Tourism Authority Of Thailand Research Articles

The Megacity of Bangkok Rescaled through Queerness

The Megacity of Bangkok Rescaled through Queerness Charlie Yi Zhang (bio) On March 15, 2021, the organizers of Thailand Festival, an annual event sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, announced that they would collaborate with the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Osaka, Japan, to bring the grand celebration online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring Thai actors Singto (Prachaya Ruangroj) and Krist (Perawat Sangpotirat), this event was designed to introduce an array of tourist spots to Japanese people through a staged "dating" trip of these two young men across Bangkok, who have risen to international stardom through their performance in the Boys' Love (BL) drama SOTUS: The Series (GMM One, 2016–2017).1 Since the 2014 debut of the TV show Love Sick: The Series (Channel 9, 2014–2015), Thailand has emerged as a prominent player in the global BL market, and its influence has now circled back to Japan, where BL originated.2 Indeed, Thai BL has built a solid fan base by integrating the hyper-romanticized queerness popularized by Japanese BL and the androgynous masculinity characterizing K-pop culture into its unique sociocultural milieu. Thailand's contextual specificity as a rainbow mecca has attracted myriad [End Page 164] LGBTQ visitors from around the world.3 The capital city Bangkok, in particular, is known for its surfeit of party circuits, celebrity DJ networks, muscular tourists populating bars and nightclubs, and fictional sites and characters defining its so-called gay-friendly history. This megacity is part of what Bobby Benedicto calls "gay globality" that combines both real and virtual into "an imaginative planetary geography" to pique and retain the curiosity and excitement of travelers.4 I visited Thailand from January to April 2022 as the country went through its most severe COVID wave to date. Drawing on this experience, I will explore how the fantasized homoromanticism cultivated through BL media culture spatializes the urbanity of Bangkok in ways to reposition the city for the emerging challenges and opportunities in the wake of the pandemic by appealing to the growing international fan group of Thai BL dramas. These drama-created scenes of queerness do not reference concrete materialities of erotic and exotic urban life that Bangkok's LGBTQ visitors can actually partake in, however. Rather, they suggest a cluster of fantasies, aspirations, and tendencies that are both transgressive and complicit, plastering a pristine image of Thai urbanity while tucking away escalating confrontations underneath mesmerizing queer sceneries. AN OUTWARD URBAN LOOK STEERED THROUGH BL EYES On a sunny afternoon in February 2022, after I walked out of Siam Skytrain station and stepped into Centerpoint, a fashion and lifestyle shopping center located in central Bangkok, I was immediately greeted by the images of Zee (Pruk Panich) and NuNew (Chawarin Perdpiriyawong), two Thai actors whose BL series Cutie Pie (Workpoint TV, 2022) had just started to gain momentum. As the beauty ambassadors of a Korean cosmetic brand, these young men try to improve the reputation of their patrons using the fame bestowed by their queer TV personas. This job previously was almost exclusively reserved for K-pop stars. These young Thais, however, fully realize the aesthetical standard set up by previous Korean idols and further increase their popularity by personifying fictional BL characters. Almost identical with a lanky figure, stylish and often dyed hair, almond-shaped eyes with double eyelids, and pronounced nasal bridges on light skin perfected by makeup, they are attractive enough to embody the ethereally beautiful fictional BL characters. To attract fans' attention and maximize the sales number, they need only to strike a pose and stage intimacy with each other to approximate a real dating relationship. This, and just this, would suffice to enable them to fulfill an otherwise daunting task of meeting and exceeding the queer reading and fantasizing desires of captious BL followers, a group that is composed of mostly well-educated young women with good jobs. Fran Martin notes that, for this form of queer fandom, BL creates a participatory space replete "with immense imaginative [End Page 165] energy and generative of great pleasure and intellectual as well as affective engagement."5 Borrowing Sara Ahmed's insight on affect, one might also say that the...

Analysing the Thai to English Translations of Tourism Discursive Elements in the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s English Webpages

With its tourism industry becoming the main source of income of the country, Thailand has put an emphasis on promoting tourist destinations to foreign tourists via different channels including online resources. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), a state agency in charge of tourism promotion, provides useful information of attractions in Thai and other languages on their webpages. This paper attempts to analyse the tourism discursive elements as posited by Durán Muñoz (2012) and Dann (1996) in the English version of the TAT webpages on Bangkok and to analyse how these components are translated. The study found few uses of the tourism language characteristic in the translated version as the result of the moderate uses of these constituents and the exclusion of certain Thai texts in the translation. The investigation also found that these linguistic tools are both literally translated and adapted. While the original meaning is preserved by literal translation, adaptation tends to heighten the tourism discourse quality in the translated text yet alters the original meaning.

