Visitor numbers to Thailand for this year
surged from 25 million to 26 million in just 10 days as the kingdom counts down
to the month of grand celebrations in December.
The 26 millionth tourist, Mr. Tommy
Jeppsson from the Kingdom of Norway who is also one of Thailand’s Luckiest
Visitors for 2015, arrived in Phuket today, and was pleasantly surprised to
receive a grand welcome ceremony presided over by the country’s top tourism
official, H.E. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, and
joined by representatives from leading tourism organisations and businesses.
The festival of lights or Loi Krathong will
take place on 25 November, with locations throughout Thailand scheduling days
of celebrations during next week. December, meanwhile, is the month of many
celebrations, especially the highly anticipated ‘Bike for Dad 2015’ in honour
of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the auspicious occasion of his 88th
Birthday Anniversary.
The “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor” activity,
launched in June this year, is in conjunction with “2015 Discover Thainess”
campaign that aims to encourage the number of international tourists to visit
Thailand in order to explore the endless charm of Thailand, the diversity of
destinations, full flavours of Thai cuisine, fascinating uniqueness of the
traditions and culture, as well as the friendliness of its people which bring
about a memorable journey that sets the travelling experience apart from other
countries.
Thailand aims to welcome 28.8 million
international visitors for this year.