Thailand is reviewing its tourism strategy after the earthquake, which led to a significant drop in flight bookings.
Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports has announced a review of its strategy for the second half of this year, in response to the slowdown in the Chinese tourism market and the loss of confidence caused by the recent 7.5 magnitude earthquake .
Establishment of a crisis management team
People are evacuated from buildings following the earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. Photo: AP/Chutima Lalit
Natthriya Thaweevong, the ministry's permanent secretary, said a team of strategy consultants will be hired to guide the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in implementing a new action plan.
A risk and crisis management team will also be formed, including representatives from the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Land Transport.
A difficult context for tourism
Several walkways between buildings in Bangkok were damaged after the March 28, 2025 earthquake. Photo: CTN
According to Ms. Natthriya, the year has been particularly difficult for Thailand, with major events directly affecting tourist sentiment.
In particular, the recent earthquake that hit Thailand and Burma, global economic challenges and the kidnapping of Chinese tourists by scam call centers in Burma and Cambodia, which particularly affected the Chinese market.
See: Thailand: Cancellations or fear-inducing trips for Chinese tourists
Restoring the confidence of Chinese tourists
Chinese tourists in Bangkok. Photo: Bangkok Post
Before the pandemic, the Chinese tourism market represented around 11 million visitors per year for Thailand.
However, after the health crisis, recovery has been slow.
Only 6.7 million Chinese visitors were recorded last year, and forecasts for this year are capped at 7 million.
Minister Sorawong Thienthong said he wanted to engage in dialogue with the Chinese ambassador and invite Chinese media influencers to reassure this market, which is particularly sensitive to the consequences of the earthquake.
He stressed the need to convey a clear security message regarding all provinces of the country, including Bangkok.
Strengthening security at hotels and festivals
Young Thai women during water fights during Songkran in Thailand.
The Ministry of Tourism plans to collaborate with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to issue certificates to hotels that have successfully passed post-earthquake safety reviews, thereby boosting traveler confidence.
As the Thai New Year celebrations, Songkran , approach, the ministry has asked tourist police to strengthen coordination with provincial authorities.
Tourists are encouraged to download the Tourist Police app to be quickly informed in case of unexpected events.
Prospects for rapid recovery and call to promote national tourism
Asian tourists in Bangkok.
Tourism Minister Sorawong Thienthong believes the current decline in bookings will not last long thanks to the authorities' continued efforts to quickly resolve these issues.
Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotel Association, is urging the government to quickly launch a national tourism promotion program with financial participation.
The hotel sector is currently showing a lower average occupancy rate than last year.
Thienprasit estimated that the average hotel occupancy rate during April and the Songkran holiday period would remain around 60 percent, lower than last year's 65 percent.
Immediate impact of earthquake on air bookings
Planes from various airlines in Thailand. Photo: Fl360 Aero.
A representative of the Airlines Association of Thailand said that airline bookings in the two days following the earthquake had dropped by 40 to 60 percent.
The drop in bookings from China was particularly significant, with a decrease of 60%.
See also:
Earthquake in Thailand: a new blow for tourism and real estate
Thailand: Tourist chaos on May 1? Digital arrival card causes confusion
Thailand: Terror in Bangkok skyscraper pools during earthquake (videos)
Source: Bangkok Post
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2 comments
Thailand has reacted (late, admittedly, but it could have done so earlier) energetically to combat hackers and clandestine call centers in Myanmar and Cambodia, with significant results, but which cannot return to the culpable and corrupt laxity that prevailed in previous years and which had a disastrous effect on international tourism, the consequences of which the Thai tourist authorities are currently measuring, which they are experiencing head-on with backpedaling effects mainly from Chinese tourists who are turning to Japan and Vietnam.
Thailand is currently paying the price for the mistakes and carelessness of 2023 and 2024, but no one can be held responsible for the repercussions of the most recent earthquake.
This is a natural geophysical disaster and a situation that can occur at any time, given Thailand's geographical position between two seismic faults, one running vertically through India, Nepal, Burma and western China and the other running through Indonesia, the Philippines, the China Sea, Japan...
It's as if Thailand were at the center of a plate whose edges were placed on two floating tubes in the middle of a swimming pool!
Nobody can do anything about it and given the fact that an earthquake of such violence only occurs regionally and statistically speaking, once or twice a century, it is unlikely (even if this type of earthquake currently remains 100% unpredictable, which is not the case with volcanic eruptions) that a similar catastrophe will occur again in the next 30 to 50 years.
Only time will help potential tourists forget this temporary deterrent, which has cost the lives of several thousand victims, including a hundred in Thailand, according to a report as of April 2, unfortunately still provisional...
They will offer tourists free accommodation in the towers where no one wants to live anymore...