Violence in the deep South, which prompted Malaysia to advise its citizens to delay visits to these areas, is likely to result in 10% of bookings being cancelled as operators urge the government to seek a long-term solution to restore confidence.
After bombings and gunfire in the Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat on March 8, Malaysia issued a tourist warning, advising a delay for visits to the three southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.
Songchai Mungprasithichai, president of the Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, said that while Hat Yai district and Songkhla were not included in the incident, the province expects room cancellations of around 10% from Malaysian tourists in the coming weeks.
Based on informal data gathered from tourism partners in Betong, Yala, he said the impact there should be relatively similar, even though tourism attractions are not primary targets for violence.
However, as this month is Ramadan for Muslims, the number of arrivals to Hat Yai and Songkhla was already less than 1,000 per day via land borders, said Mr Songchai.
He said Malaysian tourists are familiar with the situation in Thailand's deep South. They typically return within a month if sentiment returns to normal, said Mr Songchai.
Tourism operators in Hat Yai remain confident that the upcoming Songkran holiday should help hotels achieve full bookings, he said.
"We hope the related authorities will be more prepared to prevent negative incidents, particularly the intelligence agency to have more accurate projections," said Mr Songchai.
He said operators also anticipate a long-term plan that could truly address the violence in the South, rather than just short-term problem solving for a single event.
Prevention measures like maximising defence officials in the area may cause more disturbance to locals than is necessary, said Mr Songchai.
Wanna Aleetrakool, president of the Pattani Tourism Business Association, said it may take until this Friday or the weekend to estimate the impact, since this month is the Ramadan period.
"Though the province has experienced prolonged violence for over 20 years, and many people and operators have become accustomed to it, we still do not want such incidents to occur again," she said.
Tohong Saelee, president of Betong Tourism Association, said some domestic tourists might delay their trips to Betong, but many Malaysian tourists noted that Betong is located quite far from the violence.
Mr Tohong said tourist bookings during Songkran remain healthy, with foreign tourists making up 60% of the total, mostly from Malaysia.
The association is promoting several attractions and activities, such as Betong Winter Flowers Garden and the trail running event "Amazean Jungle Thailand by UTMB", which is scheduled for May.