Tourism trouble on Thailand's Phuket

As Thai women in tartan schoolgirl outfits writhe listlessly around poles on the bar top, Dawan Blades scribbles in a black ledger and shakes her head. The numbers simply don't add up.

This year's tourist season on Thailand's biggest island of Phuket looks set to be the worst since Blades took over Sharky's Bar six years ago.

Located at the entrance of a huge bar complex in Patong Beach, Phuket's busiest tourist town, Sharky's should be standing room only. Instead, barely half the bar stools are occupied.

"Business is down, darling. Dead, no good," Blades drawls.

Phuket, along with the rest of Thailand, is reeling from the aftermath of political protests in Bangkok that brought the capital's two main airports to a standstill for eight days from late November to early December.

Images of hundreds of thousands of stranded travellers desperate to leave the country were beamed around the world, prompting droves of tourists to cancel holidays planned for December and January.The airport siege could not have come at a worse time. Peak season in Thailand runs from November to February and industry officials believe it will be at least four months before business recovers.

Sunbathers still dot Phuket's sandy white beaches but in far fewer numbers than is usual at this time of year.

PHUKET, Thailand, AFP