{"id":681175,"date":"2024-10-28T23:09:18","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/?p=681175"},"modified":"2024-10-28T23:09:31","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:39:31","slug":"thailand-and-malaysia-kickstart-new-self-drive-caravan-to-enhance-bilateral-tourism-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/news\/article\/thailand-and-malaysia-kickstart-new-self-drive-caravan-to-enhance-bilateral-tourism-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"Thailand and Malaysia Kickstart New Self-Drive Caravan to Enhance Bilateral Tourism Relations","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Saturday, Thailand and Malaysia kicked off their joint self-drive tourism caravan initiative at The Zon Duty-Free Complex, strategically situated between Songkhla Province’s Sadao Checkpoint in Thailand and Kedah State’s Bukit Kayu Hitam Checkpoint in Malaysia. The event saw a convoy of 60 vehicles, including cars and motorcycles, from both nations, involving over 100 participants, assemble for the ceremonial start of their transnational journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commencement was presided over by TAT’s Deputy Governor for International Marketing \u2013 Asia and the South Pacific, Miss Pattaraanong Na Chiangmai, alongside the Honorable Dr. Yasmeen Yasim, Deputy Secretary-General (Tourism) of Malaysia\u2019s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss Pattaraanong said<\/strong>, \u201cThe Royal Thai Government, through TAT and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, always looks for an opportunity to drive an international relations policy by enhancing Thailand as a global tourism destination and encouraging cross-border tourism with neighbouring ASEAN countries, especially Malaysia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaysia ranks as a top tourism market for Thailand, evidenced by the over 4 million Malaysian visitors recorded from January 1 to October 23, 2024, nearly half of whom passed through the Sadao Checkpoint. Predictions suggest that by year-end, Malaysian tourist numbers could rise to 5 million, with Thai visitor figures to Malaysia expected to top 2 million, bringing the combined total to approximately 7 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Yasim said<\/strong>, \u201cMalaysia is delighted to collaborate with Thailand in promoting cross-border tourism, aiming to enhance the tourism experience and foster greater cultural exchange between our two nations. This initiative, which seeks to achieve a target of at least 7 million cross-border tourist exchanges between the two countries by the end of 2024, reflects our mutual commitment to strengthening regional ties through tourism. Reflects our mutual commitment to strengthening regional ties through tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cross-border initiative is a cornerstone of the upcoming Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign, expected to draw 35.6 million tourists. It underscores the commitment to bolstering visitor exchanges and reinforcing ASEAN and IMT-GT regional tourism ties through sustainable practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of this bilateral cooperation, Thailand is set to host an array of compelling tourism events aimed at the Malaysian market from October 2024 to early 2025, including globally celebrated festivals like the Loi Krathong, New Year\u2019s, and Chinese New Year celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further enhancing the experience for self-drive enthusiasts and border tourists, both nations have introduced a comprehensive Self-Drive Tourism Fun Map, detailing attractions and facilities along the explored routes, available digitally for easy access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Thailand’s Prime Minister’s official visit to Malaysia in October 2023, TAT has propelled the “IGNITE Thailand\u2019s Tourism” policy, aiming to establish Thailand as a central tourism hub within ASEAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efforts to promote seamless regional connectivity encompass multiple transport modes, ensuring efficient travel between Thailand and Malaysia by air, land, sea, and rail. This includes the promotion of rail travel, with the KTM Electric Train Service (ETS) operating from Kuala Lumpur to Hat Yai, and the charter train “My Sawasdee,” running on extended holiday schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These initiatives are part of TAT\u2019s broader strategy to enhance cross-border tourism, offering tailored hospitality and services that cater specifically to Malaysian travel preferences, alongside the development of mega-events designed to draw Malaysians to various Thai locales beyond the southern region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This holistic approach aims to meet the government’s ambitious tourism targets, aiming for 36.7 million international arrivals and generating substantial revenue, ultimately enhancing the economic and cultural interchange between Thailand and Malaysia.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, Thailand and Malaysia kicked off their joint self-drive tourism caravan initiative at The Zon Duty-Free Complex, <\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":9192222,"featured_media":681188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190044,189783,8],"tags":[256618,181781,288766,288765,155503,288764,88799,154983],"class_list":["post-681175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-malaysia-travel-news","category-thailand-travel-news","category-tourism-news","tag-asean-travel","tag-cross-border-travel","tag-international-road-trips","tag-self-drive-caravan","tag-southeast-asia-tourism","tag-thailand-malaysia-tourism","tag-tourism-news","tag-travel-and-leisure"],"aioseo_notices":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9192222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":681193,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681175\/revisions\/681193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}