The Thai government is moving forward with legislation to restructure the Ministry of Tourism and Sports by separating tourism affairs from sports administration and integrating tourism functions with the Ministry of Culture, according to Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt. Mr Pakorn, who oversees the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC), said the draft legislation has been completed and was sent to the cabinet secretariat for circulation among agencies to gather comments on administrative arrangements. The move represents a formal step in the government’s plan to reorganise tourism governance at ministerial level.

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He said the consultation process is expected to take no longer than one month, after which the bill will be submitted to the cabinet, likely next month or in August. The proposal involves separating tourism responsibilities from the existing combined ministry structure and reallocating tourism functions to align with the Ministry of Culture. The current Ministry of Tourism and Sports oversees both sectors, and the proposed change would establish a clearer administrative division between them.

Under the draft plan, agencies currently under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports would be reassigned depending on their functions, with tourism-related bodies moving under the new structure linked to the Culture Ministry. The cabinet secretariat will circulate the draft to relevant agencies to collect feedback on administrative arrangements before final approval. No additional public statements or opposition details were provided in the report.

The Bangkokpost reported that following the one-month consultation period, the draft is expected to be returned to the cabinet for consideration, with submission likely next month or in August. If approved, the restructuring would proceed through legislative approval and administrative implementation stages. Further details on transitional arrangements have not yet been announced.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now Bangkokpost 27 June 2026

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I have never understood how sports is linked to tourism. There is no plan to bring the FIFA World Cup here. Besides people coming to Thailand to learn Muay Thai. I doubt anyone comes to learn soccer.

Even more, what has sports to do with culture? Maybe takraw is a typical part of Thailand culture but you can tell by its international exposure (not) that the tourism people are not pushing it. I doubt the culture people will do anything.

Sports would develop faster if it was a standalone ministry.

11 hours ago, Purdey said:

I have never understood how sports is linked to tourism. There is no plan to bring the FIFA World Cup here. Besides people coming to Thailand to learn Muay Thai. I doubt anyone comes to learn soccer.

Even more, what has sports to do with culture? Maybe takraw is a typical part of Thailand culture but you can tell by its international exposure (not) that the tourism people are not pushing it. I doubt the culture people will do anything.

Sports would develop faster if it was a standalone ministry.

Not sure what your second comment is all about. Unless I am confused the proposal merges tourism with culture. Sport would be a stand alone ministry.

The fact that this has been one department for all this time is both confusing and perhaps a statement about how lightly Thailand takes its sports development?

18 hours ago, Purdey said:

Sports would develop faster if it was a standalone ministry.

First ask, why is a "ministry" with associated bureaucracy required solely for sports?

Besides kickboxing and cockfighting, what is there to administer?

Better use of funds would be to announce a dozen new hubs.

We need F1 on the Bangkok roads.... nothing new then!