Minister of Tourism Issues Policy to Elevate Thai Tourism to High Value and Promote Four Pillars of Sports for Revenue Generation

"Surasak Phanjaroenworakul" The Minister of Tourism and Sports issued policy directives to ministry executives to elevate Thai tourism to high value, promoting year-round travel, spiritual tourism, and secondary cities, while considering structural integration with the Ministry of Culture and supporting the establishment of a "Ministry of Sports" He emphasized that government agencies should save budget and ordered a halt to foreign study tours.

Minister Surasak issued policy directives"Driving Thai Tourism and Sports Towards High Value"

Recently, at the Suwanvichit Meeting Room on the 7th floor of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Mr. Surasak Phanjaroenworakul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, chaired a policy briefing for senior executives and affiliated agencies, with Ms. Nutriya Taweewong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, and other executives attending to set direction and drive key national missions.

Mr. Surasak stated that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports is a crucial mechanism for generating income and improving citizens' quality of life. He urged all agencies to align their work with national strategies and government policies to achieve tangible results.

Plans to integrate culture and support the establishment of a"Ministry of Sports"

A key point in this policy briefing was preparing to restructure management by focusing on integrating tourism tasks with the Ministry of Culture to seamlessly link cultural assets with tourism, reduce duplication, and increase the efficiency of state resource use.

Additionally, the idea of establishing a"Ministry of Sports"as an independent entity was supported to ensure clear, comprehensive, and continuous policymaking in all aspects of sports.

Elevating tourism with a focus on"quality"over"quantity"

Regarding tourism, the government aims to elevate Thailand’s tourism industry from focusing on"quantity"to creating"high-quality and sustainable value"with the following key directions:

• Year-round tourism Shift from product-centric sales to meeting tourist demand (Demand Driven).
• Promote specialized tourism Boost spiritual tourism (Mu-Telu) and health and wellness tourism.
• Distribute income to grassroots Stimulate domestic tourism, especially in secondary cities, through various promotional measures.
• Upgrade infrastructure Develop comprehensive tourism facilities and safety standards.

Highlight four pillars to develop Thai sports

For sports, national and international competitions must meet global standards and be cost-effective, using sports as a tool to develop people and drive the economy through four main development pillars:

1. Sport Health Promote public health.
2. Sport Wealth Drive sports as a revenue-generating industry.
3. Sport Pride Raise competition standards and Thai athletes’ potential internationally.
4. Sport Future Apply digital technology and innovation to develop sports systems for the future.

Emphasize unity, order halt to foreign study tours to save government budget

At the end, Mr. Surasak emphasized that successful policy implementation requires"unity in work"among all agencies, aiming to become a Smart Organization that operates based on data, is agile, transparent, and prioritizes national interests.

He also instructed all agencies to strictly follow government policies on energy saving, including work-from-home or Work from Anywhere measures, and to"suspend or delay"foreign study tours unless absolutely necessary.

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