Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are among companies advising workers against traveling to Thailand, as evidence mounts that political turmoil in the country is undermining business activity there.
European hotel operator Accor SA has seen its hotel business in Bangkok plunge about 30 percent this year amid the unrest in the country's capital, Michael Issenberg, chairman of the company's Asia-Pacific unit, said in a May 22 interview in Sydney. Representatives at Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi Ltd. said their companies have cautioned employees about Thailand.
Almost three years after acts of nature — Thailand's worst floods in half a century — roiled the Southeast Asian production hub, makers of cars to electronics are bracing for disruptions because of acts of men. A military junta took over the government last week, the nation's 12th coup since 1932, after seven months of political unrest that had taken a toll on the economy, which shrank 0.6 percent last quarter.