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[Sexpat]

"Hotel operators around the country are reporting declining average occupancy rates and blaming the country's political problems and currency fluctuations. Thai Hotels Association (THA) vice president Prakit Chinamourpong said hotels in most regions were running at lower occupancy rates than in the same period last year.

However, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Phornsiri Manoharn has reported a 3.3-per-cent increase in tourist arrivals in the first half of the year and says the lower hotel-occupancy rates are due to the fact that there are more hotels and not fewer tourists.

THA figures show that the average occupancy rate for small hotels in Bangkok last month was 70 per cent, down from 78 per cent in August 2006. For big hotels, last month's rate was 71 per cent, down from 77 per cent last year.

The occupancy rate for hotels in Hua Hin and Cha-am fell from 50 per cent in August 2006 to 45 per cent last month. In the Northeast, the figure dropped 20 per cent from 50-60-per-cent occupancy in August 2006.

At Pattaya's hotels, the average occupancy rate last month was 56 per cent, down from 68 per cent in August 2006. However, hotels in Phuket and Khao Lak showed an increase of 10-20 per cent to reach 40 per cent last month, due mainly to the recovery of tourism along the Andaman Coast."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/06...ss_30047887.php