However, despite warnings triggered off by the US, 13 January, the country’s travel agency association reported trips by American citizens grew by more than 26% in January.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, said the ministry met with ambassadors of more than 40 countries, 3 February to brief them on security in the country.

The US issued the initial warning prompting 19 nations to follow with cautions on travelling to Bangkok.

None of the warnings were identified as red alerts that recommend travellers to postpone travel, but they did point to potential threats in Bangkok and the need to be watchful or stay away from crowded places.

Mr Sihasak added: “More stringent security measures have been implemented to restore confidence in the country at all levels. Visitor safety is being taken seriously.”

The nine countries still recommending caution when visiting Bangkok are: the United Kingdom; Australia; Austria; Taiwan, South Korea; Italy; Japan; Romania and Canada.

Ten countries that revoked the alert earlier than the US included China, Israel, Greece, Germany, France, Norway, Brazil, Netherlands and Denmark.

“Japan,  a top  market, is waiting official confirmation from Thailand on the security status before it will revoke its warning,” Mr Sihasak explained.

He urged the remaining countries to review their alerts based on the current situation in Thailand and the Thai government’s handling of the matter.

“We know Australia is preparing to revoke the alert, while the UK has made it clear that it will not change the warning as it is informing citizens of potential threats.”

However,  there are signs that tourism is making a fast recovery, while travel executives said the more damaging factor was last year’s floods in terms of revenue lost to the industry.

Association of Thai Travel Agents, which collects data from its members who handle international tourists at Suvarnabhumi Airport, reported there were declines in clients requiring meet-and-greet services at the airport  after 13 January.

ATTA identifies decline in business from 10 countries in January

In contrast, the United States warning alert had no impact on ATTA member business. Travel agents serviced 2,599 trips from the US in first month of the year up 26.47% from 2,055 trips in the same month last year.

China remained strong improving of 69.18% to 66,927 trips compared to 39,560 trips in 2010.

He claimed hotels that failed to register and comply with the nation’s hospitality laws were a potential hazards and also deterred genuine investment in the industry.

He was speaking at a joint THA and Association of Thai Travel Agents meeting on Monday.

Mr Surapong noted that in Bangkok alone there were over 300 hotels in Bangkok selling rooms openly through booking sites. They failed to comply with the law that requires them to register with the Department of Provincial Administration under the Ministry of Interior.

“The association has conducted an investigation on Bangkok hotels and we discovered 532 hotels, representing 84,534 rooms, were active on the internet,” said Mr Surapong. “We checked this with the registrar at the Department of Provincial Administration and 353 hotels with 34,803 rooms had failed to register,” he added.

He claimed registration had a direct impact on quality of services, security, fire hazard checks and other requirements related to safety.

Thailand attracted 19 million tourist arrivals, up 19.84% from 15.5 million in 2010.

The THA report pointed out that the increase in tourist arrivals did not correspond with the percentage increase in overall hotel occupancy in Thailand last year, which increased by 12.45 points (from 52.65% to 59.21%).

An STR Global survey showed hotel yields in the country improved marginally with Phuket outperforming other destinations. However improvements were estimated to be less than 3%.

“The increase in tourist arrivals did not deliver improvements for hotels,” said Mr Surapong. “We have to assume more travellers are staying in unregistered hotels.”

He claimed tourist safety was at risk as the law had no control over these properties.

If there are health related accidents or a failure in hygiene it hurts the reputation of all hotels in Thailand, but in most cases the culprits are not even registered,” he added.

He pointed that apartments that open for daily rentals made the competition unfair.

“They do not pay the hotel tax Bt80 per room per year and they adopt a non-hotel system for calculating other taxes based on monthly revenue rather than daily.”

Thailand’s room supply exceeds market demand across the country confirmed by a national average for occupancy below 70%.

“Competition in Bangkok pushes down the average room rate to US$97, the second lowest in the Asia/ Pacific region,” he explained.

According to the data provided by the Department of Provincial Administration under the Ministry of Interior, Thailand has 6,057 hotels and 285,923 rooms registered. Bangkok has 329 hotels, Chonburi 334 hotels and Surat Thani 492 hotels. No data was provided on key destinations like Phuket, Krabi and Mae Hong Son.

Currently THA has 709 hotel member hotels with 126,283 rooms.

TCT president, Piyaman Tejapaibul, said the government needs to learn how to communicate accurate information that is credible, noting that 11 countries issued travel warnings on Bangkok in the wake of last week’s arrest of a terrorist suspect.

“The council needs to be assured that the government can communicate accurate information to ensure embassies understand what the Thai government is doing in response to intelligence feeds,” she said.

