At least until recently, tourism has been the third most important sector of Thailand‘s economy, after agriculture and exports. Among ‘industries,’ tourism is listed in first place. The country is without doubt one of the world’s favorite traveler destinations, in part because of its magnificent natural charm (of many varieties, not just the famed islands), in part because of the natural friendliness of its people, in further part because of the relative ease and protection of traveling in Thailand, which is certainly done on both high and low traveler personal economies.
This situation is now in important flux, and concerns about the viability of Thailand‘s major traveler industry are growing. Currency fluctuations and new economic policies have put a important dent in exports as a source of Gdp, and increasingly severe and unpredictable weather – primarily floods and droughts – throughout the country are an increasing concern to its agriculturalists.
Thailand Travel Guide
Those changes make the viability of Thailand‘s traveler industry all the more important. While the country has so far survived threats to the industry such as Sars, bird flu, and the 2004 tsunami relatively intact, tourism officials and operators are only too aware that a more large-scale bird flu epidemic or another tsunami (in a region where earthquakes in Indonesia such as the one that caused the one in 2004 are increasingly frequent) could have a devastating follow on the industry.
Additionally, the relocating of the country’s main airport, an mammoth new facility called Suvarnaphumi planned by old Prime priest Thaksin Shinawatra to make Bangkok the ‘hub of Southeast Asian travel‘ has been a only slightly mitigated disaster for the country and the source of important national shame. Hurried construction, corrupt building practices, and ample bad planning have yielded a facility many find far inferior to the 95-year-old ‘old’ airport in Don Muang, for which longtime Thailand visitors had advanced an affection, and which worked with seasoned efficiency. The new airport is daily news nationally, with alternating reports about its protection (primarily of the runways) and inconvenience. It is much farther out of the city, manufacture it much more difficult for tourists to get to their Bangkok destinations and to others on their travel itineraries.
There are great fears among observers of Thailand‘s traveler scene that it will take just one more major problem such as the ones described above to drive tourists to seek other travel destinations in Asia and elsewhere. The effects on Thailand‘s cheaper would be devastating if tourism were to drop even a small amount.
Thailand Tourism
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