Thai military government welcomes tourism at street party

Thailand may have recently experienced political unrest, but the new leadership - the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) - has demonstrated its commitment for Thailand to remain a welcoming destination for world tourism.

To demonstrate this to Thais, visitors and the travel and tourism industry, the Happiness Street Festival in Bangkok, which was held from 25-26 July, took place with top performers from Thailand and a street party only Thailand could deliver.

More than 900 members of the international media from over 47 countries, including a group of South Africa media and tour agents, were flown in to witness the extravaganza. In addition, 300,000 fun and smiley faced e-invitations were sent out by T.A.T to travellers around the world. The Happiness Street Festival was opened by Admiral Narong Pipatanasai, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy and present also was the Deputy Chief of the NCPO in charge of overseeing tourism affairs.

Bringing happiness

The Admiral stressed in his opening address that tourism is essential to the country's happiness. "We look at tourism not only from the point of generating revenue. Above all, tourism is bringing happiness to our people. Thailand is known to be a nation of happy people and remains very unique destination for first time and seasoned travellers from around the world. The NCPO will continue to assure that tourism flourishes and brings prosperity to the Thai people."

"We instructed the police to bring back confidence to our visitors by improving the safety in the country. We hope that by feeling safe and confident, Thailand will increasingly be the number one choice of destination for tourists and business travellers alike," added the NCPO Deputy Chief.

Since taking power in May, many actions have been implemented to improve the tourism experience for anyone visiting the kingdom. The Happiness Street Festival in the main Bangkok commercial centre in Rachaprasong over the weekend was just a first step of confidence building in tourism.

Bangkok is known as the city of happiness and this was certainly demonstrated during the festivities. Thawatchai Arunyik, Governor of TAT said: "The spectacular release of thousands of smiley-faced balloons symbolises that Thailand is always ready to welcome tourists to the kingdom with friendly Thai smiles. And, as the event was jointly organised by representatives of all the Thai people, it sends out a single message of unity and welcome."