Thailand has welcomed 15 million international arrivals within the first seven months of this year, according to deputy government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek.

On Thursday, Ms Rachada said that school summer breaks in northern hemisphere countries have contributed to the increasing number of international tourists in Thailand.

Amidst this, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has pushed its new tourism campaign, "Amazing Thailand Health and Wellness: New Chapters New Experience", which aims to promote medical tourism to attract wellness tourists with high purchasing power.

For domestic tourism, TAT plans to promote local attractions in every region to disperse tourism-generated income to locals across Thailand.

Ms Rachada said that TAT expects to see three trillion baht in revenue from tourism next year, with 1.92 trillion baht from international tourists and 1.08 trillion baht from domestic ones.

Apart from being a well-known destination for tourists after Covid-19, Thailand has become a popular location for filmmaking this year.

The Department of Tourism's Thailand Film Office (TFO) said on Wednesday that there were 246 productions from 32 countries using Thailand as a filming location in the first half of 2023. The TFO said 143 foreign films were shot in Thailand for the same period last year.

The United States is reported to have spent the most on filmmaking in Thailand, with 519 million baht for 14 projects, followed by China with 349 million baht for 17 projects, Hong Kong with 328 million baht for 11 projects, the United Kingdom with 261 million baht for 19 projects and Germany with 201 million baht for 11 projects.

The TFO said the Thai government led by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, has offered incentives to foreign filmmakers to choose Thailand as their film location, such as a 15%-20% cash rebate for those who invest at least 50 million baht while filming in Thailand.

The process of granting work permits for foreign filmmakers to shoot in Thailand has also been made convenient, with three days for visa assessment for an advert or music video production and 5-10 days for a film, series or reality show production, the TFO said.

In 2023, Thailand was a shooting location for the popular Korean TV series King the Land and the Chinese variety show Keep Running.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

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