Thailand to connect marine tourism with Malaysia, Indonesia

PHUKET, THAILAND, July 3 (TNA) - Thailand is moving forward a strategic plan to connect the country's marine tourism with that of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia. Thai Deputy Permanent-Secretary for Interior Maitree Intusut, thus, chairs a meeting of parties concerned in both the public and private sectors in Phuket in the Thai South from July 3-4 to discuss the plan, the result of which will be raised at a regional forum in Malaysia in September 2015. Sukanda Worachetbancha, Director of the ministry's Department of Provincial Administrative Development and Promotion, said on Friday that the strategic plan, which is under the Indonesia-Malaysia Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), came from cooperation between her ministry and the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), Prince of Songkhla University and Phuket Province to cope with the growing marine tourism in the region to particularly serve high-class international tourists. Sukanda noted that the strategic plan will also provide more opportunities for Thailand to create more economic advantages, earn more tourism-related revenues and increase income of people in local communities, especially those located along the Gulf of Thailand and the southern Andaman coast, as well as to boost competitiveness of the business sector in the IMT-GT and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). (TNA)