Songkhla operators call for cruise ship terminal
Plan to boost flagging tourist numbers
The Songkhla Tourism Association is urging the government to further promote tourism in the province by building a cruise ship terminal and adding direct flights from cities in China to Hat Yai.
Songchai Mungprasithichai, president of the Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, said the association would seek the government’s support for direct flights to Hat Yai, such as a Kunming-Hat Yai route to bring more Chinese tourists to the province.
It will also ask the government to invest more in nautical transport, such as a cruise terminal in the Gulf of Thailand.
The terminal will help ease road congestion along the Thai-Malaysian border between Sadao district and the Bukit Kayu Hitam city of Kedah in Malaysia, and also encourage a tourism expansion in Songkhla and the neighbouring areas, such as Koh Samui, Krabi, and Phuket, he said.
“As cruises to Koh Samui [in Surat Thani] need to pass the Gulf of Thailand in Songkhla, investing in a cruise terminal will benefit Songkhla’s tourism business as most foreign visitors on cruises have high purchasing power,” said Mr Songchai.
Not only do local businesses envisage alternative transport, but they also want to see a broader range of international tourists visit the area, Mr Songchai added.
The plan was to prevent any risk of a collapse in the sector in Songkhla, and especially Hat Yai, as the number of visitors from Malaysia and Singapore, in particular, has been trending downwards during recent rainy seasons.
Separately in Phatthalung province, Kwanjai Klabsuksai, owner of Suan Phai Kwanjai Market (Kwanjai bamboo garden agrotourism) in Khuan Khanun district of Patthalung, said most foreign clients who visit the farm are Malaysian.
Excluding private cars, she said her bamboo plantation welcomes at least nine buses or 10 vans daily.
Malaysians are by far the biggest proportion of foreign visitors to Phatthalung, making up at least 80% of the province’s total, followed by European and Chinese visitors, according to Ms Kwanjai.
However, Jarun Kaewjeesub, president of the Phatthalung Tourism Association, said cars with foreign licence registrations, especially tour buses from Malaysia, are still being prevented from driving out of Songkhla due to visa restrictions, despite the association sending a petition to the government in 2014.
The Prime Minister’s Permanent Secretary Office had earlier responded to the petition by the Songkhla authority which urged the government to allow Malaysian tour buses to drive to 14 southern provinces, but no rules were issued.
That effort was paused as Malaysia is now drafting a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on similar matters with the Thai authorities, said Mr Jarun.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2804005/songkhla-operators-call-for-cruise-ship-terminal
