Political problems not seriously affect Thai exports

BANGKOK, March 18 (TNA) - Domestic political problems have not seriously affected Thai exports, as most production sites are located outside Bangkok. Issara Wongkusolkit, Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand, told journalists of the information on Tuesday, projecting, therefore, that the value of Thai exports should grow by 5 per cent this year as earlier expected. Issara acknowledged, however, that money circulating in the Thai economy has dropped by 40-50 billion baht monthly during the ongoing domestic political protests, which started last October, pointing out that the hardest hit business is the Thai tourism. Issara noted that the imposition of the emergency decree has reduced the number of international visitors to Thailand to 27.5 million, from an earlier expected number of 28.1 million, and that the figure rose by only 3 per cent year-on-year, as Chinese tour groups have plunged by 50 per cent, while those from Japan and Korea have dropped by 40 per cent and by 30 per cent respectively. Issara said political problems have also affected tourism-related businesses, indicating that air transport businesses have dropped by 15 per cent, gem and jewelry businesses have fallen by 30-40 per cent and hotel reservations for meetings have declined by 20-30 per cent, while reservations at hotels in Ratchaprasong, Silom and Rama IV areas where there have been demonstrations, have plunged by 70 per cent and 5-10 per cent of planned house purchases have also been postponed. Besides, the new Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) cannot be formed and new investment projects, worth 500-600 billion baht, are waiting for the BOI's approval for promotional privileges, most of them are in automobile and electronic industries.(TNA)