Visitors from Aust assured
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has denied a report by Australian media that this country is the most dangerous place for Australian tourists and is confident that tourist arrivals will continue to climb.
The Herald Sun, a tabloid based in Melbourne, claimed in January that Thailand was the most dangerous destination for Australians, followed by Greece. Last year 100 Australians died on Thai soil, it said, citing figures from the Australian Foreign Affairs Department.
TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni yesterday called the report one-sided, as it failed to give enough weight to the fact that tourist arrivals in the Kingdom were growing, many of them repeaters. They like Thailand because of its friendly people and service.
He is sceptical about the statistics collected by the media. In fact, all data on foreign tourists in Thailand have been reported to the Tourism Ministry and also to himself, especially the deaths of foreign tourists.
In the past three decades of his experience, this was not the first time such news on Thai tourism had come from Australia. However, Thailand is still considered a favourite holiday mecca by Australians.
Last year, 930,000 of them visited Thailand, up from 830,000 in 2011 and 700,000 in 2010.
This report was raised at the talks held in Phuket last week between high-ranking officials from the Australian Embassy and Phuket Governor Maitree Inthusut. Personal safety was at the top of the agenda.
On Friday, the European Union ambassador also raised the issue of incidents in Phuket that have caused inconvenience for their people.
Australians have their own ideas about the report and it will not hurt the country’s tourism image, Suraphon said. In fact, personal safety is one of the country’s top concerns and all parties have striven to prevent problems and define solutions to protect foreign tourists’ lives. Besides, tourism facilities here are recognised as up to standard, he added.
