BANGKOK, Feb 26 (TNA) – Companies providing coach
services in Thailand plan to lay off employees as tourist arrivals sharply drop
due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Thai Transportation Operators Association president Wasuchet
Sophonsathien said on Wednesday that in the past two months Chinese tourists
had cancelled their trips to Thailand.
“The Association’s members had lost income, having to park
their 7,000 coaches and tour buses while more than 10,000 drivers and staffers
suffer job losses,” he said.
If the situation is not improved within a month, the
operators would have to consider laying off their employees, Wasuchet said.
Tour cancellations had led to hundreds of millions of baht
in outstanding debts. The operators
would be burdened with over THB2 billion of operation costs, he added.
Wasuchet called on the government to offer soft loan for
tour operators to help with their short-term liquidity. (TNA)
