Tourism Dept considers Mega projects

BANGKOK, 30 October 2012: Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ Department of Tourism will concentrate on four tourism projects to drive the country tourism arrivals and achieve the government revenue goal of Bt2 trillion by 2015.

The department General Affairs Division acting director, Boonserm Khunkaew, said the department will propose to the Cabinet four key projects that will cost Bt1.5 billion each.

The four projects are:

Chinag Mai Night Safari

• A movie world to promote Thailand as a destination for film makers;

• Boat trips on the Gulf of Thailand between Pattaya, Hua Hin and Cha-am;

• A mock ancient city showing the traditional way of life;

• A giant theme park.

Mr Boonserm said: “The projects will be proposed to the Cabinet when it meets next month, along with a plan to improve tourism sites nationwide.

“If these proposals are approved, the department will initially hire a consultant to conduct a feasibility study, which should take a year to conclude.”

Under the concept, investors will be invited to bid for construction and management concessions, the acting director said.

The theme park project could either be a gigantic amusement park or a night safari similar to the Chiang Mai project, but located in the Northeast.

“There are very few attractions in the Northeast ,” he said.

Association of Domestic Travel president, Yutthachai Soonthronrattanavate, told TTR Weekly that if the amusement park project is built it will boost the tourism industry both domestic and international .

“The project will succeed if the government allows the private sector to manage it alone, while it should provide taxation relief of 10% to 15% to encourage the private sector to bid.”

He added that Chiang Mai in the North, Hat Yai and Phuket in the South would also be good locations for the project to be considered alongside the Northeast region.

“If the project is built in the Northeast, it will draw more tourists from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.”

Although the president agreed with the amusement park project, he said the night safari scheme was not a viable option.

“The night safari plan would fail if the government follows the formula adopted in Chiang Mai …. It is not in good condition.”

There have been attempts in the past to establish tourist ferry services between Pattaya and the Hua Hin on the west cost of the Gulf of Thailand, but they failed due to choppy waters during the Southwest monsoon season that made the trip very uncomfortable.

There was also little demand to transfer between the two beach resorts as most visitors wanted to travel to Bangkok and road conditions have since improved to cut travelling time.

The mock ancient city, too,  has been around for years at the “Ancient City on the outskirts of Bangkok on the old coastal road to Chonburi province.

Replicas of famous historical buildings were constructed in a garden setting in the 1970s by a local company. It was one of the main attractions alongside visits to the Crocodile Farm and the Rose Garden (Nakhon Pathom province) and still draws mainly Asian tourists.

Sourced: ttrweekly