Thailand woos tourists from AP

By Our Special CorrespondentHYDERABAD, AUG. 11. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is keen on attracting tourists from Andhra Pradesh to tourist spots in the predominantly Buddhist South East Asian nation. Thailand boasts of a good number of heritage sites, about 150 golf courses, sandy beaches and a plateau bordering the Mekong river, where the world's oldest bronze age civilisation is said to have flourished some 5,000 years ago.

The tourist flow from India to Thailand increased by 23 per cent in one year. As many as two lakh Indian tourists visited the Buddhist country in 2000 as against 1.64 lakh visitors the previous year. But Andhra Pradesh accounts for a dismal share of this tourist traffic.

A direct flight from Hyderabad to Bangkok, capital of Thailand, is expected to give a fillip to the tourist traffic. The airfare from Hyderabad to Bangkok via Delhi is presently around Rs 15,000 and with a direct flight it will further come down.

In a bid to market Thai's tourist spots in the State, Ms Pinki Arora, India representative of TAT, had an interaction with travel agents here on Saturday. Through a power point presentation, she highlighted ``treasure islands'' in that country and the potential for business and pleasure trips from the State.

The best period to visit Thailand is December and on December 5, the King's birthday, the whole city of Bangkok is lit up. Listing the festivals and events, Ms Arora said the launching of traditional floats was the main activity of the Loy Kratong festival from November 20-22. The River Kwae Bridge Week fair is from November 23 to December 5.

There are about 50,000 hotels rooms in this small country with a population of 60 million and the stay is less expensive ranging from $ 20 to $ 150.

The sky train (Bangkok mass transit system) is a major attraction as it helps ease traffic congestion in the business areas of the capital.

Mrs Pinki said as part of tourism promotion campaign 2001, an international tourist festival was scheduled from September 16 to 20.

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