Only a short-term impact is expected after several countries warned their citizens to exercise caution in Thailand following the deportation of 40 Uyghurs back to China, while tourism operators say cyber-scams are a greater concern.
The Thai Hotels Association (THA) has already sent out surveys to members to gauge booking cancellations related to declining tourism confidence.
Last week, the US embassy in Bangkok and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued security warnings for their citizens in Thailand to exercise more caution while visiting crowded locations.
Both mentioned the Erawan Shrine bombing that took 20 lives in 2015 after Thailand deported 109 Uyghurs to China. Last week Thailand deported 40 Uyghurs who had been detained for nearly 11 years, drawing widespread condemnation despite the government’s claims that China had guaranteed the safety of the men.
Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said the issue will hamper tourism in the short term, but is not as severe as the impact from call centre scams.
Most tourists from key markets, such as Japan, the US, Europe and Taiwan, are independent travellers or small groups who are familiar with Thailand, he said on Tuesday.
He said the Japanese market might grow more slowly due to the yen’s depreciation, as Japanese tourists face higher costs for overseas trips.
Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said the ministry assigned the three Tourism Authority of Thailand offices in Japan to monitor travel sentiment, though there has been no immediate impact.
Last month, Taiwan also listed Thailand as one of five high-risk destinations in Southeast Asia based on scam threats.
Mr Sisdivachr said the government should adopt a more serious approach to addressing call centre scams because it continues to plague tourism confidence, particularly among Chinese.
Adith Chairattananon, honorary secretary-general of Atta, said there should be no slowdown in travel to Thailand unless the US and Japan raise their warning levels. He said that while foreign tour groups were still booking trips to Thailand, the government should work on ensuring tourist safety for their journeys.
Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the THA, said the association is collecting surveys from members to evaluate cancellations and other impacts from the safety alerts issued by the US and Japan.
He said some hotels have started enhancing their security measures in case of emergencies.
The THA urged security officials to ensure safety, especially at key destinations, to prevent critical incidents as happened in the past that severely disrupted tourism, said Mr Thienprasit. Based on informal discussions with THA committees, there are no mass cancellations.
As of March 2, Thailand had welcomed more than 7 million foreign arrivals this year, including 1 million Chinese. The total was an increase of 5.9% from a year earlier.