| James Kon |
WITH more popular and amazing festivities and tourist spots happening in Thailand, the country is set to continue to woo Bruneians to experience the uniqueness of Thailand after recording a growth of 2.5 per cent in tourist arrivals from the Sultanate.
Richard Lim Chew Lee, the Marketing Manager of Tourism Authority of Thailand for Malaysia and Brunei said, “There are about 12,000 Bruneians who have travelled to Thailand from January till November last year. The recorded figure is a slight growth when compared to 2015. The spending growth is also one of the highest with an average of 5,600 baht per day.”
Among the senior officials that came to Brunei to present the ‘Amazing Thailand’ product presentation were Aman Mad-Adam, the Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand for Malaysia and Brunei and Kuipramote Wannalert, the Director of Asean and South-Pacific Marketing Division. The presentation was made to members of travel agencies in Brunei as well as Miri, Malaysia at the Radisson Hotel yesterday.
Citing the reasons why Bruneians love to travel to Thailand, Richard Lim Chew Lee in an interview said, “Thailand is a value for money destination for Bruneians because of the strong Brunei dollar. Secondly, Bruneians love shopping and they can find everything in Thailand. The third reason is the food of Thailand as Bruneians love hot and spicy Asian cuisine.”
He also added that Thailand has a very large Muslim community of more than 3.8 million therefore getting Halal food is not a problem. Recently the Al Meroz Bankok Hotel, a six-star hotel was launched in Thailand and the hotel provides full Muslim facilities like prayer rooms as well as Halal food.
On Brunei’s market, he added that, “It’s a niche market for Thailand and we are happy that there is a growth of Bruneians visiting Thailand despite the slowdown in global economy. We are certainly looking for more visitors to visit Thailand.”
In 2017, he revealed that Thailand is looking at promoting the truly Thai experience like activities and exploring the city through cycling tours.
Biravij Suwanpradhes, the Ambassador of Thailand to Brunei Darussalam, with officials from Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Halal Standard Institute of Thailand. – JAMES KON
“We have aesthetic beauty (services) for ladies and Thailand is advanced in this field when compared to other countries in the region, while in medical tourism, we have 1,500 hospitals and almost 60 hospitals have GCI which is considered the gold standard accreditation in global healthcare,” he added.
Thailand, he said, “Is also one of the few countries in the world that is a tourist destination for the whole year round. People can visit every month and there are many unexplored destinations in Thailand that many have yet to explore.
“The young generation is heading out of the city of Bangkok to places like Hua Hin or Chanthaburito to explore the food and interesting places in other parts of Thailand.”
Last year was a historic milestone for Thailand as a record setting 32 million people visited the country for the first time.
Biravij Suwanpradhes, the Ambassador of Thailand to Brunei Darussalam, in his speech said that Thailand will continue to be a great destination for medical tourism, shopping as well as a travel destination for Muslims.
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