Amazing Thailand 1998/1999 is a image makeover for tourism
Amazing Thailand 1998/1999 is a image makeover for tourism
Text and photos by Sirikit Syah
Thai International recently invited several journalists to
inspect tourism projects in Thailand. The following two articles
are the result of that visit. The Jakarta Post and four other
media representatives met Pradech Phayakvichien at Prince Palace
Restaurant in Bangkok's Chinatown.
BANGKOK (JP): Pradech Phayakvichien is the man behind the
Amazing Thailand 1998-1999, an ambitious project to glorify all
that is good about the country's tourism.
As deputy governor for planning and development of the
Thailand Tourism Authority, he has a tight schedule these days.
But he found time recently to discuss the project aimed at
putting a new face on Thai tourism.
Question: What is Amazing Thailand?
Answer: It is everything amazing about Thailand -- the
festivals, nature, culture, adventure, shopping.
But what makes it more special this time is because in 1998-
1999, we are offering a lot of new products, besides the Asian
Games in 1998, of course.
In the past 35 years, Thailand was only famous for its
temples, resorts and maybe Bangkok.
Now we offer a lot more. Educational tourism, ecotourism, food
and fruit and most of all, shopping. You know, people in
neighboring countries shop in Singapore and Hong Kong. Bangkok is
cheaper.
Especially with this grand sale and Christmas season, Bangkok
is a shopping paradise. We plan to have this sales season at
least twice a year. We have talked about it with department
stores.
Q: Thai food is now famous worldwide. What was the recipe for
this success?
A: Yes, Thai restaurants are found in many parts of the world
now, just like Italian or Japanese cuisine. When people like Thai
food, they will want to come to the country.
But now we emphasize the art of Thai food servings. You will
notice the carvings of fruits and vegetables, the lay out, the
performance. Also, we are opening cooking classes.
Visitors or guests at hotels could join the class. They could
buy raw materials and take a cooking lesson with the hotel chef,
then dine together, or they just pay as much as the average
dining rate. So, actually there is no charge for the lesson.
It is quite popular among tourists.
Q: What about ecotourism? You seem to be serious in this.
A: Ecotourism is among our priorities. The process took
one-and-a-half years. You know, we in the tourism business
sometimes feel uneasy because of the negative impact of tourism
development. We have to do positive things that could outnumber
the negative ones. We used to hear people talking about sex and
prostitution in Thailand.
Ecotourism is a good thing. For us, it is not only used as a
tourism product, but it is a national concept. We are doing a lot
of networking on this matter.
Q: What do you mean by networking?
A: Networking of all people concerned. The commission has done a
lot of discussions and seminars together with environmentalists,
villagers, expert groups, etc, to come up with our new
constitution.
For instance, there is a program called "Thambon" (literally
meaning village). The government gives full autonomy to villages
so that they have the right to say "no" to tourism development
which they fear could damage nature or society.
Q: What is the goal of ecotourism?
A: To erase the terms of "good guy" and "bad guy". You know, the
tourism people have always been called the bad guy, and the
environmentalists are called the good guy. It is not like that.
There is positive and negative sides in everything. If we can't
have more good sides, at least we have to have a balance.
Q: How do you deal with the negative image over Thai tourism,
especially concerning child prostitution and sexually transmitted
diseases?
A: We have to clear that image. Yes, I won't deny it, we have
prostitution. But the publication most of the time misleading. We
have a lot more than just sex in Thailand. We have to correct
that by showing them the truth. We are working hard in this case.
Q: Who are your market targets?
A: In the past we got 55 percent Asia Pacific tourists, mainly
from Japan and Korea, besides Malaysia and Singapore. North
America and Europe make up another 40 percent. Now we think that
Indonesia is a very good market; regarding the population, it has
a lot of potential. Also, it is near and there is the fact that
Indonesian people love to shop. They will spend their money
shopping. Bangkok is a much better shopping center than Singapore
or Hong Kong.
Q: You must have a big budget for promoting this project?
A: To conduct such a campaign we need to have some extra budget,
but unfortunately we don't. Our promotion budget is the same as
last year, which means less than 40 percent because of the baht's
depreciation. And 50 percent of it should be spent abroad. It is
quite hard.
Q: How has this campaign impacted on the Thai people?
A: There is a very good thing about this campaign. People work
together and our society is developed. Everybody says "amazing"
about anything now. You will hear in daily conversation people
say amazing style, amazing food, amazing girls, etc. At least we
have succeeded in making our own people believe how amazing our
country is.