The government’s decision to lift the enforcement of the State of Emergency Decree in Bangkok and the metropolitan region on Friday has drawn applause from private-sector executives.

Santi Vilassakdanont, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said the lifting of the emergency degree would help restore confidence in the country. It is expected the situation would return to normal in two weeks.

However, he said, the government must more quickly explain the situation to investors and the international media within one or two days as top executives, who had planned to come to Thailand, had earlier cancelled their visits.

Thanawat Palavichai, director of the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) Economic and Business Forecasting Center, said the lifting of the decree would lead to  recovery of the country’s economy, particularly the tourism sector.

However, he said the expressions of optimism were made on the assumption that no more violent protests will take place in the coming months and that all parties tangibly cooperate in resolving the political crisis.

Dr. Thanawat said that Thailand had lost some Bt110 billion in revenue from tourism during the political unrest and implementation of the emergency decree.

With the lifting of the decree, it is expected the revenue loss would be limited to Bt50-70 billion or some 10-20 per cent of total tourism revenues, not 30-40 per cent as originally projected.

He believed the tourism industry would shrink less than expected if all parties cooperate concretely to contain the violence and promote tourism.

Mr. Thanawat said the center projected that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) this year would contract only 1 per cent, not 4 per cent as estimated earlier, if the emergency decree was lifted and the situation returned to normal. (TNA)

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