Experiential brand positioning: Developing positioning strategies for beach destinations using online reviews

This research analysed tourist experiences on beaches and suggested appropriate brand positioning for Thai beach destinations. A new destination positioning method was proposed involving a topic modelling algorithm, hierarchical clustering and textual analysis using data from 75,500 TripAdvisor reviews. Eleven tourist experiences and five clusters of distinctive beach destinations were identified. Findings suggested that the Tourism Authority of Thailand should replace their current “all-in-one” message with strategic and relevant communications to strengthen brand positioning by reinforcing the positive experiences and improving the negative aspects of beach tourism. Experiential brand positioning can assist DMOs to differentiate destinations as multi-faceted and dynamic.

Factors Affecting Human Capital and Innovative Entrepreneurial Capabilities of Tour Operators: Evidence from Andaman Coast, Thailand

This research seeks to explain factors and relationship models of entrepreneurs capable of building service innovations in Andaman coast with the ultimate aim to ignite sufficient development of regional tourism, increase working potentials, and provide a guideline for tour operations. Initially, document examination and discussions with five experts were conducted to build in-depth interview questions. 19 entrepreneurs were interviewed to examine factors involved and we consulted later with the five experts and six successful entrepreneurs in the regions, as well as with the representatives of the Association of Thai Tour Operators and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) of Phuket, Krabi, and Trang. The results were analyzed according to the theory of resource-based and innovative entrepreneurs. The factors obtained were generated from systematic causes: Nature of Entrepreneurships and Organizational capabilities, the mediator variables of Service Innovation Capability; and Organizational Performance (non-finance). Moreover, the external factors needing to be adjusted regarding the environmental changes were described. The tour operators are suggested to build networking to increase tourism potential with sustainability by providing the entrepreneurs opportunities to be involved in tourism development, accessing the knowledge, technology and innovations resulting in sustainable tourism, quality livelihood, and sustainable ecological management of communities.

Analysing TripAdvisor reviews of tourist attractions in Phuket, Thailand

The purpose of the current research is to develop a methodology that can analyse online reviews using machine learning techniques in such a way that practitioners in the fields of tourism and destination management can understand and apply the technique to improve their attractions. This research studies the TripAdvisor reviews of tourist attractions, including beaches, islands, temples, a pedestrian street, and markets in Phuket, Thailand. In total, 65,079 online reviews were analysed using two machine learning techniques: latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and naïve Bayes modelling.LDA modelling helps the researchers determine the dimensions of each type of attraction. Four dimensions were specified for beaches and islands, three dimensions for a pedestrian street and temples, and two dimensions for markets. This research also developed two practical tools – dimensional salience-valence analysis (DSVA) and lexical salience-valence analysis (LSVA) – and used them to suggest actions for the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Thailand's Approach to Destination Resilience: An Historical Perspective of Tourism Resilience From 2002 to 2018

Thailand's inbound tourism industry has grown significantly during the early part of the 21st century. By the end of 2017, Thailand attracted the highest level of international tourist visitation of the 10-nation Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) with 35.38 million international visitors. By 2017, it was the ninth most visited country in the world and ranked second only to China as the most visited national destination in Asia. A key characteristic of Thailand's government destination management and marketing organization [Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)] and the private sector of Thailand's tourism industry has been a remarkable capacity for destination resilience. This article focuses on the resilience of Thailand as a destination between 2002 and 2018 through the theoretical prism of organizational resilience and the destination sustainability framework. During this period, Thailand's tourism industry overcame a range of potentially damaging crises and reputational challenges. This article seeks to explain the TAT's commitment to embedding resilience into its strategic planning. TAT's extensive implementation of effective risk and crisis management best practices has enabled Thailand's tourism market to recover rapidly from a range of challenges. TAT's commitment to resilience is enhanced by its extensive cooperation with both its private sector stakeholders and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), which is headquartered in Bangkok. The Thai tourism industry's commitment to risk and crisis management reflects the importance of tourism to Thailand's national reputation, image, and economy. TAT's close relationship with PATA and ASEAN Tourism, two transnational tourism associations with a strong commitment to destination resilience, has helped to benchmark Thailand's qualitative approach to tourism resilience. TAT demonstrates a clear appreciation that rapid recovery from crisis events and effective contingency management practice require a high level of collaboration with key stakeholders. Numerous private sector stakeholders with a vested interest in the success of Thai tourism represent all sectors of the tourism industry. They have readily contributed their resources and support to Thailand's marketing campaigns.

