Bangkok – Travel  bookings to Thailand from long haul destinations outside Asia are down by 94 percent. This has been confirmed by Martin Craigs, CEO of PATA, the Pacific Asian Tourism Association. These latest numbers reflect the travel plans registered by travelers at 60 percent of the world’s travel agents.

In an interview with CNN, Craigs however indicated that a coup in Thailand cannot be compared with a military coup in any other country. Craigs sees it as an “interim intervention” in order to stabilize the country.

Craigs sees the reduction of the curfew  to four hours per day (12:01 am to 04:00 am) as a good decision to accommodate tourists in Bangkok.

A press aide for the military government emphasized earlier today, that his government is doing its best to secure the local travel industry, which contributes 10 percent to Thailand’s GDP.  AT/hz

Photo: Martin Craigs, CEO of PATA