“Songkran” festival set for 13 locations, including flood-hit Thai south: TAT

BANGKOK, March 30 (TNA) - The board of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has confirmed its plan to organise the traditional Thai New Year festival, Songkran, in 13 major locations across the country, including the flood-hit Nakhon Si Thammarat Province.

Flooding in southern Thailand have prompted tourists to cancel trips to the region, bringing the hotel occupancy rate down to 20-30%, although its effect on the new year festival next month was still undetermined.

Speaking on Wednesday, TAT chairman Wichai Srikwan said that the TAT board has noticed changes to the plans of tourists resulting from overseas crises including political problems in the Middle East and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, as well as the local problem of flooding in the South of Thailand.

TAT governor, Surapol Sawetseranee, said that political problems in the Middle East have significantly affected arrivals in Thailand as tourists from those countries postponed their trips. This problem was particularly noticeable with tourists coming from Iran, a demographic which has been a steadily growing in the market for Thai tourism. If these crises subside, tourist numbers are expected to return to normal between July and September, which is the hottest period of the year in the Middle East, he added. (TNA)