Sexual Behavior, Risk Perception and Motivations for Sexual Risk Taking among Foreign Gay Tourists in Thailand

Thailand is portrayed globally as a haven for gay tourism. Tourism Authority of Thailand has been actively promoting the image of Thailand as a gay paradise. It is estimated that the country has witnessed a growing number of foreign gay tourists. This study aims to investigate sexual behaviour, risk perceptions and motivations for sexual risk taking of foreign gay tourists while traveling in Thailand on their vacation. A questionnaire consisting of four parts was designed. The first part of the questionnaire was to gather the information about the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. In the second part, the respondents were asked to rate on a 5-point Likert scale with respect to the degree of risks associated with various specific sexual activities and to indicate whether they had or had not experienced a particular sexual activity while in Thailand. The third part of the questionnaire employed the 5-point Likert motivation scale for sexual-risk taking adopted from Berdychevsky and Gibson (2015). The fourth part of the questionnaire consisted of questions seeking to determine the awareness of the availability of places where tourists could have HIV counseling or HIV tests and the awareness of PrEP and PEP, the HIV prevention strategies. A questionnaire survey technique was used. The data were collected via gay smart phone mobile applications and at the establishments such as gay pubs or clubs, gay saunas and massage spas. A total number of 197 foreign gay tourists participated in the survey. Descriptive statistics such as mean score and standard deviation were used to identify the degree of perceived risks associated with various specific sexual activities and the degree of motivations for sexual risk-taking. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to test the difference perceptions between the gay tourists with and without actual experience with particular actual sexual activities. The study results provided the empirical evidence for understanding risks in tourism among foreign gay tourists in Thailand. Out of the total 24 sex-related activities, no activities were perceived as highest risk. 10 activities were perceived as high risk with the mean scores in the range between 3.41 to 4.20. The respondents referred to having anal sex with and unsteady/casual partner without condom as the most risky (mean score = 3.93, SD = 1.260). For the motivation results, the motivational capacity of the Fun and Less Inhibition dimension is higher than Anonymous Experimentation factor and Safe Thrills and Empowerment dimensions.

The Development of Corporate Communication Efficiency of the Tourism Authority of Thailand

The Development of Corporate Communication Efficiency of the Tourism Authority of Thailand

Is Pai a Sustainable Tourism Destination?

Abstract Requested and sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), this study was carried to evaluate the implementation plan of the TAT sustainable tourism practice (the 7 Greens Concept) to Pai District, Mae Hong Son Province. Assessment tools included a questionnaire for domestic tourists visiting Pai (n = 200) and small tourism related business interview (n=15). Indicators applied to evaluate the outcomes from the implementation of 7 Greens Concept through tourists’ questionnaire were structured in a meeting by the Director of the TAT Regional and Provincial Sectors of 20 persons. The results showed that the domestic tourists visiting Pai felt that tourism environments in Pai did not reach their expectation. Interviewees who are small tourism related business in Pai recognized that the TAT promoting conservation activities for sustainable tourism but only a few of them involved in the implementation of the activities.

Guidelines on Health Tourism Management for Middle Eastern Tourists in Phuket Province

