BANGKOK, Thailand-
Deadly New Year’s bombings failed to shatter Bangkok’s charms for many visitors–even one wounded in the blasts.
“I can’t see why this would deter me from coming back,” said Paul Hewitt, a Briton on holiday who was hurt when nine bombs went off across the Thai capital on New Year’s Eve and Monday, leaving three people dead and 38 wounded, nine of them foreigners. “I just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He was hospitalized Sunday night and discharged Monday after one bomb, in a crowded shopping district, drove a piece of debris deep into his left arm.
Many other tourists in Bangkok on Monday agreed with Hewitt. But travel industry insiders and analysts were more worried about the bombings’ effects on tourism, a crucial driver of the Thai economy. “What happened will most certainly hurt tourism, and will likely hurt consumer confidence as well as consumer spending,” said analyst Aekpittaya Iemkongaek at brokerage BFIT Securities. Thailand typically gets about 1 million visitors a month. In November 2006, 1.14 million arrived, up 2.4 percent from the same month in 2005, according to the latest available figures from the Bank of Thailand, the central bank.
