Tranquillity and turmoil in Thailand

| Matthew Phillips | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The Thai new year is one of the highlights of the tourist calendar and has for two years now been marred with violence in Bangkok. This year that violence was some of the worst in the country's history and it was tourists on Khao San Road, the backpacking hub of south-east Asia, who had front row seats.

The crisis is clearly far from over, and yet there is little tourists can do other than try and get back to their holiday. Last Sunday afternoon, one journalist surveying the damage tweeted that 50 metres from where people were killed, tourists were watching the Blackburn v Manchester United match.

It would be unfair to ask tourists to think too hard about Thailand's problems; they are, after all, on holiday. Yet, whether they realise it or not, tourists are not just spectators to the political turmoil. All sides in this conflict use tourism as a weapon to achieve their aims. The decision of the Yellow Shirts to close the airport in 2008 was an audacious move, designed for maximum impact. As of yet, the Reds have not targeted tourism so explicitly, but that might well be changing.

The fact that the Reds have continued their protest, despite suffering the losses they did, shows how determined they are. Also, as they become more desperate, it makes sense that they will attempt to put pressure on the government through directly targeting the economy. This week the protest site moved from the area close to Khao San, to Ratchaprasong, the main shopping district and a stone's throw from the city's major hotels.

With tourism accounting for approximately 6.5% of Thailand's economy, the finance minister is now saying that the protests could drop growth by two percentage points as occupancy rates at hotels in Bangkok fall to only 30%. Groups representing the tourism industry are urging the government and the protesters to "join hands to solve the problem".

While such facts and figures must strike fear into those working in the industry, they are also being used as one of the most legitimate ways to reprimand the protesters. Unlike other industries which can get back to normal after political unrest, tourism relies upon a country's reputation. In Thailand, tourism developed during the cold war, when the country was regarded as an oasis of peace on a troubled continent. The idea that Thai society lived in harmony was itself commodified as a reason to visit the country. Since then, foreigners have often been used in state media as a device from which to view this pleasant society. And in recent years campaigns to urge against violence have from time to time asked the question, what will the foreigners think?

These messages work. Radio talk shows often have phone-ins about what foreigners think of the Thai people asserting the fact that Thais are good-natured and kind toward their guests. Also, normal Red Shirts are very conscious of embracing foreign guests. Last month, when a foreigner arrived to give blood to the Red Shirt campaign, what was most notable was the elation on the faces of those around. The woman taking the blood wanted to be sure a video was taken so that the Yellow Shirts would see that they too had the support of the foreign community.

But the problem for the protesters, whether they are Red or Yellow, is that statements about how good-natured they are, or should be, must not get in the way of achieving their aims. Particularly with the largely rural Red Shirts, these protests are in many ways fighting to break the very stereotypes with which they are labelled. They are asserting that they are not subservient and happy with the status quo, but active members of the political system.

Tourists who travel to Thailand for an "authentic" experience of local culture will continue to find it in guest houses and beach bars. But, while the best advice might be to stay in those bubbles, it is inevitable that they will increasingly be drawn into the reality of what is happening on the streets.