Thai officials said in Taipei yesterday that they hoped instability caused by the worst civil unrest in Thailand in the past 20 years would be over soon and that Taiwanese investment and tourism in the Southeast Asian country would return to normal.
“I personally believe that this unfortunate situation will be short-term and will end soon … Thailand will put everything in order and come back as a peaceful place to live,” said Thai Deputy Minister of Industry Sorayut Phettakul, referring to the massive protests in Bangkok that have caused some 40 deaths since March.
The Thai officials made the remarks in the 21st Joint Economic Cooperation Meeting between Taiwan’s Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association and the Federation of Thai Industries, which promotes bilateral trade.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised the travel alert to red — the highest grade on a four-color system — for the greater Bangkok area, advising Taiwanese tourists against visiting the Thai capital unless necessary.
The alert level was orange — also very serious — for other areas in Thailand, except for the tourist resort area of Phuket island.
Responding to a question about the impact of the protests on tourism, Wanthanee Viputwongsakul, deputy executive director of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office, Thailand’s representative office in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties, described Taiwanese tourists as “more supportive” than others.
Even though daily average visa applications ranged from 200 to 300 — down from around 1,000 per day before the protest — the numbers were still a lot higher than those of Western countries, she said.
“It appears that the situation has calmed down,” she said.
In terms of investment, she quoted an unnamed media analyst who said that while investors might want to relocate their businesses away from Bangkok in the short term, the mid to long-term investment climate would not be affected.
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Liang (梁國新) said Taiwan was the third-largest foreign investor in Thailand, with more than 2,000 investment projects in the country.
He said Taiwan, Thailand’s 11th-largest trading partner, intended to further liberalize its economic relations and forecast that bilateral trade would see a steady upward trend.
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