Tourism

People Planet Prosperity - The Kingdom of Thailand

by Kirtan Bhana and Anisha Pemjee

With 30 million annual tourist arrivals and a 20% contribution to Thailand’s GDP, tourism, travel and hospitality are vital to Thailand’s economy. Ambassador Mungkorn Pratoomkaew of Thailand to South Africa shared his thoughts of Thailand and the growing relation with South Africa and the African continent.

Senior Officials Meeting

In March 2023 the 7th Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM 7) between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of South Africa reignited the cooperation between the two nations and set in motion a renewed energy in the post pandemic recovery.

The meeting, co-chaired by Busadee Santipitaks, Thailand’s Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, together with Ambassador Ntombizodwa Msutukazi Lallie, Acting Deputy Director General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, discussed ways to further enhance the existing cordial relations between the two countries, including the exchange of high level visits, the review of pending agreements and MOUs, as well as the cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, technical cooperation and public health.

A firm commitment on resolving the issues of work permits/visas which are proving a challenge, to proactive, conciliatory and complementary cooperation, was made at the SOM. Reassurances were also given for the safety and protection of the Thai community in South Africa.
South Africa is Thailand’s most significant trading partner in Africa and Thailand is South Africa’s most significant trading partner in ASEAN.
Addressing these challenges and removing the bottlenecks, Thailand hopes to double trade figures to U$D 6 billion by 2025 explained Ambassador Pratoomkaew. The Embassy of Thailand in Pretoria planned and has put a strategy in place to comprehensively move the economic and social interactions as the opportunity to deepen and strengthen the dynamism of the relations. It is especially timeous as Thailand and South Africa reach a milestone of 30 years of cooperation in 2023.

Treaty of Amity and Cooperation

In the second half of this year the Thailand Embassy will chair the ASEAN Pretoria Committee (ACP) and will maintain the momentum of South Africa’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Since the signing of the Treaty in 2019 there have been interdepartmental meetings with South African agencies to identify mutually interested areas of cooperation. Thailand fully supports South Africa to harness opportunities from this Treaty as well as South Africa advancing to Sectoral Dialogue Partner with ASEAN. The ASEAN Pretoria Committee is also working closely with South African authorities to increase interactions on every front, said Ambassador Pratoomkaew.

Strengthening the Region

The successes of the ASEAN regional cooperation, which spans more than half a century, has many lessons for the African Union’s own integration processes and the implementation of the AfCFTA. “Thailand as one of the founder nations of ASEAN believes in stability, centrality and prosperity of the region. It is true that each country has its own concerns. But I am convinced that when we and our neighbouring countries have convergence on the same priorities, we all can make our region strong and open for development. It took us more than 50 years to have a strong regionalism spirit. Therefore, ASEAN and AU but also SADC could learn from each other, especially in regard to the free trade area. ASEAN has expertise on that and can share with South Africa and other African nations with regard to the AfCFTA that just entered into force 2 years ago,” said Ambassador Pratoomkaew.

Recovering from the pandemic is in sharp focus for the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). “We seek to make Thailand a top-of-mind tourist destination and as one of the first countries to remove restrictions and open its borders after the pandemic, we had 10 million tourist arrivals last year and are aiming to reach the pre-pandemic level of 30 million visitors,” said Ambassador Pratoomkaew. “Local tourism has also seen an increase due to the measures introduced by the Thai government to counter the lack of international visitors during the pandemic.”

The conclusion of the MOU on tourism between Thailand and South Africa will unlock a number of new possibilities and explore the potential that the travel, tourism and hospitality industry has to offer in developing viable value and lucrative supply chains. Inclusive and sustainable tourism requires local communities to be stakeholders and reap the benefits while keeping conglomerate hospitality companies in their lane which will bring about a cohesiveness and stability to an industry that is heavily reliant on human resources.

The abundant natural beauty of this ancient elephant shaped land in the Gulf of Thailand and lapped by the waters of the Andaman Sea is a paradise for all manner of tourist beyond vibrant Bangkok and idyllic Phuket. The Thai government is promoting small towns for tourists to experience local traditions and cultures and immerse themselves into the Thai way of life.

A visit by Sadudee Sangnil, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand London office, to South Africa for business to business consultation is an indication of the value of South African travellers to Thailand who, in 2019, ranked 2nd behind Mauritius for outbound travel. Sangnil is confident that visitor numbers from South Africa will reach pre-pandemic levels as the TAT is finding innovative products and packages to attract tourists and travellers.

The current volatility in the markets and a shift in the global geo-politic are seen as major challenges to filling flights for profitable returns. The expediting of visa’s has also been outsourced to private agencies explained Paisit Boonparlit, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy, saying that this will ease backlogs and facilitate visa processing applications for the region.

Expo 2028 Phuket Thailand

Thailand has submitted a bid to host the Specialised Expo under the name Expo 2028 Phuket Thailand, the theme for which is “Future of Life: Living in Harmony, Sharing Prosperity”, where health and wealth are in balance, all lives can thrive and prosper, and the environment and nature are restored. Everyone, big or small, can play a role and make a difference.

As the election of the host country for the upcoming Specialised Expo will take place this June in Paris, Ambassador Pratoomkaew said that Thailand is looking forward to the cooperation of the international community to support Thailand’s bid to host this global mega event.

TDS