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**MYMcvBgl** · 04-01-2012, 05:06 PM

The car bomb that rocked Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Songkhla's Hat Yai district on Saturday would likely cause at least 1 billion baht in damage to the tourism sector, Somchart Pimthanapoonporn, a leading hotelier, said on Sunday.

Five people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the blast.

Mr Somchart, chairman of the Songkhla Tourism Business Council and president of the Hat Yai-Songkhla Hoteliers Association, said following the blast about 60 per cent of the city's hotel rooms which had been fully booked were cancelled.

He was optimistic it will less than three months to return the tourism climate to normal.

The damage to tourism-related businesses was likely to be around 1 billion baht, he said.

Mr Somchart said despite the incident, the Songkran festivals in Hat Yai will be organised as usual and activities to promote the celebrations will continue to restore tourists' confidence.

Prapas Intanaprasat, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) Hat Yai branch, said two tents had been set up to provide assistance to tourists who were affected by yesterday's blast.

Most of the tourists staying at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel remain in Hat Yai, but had moved to other hotels.

A press conference will be held on April 5 to confirm that the Songkran festivals will go ahead in Hat Yai as usual, he said.

04-01-2012, 05:06 PM	#4
MYMcvBgl Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 380 Senior Member	The car bomb that rocked Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Songkhla's Hat Yai district on Saturday would likely cause at least 1 billion baht in damage to the tourism sector, Somchart Pimthanapoonporn, a leading hotelier, said on Sunday. Five people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the blast. Mr Somchart, chairman of the Songkhla Tourism Business Council and president of the Hat Yai-Songkhla Hoteliers Association, said following the blast about 60 per cent of the city's hotel rooms which had been fully booked were cancelled. He was optimistic it will less than three months to return the tourism climate to normal. The damage to tourism-related businesses was likely to be around 1 billion baht, he said. Mr Somchart said despite the incident, the Songkran festivals in Hat Yai will be organised as usual and activities to promote the celebrations will continue to restore tourists' confidence. Prapas Intanaprasat, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) Hat Yai branch, said two tents had been set up to provide assistance to tourists who were affected by yesterday's blast. Most of the tourists staying at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel remain in Hat Yai, but had moved to other hotels. A press conference will be held on April 5 to confirm that the Songkran festivals will go ahead in Hat Yai as usual, he said.
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