‘Thailand Riviera’ wins cabinet seal of approval

• A proposal to turn a stretch of coastline southwest of Bangkok into a “Thai Riviera” was approved in principle at 7 Mar 18’s cabinet meeting along with a raft of other projects.
• The Tourism and Sports Ministry’s call to build a so-called “Royal Coast” around the sleepy town of Hua Hin, home of a royal residential retreat, was met with enthusiasm and approved as part of the government’s 20-year development plan running until 2020.
• The government plans a high-end tourism campaign in the western coastal provinces which it hopes will boost income among locals in the region. The cabinet also approved in principle 45 projects with THB170mn from the FY2019 budget. All of them are small projects to support community tourism.
• Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said the “Thailand Riviera” development will be expanded from the previous plan to cover Petchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon and Ranong.
• Mr Somkid said the government expected to develop the tourism destinations in those provinces into world-class spots as most foreign visitors only knew about Hua Hin. The Transport Ministry has already started the construction of the double-track rail route from Nakhon Pathom-Hua Hin-Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chumphon.
• The National Tourism Policy Committee, chaired by Mr Somkid, will meet on 12 Mar 18 to drive the project into action while the Tourism Authority of Thailand is required to allocate some money in fiscal 2019 to develop tourism spots in communities in four provinces.
• Infrastructure projects will be developed to connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea while the government is currently in the process of developing ports to connect provinces around the Gulf.

External Link : https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tourism-and-transport/1423502/thailand-riviera-wins-cabinet-seal-of-approval