She was commenting on the drawn out hints and obscure comments about a bomb threat that started as early as last Christmas, but lacked substance and credibility in presentation.

Ultimately, the travel industry had to wait for the US and Israeli embassies to clarify the nature of the threat earlier this month. Over the weekend, Police arrested a terrorist suspect for allegedly preparing substances used to build bombs. Intelligence officers said the suspect planned to bomb US and Israeli community targets in Bangkok.

Khao San Road a haven for back packers and Jewish synagogues or a community centre were identified as potential targets.

The TCT believes the government should be more proactive in dealing with security needs, possibly by beefing up a police presence at tourist sites and communicating the facts more clearly to the public in advance to gain support.

“It is important to inform the industry and embassies that the government is acting appropriately, taking threats seriously and has the capability to deal with terrorism threat and harness public support in the battle against terrorism.”

The council president noted that issuing warnings of possible terrorist attacks is a normal procedure in most countries and visitors from Europe and North America are accustomed to frequent  security alerts in their own countries.

The threat level last week was raised from two to four at one point and this panicked tourists in certain countries that are not accustomed to terrorist threats.

Meanwhile, TCT Planning and Policy president Kongkrit Hiranyakit warned last week’s terrorism related arrest would have a “huge impact on tourism.”

“Ultimately, it undermines confidence particularly in Asian market as travellers may assume that Thailand is now a target for international terrorism.”

Mr Kongkrit recommends that stricter security measures be urgently set up at attractions and there should be more updates on the situation to rebuild confidence.

“If something happens on the scale of Indonesia’s Bali bombing in 2002 we will not recover for two years or more, it would be devastating for the industry so we should call for improvements now in policing and intelligence follow up.”

TCT estimates that tourist arrivals this year could increase by 8% to 20.2 million and generate Bt760 billion in revenue up from 19.09 million visits Bt734.5 billion revenue last year.

Last Friday, Thai police detained a Lebanese-Swedish citizen, Atris Hussein, suspected of having connections with Hezbollah after the US government issued a warning to all US citizens of a possible terrorist threat. The initial warning was issued by both the US and Israeli embassies early Friday.

The suspecgt was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport as he was about to board a flight.

Over the weekend police raided a residence in Samut Sakhon where 4,380 kg of urea and 10 gallons of ammonium nitrate had been stored.

Chalerm Yoobamrung

Deputy prime minister Chalerm Yoobamrung confirmed the arrest of the suspected terrorist on Friday, but the incident triggered at least 11 nations to issue travel warnings on Bangkok over the weekend advising extreme caution.

The US government issued a warning through its embassy website in Thailand stating: “Foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks in tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future.”

“US citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok.”

According to media reports, Israeli intelligence had warned the Thai Police just before the Christmas holiday that Bangkok was a target, possibly tourist spots and guest houses where Israelis usually stay. This included accommodation Khao San Road that was raided by police during the search for Mr Hussein.

According to reports in local newspapers, there were more than one suspect, however, Mr Chalerm refused to elaborate.

Commenting on the arrest, Mr Chalerm said Thailand had no strong evidence to support the theory that an attack was imminent. The suspect was arrested under the country’s immigration law that allows police to keep a suspect in custody for up to 60 days without a specific charge.

Defence minister Yuthasak Sasiphrapha claimed the initial intelligence came from the US and Israeli governments, well ahead of the subsequent US travel warning, but it was not made public for fear that it would cause panic and damage tourism.

Mr Yuthasak added that possible targets could include tourist spots such as Khao San Road or Suvarnabhumi Airport as well as the Israeli embassy and synagogues.

He argued that Thailand was not the prime target based on the information provided by the suspect.

Following the warning three other countries; United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, issued extreme caution warnings on Bangkok.

Both Russia and India, two of Thailand’s top travel markets have so far not issued warnings. All told 11 countries have issued warnings.

The Thai foreign ministry asked representatives of the US and Israeli embassies to explain the warnings during a meeting Tuesday. Government officials had hoped to hush up the affair to avoid damaging the country’s sensitive tourism industry.

The United States warned of a “serious” threat of a terrorist strike on tourist areas in Bangkok and a manhunt is under way for a second suspect who could be hiding in the Thai capital, prompting extra security.

The Lebanese man is accused of breaking weapons control laws, deputy national police chief Pansiri Prapawat said, after a large amount of fertiliser and ammonium nitrate was found at an address rented by the suspect.

“We will conduct further investigation into whether he violated any other laws,” he told reporters.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra

Ammonium nitrate is commonly used in agriculture, but mixed with other substances can make a bomb. Possession of the chemical requires a permit in Thailand.

