Ministry mulls over bank project

BANGKOK, 15 February 2011 – The Ministry of Tourism and Sports hopes to establish a tourism bank that will provide low-interest loans to encourage travel both locally and overseas.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports permanent secretary, Sombat Kuruphan, said the ministry will co-operate with the Government Savings Bank to study a proposal to open a “tourism bank” that would support Thai people to improve their professional skills in the travel industry.

A tourism bank project would be useful to encourage the tourism industry in the country and support with loan schemes, while giving opportunities for Thais to experience travel both domestically and internationally. If the project is successful, the bank set-up could be realised by the end of the fiscal year this September, according to Mr Sombat.

Last year, the ministry reported 88 million Thais travelled domestically and spent Bt413,000 million, up 1.08% from 87.06 million visits and a spend of Bt407,600 million in 2009.

Meanwhile, outbound trips  by Thais departing from Suvarnabhumi Airport reached 2,926,984, up 19.01% from 2,459,382 in 2009, according data supplied by Thai Police, Immigration Division II.