The Thai government plans to seek loans worth of 15 billion baht (422.89 million U.S. dollars) from foreign financial institution to boost the country's tourism industry, which has been hard hit by the recent political crisis, Kobsak Sabhavasu, Deputy Prime Minister overseeing economic affairs said Monday.

The government might allow tourism business operators to open a special loan account since most of them do not have assets to guarantee new loans, he noted, the website by Bangkok Post reported.

The new loan scheme will be proposed to the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Kobsak said.

Also, he said the government plans to extend other tourism promotion measures for three more months, including a reduction of airport charges, taxes relating to tourism businesses, exempting visa requirements, and promoting businesses to hold seminars in the country.

Over 20,000 Chinese tourists canceled a plan to visit resort Island Phuket on security worries after the recent-scattered-anti- government rioting in capital Bangkok, Purit Maswongsa, chairman of Phuket tourism association said Friday.

From Sunday afternoon, April 12, the Thai government has declared a state of emergency in capital Bangkok and some districts of five nearby provinces, citing the escalating violence due to anti-government rallies.

The scattered-anti-government rallies ended on April 14, after the army crackdowns to disperse the protesters.

On April 11, the anti-government protesters stormed into the venue of the then-ongoing ASEAN summit at beach resort Pattaya and related summits, resulting in the cancellation of all of the summits.