Security has been stepped up around possible targets in Bangkok, including the Israeli embassy and the Khao San Road backpacker district, and at Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok’s main airport.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra again reassured the public that the situation was under control.

“We continue to keep a close watch and we have also increased the security presence,” she told reporters.

Thai authorities allege the Lebanese man, who was detained on Thursday, has links to Hezbollah, an Iranian- and Syrian-backed Muslim Shiite group that is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington.

When contacted, Hezbollah declined to comment on the case.

The suspect, who is also believed to have a Swedish passport, was detained based on intelligence provided by Israel, according to Thai officials.

Police said Saturday the suspect had admitted during interrogation that a group was planning an attack in Thailand, but that the plot had been called off.

Israel would not confirm or deny a role in the arrest, but has urged its citizens to avoid Bangkok because of “a serious and imminent danger”.

Thai authorities had repeatedly played down the risk and withheld information about any possible plot until after the United States warned Friday of a terrorist threat against tourists.

“Foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future,” the US embassy in Bangkok said in an emergency message posted on its website.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney wrote on Twitter on Monday that the US advice “still stands.”

She has previously described the threat as “credible, serious and specific.”

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul has expressed “disappointment” that the United States did not consult Thailand before issuing the alert.

The safety scare is another blow to the kingdom’s tourist-friendly image, which was badly dented last year by devastating flooding across much of the country, as well as rounds of rival political protests in recent years.

In 2008 a nine-day blockade by protesters of Suvarnabhumi airport stranded tens of thousands of travellers, and the industry was badly hit again in 2010 during anti-government street demonstrations.

Bangkok’s central shopping area was reduced to a battle zone during an army crackdown on the 2010 rallies, and more than 90 people were left dead.

An eight-year shadowy insurgency continues to plague the country’s Muslim-majority deep south, but the rebels have never been known to attack outside the region.

In the most prominent terrorist attack in Southeast Asia in recent history, 202 people — most of them foreign tourists — were killed in 2002 by bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali.

© 1994-2012 Agence France-Presse

The ministry spokesman, Watchara Kannika, said daily news updates concerning possible bombs threats in Bangkok would spook tourists at time when the industry is hoping for recovery.

Last week, the Ministry of Interior, which oversees the police force issued an alert identifying hot spots in the city that could be targets for bombers. It was quickly followed up by an arrest of a suspect, who allegedly planted home-made bombs at various sites before being caught red-handed by police officers.

Police said the bombs were planted to scare rather than kill, but critics claim the entire incident may have been a red herring stage-managed for political purposes.

Whatever the motives the announcement could dampen tourism recovery adding yet another cautionary note in travel advisories on top of the flood warnings.

“ The tourism ministry is worried about news reported by foreign wire agencies particularly located in Thailand including reactions from embassies,” the ministry of tourism spokesperson said.

Mr Watchara added: “ We are asking relevance agencies to work quietly without reporting their actions officially.”

He was speaking at a press conference last Friday following the discovery of six home-made bombs left at three spots in Lat Krabang district, including outside a Bangkok Bank branch on Sukhumvit 77.

Local English language newspaper the Nation reported, 13 December, that police have identified 10 sites that could become bomb targets and urged people to stay away from these areas during New Year celebrations.

Police said people should stay away from the following landmarks during countdown celebrations:

Victory Monument; Major Ratchayothin cinema complex, Seacon Square, CentralWorld, Khao San Road, Chitralada Palace, Si Sao Thewes, Mor Chit bus terminal, Soi Nana and Pata Pinklao.

The warning was issued by police officers who said they were hoping it would prevent a repeat of  attacks in Bangkok in 2006 that killed three and wounded 38 other revellers.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau released the list reportedly under the advice of Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung. Officers at all 88 police precincts have been ordered to standby through to 3 January.

Anti-riot units, tourism and traffic police, and the police commando unit have been put in charge of the operations and will get additional support from military police and municipal policemen under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

At CentralWorld, where the New Year countdown is held every year, there is a heavy police presence along with support units including sniffer dogs and bomb-disposal teams at the ready.

Also Rajdamri Road, from Ratcha-prasong to the Pratunam intersection, will be closed from 1800 on 31 December to 0100 on 1 January.

Telephone booths near CentralWorld will also be closed before and during the countdown and the entire area will be locked down for bomb inspections before the countdown party begins at 1600, 31 December.

Extra road checkpoints will be erected at key junctions going in and out of Bangkok from 2200 to midnight and from 0100 to 0300 at Vibhavadi Rangsit Highway from the Thupatemee elevated junction, Chaeng Watthana Road, Rama IV Road, and Borromaratchonnani Road from the Chim Phlee elevated junction.

