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Thailand gives a memorable welcome to the 21 millionth visitor to the kingdom in 2015



BANGKOK: -- Thailand has just welcomed the 21 millionth visitor, meaning the country is on track to exceed the projection of 28.8 million visitors for 2015. This shows that confidence in Thailand as a travel destination remains higher than ever as the high tourist season approaches.

The lucky 21 millionth was Mr. Mcgahern Joshua James from Australia who flew into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport from Perth. Mr. James was given a special welcoming ceremony in the Thai style and was personally greeted by executives and representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways International Public Co., Ltd., the Immigration Bureau, Airports of Thailand Public Co., Ltd., and True Corporation Public Co., Ltd. Mr. James was also given a “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor” certificate to mark the occasion.

Mr. James was presented with two economy-class return tickets from Thai Airways International Public Co., Ltd., from his airport of origin back to Thailand, valid for one year, and a voucher for top-end accommodation for five nights. In addition, he was gifted a mobile phone with 3G sim-card and seven-day internet usage from True Corporation Public Co., Ltd. for use on his trip. A luxury limousine was also provided to take him from the airport to the hotel in Bangkok courtesy of Airports of Thailand Public Co., Ltd.

Mr. Yuthasak Sapasorn, TAT Governor said, “We are delighted to welcome Mr. James to Thailand as our 21 millionth visitor and to ensure his visit here got off to such a fun start. We want each and every one of our guests to have equally memorable time in the kingdom because they’re all as valued as Mr. James. These huge numbers of arrivals show that people from all over the world still regard Thailand as a safe and welcoming place and are coming here in their millions to enjoy our unique attractions.”

The “Millionth Visitor” welcoming ceremonies have been arranged in line with TAT’s “2015 Discover Thainess” campaign, which puts the spotlight on Thailand’s most charming attractions: diversity of destinations, the spicy flavours of Thai cuisine, the uniqueness of Thai traditions, festivals and culture, and the warm, welcoming friendliness of the Thai people.

Mr. Yuthasak added, “We now have every confidence that we will exceed our projection of 28.8 million visitors in 2015, and we only wish we could give every visitor the same warm welcome as we have been giving each lucky millionth since June. We value beyond measure every person who chooses to visit Thailand and we thank them for coming here to experience the nation’s charms.”

Contact Information
International Public Relations Division
Tourism Authority of Thailand


-- Samui Times 2015-09-21

[Sam Jones]

Congrats to him - hope he make it out alive ...

[amerasianex]

Im starting to not believe a single word this TAT says. One thing I certainly do not believe is the Tourism is stronger than ever. When store front after store front closes permanently. Must be that new math........

[peterjackson]

True really pushed the boat out.... 7 days internet access, oh and a phone.... In return for publicity worth 10's of thousands of baht.

[Hawk]

Visitor? Or a visa runner?

[Nick167]

I simply love TV and its members....lol! "Tourists or Visa Runner."...lol!

[snooky]

True really pushed the boat out.... 7 days internet access, oh and a phone.... In return for publicity worth 10's of thousands of baht.

Typical True - their service, no matter what, has gone down and down - probably looking for a drilling mechanism to find a hole deep enough for their terrible service. Heard that some major (?) company had bought into them recently - probably just trying to milk what they can without any improvements whatsoever. Check out the thread "True Vison Sucks".

Congrats to the visitor for getting what he did.

Edited September 21, 2015 by snooky

[Seastallion]

I bet my bottom dollar that they were not counting arrivals in other international airports such as Hat Yai.

Counting overall numbers, yes, but they decided it would be BKK for the "one".

I bet, too, that they waited for a single passenger travelling alone.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Seastallion

[Happy Grumpy]

Wow.

The 21st winner to arrive on a Thai Airways flight?

What are the chances.

[stoneyboy]

Let's hope he doesn't end up like some of his fellow countrymen enjoying all that Thailand has to offer.

[Praematura]

Thailand is becoming almost surreal. Next they will celebrate export growth.[emoji6]

[terryp]

i can see the 1 billion"th on the horizon , just allow more of the zero $ Chinese to be visa exempt and da da ....... 1 billion (sadly most of the tourism business will have closed down a long time before)

[cockatoowho]

Got to hand it to TAT, they got Uncle Fester (or his son) from the Adam's family as their VIP winner.

[Songhua]

Right on cue, it's almost as though you could divide the year by 28.8.

How do they know which entry point to set the welcome mat and signage at?

Twenty-two millionth on 4th October.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Songhua

[ratcatcher]

Got to hand it to TAT, they got Uncle Fester (or his son) from the Adam's family as their VIP winner.

My God you're observant.However, that's his oldest son, mate.

[Basil B]

And another millionth visitor comes in via Swampy...

Wonder how they do work it out, the only fair way would be by immigrations computer counting every visitor and flagging up every millionth entry, it would be easy to predict the day and time, but what can not be predicted is which airport, land crossing or port...

[Oziex1]

On Thai airways again yeah, amazing coincidence.

[JHolmesJr]

shitty prizes….how about…..permission to stay as long as he likes…all bar fines waived for 5 years…exemption from scams for 5 years….sinsot requirement annulled in case of marriage….

[soalbundy]

I thought that as a prize he would be scammed right at the airport so he wouldn't have to wait

[godden]

Only economy ticket so he's really valued.

[johncat1]

Under the new rules his sim-card will expire at the end of the month anyway.

What would have happened if the 21 millionth visitor had been a Thai returning home ? Would they still get all this ?

Edited September 22, 2015 by johncat1

[Roota]

Thailand is becoming almost surreal. Next they will celebrate export growth.

Thai exports aren't growing but they're solid -- around USD18 billion/month +/- 10% for the past four years now.

International arrivals are growing: 7.43 million in Q4 2014, and 7.88 million in Q1 and 7.01 in Q2 2015. The first two are all-time highs. Figures from AoT, and are a matter of public record. That means you can go to them and see the raw data. Not that that would convince the tourism deniers here.

[Seastallion]

What would have happened if the 21 millionth visitor had been a Thai returning home ? Would they still get all this ?

Or a child in a group of 30 Chinese, or a really fat and ugly old woman, or came in on Air Asia, or arrived in Hat Yai from Singapore .....None of those would have made a good photo op or had much use for the prizes.

They had a good idea that the 21st millionth arrival would land on that day....so prepare everything, wait for a Thai Air arrival, have a spotter looking for a single white guy who does not look like an ex-pat, is of a certain age range....there you go, that's him!

[cyberfarang]

How can the TAT`s tourist arrivals statistics be so precise that they know this guy is exactly the 21 millionth visitor to Thailand this year?

Amazing Thailand, it`s wonders will never cease.

[captspectre]

Congrats to him - hope he make it out alive ...

I don't believe it! the thai's can't count that high unless it is money! and with all the entry ports, how would they really know? just another face saving rant to entice tourists to the land of he dictator!

[rocketboybkk]

I bet he wished he hadn't booked that seedy hotel in Soi Nana now!!! Ooops

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mikemac]

Rather than jump the gun, why don't they wait til the guy is on his way back to Oz, then give him a "“Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor” Award if he did not get scammed, catch a dose of the shits, or be set upon by a pack of Ladyboys ?