Thailand's tourism feels pinch of Middle East conflict

The tourism sector of Thailand is feeling the pinch of the Middle East tensions as the conflict pushes up the costs for transportation, flights and accommodation.

As Thailand gears up to celebrate its Songkran water festival - a major event that attracts millions of tourists each year, there are growing concerns over how the global energy crisis could impact one of the country's most important industries.

Tourist sites in Thailand are noticeably quiet, as the country feels the impact of the conflict.

"Business is down by about 50 percent. There are far fewer tourists. Normally, I wouldn't be able to see all the way to the end of the street. But today I can. There's no one," said Jitapat Phongmanee, a restaurant owner.

For the tourists who make it to Thailand, the journey has not been easy.

"Well, it was pretty hard to get here. Especially the flights, most of them were canceled. So, we had less options. So, it was a little bit harder to get here. Luckily I booked a little bit earlier, my flight. So, I was lucky, but I know that many friends of mine - they couldn't come," said Goktuk Simsekol, a German tourist.

What began as a distant conflict is now disrupting global travel - driving up fuel costs, limiting flight routes, and raising uncertainty for tourists.

Airfares to Thailand have jumped 10 to 15 percent, while arrivals from key markets are down around 18 percent. This could lead to a potential loss of millions of visitors and billions of dollars.

"I think the cost for everything will go up, like of course, the hotels, they have to change their room rates anyway because the electricity has gone up, the transportation, the gasoline has gone up," said Apiwat Chitprarop, managing director of Thai Tour Agency.

This war comes at a critical time for Thailand as it heads into one its peak tourist seasons, Songkran. The popular water festival generates billions of dollars in just a few days.

Analysts say even if the Middle East conflict ends within the first half of the year, the damage has already been done.

"For the last two remaining quarters of the year, the number of tourists arriving in Thailand will likely decrease or fall short of the government's target," said Witawat Rungruangphon, a professor of the Marketing Department at Thammasat University.

Thailand's tourism feels pinch of Middle East conflict

China has recently made a breakthrough in deploying embodied AI robots for specialized purposes in high-risk environments, marking a significant step forward for the country's intelligent equipment industry.

One of the newly applied robots features humanoid dual arms, magnetic wall-climbing capability, and large-scale AI models, allowing it to replace human workers on hazardous tasks such as welding, flaw detection, and rust removal on chemical storage tanks, ships, and energy facilities.

Meanwhile, the robot is cable-powered, enabling continuous operation without battery limitations.

"Behind this robot is China's largest large-scale model for special-purpose robots. To train the model, our robots have accumulated over 100,000 hours of operation. They have covered a total working distance of 22,500 kilometers, more than half the Earth's equatorial circumference, and have operated across an accumulated area of over 5,000 square kilometers. The vast and rich amount of data has allowed the robot to learn extensively and become increasingly intelligent," said Pu Xiao, head of a special-purpose robot research and development team.

In addition, a land-based inspection robot has also been put into use.

It features a robust and highly flexible 6-axis robotic arm, capable of replacing human workers in dangerous scenarios such as fires or toxic gas leaks to perform tasks like shutting off switches or turning valves.

The robot can also detect fires or faults within a range of 2,000 meters, issue timely warnings, and help minimize potential dangers.

China deploys embodied AI robots in high-risk environments to perform dangerous tasks.