Thailand begins long battle to win back confidence

By Ploy Chitsomboon

BANGKOK (Reuters) - With glossy airline adverts, millions of baht earmarked for promotions and Miss Thailand posing for pictures with tourists, Thailand started work on Friday on a long battle to win back the confidence of tourists.

Officials signed off on systems checks at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport after a week-long siege by anti-government protesters paralysed Thailand's tourism industry in the middle of the peak season, stranding more than 230,000 travellers.

Transport minister Santi Prompat told reporters it was "business as usual" during a tour of Suvarnabhumi, Thailand's main international gateway, on Friday.

"The airport is ready and everything is safe. What happened is a lesson. Now we have to move quickly to bring back confidence," he said.

The airport shutdown has already cost the tourism- and export-dependent economy hundreds of millions of dollars, but authorities said there was no major damage to the airport itself.

Damage done to the image of the "Land of Smiles" is untold.

Government officials have been quick to say how badly the protesters hurt the economy. Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech says there may be no growth at all in 2009, while Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat said tourist arrivals could be halved in 2009.