Shanghai tourism bureau orders suspension of all Thailand-bound trips; Up to 1,000 Chinese tourists stranded

Due to the ongoing political turmoil in Bangkok, Shanghai's municipal tourism bureau has issued an order to travel agencies here to suspend all trips to Thailand pending further notice and to help all stranded Chinese tourists return as soon as flights resume. The Chinese Embassy has confirmed that up to 1,000 Chinese tourists have been left stranded in Thailand. A dispatch by the Associated Press on how the chaos at Suvarnabhumi Airport has struck a major blow to the Thai tourism industry quotes a 44 year old Shanghai-based French executive by the name of Fred Thierry as saying his company is now thinking twice about a new investment that was planned for Thailand due to its political instability. That investment may now be shifted to China.