Thai Govt To Promote Islands In The Gulf Of Thailand As Tourist Spots

[webfact]

Thai gov't to promote islands in the Gulf of Thailand as tourist spots

BANGKOK, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Thai government is now promoting Thailand tourist spots in the country's southern region lying in the middle and along the shores of the Gulf of Thailand to further invigorate its already flourishing tourism industry.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was scheduled to leave for Koh Samui Island and nearby coastal areas on the weekend, beginning with Saturday's flight from Bangkok to the world- renowned island resort. After landing at Koh Samui International Airport, the prime minister will proceed by boat to the islands of Koh Pa-ngan and Koh Tao.

On Sunday, she will visit Nakorn Sri Thammarat, the mainland province just across the sea from Koh Samui. She will then return to Koh Samui where she will preside over a "roving" Cabinet meeting on Monday.

According to deputy government spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ad, the Yingluck government plans to restore and promote the reputed tourist sites on those islands as well as along the shores of the Gulf, including those in Surat Thani, Chumporn, Pattalung and Nakorn Sri Thammarat provinces.

Yingluck earlier visited Krabi and Puket, both world-renowned tourist destinations on the shores of the Andaman Sea, where she had already approved plans to further develop and improve the area.

During her weekend trip to Koh Samui and nearby areas, the prime minister was scheduled to inspect the construction and repair of roads around Koh Pa-ngan Island where the arrival of foreign tourists has remarkably increased each year.

She will also inspect the construction of a hospital on Koh Tao Island. In Nakorn Sri Thammarat, Yingluck and her Cabinet will visit Wat Pra Mahathat Wora Mahaviharn temple which the government intends to promote as a World Heritage site.

In Surat Thani, the prime minister will be briefed on a project to build an international airport at Don Sak, where tourists usually ride on ferry boats to and from Koh Samui.

Several infrastructure projects, including anti-flooding facilities in those southern provinces on the coasts of the Gulf of Thailand, will be carried out as part of the government's tourism promotion scheme, the deputy government spokesman said.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Nattavud Sai-kua, a native of Nakorn Sri Thammarat, will lead Yingluck on the planned itinerary to the southern tourist spots. Thailand, which has fully recovered after it was hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, is now back as among the top tourist destinations in Southeast Asia, along with Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Source: http://news.xinhuane...c_131918888.htm

-- Xinhua 2012-10-20

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

When a Thai Government (if you can call this bunch of con artists and thieves a government) says that they will promote some Islands I expect those Islands to be trashed and look like shit in the very soon future.

[sandhurstmolonski]

The Problem is what do they mean by " Promote " ?? I think a lot of work has to be done with what already exists ..If Promote means " Just load the place with every imaginable tourist " unfortunately in many ways it goes against the driving force of whats already there . The Beauty of Sumi around 15 years ago ..Look at what has happened in Phuket . I love Thailand , and the lifestyle ..But it is a little concerning when they come out with Stuff Like this .

[exeter]

Once again the island paradise in the middle of Sawan Park here in Nakhon Sawan has slipped off the radar! Where is the Goof of Thailand?

[tardelli]

she will set free the gambling )) open casino in islands

[lizardtongue]

On Sunday, she will visit Nakorn Sri Thammarat, the mainland province just across the sea from Koh Samui. She will then return to Koh Samui where she will preside over a "roving" Cabinet meeting on Monday.

Call me cynical but is this just another way of spending some of the tax payers money? Samui to BKK is hardly a trek, am I right in thinking that the cabinet will also be going to Samui or will this 'roving' Cabinet meeting take place on line?

[AleG]

Once again the island paradise in the middle of Sawan Park here in Nakhon Sawan has slipped off the radar! Where is the Goof of Thailand?

Be thankful, the reason it's still an island paradise is probably because it has slipped off the radar.

Mind you, the article is from a Chinese News source, and if there's a class of tourist that shows, on the whole, an utter disregard for environmental conservation, that is the Chinese tourist.

The less they hear about the better, IMHO.

[quadman]

Wow, a very novel idea. Why no one ever thought of promoting the islands in the south before is a mystery. The tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands) of tourists arriving there each month will be devestated to find out its no longer just for them (and the Burmese /Cambodian staff).....

Next they should plan a campaign to see if they can get the sun to rise each morning.

[animatic]

SHe is not exactly like in this neighborhood. I expect security to be massive and traffic to be a total mess, especially monday when all the other VIP's will expect to own the Ring Road to the detriment of those having normal activities to pursue.

Leave an hour earlier for any 1/2 hour trip.

