Malaysian tourist influx remains steady despite uncertainty in Thailand’s south

Malaysians are still streaming into Songkhla, despite safety concerns and uncertainties following the recent fireworks warehouse explosion and a car bombing in Narathiwat. The blasts brought ensuing speculation over safety concerns across Thailand’s southernmost provinces. But an average of 10,000 Malaysian tourists each day are visiting Southern Thailand anyway.

Songchai Mungprasithichai, spearheading the Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, expressed that the steady surge of Malaysian influx has largely remained unnerved and unaffected by the hasty disruptions in the Deep South provinces. These travellers, hailing from the neighbouring country, have over time grown accustomed to unpredictable incidents in Thailand’s volatile southernmost provinces.

Songchai went on to comment that the fireworks explosion incident at a warehouse recently and the car bomb explosion in Narathiwat barely impacted surrounding transportation facilities and didn’t deter the steady stream of Malaysian tourists into Thailand.

The tourism association head mentioned how vast numbers of Malaysian tourists continue their journey via the Sadao and Betong checkpoints to reach popular southern tourist spots, such as Hat Yai in Songkhla and Betong in Yala.

Despite the ominous incidents, tourist operators maintain a positive outlook with around 10,000 Malaysian tourists crossing the borders daily for travel said Songchai.

He further suggested that the newly appointed government should prioritise enhancing the decades-long plagued image of the Southern region in a bid to revitalise the gloom-ridden tourism sector across the entire Deep South zone.

From the perspective of Siwat Suwanwong, who serves as vice president for the Songkhla provincial office of the Thai Hotels Association, the healthy hotel occupancy rate of 85% over the weekends is largely propelled by the inflow of Malaysian tourists.

He continued to voice out Songkhla’s impending need for exiting from the red zone, with currently four districts under the same unfavourable tag. As international tour groups are not covered by travel insurance in those areas, it dampens their interest in visiting those spots.

Siwat furthered his viewpoint stating that unlocking more areas would draw in larger events and travellers beyond Malaysia.

In that context, Tanes Petsuwan, who is the deputy governor for Asia and the South Pacific at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), expressed his expectations of receiving at least four million Malaysian tourists in the current year. Even for the first seven months, the records show a massive influx of over 2.4 million Malaysian visitors.

TAT has also sidelined some strategies aiming to allure Malaysian tourists from Songkhla to other southern provinces with scenic beach destinations and proliferating direct flight connections between Malaysia and Chiang Mai along with other regions.

However, Tanes did acknowledge the delayed implementation of planned chartered flights between Kunming in China and Hat Yai from July to October. That delay was likely caused by the unexpected formation of the new government.

Consequently, Songchai conveyed his scepticism over the sustainability of this venture. He cited the potential shortfall in local demand for outbound flights to China as opposed to the substantial inbound demand from Chinese travellers as a factor.