Bangkok  - Thailand's leading spas, hit by the decline in tourist arrivals this peak season, are offering 50 per cent discounts to clients until February 28, media reports said Monday.

The Thai Spa Association, comprising 13 of Thailand's best-known spas and spa resorts, is offering "Happy Spa-ing" discount coupons to anyone who downloads them from its website in an effort to win customers during an unusually slow peak season.

Tourism has been affected by political chaos last year - that culminated in the seizure and closure of Bangkok's two airports by protestors for a week - and by the global financial meltdown that has led to a slowdown in arrivals from the US and Europe.

"Consumer spending and tourist arrivals have declined, resulting in an adverse impact of our industry," Spa Association president Andrew Jacka told The Nation newspaper. "So we have collaborated with our members to offer this campaign."

The county's spa industry began to take off in 2003 when the government tried to promote the country as a "spa hub," downplaying its previous reputation as a "massage parlour hub."

Nowadays it is difficult to find a Thai resort that does not boast a spa. (dpa)