TO make vacationing in a country still under martial law a little more attractive, Thailand’s military junta is offering tourists from China free visas.

    Chinese are the biggest visitors to Thailand, accounting for 18 percent of total arrivals in July, but they also proved among the most nervous, with numbers slumping more than other nationalities after May’s military coup.

    Tourism accounts for about 10 percent of the Thai economy, and the imposition of martial law in May after the coup hit the industry hard. Winning back the Chinese visitors is imperative — spending by Chinese mainland tourists jumped 80 percent to US$6 billion in 2013 from 2012.

    The slump in tourist numbers after the coup was much more pronounced among visitors from East Asia than from Europe.

    Chen Wei, the manager of an outbound travel department for Asia at Shanghai Huating Overseas Tourist Co., said his firm had only one group of 20 tourists a week traveling to Thailand this month, compared with two to three groups a week of more than 30 tourists each last year.

    The number of visitors from China fell 41 percent in June — the first full month under military rule — from Japan 25 percent, and South Korea 29 percent, while arrivals from Europe fell by 3 percent.

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand said its new tourism promotion measures included a 30-day extension of stay for visitors from 48 countries and one territory, in addition to the free visa for Chinese guests, although tourists from many other countries don’t need holiday visas.

    The return of some normality to Thailand, and possibly the 1,000 baht (US$30) visa saving, could be starting to work with visa applications from China rising, while tourism operators say visitor numbers picked up last month.

    With less than half their rooms filled, compared with occupancy rates of 60 to 65 percent in July 2013, Thailand’s hoteliers are impatient for martial law to be lifted now that political unrest has subsided.

    “It was eerily quiet in June and July,” said Boonchai Suwatsakulsawasd, general manager of the Centara Duangtawan Hotel in Chiang Mai, which targets Chinese tourists. “It only got better in August.”

    (SD-Agencies)