Pracha Rath group offers 3 plans to boost income

The master plans aim to develop tourist destinations, research and develop local products, and develop border trade, said Tos, chief executive of Central Group, during a group interview yesterday.
He said the proposals had been given to Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and would await Cabinet approval.
The first master plan, on developing the country’s tourist-destination facilities, includes a pilot project to invest Bt9 billion to develop Ayutthaya, whose Historical Park has been declared a World Heritage Site.
The money would be used to renovate the landscaping around the site’s buildings and develop transport systems such as waterways and trams, create zoning for home-stays, and create night-time lighting events. The province’s culture would be promoted, and the provincial museum brought up world-class standards. Safety concerns would be addressed, and and the transport network between Bangkok and Ayutthaya developed.
Tos’s working group believes these investments would double the number of tourists visiting the province to 18 million by 2025 from 7.7 million last year. This will increase the incomes of Ayutthaya residents from an average of Bt170,000 per year to Bt450,000 by 2025.
Moreover, the government would be able to apply the Ayutthaya model to other tourist destinations such as Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, he said.
“In the past, the country did not invest in developing facilities in its tourist destinations, instead relying on word of mouth to spread the word and bring in more tourists,” he said.
“We have to change the tourism business by investing to develop tourist destinations and encouraging more people to visit them and spend more. This would also create jobs and double the incomes of people.”
Tos said the working group was waiting for the Cabinet to approve the plan and decide which ministry or department would be responsible for the investment.
The second master plan is research and development of local products. This was kicked off by Central Group early this year by selecting products that reflected the identity of the provinces they came from. The pilot project selected eight products from eight provinces to research and develop for distribution at Central shopping centres.
The eight products are sweet tamarind from Phetchabun, longan from Lamphun, cultivated banana from Ang Thong, San Yod rice from Phatthalung, mangosteen from Rayong, Nang Lae pineapple from Chiang Rai, macadamia from Loei, and versatile carpets from Phrae.
The San Yod rice project has generated income growth of 108 per cent, the macadamia programme 557 per cent, and the Phrae carpet project 316 per cent, affecting 768 families in total, he said.
“We are open for other corporates to join our programme by investing between Bt1.5 million and Bt3 million per product, or about Bt200 million for the whole programme covering 76 provinces. This will boost local people’s income, which in turn will boost spending for the long term,” he said.
The last plan is to boost border trade. The working group has proposed a pilot project in Mae Sot, Tak province, for a retail and wholesale centre to expand trade between Thailand and Myanmar. This project would be a collaboration between the Finance Ministry and private sector.
This project would get under way step-by-step. On June 25, the government will propose some of the plan to Myanmar’s government.
“We believe that when we carry out all of these plans through collaboration between the public and private sectors, it will double our country’s economic growth within 10 years. We will withdraw from the middle-income trap,” Tos said.