Abstract There are three objectives in this study, 1) to study the behaviour and needs of Middle Eastern tourists for health tourism, 2) to study elements of health tourism for Middle Eastern tourists, and 3) to study guidelines on health tourism management for Middle Eastern tourists. The sample in this study is 400 Middle Eastern tourists, and 10 government staff. The research tools used were questionnaires and interviews. The study found that the Middle Eastern tourists have high needs in health tourism which are as follows: 1) fair prices 2) embedding intensity 3) aromatherapy IP terminals 4) souvenirs for home, and 5) public transportation. Following the average analysis (t-test), it revealed that these aspects have a statistical difference of 0.05 between the sexes with regard to health tourism. Moreover, seven aspects that have a significant statistical difference at 0.05 were age, education, income, occupation, status, experience and nationality with regards to health tourism. According to the study, indicators which were claimed to assist in managing health tourism include; 1) variety of activities 2) Islam friendly accommodation 3) public transport 4) promotion of health tourism 5) access to prayer rooms 6) access to health tourism information, and 7) fair price of souvenirs. Furthermore, guidelines on health tourism management for Middle Eastern tourists in Phuket Province include; 1) Tourism Authority of Thailand and travel agency should be given more variety, especially the health based activities. 2) Sub-district administrative organization should have measures in place that harmonize with the Middle Eastern tourists’ needs. 3) Tourism Authority of Thailand should be studied in order to persuade Middle Eastern tourists to buy more souvenirs from the tourist attractions. 4) Thailand Government should be supported in arranging accommodation to be in line with Islamic principles. 5) Sub-district administrative organization have to arranged places for Middle Eastern tourists to praying particularly for ladies. 6) Thailand Government should inform the tourists from the Middle Eastern countries about activities involved in health tourism in Phuket. 7) Sub-district administrative organization should be executed in order to make all tourists feel safe, and also to protect them from being taken advantage of with regards to hiked prices.

The Cultural Tourism Management under Context of World Heritage Sites: Stakeholders’ Opinions between Luang Prabang Communities, Laos and Muang-kao Communities, Sukhothai,Thailand

The purpose of this qualitative research is to study opinions of stakeholders from Luang Prabang communities, Laos and Muang-kao communities Amphoe, Muang, Sukhothai Province, focusing on the cultural tourism management under context of world heritage sites. The results from the study illustrated that there are 3 types of stakeholders who are involved in cultural tourism promotion and policy formation: 1. Government agency of Luang Prabang and Sukhothai such as, the Heritage House which is responsible for the management of the tourist attractions and town's patrimony in the country under the supervision of UNESCO but for Thailand there is the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Fine Art Departments. 2. Entrepreneur includes not only, hospitality, restaurant, and tourism business, but also entertainment business and tourism training business. They are considered to be parts of the support in enhancing cultural tourism to promote the impressive services for visitors. 3. General public understood and agreed with government management. However, the public insisted to participate in preservation of national cultural heritage under the “Live World Heritage Town” concepts and management of UNESCO which Lung Prabang has been protected by these heritage sites since 1995 but Sukhothai has been protected by the heritage site since 1991.

Thailand's perceived medical tourism service quality: a content analysis of international patients' online testimonials

This research analyses medical tourists' perceptions of Thailand's medical tourism service quality. A content analysis of international patients' online testimonials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand's official medical tourism website shows that medical tourists have distinct perceptions of Thailand's medical tourism service quality, with the SERVQUAL dimensions assurance and reliability being mentioned most frequently. Service quality perceptions varied depending on patients' home country region, type of medical treatment received, if healthcare provider personnel were referred to in the testimonials, and whether Thailand was recommended as a medical tourism destination. Marketing communication implications of the results are discussed, including using assurance and reliability as risk-reducing cues, and future research ideas are submitted.

The challenge of implementing sustainable tourism policy: a 360-degree assessment of Thailand's “7 Greens sustainable tourism policy”

It is relatively easy to write sustainable tourism policies, but much harder to implement them. This paper examines the implementation of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's award winning “7 Greens” sustainable tourism policy, announced in 2008, and piloted on the mature destination island of Koh Samui from 2012 onwards, as well as in three other areas. 7 Greens seeks to engage all stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in tourism to work collaboratively for the development of a more sustainable sector. The Tourism Authority feels the Samui pilot case has been successful, but the lead author, adopting a 360-degree survey method, found stakeholders were much more equivocal about the project. The study showed strong in-principle support, but little effective buy-in and even less willingness to take a leadership role. Stakeholders also identified a number of weaknesses in the policy that they felt limited its utility, including a lack of clear objectives, failure to define terms, lack of collaboration between government departments, conflicts between local and national politics, crony capitalism and short-termism, together with the failure to identify measurable metrics and to implement clear evaluation procedures. The paper puts forward several possible ways to improve future implementation programs.

Green Map: Agricultural Resources Management Tool for Community-based Tourism

The agricultural resources management through Green Map processing for CBT has been studied. Participatory Action Research (PAR) technique was used to gather the data from 50 sampling of Baan Pong community, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. As a whole, community had participation in agricultural resources management in moderate level. Community's knowledge and understanding of Green Map was significantly increased after the participation. Learning process was emerged during the activities of agricultural resources planning such as green mapping, resources’ symbol making, GPS coordinating and transferring to Google Map, and broadcast to several website. After self-assessment of 7 Greens concept by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), community was observed in 4 aspects as follow: green heart, green activity, green community, and environmental responsibility. As to the knowledge of Green Tourism testing, found the highly significant increased after the activity. The community reflects lessons learned from working together which resulted in a partnership between community's leaders, members, and youth.

