Bangkok’s Prolonged Haze Could Cost Millions in Tourist Dollars
Skift Take
Bangkok needs more than rainmakers to be treated seriously as the world’s top city destination, and to be a strong contender for medical tourists. Here’s what's choking the city and why it’s unhealthy for tourism.
The dust pollution that has shrouded Bangkok since December is sticking to the city like a bad overstayer. Tourism players, who are looking to the Lunar New Year holidays in early February as a gauge of whether the Chinese market is finally back after the Phuket boat tragedy, are praying for rain.
Let’s be clear (no pun intended). The pall over Bangkok is nothing compared to the transboundary haze crises that blanketed Southeast Asia in 2013 and 2015, which were caused by peat and forest fires in Indonesia. Also, any worries that Chinese visitors might stay away can quickly dissipate if one thinks of the pollution in Chinese cities such as Beijing.
However, for some, like Yves Van Kerrebroeck, managing director of Asian Trails Thailand, this smog is the worst he’s experienced in Bangkok. Others, like Richard Brouwer, chief commercial officer of Khiri Travel who has lived in the city for three decades, have seen worse, but added those cases were not as prolonged this.
Thailand’s Pollution Control Department has publicly said it expects the haze to last for another month.
This week, the kingdom’s prime minister, Prayuth Chan-Ocha, urged residents to stay indoors as the air quality index rose to 182 at one point, higher than levels seen in Beijing, New Delhi or Jakarta, according to Bloomberg.
Some areas within Bangkok, such as Silom, are getting more smog than others, according to Stephan Roemer, CEO of Diethelm Travel Group. The pollution has been blamed particularly on heavy construction and vehicle emiss
