When tourism has taken a self-inflicted battering, the temptation might be to have a drink to drown your sorrows.

Thailand is going a step further: it has invented a new national cocktail, which it hopes will help visitors forget the hangover from the disastrous airport shutdowns late last year.

Intended as an answer to Singapore’s slings, Cuba’s mojitos and the many manhattans downed in New York, the Siam sunray is intended to give tourists an instant taste of Thailand’s charms.

At the very least the drink’s ingredients are far from bland: a shot of vodka, coconut liqueur, a dash of chilli pepper and sugar, lime juice, a few slivers of lemongrass and ginger, with the whole mixture shaken then strained into a glass with ice and soda water.

Thailand’s tourism authority formally rolled out the drink yesterday, grandly styling the concoction “Thailand in a glass: the new punch in Thai tourism.”

Perhaps it is a long shot. But with the country’s export-led economy taking a beating in the global slowdown and the vital tourism sector that once drew 14 million visitors to jungles and pristine beaches still suffering, anything is worth a try.

The hope is that the heady brew will ease the pain caused by 300,000 stranded foreign travellers at the start of the peak season when Bangkok’s main international airport was closed by anti-government protesters for eight days. Thailand’s tourist resorts and hotels - major contributors to the economy - are still feeling the effects.

But perhaps the Siam sunray - coined to evoke Thailand’s ancient name - may leave a better taste and instil a collective amnesia among the travelling public.

“Thailand’s new signature drink is based on very Thai ingredients,” said the tourism authority. “Successful signature drinks are one way to fast-track holiday destinations on to the world tourism map.”

Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy contracted 4.3 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31 from a year earlier, the government said today. The median estimate of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 2.8 percent drop. Gross domestic product last declined in the first quarter of 1999.

Thailand may follow neighbors Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan into recession as demand dwindles for its agricultural products, automobiles and electronics. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, facing protests after two months in power, has pledged immediate cash handouts and long-term infrastructure projects to stem the economy’s slide.

“At the moment there are so many unknown factors,” said Isara Ordeedolchest, an economist at KTB Securities Ltd. in Bangkok. “Growth will continue to be negative in the first half of this year and should turn more stable in the second half, but that totally depends on the global economy and how the government designs its fiscal stimulus for next year.”

Thailand’s $246 billion economy may also shrink in the first six months of 2009 before picking up in the second half of this year, Abhisit said last week.

The economy may contract as much as 1 percent in 2009, the slowest pace in 11 years, the government’s National Economic & Social Development Board said today. Thailand’s economy grew 2.6 percent in 2008. The government agency in November forecast as much as 4 percent growth in 2009.

Growth Forecasts

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 15 economists is for growth of 0.3 percent this year. Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase said Feb. 19 the central bank may need to revise down its forecast for zero-to-2 percent economic expansion in 2009.

The central bank has lowered its benchmark interest rate to 2 percent in cuts totaling 1.75 percentage points since the start of December and “has the room” to continue cutting borrowing costs when policy makers next meet on Feb. 25, Tarisa said in an interview on Feb. 12.

The largest contraction since 1982 in the U.S. economy, Thailand’s biggest single overseas market, has prompted exporters such as Delta Electronics (Thailand) Pcl and the local unit of Toyota Motor Corp. to predict lower sales and cut jobs. Overseas shipments, which amount to 70 percent of GDP, plunged 26.5 percent in January from a year earlier.

Manufacturing Jobs

Thailand’s manufacturing industry may cut as many as 100,000 jobs this year as the economic slowdown hurts demand, the government said Feb. 20.

“The government should come up with more measures to help companies retain employees,” said Pongsak Assakul, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok. “If you have a million workers walking around with no jobs, things are going to get worse.”

Trade was also disrupted late last year when demonstrators seeking to oust the previous government shut down Bangkok’s main international airport for eight days. The seizure, led in part by a member of Abhisit’s two-month-old cabinet, contributed to a 19.4 percent decline in tourist arrivals in the fourth quarter.

Private consumption rose 2.2 percent from a year earlier in the quarter, total investment dropped 3.3 percent, and manufacturing shrank 6.8 percent.

Supporters of the main opposition party, Puea Thai, plan to rally in Bangkok tomorrow to demand Abhisit prosecute those who blockaded the airport and call an early election. The protest is timed to coincide with an annual meeting of Southeast Asian leaders scheduled to take place in Hua Hin, a beach town about 200 kilometers south of the capital, later this week.

Stimulus Spending

The government will start implementing a 116.7 billion-baht ($3.3 billion) package of training programs, cash handouts, property tax breaks and public works next month. It has also approved measures to boost bank lending and plans to spend 2 trillion baht on mainly infrastructure projects over three to four years to increase investment and create jobs.

The finance ministry forecasts a budget deficit of 349.5 billion baht in this fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The shortfall for the year starting Oct. 1 may widen by 12 percent as the global recession crimps revenue, Duangsmorn Warrarith, a deputy director of the Budget Bureau, said Feb. 17.

“The government doesn’t have much room to use such large amounts of money because they are facing this budget deficit,” said Pimonwan Mahujchariyawong, an economist at Kasikorn Research Co. in Bangkok. “We need the world economy to pick up.”

GDP contracted a seasonally adjusted 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, when it grew a revised 3.9 percent, according to today’s statement. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a 4.7 percent decline.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.netSuttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at suttinee1@bloomberg.net;

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24 Hour Hotline

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