Thailand launches bid to host 2028 Specialised Expo in Phuket

A Thai team led by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is showcasing the southern island as the ideal venue for the expo under the theme “Future of Life: Living in Harmony, Sharing Prosperity”.

Thailand is competing with four other countries – the US, Argentina, Serbia and Spain – to host the expo.

Specialised Expos are meant to respond to a specific challenge facing humanity and usually take place in the interval between two World Expos.

Team Thailand will give the three-day presentation until Tuesday at the headquarters of the Bureau of International Exposition (BIE), the inter-governmental organisation in charge of organising non-commercial international expos.

BIE officials will survey Phuket in July and again at a later date.

The winning bid will be announced in June next year.

If Phuket is selected as the venue, Thailand would have four years to prepare for the expo, to be held from March 20 to June 17, 2028.

TCEB estimates the expo would draw 4.93 million visitors, including 2.66 million foreign tourists, to Phuket.

The Public Health Ministry wants the expo to serve as a showcase for Phuket’s advanced medical tourism industry.