On 8 April 2022, Miss Acharapan Yavaprapas, Consul-General of Thailand in Kolkata, delivered her welcoming remarks on the occasion of “Amazing New Chapters & Songkrab Celebration Networking Lunch at Baan Thai Restaurant, The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata, and was joined by Mr. Kasemsan Thongsiri, Deputy Consul-General, and Mr. Nutt Svasti-Salee, Consul.

The said networking lunch was organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi Office, led by its director Mr. Vachirachai Sirisumpan, with an objective to foster stronger ties with Indian stakeholders in support of Thai tourism industry economic sector. Approximately 50 guests from tourism sector in East India, including travel agencies, associations of travel agents and airlines, as well as media and bloggers, were present.

In her welcoming remarks, Miss Yavaprapas extended her warm welcome to the invitees, congratulated the improvement of COVID-19 situations in both Thailand and India, which resulted in the successful conclusion of Thailand-India Air Travel Bubble Agreement, the official resumption of commercial flights announced by the Government of India starting from 27 March 2022 onwards, which coincided with Thailand’s suppression of RT-PCR negative test result requirement for Indian citizens who wish to enter the Kingdom of Thailand, in effect from 1 April 2022 onwards.

The above-mentioned factors helped play favourable part in bringing a great number of international tourists to Thailand and contributing to restoring Thailand’s tourism sector to its former glory. Indian tourists figure among high-potential groups of tourists travelling to Thailand. In 2019, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, approximately 2 million Indian tourists travelled to Thailand, and Kolkata ranked third in terms of the number of Indian tourists travelling to Thailand.

In this connection, the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kolkata and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi Office, reiterated their readiness in facilitating and providing assistance to Indian travellers, who play an essential role in the Thai tourism sector, which constitutes a major contributing factor to Thailand’s overall economy.