Guided Tours For Husbands

[srisatch]

From The Nation!

Home > Breakingnews > Foreign husbands urged to promote Thai wives' hometowns

Foreign husbands urged to promote Thai wives' hometowns

Foreign men married to Thai women from the kingdom's impoverished northeast are being urged to become spokesmen for the region's tourist draws, the tourism authority said Sunday.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand's northeast office told AFP that they plan to give expatriate husbands a tour of the sights in the hope that they will then promote the wonders of the Issan region to people back home.

"We want to encourage these foreign husbands, of which there are a great number in the northeastern region, to travel and understand the culture of Thai people," said Somporn Chaloothong, an official at the Khon Kaen tourism office.

"We hope these husbands will help distribute the cultural knowledge of Thailand to their relatives in foreign countries," she told AFP.

She said that 15 married couples would be given a tour of attractions and traditional activities on March 3-4 in three northeastern provinces -- but would have to pay 1,101 baht (32 dollars) for the pleasure.

Issan is the poorest region of Thailand, but is known for its beautiful countryside and traditional way of life.

Many of the region's young women move to Bangkok or other big cities and resorts to find work and send money back home, and often end up marrying foreign men they meet there.

Agence France-Presse

And the purpose of this is?Exactly?

PS I particularly like the "End Up Marrying Foreign Men Bit"

[Casanundra]

Oh My...

Will they change the FBA rules to accomodate the new promotional business that us foreigners bring to the region and allow foreigners to take on the role of a tour guide currently banned on the allowed professions to do list in order to help facilitate this along? Errr No!

Will they extend the foreign husbands visa based on his willingness to integrate into thai society and improve the region? Errr No!

Will this enable the strong baht and economical situation and political uncertainty to improve for the foreign husbands and their families in the region as a consequence of their actions? Errr No!

Will...

Oh I give up... i'm blue in the face now

[jakesideas]

This sounds like a great program to encourage cultural understanding and community in this region. Also shows that the Tourism Authority of the Northeast is accepting the fact that many women are married to foreign men and they should make the most of it. I am happy to see this progressive program and would like to participate (if only I was married to a woman from the northeast).

[jbsears]

So they expect couples to pay for the privilege to promote Isaan? I would really like to hear their thought process in coming up with this "pay to promote" scheme.

[PhilHarries]

So they expect couples to pay for the privilege to promote Isaan? I would really like to hear their thought process in coming up with this "pay to promote" scheme.

I would also like to know how they arrived at the princely sum of one thousand one hundred and one Baht. Does that include all transport, accommodation and meals?

Anyway, probably not a bad idea given that the chances are the farang husbands know more about Issan than TAT.

[zanzibar]

So they expect couples to pay for the privilege to promote Isaan? I would really like to hear their thought process in coming up with this "pay to promote" scheme.

That's an easy one to explain.

"You Falang, you pay"

[orchis]

Aren't the Issaan wives supposed to already showing them the attractions?

[Thaddeus]

Already covered in This Thread.

[jbsears]

It should be kept in the general section so we can all comment. It is quite a comical TAT scheme. Not too many people besides actual Isaan residents check the Isaan Forum.

[llso]

So they expect couples to pay for the privilege to promote Isaan? I would really like to hear their thought process in coming up with this "pay to promote" scheme.

I would also like to know how they arrived at the princely sum of one thousand one hundred and one Baht. Does that include all transport, accommodation and meals?

Anyway, probably not a bad idea given that the chances are the farang husbands know more about Issan than TAT.

Don't you get it???

Roi Et , One hundred and one!

LL

[dave111223]

Aren't the Issaan wives supposed to already showing them the attractions?

[Payboy]

hmm...one thousand one hundred baht.......not enough to see more than 2 national parks...

[srisatch]

Already covered in This Thread.

Yeah but did not go anywhere. Suppose mods could unite threads.

Its one of those things could just be a laughing stock-I would like to see the husbands and wives of Roi Et extending their showing of Issan assets-or could be a good idea....I guess very few foreigners, before they come to LOS, have any idea about the diversity of the country and its peoples. They have just been fed the Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket mass tourism crap. So when you meet someone and are carted off to Issan a whole new world opens-in one sense its a shame that the same does not happen in say Yala, Narathiwat, because then there would be the same farang awareness of the culture there-but I suppose I would be accused of promoting working girl culture?!

Perhaps shoulod go to Issan forum...but what would you 'show'? Might btake a long while to get from the fireballs of Phon Pisai via the Yasothon rockets to the Surin elephants for a start