Bangkok's International Airport Officially Reopens 
Bangkok's International Airport Officially Reopens
Thailand's
main international and domestic airports in Bangkok have officially
reopened - the first step in the recovery of the country's tourism
industry. Political protests had closed the runways for eight days,
stranding hundreds of thousands of people.
The ceremonies marked
a first step toward recovery for the tourism industry after eight days
of protests by the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy
closed Bangkok's airports.
Court ban led to end of siege at airports
The
siege ended Wednesday after a court banned Prime Minister Somchai
Wongsawat and his party from politics because of election law
violations.
The protests stranded more than 300,000 travelers.
Tourism
accounts for about six percent of the country's economy, and in 2007 14
million people visited. Officials warn that could be cut by half next
year, in part because of the protests.
New ad campaign hopes to revive tourism
Santichai
Euachongprasit, a marketing executive for the Tourism Authority of
Thailand, says a new advertising campaign will start soon.
"A
public relations [campaign], a strong message that we can take to the
world that our situation is coming back to real normal and this is
going to make the public have confidence in coming back to Thailand,"
said Santichai.
Somsong Sachaphimukh, is the general manager of
the travel agent, S.S. Group. She is confident that European travelers
will be among the first to return to Thailand.
"I can say that
80 percent will come back to Thailand because of the hospitality they
have received from the Thai [people]. Thai Airways and the TAT they
joined hands to really help the tourists," she said.
Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-12-05-voa16.cfm
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