Tourism Expenditures and Environment in Thailand

Tourism activities affect the environment of different destinations, which is influenced by different tourists’ consumption. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between inbound tourist expenditures and three main environmental dimensions, which are carbon dioxide emission from transport, energy demand, and water usage, in Thailand. This paper employs Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models to determine the relationship of variables. Data from Ministry of Energy, Bank of Thailand, Metropolitan Electricity Authority, Provincial Waterworks Authority, National Statistical Office, Department of Tourism, and Tourism Authority of Thailand between 1988 and 2012 have been applied in the model. Note that, energy demand is represented by total electricity consumption of hotel and accommodation sector in Thailand, while water usage is represented by the total water consumption of tourists. This study found the relationships among tourists’ expenditures, carbon dioxide emission from transport, energy demand, and water usage. Therefore, the policies recommendations may be essential to prepare the optimal schemes and budgets for encountering the environmental impacts from tourism business expansion.

Foreign Tourists' Perception Towards Personal Safety And Potential Crime While Visiting Bangkok

ABSTRACT Bangkok as an international core city contributes to the tourism industry of Thailand and the Asian region. The purpose of this study is to assess foreign tourists' perception on safety and concern of potential crime while traveling and staying in Bangkok in October 2006. The research data was collected from 384 questionnaires which were distributed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. The findings revealed that personal factors such as nationality had an influence on respondent's perceptions and concern for safety and security. Some respondents especially, European tourists, expressed a lower sense of security concern when compared with the respondents from other regions. In the light of the findings, it is recommended that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) should investigate the safety needs and requirements of tourists arriving from various markets, and communicate to government and related authorities these safety concerns to ensure that they can be better understand and managed. Tourist Police should provide greater level of vigilance through regularly patrols around the tourist dominant areas to ensure a “hassle” free experience for foreign tourists in Bangkok.

Bangkok 2003

BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2003 Last October, festival founder Brian Bennett attempted to mount what should have been the festival's 5th edition but this was not to be due to lack of funds. This year's edition has been taken over by main sponsor and organiser, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and was simply called the 2003 Bangkok International Film Festival (10-21 January 2003). Interestingly, the presidency of the BKKIFF went to the governor of the cash-rich TAT, Juthamas Siriwan. Patrick de Bokay served as the festival's executive director and Kriengsak "Vic" Silakong, the festival's programme director. The country's number one English daily, The Nation, handled the festival operations. The declared aim of the organisers was to establish their first BKKIFF as a regional and international hub for film buffs as well as for potential film investors and those in the film trade. Its other equally important objective was...

Promotional Strategies and Travelerss' Satisfaction During the Asian Financial Crisis

This paper describes the marketing strategies of the Tourism Authority of Thailand in boosting tourism through segmentation of the special interest groups represented by tourists to Thailand after the implementation of the 'Amazing Thailand Years' campaigns. This study also evaluates the marketing promotion strategies of the 'Amazing Thailand Years' campaign in creating travelerss' satisfaction and intention to revisit and recommend Thailand to friends and relatives. A content analysis of collateral material including brochures and booklets about the 'Amazing Thailand Years' campaign and the Tourism Authority of Thailand's marketing plans from 1980 to 2000 was used in analyzing the promotional programs and the market segmentation. Observations of seminars sponsored by the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), Chulalongkorn University, and Prince of Songkla University about Thailand's tourism were conducted from 1997 to 1998. Unstructured interviews with staff of the Tourism Authority of Thailand were undertaken in 1998. Finally, a cross sectional survey was given to 590 randomly selected travelers who visited Thailand in 2000. It was found that the Tourism Authority of Thailand has effectively created travelers' satisfaction and intention to revisit Thailand with the use of the 'Amazing Thailand Years' campaign.

Ecotourism in Southeast Asia

A second international ecotourism conference focusing on Southeast Asia was held in Bangkok, Thailand, 18–21 July 1996. Entitled ‘The Implementation of Ecotourism: Planning, Developing and Managing for Sustainability’, it was hosted by the Institute of Ecotourism, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok in cooperation with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and The Department of Technical and Economic Cooperation (DTEC).