TAT gets new fund

He said the budget would go directly to the authority for use this quarter.

Weerasak met with Abhisit yesterday to seek the additional extra funding. The Tourism and Sports Ministry received Bt1 billion from the government last week, but this was considered insufficient to rebuild the local industry's image.

Weerasak plans to meet the private sector on January 30 to collect information on the financial damage faced by the tourism sector and hear what operators have to say about proactive strategies to revive the industry.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents and the Thai Hotels Association will hold an urgent meeting in Bangkok today to coordinate their data and proposals before sending them to the TAT and the ministry.

A TAT board member said two events would be supported in April in a bid to attract international tourists.

The first is the Songkran festival in the middle of the month, for which a budget of Bt40 million is expected to be made available in a bid to reclaim tourists from neighbouring countries.

The second programme is a comedy film festival, scheduled to be held in Bangkok in late April.

The TAT is working with partners to bring in world-famous comedy actors, including Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) and Hong Kong's Stephen Chow. The presence of such stars is expected attract to more visitors.