Special report: Army coup in Thailand

Chinese travel agencies have suspended travel to Thailand following the military coup, but are optimistic that there will be no long-term negative impact.

Tourists companies such as China Comfort Travel (CCT) and China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) are contacting airlines and Thai hotels in an effort to compensate tourists who had booked to travel in the Southeast Asian country.

"The situation appears calm, and services are largely unaffected," said Guo Yu, CCT marketing manager.

But he added that the company is still keeping an eye on the situation via the local media.

CYTS said three tour groups with a total of 50 tourists scheduled for Thailand's capital Bangkok have been cancelled, but services to Phuket - which is one hour from Bangkok by air - are operating normally for the moment.

"Chinese travelers in Bangkok did not panic during the coup. They left the capital safely on Wednesday morning," Song Xiaohong from CYTS marketing department told Xinhua.

"I heard about the coup on TV. Soldiers took to the streets but looked non-violent. It was not as terrible as we imagined, but my friends and I chose to stay in the hotel for safety," said Feng Yanping, a traveler who has since returned to Beijing from Thailand.

The military coup in Thailand has had little immediate impact on tourists in the country with all tourist sites operating as normal, according to Wang Wei, head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Beijing Office.

"Some travelers from Kunming even took photos of soldiers on the streets of Bangkok on Wednesday," Wang said.

The Chinese government reminded travelers to Thailand to be cautious and suggested those who had plans to travel there reschedule their journeys.

Insiders said it is too early to say whether the situation will seriously affect Chinese people's travel plans to Thailand during the upcoming week-long National Holidays.

Approximately 800,000 Chinese visited Thailand last year. The number is likely to hit one million this year, according to the Kasikorn Research Center in Thailand.

Editor: Yan