[Rionoir]

Yingluck earlier visited Krabi and Puket, both world-renowned tourist destinations on the shores of the Andaman Sea, where she had already approved plans to further develop and improve the area.

More development... yea, that's exactly what Phuket and the nearby islands need for sure. Good Lord...

[asiawatcher]

Why does she have the Agriculture Minister show her around when she is purportedly dealing with tourism?

[Songhua]

It's not the word 'promote' that's bothersome in the article. It's the word 'develop'.

Wonder what they showed her in Phuket which could be used as a model?

Edited October 20, 2012 by Songhua

[LuckyLew]

Roving cabinet meeting in Koh Samui ...

Guess she did not feel like shopping at LV this weekend ..

so she came up with a great way to spend Thais money ..

Great work if you can get it

[Rancid]

Look on the positive side many of us got to see many of these islands in their pristine state with bamboo huts. Admitedly that doesn't help those that follow with the expensive polluted toxic sludge they will experience but there again they will also never know what the girlfriend experience is either. Time moves, things change, that is the way it is.

[Bender]

Instead promoting these islands, she should improve safety for tourist. I mean to get rid off tuk tuk mafia, jet ski scammer, prevent further case of poisoning.

It would be a good start. Oh i forgot money will stop flooding...

[culicine]

As long as they leave southern Prachuap alone I'll be happy...where I go is dead quiet even at New Year..

[OzMick]

Living on Samui, I can tell you that more tourists are a welcome pain in the butt. We were expecting in the next few years a double rail line, which will now stop at Hua Hin (isn't that a suburb of BKK?). The single track concrete sleeper upgrade is still about 400km north of Surat, and the trains aren't getting any younger.

We could also use some cheap air fares. My last trip with AA, Gold Coast - KL - Surat - KL - Gold Coast cost about the same as Bangkok Air Samui-BKK return, which is one reason I've never flown with Bangkok Air. Yes, Bangkok Air owns the airport, but that doesn't give them the right to charge extortionate fees.

We could also use taxis that turn on their meters. After years of negotiation an agreement was reached where an extra flagfall charge could be levied. It lasted about a week. Police ignore complaints because many of the cabs allegedly belong to them (isn't that corruption?).

[hellodolly]

What she will be promoting is high end tourism. Not a thought to the family tourists or the mdium income earners here in Thailand.

The long and the short of it is she is promoting a giant money grabbing scheme. The cost to Thailand will just be destruction of beautiful scenic country.

[TomTao]

I guess it won't too long till the jetskis start trading along Thungwhalaen beach, so much for a family friendly beach with clear waters. The hoteliers will be happy, it will help to boost employment, and the crime rate, and prices etc.

Sent from my GT-I9003

[Misterwhisper]

What are they going to do once they have "promoted" [to destructive mass tourism] every last square inch of the preciously few unspoilt islands and coastal ares this country still has left? Koh Chang and the other islands in the eastern Gulf already have been so busily "promoted" that they're slowly turning into another Phuket, Samui, Phang Ngan and Samet, the shining examples of how to "invigorate an already flourishing tourism industry" (just to quote the OP). I visited Koh Chang a few weeks ago and the entire place has turned into one huge construction site, with once scenic Whitesand Beach steadily developing into just yet another raunchy "beach resort" with all the negative aspects that come with that sort of "promotion": garbage everywhere, noisy bars and clubs, over-priced restaurants, motorcycles roaring up and down the main drag, a 7-Eleven every 100 metres or so and - yes - mafia types lingering on every street corner; not to forget all those "quality tourists" hanging out there, wearing 'I love Singha beer' t-shirts, Jesus sandals and WHITE TENNIS SOCKS. "Promoting" is one thing, but one also can "over-promote", or in other words, "promote the hell out of places until they've been promoted so excessively that they can be promoted no more" and have turned into shitholes. Sorry for my rambling, I just couldn't help it

[noitom]

"Promote" and "develop" means first get all the land titles altered and in the right hands. Once the chanotes are held by the "right" people, then development is announced. This means that a few Caterpillar earth movers will be seen around and the work sites will be dotted with Burmese and Bangladeshis in hard hats milling around moving dirt. Then signs will go up that "luxury" condos are only a few are available for a "limited time only" on a four payment "scheme." Once some money has changed hands for down payments from some farangs buying on the Thai come bet for four five years out the promotion accelerates.

