Thailand Feels Pinch of Airport Shutdown

By STEPHEN WRIGHT / AP WRITER

BANGKOK — The orchids given to passengers on Thai Airways have long since wilted on the international runways shut down for a week. Now thousands of Thai families who raise orchids—flown to flower shops around the world—face losing their livelihoods as exporters throw away thousands of the exotic blossoms that symbolize the country's famed hospitality and beauty.

As protesters blockaded Bangkok's international airport for an eighth day—stranding 300,000 travelers and all but paralyzing air links with the outside world—Thailand's economy began to feel the pinch.

From shortages of fine wines to salmon, the airport shutdown has mostly affected the capital's upper class and foreigners. Top hotels and restaurants scrambled for fast dwindling stocks of imported delicacies, and a private hospital organized limousines to ferry foreign patients recovering from surgery to a resort island airport 12 hours south of Bangkok.

But pain is beginning to seep into the broader economy, and up to 1 million workers in the vital tourism industry could lose their jobs if foreign visitor numbers plunge by half next year, as the Tourism Council predicts. The economy, which grew 4.7 percent last year, will slow or even contract, experts have warned.

Already, the orchid industry says it is losing $1 million a day.

"The domestic market cannot absorb the flowers. A few exporters are selling export-quality orchids locally but most have to be thrown away," said Wittaya Yukpan, managing director of Siam Flower 1985 Co., one of the largest orchid exporters.

He said up to 5,000 families who grow orchids are losing money—and the long-term effects could be potentially devastating.

"Buyers will use other types of flowers in bouquets and once they get used to them they may not come back to orchids," said Wittaya, 42, whose father helped pioneer Thailand's orchid industry.

The severing of air links with Thailand's capital has rippled through the country and the region as airlines tried to reroute passengers and freight. Protesters seeking the overthrow of the government because of its ties with ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra overran the international airport and a second, smaller airport a week ago.

The country's Constitutional Court on Tuesday dissolved three main parties in the ruling coalition for vote buying, banning the prime minister along with top party executives from politics for five years.

But even if protesters immediately left the airports, it would take "not less than seven days" for flights to resume at Suvarnabhumi, the city's main international gateway, said Airports of Thailand President Serirat Prasutanond.

Longer-term, the political upheaval and airport chaos—broadcast on televisions around the world—has damaged Thailand's image and will likely deter tourism and business investment, which would drag on the broader economy.

Hotels, restaurants and gourmet supermarkets that cater to wealthy Thais, foreign expatriates and tourists have been hard hit.

Villa Market, an upscale supermarket chain, said its 14 stores were already running out of fruit, meat, cheese, cereals and canned food—90 percent of which it imports from overseas.

"It has caused a huge financial loss," said spokeswoman Siripana Kiattisaknikon.

Classic Fine Foods, an importer which supplies more than 30 hotels in Thailand, said hundreds of kilograms of meats, seafood and other fresh food had rotted at airports overseas. Its supplies of lamb and most seafood have already run out, according to general manager Kannikar Yantabutr.

Deepak Ohri, chief executive of the five-star Lebua hotel that overlooks Bangkok's Chaophraya River, said occupancy had plunged to 24 percent compared to 70 percent the same time last year.

Outbound mail and courier services were barely functioning and inbound services faced significant delays.

Some airlines have rerouted flights to the tiny U-tapao airport 190 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Bangkok, resulting in chaos as thousands of tourists eager to get home descended on a terminal built for 400—with only a single X-ray machine.

Others are leaving in more style. Bumrungrad International, a private hospital in Bangkok popular with foreigners, was rushing to find transportation for patients waiting to fly home.

Chief Executive Mack Banner said the hospital plans to send 20 or more patients to the airport at the resort town of Phuket, a 12-hour drive south from Bangkok.

"They're organizing a limousine or luxury car I can lie down flat on the way to Phuket," said Zane Lamont, a 35-year-old merchant marine sailor from Adelaide, Australia, who cracked two vertebrae while on vacation in Southeast Asia. "There'll be a nurse traveling with me the entire way."

The flights from Phuket to Singapore and then on to Sydney will be first class so he can take advantage of a seats that extend to be fully flat. The insurance company is picking up the tab, Lamont said.

"To do a little road trip adds a bonus to the holiday," he said from his bed with a smile.