Chinese travel agents call for clarity
Following clashes on Thursday, which caused at least 13 Thai civilian fatalities, some countries, including the United Kingdom (UK) and the US, issued a warning to their citizens to avoid border areas in the provinces of Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket, Surin and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) issued a statement assuring the safety and security of tourists as the top priority of relevant government authorities.
The statement advised travellers to avoid certain areas in seven provinces in the East and Northeast, including the provinces of Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi and Trat.
Atta president Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn said the incident would undeniably hamper tourism for the remainder of this year, but the scale of the impact would depend on how long the conflict persists.
'Even though most Chinese agents are still confident that major tourism cities remain robust, the problem is with Chinese tourists' perception following media reports and whether they will delay their trips' said Mr Thanapol.
At Atta's roadshow scheduled to visit Chongqing, Lanzhou and Hangzhou next week, the association plans to use the opportunity to clear up any misinformation and reassure the Chinese that Thailand is safe to visit.
Another focus is informing tour agents they stand to benefit from joining the Thai government's stimulus programme.
Mr Thanapol said the dispute will require the government to work much harder to secure 5 million Chinese tourist arrivals this year, which is the state's minimum target.
Sarawadee Thiamprasert, managing director of At Ubon Travel, a tour operator based in Ubon Ratchathani, said a tour group of more than 20 domestic tourists maintained their bookings scheduled for next week, but they did ask the company for clarification of the situation.
Mrs Sarawadee said popular attractions were not located near the Cambodian border, but the Mun River and Pha Taem National Park were quite close to the border with Laos.
She said the risky areas were mainly located within agricultural zones and neighbourhoods, where the authorities already helped Thais to evacuate to safe areas. In addition, Ubon Ratchathani airport is operating as normal.
Last year Ubon Ratchathani received 3.8 million visitors generating 9.1 billion baht in revenue.
If the conflict persists, tourism revenue might contract from last year, attributed to weak travel confidence, slow economic growth stemming from the conflict, and sluggish border trade, said Mrs Sarawadee.
As of July 24, Cambodian arrivals had plunged by 27% year-on-year to 229,240.
Meanwhile, Thai AirAsia reported its routes serving Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, each operating two flights a day, had an average load factor of 80% and 90%, respectively, during the first half of 2025.
During July 21-25, the airline secured a high load factor, with the number of Thai passengers surging, prompting it to use Airbus A321neos with 236 seats rather than Airbus A320s to accommodate more passengers.
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