The Association of Domestic Travel has urged the Tourism and Sports Ministry to push for an Asean driver’s license to facilitate travel by tourists.
Vehicles from Thailand pass through the border to Malaysia to fill in petrol. A Thai tourism association would like to see the creation of an Asean driver’s license that would allow cross-border personal-vehicle travel at all border checkpoints. (Bangkok Post)
Yutthachai Sunthornrattanavej, chairman of the ADT, said on Tuesday that his association planned to submit a letter to Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul asking for guidelines to boost tourism in border areas before the launch of the Asean Economic Community later this year with an eye toward making Thailand Asean's tourism hub.
He urged the ministry to hold meetings with provincial chambers of commerce, immigration offices in border provinces, and officials from neighbouring countries to jointly lay guidelines for personal travel, particularly the issuance of Asean driving licenses.
The proposed Asean license would enable tourists to travel to Thailand by private car, thus boosting Asean tourism. The number of tourist arrivals from the Asean region are expected to increase by 5 million people in the next five years, the ADT chairman said.
Under the guidelines, tourists from neighbouring countries should be allowed to drive their vehicles to other provinces. The existing regulations limit the travel of not more than 200km from checkpoints bordering Malaysia, said Mr Yutthachai.
He believed the regulations, if adjusted, would boost the number of tourists in the country. Tourists from other border areas could travel to Bangkok and other tourism towns like Pattaya, thus generating more revenue.
"The ministry must urgently lay out guidelines for all border checkpoints to follow in a bid to prevent confusion among tourists. Over the past 20 years, cross-border tourism has focused only on southern provinces bordering Malaysia. But now, the tourism atmosphere in provinces bordering Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia are lively and these new tourist groups have purchasing power," said Mr Yutthachai.