The positive global publicity generated by last year’s 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King’s accession to the throne was a major contributing factor for the tourism industry, as it recorded 13.82 million visitor arrivals – more than 20 per cent higher than in 2005.

At the same time, however, arrivals were affected by the September military coup, although the relatively peaceful nature of the change in government mitigated any serious long-term effects, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said this week…

…TAT governor Phornsiri Manoharn said there was little doubt that the massive global publicity generated by His Majesty’s 60th year on the throne, plus the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek in Chiang Mai, went a long way towards presenting a positive image of Thailand worldwide…

…This year, according to Phornsiri, the post-tsunami growth rate of 20 per cent is unlikely to be matched, which should give the country a golden opportunity to adjust many of the tourism policies and marketing strategies in line with the sufficiency-economy principles of His Majesty.

– Extracted from: “Celebrations result in bumper year”, The Nation, 6 April 2007.