The Tourism Council of Thailand wants to be involved in the government's plan of spending THB 2 trillion (US$ 64.1 billion) for investment in Thailand's infrastructure. The TCT wants that part of investments will be provided to tourism.
BANGKOK- Talking to Thai media, TCT President Piyaman Tejapaibul acknowledged that the THB 2 trillion investment plan presented earlier this year by the Thai Government would benefit to tourism as many provinces will see infrastructure improving. The council would like to see tourism being more involved into the investment plan. The President indicated to be ready to supply information necessary for the development plan. She said that this would help to highlight the choice of local residents and business operators.
For Mrs Tejapaibul, it is now necessary to look back at Thailand’s tourism planning as it remains highly concentrated in some spotlights -Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya or Phuket. According to TCT President, more secondary cities and provinces should be connected to benefit from the growth in tourism. The development of a high-speed trains’ network will help open up those underdeveloped regions.
“The private sector supports the Bt2 trillion investment. 41 per cent of tourism business operators surveyed in the third quarter viewed that Thailand’s transport network is in poor and very poor condition. Meanwhile, we have the master tourism development plan, but many details are missing. The government should use this opportunity to grow the industry and lift tourism income,” she said.
In a survey, 40 % of respondents said the planned high-speed rail project would give the biggest boost to the tourism sector, while 31% said the project would not benefit their businesses.
The TCT also indicated that the projected 26.27 million foreign arrivals for the whole year will most likely be achieved, representing an increase of 17.86%.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
