Thai military junta asks Chinese businessmen to help promote tourism

BANGKOK - Thai military junta asked a group of Chinese businessmen, who are on a visit to the country, to help promote Thai tourism during a meeting in capital Bangkok on Friday.

Talking to the delegation of Chinese businessmen, Thai coup leader and head of the military-run National Council for Peace and Order Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha asked the businessmen to convey his words to Chinese tourists that the curfew in Thailand would not affect the country's tourism activities.

After declaring a coup on May 22, the military junta imposed a curfew nationwide from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time. The curfew period was then adjusted from midnight to 4 a.m. local time. A number of popular tourist destinations including Pattaya, Samui and Phuket were freed from curfew since Tuesday as a move to avoid inconveniences for tourists and business sector.

In the first five months of 2014, tourist arrivals in Thailand dropped by 5.9 percent year-on-year, while tourism revenue declined by 3.9 percent, according to Thai Tourism Department. A total of 62 countries and regions have so far issued travel warnings for their citizens planning on visiting Thailand.