Bangkok tourist spots bounce back quickly after floods

By Liu Jiawen, reporting

Due to flood-related news, many people have become hesitant about traveling to Thailand. In reality, almost all of Thailand’s major tourist areas and attractions were unaffected by the floods. Take central Bangkok, for example—the water level previously reached about 30–50 centimeters, but it receded within three days. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also downgraded Thailand’s travel alert from “yellow” to “gray” on December 19, reminding travelers to remain mindful of their safety. The Tourism Authority of Thailand also invited 350 global media journalists to visit various tourist spots across the country last week (on the 13th), officially announcing that the floods had ended and that most tourist attractions and services were operating normally.

This flood had minimal impact on Thailand’s tourism infrastructure, with only some World Heritage sites in Ayutthaya, central Thailand, being affected. Certain areas there required reconstruction, but the floods in Ayutthaya had already subsided by early November, and the area is now open to tourists again. During the flooding, the water level of the Chao Phraya River reached 2.55 meters, but it has now returned to normal. Along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, various types of passenger boats can be seen cruising back and forth, just as they did before, carrying tourists to enjoy the scenery. The peripheral areas of Chatuchak Weekend Market were flooded during the disaster, but the market itself was completely unaffected, and shopping crowds remain bustling as ever.

Other tourist destinations in Thailand, such as Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, and Chiang Rai in the north; Phuket, Koh Samui, and Krabi in the south; and Pattaya and Hua Hin in the central region, have all remained unaffected by the floods and are operating as usual. Visitor numbers remain high. For example, at Phuket International Airport in southern Thailand, arrivals in the first three weeks of November 2011 increased by 30% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, to provide better services for travelers entering and exiting Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Tourism Authority of Thailand will implement several new measures from January to August 2012. Key initiatives include deploying 70 staff members working in three daily shifts to reduce immigration queue times, offering customs declaration forms in Chinese, Japanese, and English, arranging 10 golf carts to assist elderly and mobility-impaired travelers within the airport, and providing free Wi-Fi for tourists to access travel information—ensuring a smoother entry and exit experience.