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| Several countries have already urged travellers to avoid Thailand [GALLO/GETTY] |
The shutdown of Bangkok's main international airport amid anti-government protests and grenade explosions threatens to do lasting damage to Thailand's vital tourism industry.
More than any other Asian nation, Thailand depends heavily on the travel industry which provides thousands of jobs and last year brought in more than 14 million visitors spending an estimated $15bn.
In recent months, as the political crisis has sapped investor confidence and export manufacturing has slowed as a result of the global credit crunch, the money brought in by visitors has become an even more important pillar of the economy.
But with protesters now occupying Thailand's main airport and tensions continuing to escalate, thousands of visitors have found their dream holiday turning into a nightmare, while several countries have issued advisories urging would-be visitors to stay away.
Gateway
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| Thailand's tourism industry is a vital pillar of the economy [GALLO/GETTY] |
When it opened in 2006 – years late and several million dollars over budget – Suvarnabhumi airport was touted as the gleaming new gateway to the country which markets itself as the Land of Smiles.
On Wednesday though travellers found themselves trapped as Suvarnabhumi's futuristic glass, steel and concrete terminal echoed to the sound of protest, gunfire and explosions.
With them were riot police and thousands of protesters from the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who appeared to be setting up camp in the airport, and digging in for a long siege.
It is hardly an image for the travel brochures.
"The impact of this is really going to hit the tourism industry hard, it's hard to see how it won't," Norman Hermant, a Bangkok-based journalist who was at the airport, told Al Jazeera.
He said previous incidents earlier this year when PAD supporters took over airports in the holiday resort areas of Phuket and Krabi had triggered thousands of holiday cancellations.
Regional hub
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| Bangkok is normally one of the busiest airports in Asia [GALLO/GETTY ] |
As yellow-shirted PAD supporters swarmed the vast terminal building, he said many people were asking why Thai security forces had not taken a tougher line and effectively allowed the protesters to shut down Thailand's main international gateway.
With Bangkok a key regional air hub, and an important stop on the so-called Kangaroo route between Europe and Australia, the airport is normally one of the busiest in Asia.
British traveller Marie Pritchard was one of thousands of tourists who had found airline check-in desks abandoned and their flights cancelled as PAD protesters overran the terminal.
"There was lots of riot police with shields and batons. It was quite intimidating," she told the AFP news agency.
Jean McCartan, another stranded traveller, said there was no help from Thai authorities.
"We all came to Thailand because we love Thailand but this has left a very bad feeling," she said.
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