Tourism players urged on quality assessment

Wanasiri Morakul, director-general of the department, said the businesses must meet four criteria to win Thailand Tourism Standard certification, namely legitimacy, hygiene, fair prices, and safety.
Deputy Prime Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn will award the certifications to businesses that have passed the standard quality assessment next Monday.
There are five tourism-related business categories eligible for quality evaluation. They are goods and services operations such as souvenir and jewellery businesses, massage services, spas and amusement parks; travel agencies; restaurants; tour coaches; and accommodations.
“The standard quality criteria in each business category are different,” Wanasiri said. Travel agencies, for example, must be legally registered, must possess all necessary licences, and must never have received customer complaints.
“Restaurants must receive hygiene and safety approval from the Health Department. Travel vehicles must have at least seven seats, have necessary licences and pass safety examinations from the Department of Land Transport,” she said.
The names of tourism-related businesses that have passed the quality assessment and received certifications will be included in the “White List” compiled and endorsed by the government to win trust and purchases from customers worldwide.
The Tourism Department will send the White List to the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s branches and Thai embassies across the globe. The list will be distributed to tour agencies in their respective countries, including the China National Tourism Administration.
To receive the certification, business operators can apply for the quality evaluation at the offices of the Tourism and Sports Ministry in all provinces. After reviewing and assessing the applications, the Tourism Department will forward the applications to the Thai Tourism Standard Subcommittee.
After the final approval from the National Tourism Policy Committee, the operators will receive two-year certifications and the right to use the Thai Tourism Standard emblem. The certifications cannot change hands, Wanasiri stressed.
The provincial assessment committees will conduct random re-evaluations of the certified businesses to make sure they are work to maintain quality standards, she added.
If the operators fail to meet the quality criteria and receive customer complaints that prove true after an official investigation, their certifications will be revoked and their businesses will be removed from the White List.