Due to such heavy security, tourists may be hesitant to ignore their embassy warnings to stay away from big crowds in public areas in the capital.

Travel executives fear that the capital is becoming a less than a desirable place to visit under the constant changing political upheavals, bomb threats and most recently serious flooding that inundated half of the capital.

The surprise warning was issued yesterday by police officers who said they were hoping it would prevent a repeat of  attacks in Bangkok five years ago that killed three and wounded 38 other revellers.

Police said people should stay away from the following landmarks:

Victory Monument; Major Ratchayothin cinema complex, Seacon Square, CentralWorld, Khao San Road, Chitralada Palace, Si Sao Thewes, Mor Chit bus terminal, Soi Nana and Pata Pinklao.

It is difficult for commuters to avoid Victory Monument a major interchange for bus services and the BTS skytrain. Mor Chit is the busiest bus terminus in the country and during the New Year hundreds of buses depart for up-country destinations packed with Thais travelling home to visit relatives.

It was not clear why the Police identified CentralWorld as opposed to Siam Paragon and Siam Discovery Centre all within a few hundred metres of each other and are popular sites during the countdown celebrations.

Soi Nana is a red light district that attracts mainly elderly male western tourists attracted to the district’s open prostitution and sex shows.

Pata Pinklao is a popular shopping mall, located on the Thonburi side of the River Chao Phraya River mainly frequented by Thais.

Homes of some important people, key government agencies and political-party offices will also be under police watch. Some of these locations saw bomb attacks in 2006, and of the 38 revellers wounded, eight were foreigners.

The announcement is likely to spook tourists who were hoping to celebrate the New Year in a peaceful post-flood Thai capital. It also reaffirms the concerns outlined in travel advisories that Bangkok is not as safe as local tourism officials like to believe.

TAT officials have so far not addressed the concerns outlined in the Police announcement, although they are likely to say that tourists have nothing to worry about.

Then the travel industry will need to ask why did the Police Department bothered to issue the statement in the first place if there were no serious grounds for concerns.

The warning will not be welcomed by travel executives who are fighting to rebuild travel confidence after floods caused massive declines in travel bookings in November and forced thousands of tourists to cancel trips this month.

They will accuse the police of overreacting and making their task more difficult. TAT is about to launch a confidence building campaign called Beautiful Thailand.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau released the hot spot list, yesterday, reportedly under the advice of Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung. Officers at all 88 police precincts were ordered to go on standby during 8 to 17 December and 20 December to 3 January periods, in addition to attending to their regular jobs.

Security will be heightened during the Christmas and New Year celebrations that will be mooted considering residents are still recovering from a flood that trashed homes and caused massive job losses.

Anti-riot units, tourism and traffic police, and the police commando unit have been put in charge of the operations and will get additional support from military police and municipal policemen under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

At CentralWorld, where the New Year countdown is held every year, heavy police presence along with support units including sniffer dogs and bomb-disposal teams will be put in place both before and after the event. Rajdamri Road, from Ratcha-prasong to the Pratunam intersection, will be closed from 1800 on 31 December to 0100 on 1 January.

Telephone booths near CentralWorld will also be kept closed before and during the countdown and the entire area should get a final safety inspection before the countdown party begins at 1600.

Extra road checkpoints will be erected at key junctions going both into and out of Bangkok from 2200 to midnight and from 0100 to 0300 at Vibhavadi-Rangsit Highway from the Thupatemee elevated junction, Chaeng Watthana Road, Rama IV Road, and Borromaratchonnani Road from the Chim Phlee elevated junction.

The “30 Rock” star also insisted he was singled out unfairly when a “1950s gym teacher” American Airlines flight attendant ordered him to turn off his phone while waiting to take off.

In a series of tweets — which were later unavailable as Baldwin had deactivated his Twitter account — he said he was playing a popular smartphone game when he was told to leave the plane at Los Angeles airport Tuesday.

Alec Baldwin

“Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving,” Baldwin tweeted.

American Airlines retorted in a statement Wednesday, saying Baldwin had ignored a request to turn off his phone — and stormed off to the lavatory, slamming the door shut and alarming the pilots.

Recalling the security rule that cellphones and electronic devices must be turned off when the plane doors are closed and seatbelt lights on, American said: “This passenger declined to turn off his cell phone when asked to do so.

“The passenger ultimately stood up (with the seatbelt light still on for departure) and took his phone into the plane’s lavatory.”

“The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding.”

