Thailand’s challenge will be to rebuild the supervisory infrastructure that governs the industry here and to prevent any lasting damage to tourism inflows.
The country’s economy is growing more dependent on tourism, which now accounts for more than a 10th of Thailand’s gross domestic product as manufacturing and exports slow in the face of sluggish global demand.
Aviation and government officials here say that supervision standards haven’t kept pace with an explosion in the number of foreign tourists coming to Thailand in recent years.