The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects more than 2.3 million locals and foreign visitors will join Songkran festivals this year, generating some 20 billion baht in revenue for tourism and tourism-related services.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said some 300,000 international arrivals are expected to celebrate the five-day festival starting from April 12, with 2 million locals.
The number of visitors has grown from previous years as the government approved an extra holiday on April 12 in addition to the scheduled April 13-16, he said.
Songkran Festival in Krabi, Thailand. Image: krabi-hotels.com
Mr Yuthasak admitted he was a bit concerned about the poor air quality at provinces in the North, especially Chiang Mai, home to a major Songkran festival in the region. He said he hopes the situation improves soon.
PSpeaking on the 59th anniversary of the TAT, he said the agency will continue to promote tourism to reduce economic inequality by encouraging tourists to visit the 55 second-tier provinces.
Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers
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international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond.
Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA.
She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA.
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