Ministry names best Thai destinations

BANGKOK Ministry of Tourism and Sports presented awards, Wednesday, to Thailand’s seven best tourist destinations of 2016.

Tourism and Sports Minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, said the seven best destinations were considered from 17 destinations that qualified to be part of five thematic clusters that would have the potential to be part of a national itinerary.

The awards were categorised into three categories; ecotourism, community-based tourism, and cultural tourism.  

In the ecotourism category, Phetchaburi province’s sea mud flats, Andaman Sea’s Dragon Beach in Trang and Satun and the hot spring mineral waters of Ranong excelled.

Community-based tourism destinations included communities in Chanthaburi and Trat and communities along the Andaman Sea in Krabi.

Cultural tourism destinations focused on handicraft communities in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Lampang and Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani in the Northeast (south I-san).

They were all nominated based on their so-called “unique identities”, the availability of basic infrastructure, the efficiency of community management, the affordability of their products, hospitality and tourist safety.

The minister said the award were a starting point to develop tourism programmes offering new alternative route for tourists within the five cluster themes.

“We aim to add more attractive destinations for travellers, increase tourist length of stay and expenditure as well as spread tourists from overcrowded destinations and generate revenue to communities.”