Bangkok (AFP)
Rows of tourist buses at a standstill, deserted amusement parks, empty beaches: tourism in Thailand, so important to the country's economy, has been hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic.
"The situation is very bad, there are only a few tourists left," said AFP Songsak Srimuang, who works in a tattoo shop in the resort of Pattaya, usually one of the favorite destinations for Chinese visitors. "Maybe I'll go back to my hometown and go back to farming."
The number of Chinese tourists has dropped since January, as the Chinese government banned group visits abroad in an attempt to contain the epidemic.
If this continues, "we're going to have to close and I have nowhere to work," worries Kochawan Greeglang, a waitress in a Pattaya bar.
In the meantime, the Thai economy, particularly dependent on tourism (18% of GDP), continues to decelerate.
And the tourism authority had to revise its forecasts for 2020 downwards.
It is currently counting on 6 million fewer foreign visitors this year (33.8 million against 39.8 in 2019), according to data transmitted to AFP.
But the fall could be even more severe if the crisis were to last for many months.
To date, the kingdom has 50 reported cases of coronavirus. One patient died, 16 are still in hospital and 33 are recovered.
© 2020 AFP