The Thai exhibition was among places visited by exhibition-goers on the first day of the World Exposition in Osaka on Sunday.
The Thailand Pavilion was among the exhibitions from 158 countries people visited on the first day of the event, and visitors were welcomed by staff in Thai traditional costume as the opening day fell on the same day as Songkran in the country.
The Thai exhibit is located in Area A13 within the Connecting Lives Zone. It showcases wellness and full-fledged heath services, including local wisdom and traditional medicines, among others.
Pavillion manager Kampanat Pitakpinichnan said the Thai exhibit could be an answer to a global trend as people have more health consciousness after the Covid-19 pandemic. "Thailand can show our perspectives and local wisdom that can cater to the world on well-being," he told the BT beartai YouTube channel.
Organisers have advised visitors to book tickets online and make a reservation to enter individual pavillions in advance to avoid long queues. But they do not need to do that for the Thai show. "For the exhibition at the Thailand Pavillion, you can walk in," the Thailand Pavillion World Expo 2025 Facebook page said on Friday.
People walk on the Grand Ring at the Expo's first day. (Photo: Reuters)
The World Exposition in Osaka opened on Sunday, with organisers hoping the six-month event will boost the domestic economy despite delayed preparations.
The Expo will continue until Oct 13 on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay, with 158 countries and regions participating.
Its major exhibits are encircled by the Grand Ring, which has a circumference of two kilometres and is recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's largest wooden architectural structure.
At the Japan Pavilion, main exhibits include a "Mars rock" discovered by a Japanese research team in Antarctica in 2000, while the Osaka prefectural and city government's health-themed pavilion features sheets of heart muscle made from iPS cells, a type of stem cells which can grow into any type of body tissue.
The iPS cell was developed by Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka, director emeritus at Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application. The heart muscle sheets created by a team led by a University of Osaka professor are designed to treat patients with severe heart failure.
Another major draw will be the 42 "Type A" pavilions self-built by participating countries including the United States and China.
"I was so excited I could not sleep last night," said Fujiko Hirouchi, 56, who quit her job late last year and rented an apartment in Osaka to enjoy the Expo.
The first public day comes after test-runs at the site earlier in the month. An opening ceremony featuring dancing, singing and light show was held on Saturday, with 1,300 people attending -- among them Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, as well as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The government estimates the event will have an economic impact worth 2.92 trillion yen (683 billion baht) nationwide, based on the visitor target of 28.2 million people. On peak days, 220,000 people are projected to visit.
Anticipation for the event has been dampened, however, by headlines over unfinished pavilions and ballooning costs. The bill for the event has nearly doubled from an initial estimate to 235 billion yen.
Delays in pavilion construction have left organisers rushing to meet the opening date deadline. Five countries, including Nepal, which has been preparing a Type A pavilion, were unable to have their exhibits ready in time, according to the organisers.
Advance ticket sales have been slower than expected. Data current to Wednesday showed around 9 million advance tickets had been sold for the event since November 2023, far off the organisers' 14-million target. Visitors are required to book tickets online for specific dates and times for admission to the venue and individual pavilions to minimise queues, though the organisers have been forced to introduce same-day tickets following public criticism about the complexity of the ticket reservation system.
Despite the rainy weather, a huge crowd of visitors formed before the opening outside the venue's gate near a train station connecting to central Osaka. Long queues were also seen at some of the pavilions that accepted a certain number of visitors without reservation.
Japan has hosted the World Exposition twice before, most recently in Aichi prefecture in 2005. Osaka previously held it in 1970, an event that drew more than 64 million primarily domestic visitors and came to be seen as symbolising Japan's rise as an economic power.
