Thai hotels send tourists packing

Thailand's bloody political crisis has been scaring away tourists for weeks but took a new turn yesterday when some of the capital's finest hotels sent guests packing for fear of violence at their doorsteps.

The Grand Hyatt and InterContinental hotels in Bangkok told guests they would have to leave, while The Four Seasons remained open but closed all four of its restaurants and saw its cavernous lobby empty except for a few wilted orchids.

The hotels took action on one of the more relaxed days in the deadlock created by anti-government demonstrators who began occupying city streets more than five weeks ago.

They abandoned plans to march into the heart of the capital's central business district Tuesday after soldiers in full combat gear were deployed to bar the way.

"The situation is very tense. We are relocating guests to other hotels for their safety," said Patty Lerdwittayaskul, a spokeswoman at the 380-room Grand Hyatt Erawan, which announced its closure until at least Saturday.

The nearby Holiday Inn and InterContinental also found safer accommodation for their guests and said new reservations would not be accepted until Monday.

The Red Shirts have occupied the capital's luxury hotel and shopping district for 18 days in their six-week bid to overthrow the government. Upscale malls closed almost immediately, as protesters transformed the area into a noisy and rubbish-strewn tent camp with outdoor showers and portable toilets for the thousands of supporters sleeping on the footpath.

The protesters, formally known as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, initially were camped in a historic district of Bangkok.

But a failed April 10 attempt by security forces to flush protesters from that neighbourhood erupted into the worst political violence Thailand has seen in 18 years, leaving 25 dead and more than 800 wounded.

It also prompted the protesters to consolidate in the shopping zone, which has become their strategic stronghold.

Tensions mounted again this week when the government deployed soldiers in combat gear near the shopping area, known as Rajprasong, to block a planned march to the nearby Silom Road business district. The march has been called off but a standoff remains that threatens greater damage to Thailand's vital tourism sector, which accounts for 6 per cent of the economy.

"No more 'Land of Smiles,' the image has been destroyed," said Apichart Sankary, from the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, referring to Thailand's tourist-friendly nickname.

"Tourists are frightened to see military personnel carrying guns. They can't believe this is Thailand."

Hotel occupancy normally at 60 per cent or 70 per cent this time of year has slipped to an average of 30 per cent, Apichart said. But hotels in the protest zone were far below the average. Retailers and hotels in the area say they have lost tens of millions of dollars.

Four Seasons general manager Rainer Stampfer said occupancy was "absolutely minimal" and the hotel was not accepting any bookings until Monday. At lunchtime, the hotel's normally bustling lobby was empty with no one at the front desk.

"We have prepared hotel limousines to escort existing guests who wish to stay at a different hotel. We recommend that they stay elsewhere."

Like all hotels in the area, the Four Seasons has put up metal barricades to block protesters from spilling in. But it has not been able to escape the stench of about 30 portable toilets trucked in for the protesters.

The Red Shirt protesters are demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva call early elections.

The protesters consist mainly of poor rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-democracy activists who opposed the military coup that ousted him in 2006.

They believe Abhisit's government is illegitimate because it came to power through a parliamentary vote after disputed court rulings ousted two elected, pro-Thaksin administrations.

The conflict has been characterised by some as class warfare, pitting the country's vast rural poor against an elite that has traditionally held power.

They have hung a giant banner between two shuttered shopping malls that apologises in English to Bangkok's foreign visitors: "Welcome to Thailand. We Just Want Democracy."

- AP