BANGKOK, 13 Mar 2014 According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the agency will spend 20 million baht on promotional campaigns for the upcoming Songkran Festival.
Ms. Wilaiwan Twitsri, Deputy Governor for the TAT’s Goods and Tourism Division said that mainly the budget would be used to promote Songkran-related activities in 13 provinces, deemed the most popular sites for the festival. The 13 areas include Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Chonburi, Suphanburi, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Phanom, Khon Kaen, Nhong Kai, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phuket, and Samut Prakan Provinces.
The Deputy Governor expected that Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Chonburi would see more than 200,000 visitors during the festive period.
She said that the TAT would this year promote 2 types of Songkran activities; one with a focus on traditional rites with rich cultural tastes and the other underlining fun activities like water splashing. Ms. Wilaiwan said that in the latter type, the TAT would provide tourists with information on how to proceed with water splashing appropriately and safely as the number of foreign visitors increases every year to enjoy the activity.
She said other interesting traditions such as alms giving, merit making and the rituals of sprinkling lustral or scented water on the older folks and Buddha images would also be promoted among foreign visitors.
Ms. Wilaiwan has estimated that this year’s Songkran would generate 4.3 billion baht and would welcome more than 1.48 million participants, both Thai and foreign.
