Hotels in Chiang Mai offered lower room rates than last year to draw last-minute domestic travellers, whose confidence was still shaken by last month's earthquake.

The Thai Hotels Association said many Thais were still shocked by the quake that rocked Thailand and Myanmar last month, leading to a slower last-minute booking rate this year.

The association said the difference for the Songkran holiday this year was that most hotels could not raise their room rates by 30%, or 800-1,200 baht, as they normally did in years past.

To maintain domestic demand, hotels raised the rates by only 10% or 200-300 baht per room to accelerate bookings among local travellers, it said.

Hotels in Chiang Mai had been twice inspected by experts and officials after the quake to ensure guest safety.

Meanwhile, concerns over PM2.5 during the celebration did not impact tourism as much as last year because the air quality was much improved.

The association said the Chinese market in Chiang Mai has not recovered since the Chinese actor Wang Xing was tricked into working in a scam centre in Myanmar, which used Thailand as a transit hub.