Thai officials assessing whether to maintain a state of emergency, which business leaders want lifted, deferred their decision on Friday, hours after two people were wounded in a shooting at the site of anti-government protests.
The protests aimed at bringing down Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have been going on for four months and are taking a toll on the economy, with consumer confidence at a 12-year low.
Twenty-three people have been killed, most of them in shootings and grenade blasts, since late November.
The political uncertainty is unnerving consumers and the violence is scaring tourists away from Bangkok. Lower spending is hitting automakers, property firms and hotels in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
Surapong Techruvichit, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said the occupancy rate had plunged to 20 to 25 percent in Bangkok in January-February from 70 to 80 percent in the same months last year.
The end of the 60-day emergency, imposed in Bangkok on January 22 in a bid to contain the unrest, would be a good start for getting business back on its feet, he said.
'If it's lifted, I think we can get back the tourists within two weeks to a month,' he told Reuters. 'It won't be good just for the hotel industry but for all business.'
But the head of the National Security Council said no decision had been reached and the situation would be assessed next week.
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