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Published on July 30, 2007

THA president Chanin Donavanik said at least three new pieces of legislation would cause trouble - two safety laws concerning tourist safety and building security, and one law involving music copyright.

The first law regarding tourist safety has been in force for two years. It requires all hotel operators to stock smoke masks and fire-fighting equipment at their properties.

Chanin said hotels would need to spend a collective Bt3 billion to buy the masks and only several companies supply them. They are speculated to be linked to a powerful minister in the last administration, who initiated the law.

"The THA has been fighting this issue for two years and it's still not finalised yet. We have told our members to keep deferring the investment in the masks pending further talks with the new government," he said.

"We are hoping that the new government can help us in this matter," he said.

The association is also discussing another law on building safety, which is expected by the end of the year.

If the law is approved by the Cabinet, all high-rises, particularly hotels, residences and commercial offices, would be required to obtain annual safety certification. The hotels are expected to pay at least Bt1 billion to certification companies.

The recently enforced Music Copyrights Act has directly hit hotels' food and beverage business especially meeting and conferences.

THA members have boycotted RS's music and products in their hotels after the musis company charged them for playing its copyright material.

Hotels have seen their incomes drop, as customers became fewer.

"Hotel operating costs are up by Bt5 billion due to the new acts," Chanin said.

The domestic political chaos would also hurt tourism and the hospitality business, he said. Tourists are worried about security so they put off travel to Thailand.

Many external trends are also buffeting the industry.

The fluctuation of major currencies against the baht is driving away visitors. THA believes they are considering more affordable vacation magnets such as Vietnam and China.

THA says it has also learned that many European airlines plan to drop flights into Bangkok in a couple of months, so that would not help the country to get more tourists.

Citing the many threatening factors, Chanin said the Tourism Authority of Thailand would fall short of its target for next year of 15.2 million international arrivals.

However, the authority has a chance to reach its tourism revenue goal if it could draw more high-end holidaymakers as well as niche markets.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation