Thailand prepares for 2m arrivals with tourism safety push on land, sea and air
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered a tourism safety push amid surging high-season arrivals and more evidence of Bangkok’s popularity among foreigners.
Prayut on Thursday instructed tourism-related ministries, tour operators, and the Royal Thai Police to ensure safety of destinations and travel covering land, air and sea, government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul said.
The Kingdom expects to see almost 2 million foreign tourists this month, while expats have just named its capital one of the world’s top 10 best cities to live and work.
"Tourism-related agencies have also been instructed to ensure high hygiene standards in food," Traisuree said.
Some 9.09 million foreign tourists visited Thailand in the first 11 months, with 1.73 million in November alone, she added.
Thailand expects to welcome its 10 millionth tourist this year on Saturday.
The PM’s safety push is designed to boost foreigners’ confidence in Thailand as a post-Covid-19 destination, the spokesperson explained.
She also noted that Bangkok ranked 6th among cities to live and work abroad this year, in a survey of 12,000 respondents conducted by online expat forum InterNations.
Spain's Valencia ranked top, followed by United Arab Emirates' Dubai and Mexico City.
"The survey also indicated that 82% of respondents are happy with the quality of medical care in Bangkok, 79% are happy with life here in general, 69% are happy with the cost of living, 68% are happy with their work-life balance, 66% are happy with their job and 54% said making new friends is easy," she said.
Top 10 cities to live and work abroad this year:
- Valencia, Spain
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Madrid, Spain
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Basel, Switzerland
- Melbourne, Australia
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Singapore
Source: InterNations
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