Man-made sites, higher spend, grey-capital crackdown: Thai parties pitch tourism plans

Sittiphol Viboonthanakul, a People’s Party party-list MP candidate and member of the party’s economic team, said successive governments had often claimed to prioritise tourism but failed to tackle problems seriously.

He said the People’s Party sees Thailand’s tourism industry as facing four structural challenges:

• Weak repeat-visit incentive: Some visitors, including Chinese tourists, say they returned after 5–10 years to find little had changed, unlike destinations such as Japan, where travellers can revisit year-round and explore multiple cities beyond Tokyo.
• Concentrated tourism income: More than 70% of tourism revenue is concentrated in just five provinces, with demand also clustering in peak season, leaving nature-based destinations highly exposed to seasonality.
• Grey capital and foreign nominee businesses: He said grey capital and foreign nominees were taking market share from local operators, meaning tourism income does not reach Thai people widely, despite strong promotion by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
• Budget imbalance: He said the state spends 78% of the tourism budget on “front-of-house” work such as advertising, while neglecting “back-of-house” investment, including infrastructure, transport systems and attractions.

People’s Party: five-pillar plan

Sittiphol said the People’s Party would implement five main policies if it forms a government:

1. Invest in new man-made destinations to encourage repeat visits, reduce reliance on natural attractions, limit seasonality, and support year-round travel.

• Large projects: Minimum THB1 billion per site, aiming for at least 5–10 sites nationwide based on value for money, with total investment of THB5–10 billion; the party targets delivery of at least five within four years.
• Smaller projects: At least 25 secondary provinces to gain new attractions within four years, with THB200 million budgeted per province, potentially via public-private partnerships (PPP) and/or local co-funding to build shared ownership and support long-term upkeep.
• He cited an annual marketing budget of about THB6 billion used by the Tourism Authority of Thailand to promote tourism, saying the party was not calling for cuts but for more balanced allocation to strengthen “back-of-house” investment.

2. Crack down on grey capital and nominee networks across the tourism system by establishing a complaint-reporting mechanism linked to all relevant agencies, monitoring risk areas, cutting financial channels, and investigating, freezing and seizing assets.

3. Develop Smart Tourism by creating a national “Super App” tourism platform as a central digital service hub for end-to-end visitor support, alongside stricter oversight of online platforms under competition law.

4. Promote niche markets such as medical and wellness tourism, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions), and LGBTQ travel to increase spending per visitor.

5. Reform budgets and laws, including introducing a “foreign tourist fee” under the National Tourism Policy Act to fund a tourism promotion fund.

The party estimates annual revenue of THB9 billion, to be used for “back-of-house” improvements and tourist insurance to reduce the fiscal burden of accident assistance.

He said the party would also implement budget-tracking to show how the fund is spent, and aims to complete the measure within 9–12 months.

Sittiphol also cited a domestic tourism stimulus scheme, “Secondary cities have no low season”, proposing support of THB1,000 per person per trip to encourage Thais to visit secondary provinces, rotating target destinations every four months.

Pheu Thai: push high-value services and medical-wellness hub

Jakkaphon Tangsutthitham, a former assistant minister at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and a Pheu Thai candidate in Chiang Mai, said Pheu Thai is focused on promoting high-value services, including hotels and tourism, and believes Thailand must increase both spending per tourist and overall arrivals by upgrading infrastructure, hosting world-class events and improving workforce skills.

He said that if Pheu Thai forms a government, it plans to pursue major projects studied over the past two years, including during the administration of former prime minister Srettha Thavisin.

These include a plan to host Formula One in Thailand and revisiting legislation on operating integrated entertainment complexes, which he said would create new attractions with concert and event venues and retail areas.

He added that the party would support local events and attract major events to make Thailand appealing year-round.

He also said Thailand would be promoted as a medical and wellness tourism hub by integrating new technologies and developing personnel to support the growing sector and attract high-spending visitors.

He cited infrastructure plans including new airports in Chiang Mai and Phuket, alongside upgrades to transport links connecting major cities and secondary destinations.

Democrats: call for state–private cooperation to lift tourism

Earlier, Abhisit Vejjajiva, Democrat Party leader and former prime minister, said tourism is a key engine for Thailand’s economy, as shown during the Covid-19 period when tourism troubles affected the wider economy.

He said while tourism was expected to rebound quickly after the pandemic, current tourist numbers and revenue have not returned to pre-crisis 2019 levels, when foreign arrivals were close to 40 million.

He said the Democrat Party believes the state and private sector must work together on urgent measures to upgrade Thai tourism, including:

• Diversifying source markets, including adapting the group-tour segment to changing travel behaviour, and addressing the impact on the Chinese market from safety image concerns.
• Supporting businesses, especially SMEs, including spending to reduce the costs of sustainability investment aligned with eco-friendly travel trends.
• Building skills and raising standards for tourism workers, and applying technology to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
• Upgrading infrastructure and connecting systems to expand secondary-city tourism, boost sustainable growth and competitiveness.
• Closing marketing gaps by expanding promotion through foreign influencers to strengthen Thailand’s pull for visitors.