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By Orathai Sriring

BANGKOK, April 10 (Reuters) - Asian tourists made fewer trips to Thailand this year due to security concerns after New Year's Eve bombs killed three people in Bangkok, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

East Asian arrivals fell 7.3 percent in the first two months of this year from last, it said, raising concerns some holidaymakers may be avoiding the "Land of Smiles", where tourism accounts for six percent of the economy.

East Asians made up about half of the visitors in the first two months of this year to a country which had a coup in September and faces an insurgency in the Muslim-majority south, in which more than 2,000 people have been killed in three years.

European were the second largest group at 35 percent.

Overall, tourist arrivals at the main airport were up two percent in the first two months of this year from the same period of 2006 at 1.77 million, but arrivals in February slid six percent from January.

"A drop in tourist numbers this year is not a big surprise as we just had the New Year bombs. Some people are still concerned about security and may want to wait and see," TAT spokesman Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya said.

"But having talked to hotel and tour operators, they have been doing okay and there are no major cancellations," he said.

The bombs, which also wounded about 30 people, prompted Australia, the United States and Britain to urge their citizens to avoid all public gatherings and to remain vigilant in Bangkok, a sprawling city of nine million people.

Arrivals from Australia and New Zealand rose 11 percent in the first two months of 2007 from last year, travellers from Europe were up 13 percent and arrivals from the Middle East were up 24 percent.

Asian visitors appeared to have been the most sensitive to security fears.

"Our Chinese clients fell by half in the first two months while overall bookings were down 20 percent," N4 Travel chief Natchakarn Wannachote said.

"It's not looking good this year as everyone is talking about safety and bombs here," she said.

Japan-focused agent New Sai said clients dropped less than 10 percent in the first two months as it was the holiday season for Japan and there were no cancellations so far.

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Unrest in the south had a limited impact on tourism as more than 60 percent of arrivals were repeat visitors, Chattan said.

"These people understand the situation well and that troubled region is not where they are heading," he said.

However, business arrivals were affected by uncertainty under an interim post-coup government and its imposition of capital controls in December to stem a surging baht as well as a proposed tightening of foreign business rules, Chattan said.

"The political situation and regulations changes have discouraged business travellers from coming," he said.

TAT remained positive and hoped this weekend's Thai New Year celebrations would attract more visitors as the government will deploy extra police in Bangkok to prevent a repeat of the serial blasts.

For details, click on [ID:nBKK132425].

"We hope the festival will help, but if the number of tourists is still falling, we will have to take a serious look again," he said of the Songkran Festival in which people splash each other with water.

Thailand still expected an eight percent rise in foreign tourists to 14.8 million this year, generating revenues of 547.5 billion baht ($15.7 billion), up 13.8 percent on the year, Chattan said.

Arrivals rose 18 percent to 13.6 million in 2006, just missing a 13.8 million target despite months of political turmoil that culminated in the coup which ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Asians accounted for 60 percent of visitors last year, led by Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and China. Europeans came second at 24 percent.

Home to some of Asia's premier beaches and resorts, Thailand has remained a top tourist draw despite the impact of SARS, the Indian Ocean tsunami and bird flu in recent years. ($1=34.90 Baht)

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