Foreign traveller arrivals have fallen 16 per cent so far this year, while hotel occupancy across the country has dropped to 44 per cent, down from 66 per cent last year. Luxury hotels in Bangkok have even lower occupancy rates.

Thai Airways is offering free inbound domestic flights to passengers from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America and hotels are offering free golf packages thrown in to the already discounted room rate or buy-one-get-one-free nights.

It's not just international tourists who are being wooed either - the country is also trying to promote domestic tourism, with hotels offering cheap deals to locals and banks offering low-interest loans to small tourist-based businesses.

Kongrit Hiranyakit, Head of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said, "I don't see any positive factors.

"Oil prices are increasing, influenza is spreading all over the world. Political protests are bad for the country's image."

"The tourism industry will lose about £3.5 billion - down by more than a third from about £9.6 billion last year," he added.

As one of the main reasons for going on holiday is to escape stress and relax- Thailand is understandably concerned that its image of a paradise hotspot is now marred.