries and going to other places," a spokeswoman said.

Many governments have issued cautions to their citizens about traveling to Thailand, including the U.S. State Department (see www.travel.state.gov)

Most recommended travelers be cautious — avoid large gatherings of people and stay away from government buildings — although there has been no violence during the coup. However, Thailand's new military rulers tightened their grip Thursday, restricting political activities, assuming legislative powers and detaining some allies of the deposed prime minister.

Media restrictions have been imposed, , including stationing soldiers at television and radio stations, and ordering the information ministry to stop the distribution of information "deemed harmful" to its agenda. However, tourist authorities said the airport, hotels and tours are operating as usual. And the coup should be a mere blip on the tourist screen, one travel agent said.

"It's really yesterday when the news came out. When they saw tanks, they imagined things might be a bit different," said Roger Haumueller, deputy managing director of Asian Trails Ltd.

"After today, I don't expect any cancellations. There is no inconvenience at all for tourists in Bangkok," said Haumueller, a Swiss national who has worked at the agency for seven years.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand, which hopes to draw 15 million tourists in 2007, up from 11.6 million in 2005, was also sanguine.

"Tourists are still coming here as there is no violence. Airports and airlines are operating as usual," spokesman Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya said.

The coup came as the Thai tourist industry was just recovering from the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 5,000 people, many of them foreign tourists during the height of the tourist season.