Int'l tourists welcome to Thailand's Songkran celebrations

BANGKOK, April 11 (TNA) - As previous years, international tourists are welcome to join the Traditional Thai New Year or Songkran Festival 2017, officially set during April 13-17. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has projected that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand during this year's Songkran Festival should reach almost 500,000, earning the Kingdom about 8 billion baht tourism-related revenues. Pongpanu Svetarundra, Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports, and Police Major General Prasert Ngern-yuang, Commander of Tourist Police, on Tuesday jointly opened an ad-hoc tourist safety center to provide security to international travellers at both Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi International Airport on the outskirts of the capital during the Songkran Festival 2017. Pongpanu reiterated that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand during this year's Songkran Festival should stand as high as 470,000, a 10-per cent year-on-year increase, and their spending, anticipated at about 8 billion baht totally, is about a 7 per cent year-on-year increase. Pongpanu noted, however, that the number of international tourist arrivals in Thailand dropped in the first quarter of this year, possibly caused by the weakening euro, which cost tourists more for travelling to Thailand. According to the senior official, there have been no intelligence reports on any irregular alert during this year's Songkran Festival. Meanwhile, government-run Transport Co., Ltd., which operates inter-provincial bus service, reported that the company has added nearly 1,370 bus trips to serve more demand of passengers during this year's Songkran Festival, expected to reach about 150,000 people on April 11, on top of about 130,000 passengers on April 10. (TNA)