Then the "promote" starts to happen. Real estate agents and brokers and travel agents will start taking pop up ads on Internet sites, tour brokers and travel agents will get some of the down payment skim and "promote" the new Thai island destination and investment. BOI will schedule "investment" meetings. Once new tours and bookings show an increase, a few trucks will be seen unloading a few bails of rusty metal rods and a big pilon hole driller will show up, all to make the "promotion" and the "development" look authentic.

The police will start recruiting for new "franchisees." Girls will be interviewed for hard to get window seats in a few newly leased bars on the main unfinished road. The local big men will hire an "expert" to write an investment grant for US Trade Development to finish the road in from the airport and agree to the skim cut by the girls.

Hotels and resorts will provided Thai government signware stating that no poisonous chemicals are used in cleaning the rooms or ridding them of vermin. Bars and restaurants will get complementary signware stating that "absolutely no DEET used in beverages." Street vendors are approved for a certain skim amount for their spots and for new police hire uniforms, and they are provided with complementary free signware stating that "all fish balls are poison puffer fish free - guaranteed."

Girls will be approved for bar work, food will be prepared, tourists will check in, the CATs will keep drilling and hammering, the illegal hard hats from Burma and Bangladesh will keep eating rice on the side of the project waiting for the Thai trucks to deliver cement and sand, traffic will come to a stop, motorcycle taxis will proliferate, tourists will keep coming, a few will get suckered into a down payment for a luxury condo, skim money will keep flowing. TAT will claim business is booming in the Thai islands. The cycle will repeat over and over.

[rakman]

Too early in the month for her to attend the Full Moon Party.

[geriatrickid]

Acording to the news feed; Of the 20 million cubic metres of domestic wastewater produced per day in Thailand, only 1.6 million cubic metres are collected in sewer networks and sent to treatment plants, many of which do not function. The figures for faecal sludge are equally alarming: in Thailand, 60,000 tonnes of faecal sludge are collected per day, but only 4,500 tonnes per day or less than 10 per cent are treated correctly.

I find it amazing that Thailand wishes to promote tourism in areas without basic infrastructure. I doubt the tourism promotion literature will mention the extra bonus of being able to swim with the turd the tourists will have laid earlier in the day. Now I do appreciate that some folks have a desire for this, or at least that's the impression from the Japanese/European websites that offer various videos, but I think most visitors would prefer not to swim in an ocean filled with Thailand's raw sewage.

[BlackJack]

Once again the island paradise in the middle of Sawan Park here in Nakhon Sawan has slipped off the radar! Where is the Goof of Thailand?

island paradise in the gulf - please send me details as i cant find it

[rubl]

Several infrastructure projects, including anti-flooding facilities in those southern provinces on the coasts of the Gulf of Thailand, will be carried out as part of the government's tourism promotion scheme, the deputy government spokesman said.

Anti-flooding facilities as part of a tourism promotion scheme ? Ain't those people living down there lucky!

[cloghead]

What are they going to do once they have "promoted" [to destructive mass tourism] every last square inch of the preciously few unspoilt islands and coastal ares this country still has left? Koh Chang and the other islands in the eastern Gulf already have been so busily "promoted" that they're slowly turning into another Phuket, Samui, Phang Ngan and Samet, the shining examples of how to "invigorate an already flourishing tourism industry" (just to quote the OP). I visited Koh Chang a few weeks ago and the entire place has turned into one huge construction site, with once scenic Whitesand Beach steadily developing into just yet another raunchy "beach resort" with all the negative aspects that come with that sort of "promotion": garbage everywhere, noisy bars and clubs, over-priced restaurants, motorcycles roaring up and down the main drag, a 7-Eleven every 100 metres or so and - yes - mafia types lingering on every street corner; not to forget all those "quality tourists" hanging out there, wearing 'I love Singha beer' t-shirts, Jesus sandals and WHITE TENNIS SOCKS. "Promoting" is one thing, but one also can "over-promote", or in other words, "promote the hell out of places until they've been promoted so excessively that they can be promoted no more" and have turned into shitholes. Sorry for my rambling, I just couldn't help it

"a 7-Eleven every 100 metres or so"... There are only nine '7' stores on the whole dam_n island

"wearing 'I love Singha beer' t-shirts, Jesus sandals and WHITE TENNIS SOCKS"...

"WHITE TENNIS SOCKS"...Oh my God! The horror, the horror of it all

<deleted> are you? The <deleted>' fashion police?

"and - yes - mafia types lingering on every street corner"

What "street corner"? There's only one bloody road on KC so there ain't no "street corners"

Your observations regarding Koh Chang are total rubbish--I seriously doubt you've ever been there...

Edited October 25, 2012 by cloghead