The Thai government has officially declared that Bangkok is back to normal and has ended the state of emergency that had been in effect in the Thai capital since April 12.
The news will bring some relief to Thailand’s battered tourist industry which has been dealt a number of damaging blows in recent months. The violent scenes witnessed in Bangkok two weeks ago compounded an already grave situation for the economically important tourist sector. The airport protests at the end of 2008 and the global economic downturn has meant a drop in tourists visiting Thailand this year and that number is likely to drop still further with the recent round of political unrest. It is estimated that tourist numbers will be down by between 2 to 4 million this year. That in turn could mean a loss of 50 to 100 billion Baht in revenue and, more importantly, the loss of tens of thousands of jobs for ordinary Thai workers.
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