Thailand Recovers To Welcome Tourists With A Smile

From S.Durga Varma BANGKOK, Dec 28 (Bernama) -- The smiles are back as Thailand rolls out the carpet once again for tourists now that the worst of the recent floods that affected some parts of the country, notably those located along the Chao Phraya river, are over. Most of tourist areas here affected by the floods, notably the Jatujak weekend market, popular among Malaysians, and other attractions, including the World Heritage Site in Ayutthaya, are now operating as before. Assistant Director Tourism Authority of Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei, Sudaporn Worapon, said Malaysians were well-informed of the flood situation and knew that central Bangkok was dry and most of the places of interest to international visitors were also not affected. "Malaysians were generally quite aware that the flooding was isolated and they continued to visit Thailand despite the temporary setback," she told Bernama on the sidelines of a media familiarisation trip here for 250 journalists. Statistics released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand revealed that Malaysian tourist arrivals between January and October rose almost 18 per cent to 1.93 million over the same period last year. They also accounted for 12.24 per cent share of the total tourist arrivals of 15.80 million worldwide. She said Malaysians were the top tourist arrivals to Thailand each year. "Judging from the number of calls we received asking about the places they could visit here and other areas at the height of the floods, we are confident this year will be no exception. "Malaysians will once again remain the largest group of tourists to visit Thailand this year. "It's the authentic Thai charm that makes one feel part of the local community and not a stranger in an unfamiliar city," she said. As part of the mega trip, journalists were taken to different parts of the kingdom in order to send the message to their clients, readers, viewers and followers that Thailand is back to normal and ready to receive visitors. Sudaporn said bringing in the media and travel agents was the best way to ensure the positive side of the recovery was made known to the world fast. "The global media reported on the unprecedented flooding crisis in their traditional newsworthy style, but now that things are improving, the media had moved onto other issues," she said. Thailand was hit by floods, the worst seen in 50 years, at the start of the high travel season, but the country recovered quickly as it did before from all sorts of scourges. Floodwaters in some areas of the capital and other provinces have receded while the inner city and upmarket shopping districts remained dry. She said confidence in Thailand as a safe and enjoyable destination was the key underlying factor for this Southeast Asian country to bounce back to reclaim its reputation as one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa said flood waters had receded in most of the affected areas and clean-up operations had taken place. Chumpol, who is also Minister of Tourism and Sports, said everything was back to normal. "It is safe now for foreign tourists to come and enjoy what the country has to offer," he said at the launch of the "Beautiful Thailand" campaign held in conjunction with the mega familiarisation trip. The move was also aimed at reviving the tourism sector, which accounted for six per cent of the country's gross domestic product and employed over two million people, he said. "About 18.6 million foreigners are projected to visit Thailand in 2011, up 15 per cent from last year's 15.9 million despite the natural disaster. "The tourist sector is forecast to earn 703-716 billion baht (RM1=8.65 baht) in revenue," he said, adding that the figures reaffirmed the fact that tourism was the country's single largest foreign-exchange earner and a crucial component to overall economic health. -- BERNAMA Malaysia