Surasak lays out a roadmap for Songkhla to become a sustainable quality tourist city, directs aggressive marketing toward Malaysia, and promotes "Songkhla" as a top-tier destination in quality terms.
At 3:00 p.m. on 10 Jul 2026, Surasak Pancharoenworakul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, chaired a field meeting to gather opinions and set development guidelines for Songkhla's tourism. He also reviewed progress on tourist safety at Ballroom 2, Buri Sriphu Hotel, Songkhla. The meeting was attended by Paskorn Rangsivatsaksit, Secretary to the Minister and ministry spokesperson, Natriya Taweewong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, along with ministry executives, government agencies, private sector representatives, and local tourism operators.
This meeting served as a platform to integrate cooperation between government and private sectors to jointly define the direction for Songkhla's tourism development aligned with the area's potential. The focus is on elevating the province into a quality tourist city while ensuring safety, confidence, and convenience for tourists. Tourism is also promoted as a key mechanism to generate sustainable income for local operators and the grassroots economy.
Minister Surasak stated that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports adheres to three key policies for driving tourism: enhancing quality tourism to increase economic value, building tourist confidence and safety, and aggressively targeting Malaysia as the main tourist market for southern Thailand. The ministry aims to promptly remove obstacles and facilitate travel to attract more tourists to Songkhla and nearby areas.
The minister emphasized that this field visit aims to listen directly to problems and suggestions from local operators to use real frontline data to formulate policies and measures tailored to local conditions. He affirmed that the ministry is open to all opinions and will closely integrate efforts with all sectors.
Additionally, he directed all agencies to systematically integrate their work. The tourist police are ordered to enforce strict safety measures and crack down on offenses affecting tourism's image. The Department of Tourism and the Office of the Sustainable Tourism Development Special Area (TPSA) are tasked with upgrading tourist attractions and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand will pursue proactive marketing, especially targeting Malaysian tourists, to increase the number of quality visitors to Songkhla and southern Thailand.
Surasak reiterated that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports will continue to promote Songkhla as a quality tourism destination by raising safety standards, building confidence, developing attractions, and supporting marketing simultaneously. This approach aims to stimulate the economy, distribute income equitably among local operators and communities, and foster tourism growth.