Thai Government Responds To “Half-Half Thai Travel” Criticism With Strong Apology And Fixes

The Thai tourism sector recently faced challenges with the much-anticipated “Tiew Thai Khon La Krueng” program, also known as the “Half-Half Thai Travel” initiative. During a parliamentary session held on Thursday, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sorawong Thienthong, issued a formal apology to the public for the ongoing issues surrounding the program, which aimed to promote domestic travel by providing subsidies to Thai citizens. The program, with a substantial budget of 1.75 billion baht, intended to stimulate tourism across the country by subsidizing half of the costs for registered citizens, but it has so far failed to meet the expected targets. As the program’s shortcomings became more evident, a public apology was made, and promises for swift corrective actions were put forward.

The Objectives of the “Half-Half Thai Travel” Programme

Launched with the goal of revitalizing the domestic tourism industry, the “Half-Half Thai Travel” initiative was designed to offer financial assistance to Thai citizens who registered for the scheme. The idea behind the initiative was to incentivize locals to travel within the country, boosting business for local hotels, travel agencies, and related sectors. However, despite the program’s grand aspirations, the reality has been less than successful. Only 158,000 hotel bookings have been confirmed so far, a number far below the anticipated target. This underachievement has raised alarm bells, particularly in light of the significant budget allocated to the program.

Concerns Raised in Parliament

The challenges surrounding the program were brought to light during the parliamentary session when Somchat Techathaworncharoen, a member of parliament for Phuket, highlighted the program’s underperformance. Techathaworncharoen attributed the lack of uptake to a combination of factors, including poor government management and technical problems associated with the new application designed to facilitate bookings.

The application, which was developed to create a comprehensive database of Thai tourists, was initially introduced as a tool that would streamline the booking process and allow for more efficient planning in the tourism sector. However, the system encountered numerous issues that made it difficult for users to fully engage with the program. These included problems with cloud storage, user access, and application functionality, which ultimately affected the number of participants.

Minister Sorawong’s Response: Apology and Plans for Resolution

Minister Sorawong, in his response, acknowledged the technical difficulties and the program’s failure to live up to expectations. He offered a heartfelt apology to the public, taking full responsibility for the issues that had plagued the program and caused inconvenience for the citizens who had hoped to benefit from it. Sorawong stated that the primary purpose of the new application was to create a comprehensive and valuable database of Thai tourists. This database was envisioned as a tool for better planning and facilitating the growth of the tourism industry in the future. However, the system’s failure to operate as intended was recognized as a major setback.

In his address, Sorawong emphasized that, while over 1.4 million individuals had signed up for the program, only a fraction of them had successfully completed the booking process. Since the registration period had closed, efforts have been underway to resolve the issues. These efforts included increasing the capacity of cloud storage to accommodate the growing number of users and making improvements to the application’s user interface. As of the latest updates, 1.11 million individuals have confirmed their intent to use the program, with 140,000 bookings completed. Despite these improvements, the program will remain open until October 31, 2025, allowing more people the chance to use the subsidized travel options.

Economic Impact and Funding for the Application Development

The development of the “Half-Half Thai Travel” application and its related infrastructure was funded as part of the broader 157-billion-baht economic stimulus package. This initiative was designed to support various sectors of the economy, particularly those affected by the pandemic. However, the application faced delays in its procurement process, and as a result, 10 million baht was refunded for the development costs due to the delays. Minister Sorawong reiterated that the funding allocation for the app was critical in ensuring the success of the program. He also assured the public that efforts were being made to avoid further delays and improve the functionality of the application moving forward.

Addressing the Drop in Chinese Tourists

Another issue highlighted by Sorawong was the decrease in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand. This drop in visitors was framed as part of a larger global trend, with many countries seeing a reduction in international travel due to ongoing economic and geopolitical challenges. However, Sorawong emphasized that the Thai government was actively working to restore confidence among international tourists, particularly those from China, by addressing concerns over safety and ensuring that Thailand remained an attractive and secure travel destination.

Plans for Future Improvements

To prevent further setbacks and ensure the program operates smoothly moving forward, Sorawong outlined several concrete steps that would be taken. These steps include streamlining the application process, enhancing its functionality, and continuing to improve the system’s cloud storage and access points. By taking these measures, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports aims to provide a more efficient and user-friendly experience for those looking to take advantage of the “Half-Half Thai Travel” program.

Conclusion: Minister’s Commitment to Resolution

To sum up, the apology Minister Sorawong has offered was an explicit acknowledgment on the part of the government that the “Half-Half Thai Travel” project has been defective. He assured that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports would immediately resolve the problems with the system and no allocation of the program will be wasted. By upgrading the application and attracting more users, the government expects that the scheme will continue to play an important role in stimulating domestic tourism and revitalizing the Thai economy. The pledge to solve the issues quickly shows the government’s willingness to make the program successful for Thai citizens and to regain public support for the country’s tourism agenda.

References: Official Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Ministry of Tourism and Sports Thailand

The post Thai Government Responds To “Half-Half Thai Travel” Criticism With Strong Apology And Fixes appeared first on Travel And Tour World.