Leaders of protest in Bangkok has just announced that they will remain on the street until their demand fulfilled. Way to the south from Bangkok, Phuket will definitely remain a paradise. But the political unrest leading to bloodshed in Bangkok will definitely affect the island. The question is how severe it is going to be affected?

The west coast of Phuket maybe the best representation of developments in the island. Along the coast with majestic vistas, between Karon and Patong, there is a newly completed road hiking up to a palatial construction of Centara Grand, a luxury five-star-plus resort with 262 rooms sets to open in the next high season. The 1.9 billion Baht investment reflects how promising Phuket’s future is.

Phuket has been seeing the up and down before and after tsunami and both international and Thai brands have been continuously seeing medium and long term benefits on investments in Phuket. But the night when political protest turned to become a horrible bloodshed brought a huge question mark to the continuation of those investments.

The incident severely damaged Thailand social and political stability. The image of Thailand has been changed into a destination tainted by spilled blood of civilians, soldiers, even foreigner.

On Nai Harn beach there is a magnificent resort property The Phuket Yacht Club Puravarna which is already put to the market for sale. The incident in Bangkok definitely hit the seller as property market is inevitably affected, in which situation confidence on getting expected return fades away.

Learning from the picture when Tsunami hit the region back in 2004, significant disaster took a while to unfold, and even longer to recover. Tourists who have been in Phuket when the tsunami swept the continued their stay. They did not pack up and left in a hurry. But will they come back or will others come along are completely different question. Protests started back in March 12th does not show any signs of compromise resulting in escalating level of uncertainty. People may have booked and paid their holiday for April so they may still come. But beyond that bookings may get evaporated.

Tourism facility operators may promote the fact that Phuket is far away from Bangkok, but if government fall and the country runs into chaos, offering discounts are not going to attract tourists. News reported that five star brands have already offering significant discount.