Thailand among 5 countries to unite as seamless ASEAN tourism destination

The “ASEAN Drive Tourism” scheme was approved during the 27th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2024) in Vientiane last week.

"The project aims to promote land connectivity to boost economic value, expand income and promote community and cultural attractions in five countries," Thai Tourism Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakitkosol said on Wednesday.

Details of the scheme, including integration of different traffic rules and infrastructure, will be discussed at future meetings.

The proposal will be submitted to prime ministers of the five countries for further discussion during the ASEAN Summit later this year.

Sudawan said the Tourism Ministry will announce the new ASEAN tourism routes at the world’s largest tourism fair, Germany’s ITB Berlin, on March 5-7.

She said Cambodia had proposed tourism routes in primary and secondary cities, as well as a Cambodia-Vietnam border route.

Cambodia also proposed using the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) visa for the scheme, which it hopes will boost the service sector in secondary cities.

Meanwhile, Thailand has proposed the following two overland tourism routes to Vietnam:

• Thailand (Mukdahan) - Laos (Savannakhet) - Vietnam (Hue-Danang)
• Thailand (Trat) - Cambodia (Sihanoukville) - Vietnam (Phu Quoc)