A few hours later the actor — whose Twitter feed had been mysteriously deactivated — voiced his frustration in Huffington Post article headlined: “A Farewell to Common Sense, Style, and Service on American Airlines.”

“I would like to apologize to the other passengers onboard the (AA) flight that I was thrown off of yesterday. It was never my intention to inconvenience anyone with my ‘issue’ with a certain flight attendant,” he said.

He said he had flown American for 20 years and had always been helped to the airline’s staff — but became frustrated when the flight was delayed, above all when a flight attendant ordered him to stop using his cellphone.

“I was singled out by this woman in the most unpleasant of tones. I guess the fact that this woman, who had decided to make some example of me, while everyone else was left undisturbed, did get the better of me.”

Baldwin lamented the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks on US airlines and airports.

“One of the big changes .. is in the increase of the post-9/11, paramilitary bearing of much of the air travel business,” he said, adding that US airlines and airports had made “the air travel experience as inelegant as possible.”

He added: “Most of the flight attendants I have ever encountered still have some remnant of the old idea of service … But there are many now who walk the aisles of an airplane with a whistle around their neck and a clipboard in their hands and they have made flying a Greyhound bus experience.

“But it is sad, I think, that you’ve got to fly overseas today in order to bring back what has been thrown overboard by US carriers in terms of common sense, style, and service.”

© 1994-2011 Agence France-Presse

The halt in boat traffic was announced by the ministry of foreign affairs and reported by the official Xinhua news agency, citing maritime officials in southwest China’s Yunnan province.

TTR Weekly believes the incident and subsequent suspension of shipping could damage river tourism as it will cast doubt on the security of cruises, always a concern for tour operators who promote the region. Many of the cruises originate in Chiang Rai province in Thailand that considers itself a gateway to the Mekong Region.

According to AFP, two Chinese sailors remain missing after the cargo ships “Hua Ping” and “Yu Xing 8″ were attacked on October 5, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular press briefing.

However, Xinhua reported that all 13 Chinese crewmen were dead, citing Thai authorities who identified their killers as members of a drug trafficking ring operating on the Mekong.

The Mekong, known in China as the Lancang River, rises on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and flows through southwest China’s Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the South China Sea.

Out of 130 ships engaged in international shipping on the Mekong, 116 are operated by Chinese companies, according to the Lancang River Maritime Affairs Bureau, Xinhua reported.

Some Chinese ship operators have asked their Chinese crew to return to China overland from Thailand despite pending deliveries.

Maritime officials in Yunnan have begun to help Chinese crewmen return home safely and have adopted “proper measures to protect Chinese ships on the Mekong River”, Xinhua said.

© 1994-2011 Agence France-Presse

The assessment was made at a recent meeting with Ministry of Tourism and Sports on how to build confidence in China and ensure Thailand remains a safe country to visit.

China’s tourism administration vice chairmen, Zhu Shanzhong, said that around 25% of all visitors from China are individual travellers who book and organise their own trips and they are more vulnerable to accidents.

“ Due to the increase in travel there are more Chinese injured or die in Thailand, while on holiday and there is evidence that assistance was not delivered fast enough,” Mr Zhu claimed.

He called on the Ministry of Tourism to rebuild confidence by improving safety measures in the country.

There are no official statistics on how many Chinese are injured or die during their visits to Thailand, but it is thought to have increased based on the Chinese government’s assessment.

Safety while travelling in Thailand is an issue for all nationalities and most of the deaths and injuries are linked to poor road safety.

Four recommendations were made by Chinese officials during the visit to the Ministry of Tourism. They were:

• Raise efficiency and scope of tourist insurance to ensure Chinese visitors can be confident that they are covered during their trips to Thailand;

• Establish a unit which can fast track assistance for tourists particularly in a crisis situation;

• Set a tourism fund to pay compensation for visitors injured, while on holiday and for the families that suffer the loss of a relative during a trip to Thailand in addition to the tour company insurance that has a ceiling of Bt500,000 for an injury and Bt1 million in the case of loss of life;

• Speed up promotions to encourage Thais to travel to China to balance inbound travel through a two-way tourism policy.

During January to August this year, Chinese tourists made 1,155,712 trips to Thailand up from 685,520 visits during the same period last year, while Thai visits to China reached 600,000 over the same period.

Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports permanent secretary, Sombat Kuruphan, said he would hold meetings with officials from Foreign Affairs, Transport, Public Health, Interior and the Tourist Police Division to discuss the Chinese recommendations.

“Basically, the ministry regulation requires registered tour operator to arrange insurance for tourists,” Mr Sombat said.

He added: “ Tourists who travel on their own arrangements should buy travel insurance in their home countries before leaving for Thailand. ”