BANGKOK, 19 Oct 2013 Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Saturday expressed confidence that the construction of transportation infrastructures would help the country achieve the goal of generating 2.2 trillion baht of annual tourism revenue by the year 2015.
Ms. Yingluck asserted that under its tourism development strategy, the government was trying to link tourism hot spots with the upcoming transportation network. It is also seeking to develop new eco-tourism and health tourism spots, improve safety for tourists and, through education, improve the capacity of Thais in providing information to tourists.
Ms. Yingluck also touched on implications the new infrastructures will have on border trade. According to her, the current annual border trade value stemming from the 91 border points in 26 provinces amounts to 900 billion baht. The government is improving the border points and is preparing to issue investment incentives for the border areas. Some areas will also be made special economic zones.
