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Phitsanulok: Consideration of Tourism Damage and Losses at the Provincial Level
While Thailand’s tourism sector leverages every province’s assets in response to both foreign
and domestic traveler demand, the sector’s most common images are foreigners visiting
beaches and iconic cultural sites. However, the sector’s economic prowess and widespread
value is also driven by the popularity of travel among the Thai people. In 2010, 15.9 million
foreign travelers visited Thailand generating THB 592.8 billion. For the same period, the Tourism
Authority of Thailand reported a volume of 122.5 million Thai traveler visits generating THB
402.6 billion in revenue. Beyond travel to top sites such as Phuket and Chiang Mai, Thai travelers
journey to lesser known provinces and have significant impact.
One case in point is the provincial area of Phitsanulok. Supporting a population of 863,208,
Phitsanulok is located in the central region of Thailand, north of Bangkok and Ayuthaya.
Approximately a six-hour drive or 1.5-hour flight from Bangkok, it offers important religious
attractions such as Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat and nature-based tourism offerings such
as the Dragon Boat Races on the Nan river the first weekend of each October. Famous for its
noodles and other local cuisine, the province has more than 100 full-service restaurants and 50
registered lodging establishments supplying an inventory of 5,000 rooms. Phitsanulok, which
is not an internationally or regionally recognized destination, attracts over two million visitors a
year. Of note, 95 percent of these visitors are Thai.
Accustomed to responding to annual flooding, this year’s flooding was managed such that
impact was limited to certain areas away from the city center. Reported damage includes both
physical damage and losses leading to worker layoffs, and was initially valued at the relatively
small amount of THB two million. However, this does not tell the whole story for Phitsanulok.
With its excellent river resource, Phitsanulok benefits from annual Longboat Festival Races.
This event attracts 20,000 visitors a day for two days and generates over THB 20 million of
economic impact. This year, the event was cancelled due to flooding in provinces south of
Phitsanulok and a lack of traveler confidence by attendees from Bangkok and its environs. The
cancellation negatively impacted the area’s economics and spirit. Going forward, losses are
accumulating. The province’s primary “source market” of Bangkok and environs is blocked by
floodwaters, from where typically 60 percent of Phitsanulok’s Thai visitors come. Since these
Thai tourists currently are not confident to travel – despite the fact that Phitsanulok is fully “open
for business” – the area continues to suffer losses.
Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand and The Comptroller General’s Department, Phitsanulok and
field research, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
http://www.phitsanulok.go.th/PP3.html
Where operations have a high proportion of fixed costs, cash flow problems are likely
in lodging, and food and beverage operations. Also, other businesses indirectly serving
the tourism sector can be impacted. It is unclear at this point how large the impact on
employment will be; much depends on how quickly the industry recovers. For employees
that depend on service charges for the majority of their income, the financial impact of
lower occupancies will be significant even if jobs are maintained. On the government
side, tax revenues will also suffer.
Pockets of increased activity are noteworthy. For example, hotels in Bangkok reported
higher than usual occupancy as Thai people, displaced by the floods, moved in at
discounted rates. Ayuthaya hotels are experiencing increased activity as companies
previously located in now flooded industrial estates set-up offices in hotels and other
lodging facilities. In addition, lodging establishments in and proximate to flooded areas
are serving as residences for reconstruction experts and laborers. While this low-margin
50 THAI FLOOD 2011 RAPID ASSESSMENT FOR RESILIENT RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION PLANNING