The government of Thailand is looking to partner with the Philippines in spurring two-way tourism between the two states, specifically through the promotion of Thai and Filipino food.

During the inaugural United Nations (UN) Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism for Asia and the Pacific in Cebu on June 26, Thailand Vice Minister for Tourism and Sports Jakkaphon Tangsutthitham highlighted the similarity of food, culture, and lifestyle between the two countries.

Citing this, he said Manila could look into an “upgrade” of Thailand-Philippines relations in the area of food and beverage (F&B) tourism and “about everything we have similarity in”.

“So, that can be the new project that we can do. Our relationship has been 75 years already, we need something to tighten our relationship and we will really love and (we are) looking forward to have further improvements in our tourism,” he said.

In a separate interview, Thailand Ambassador to the Philippines Tull Traisorat said the two nations can also utilize their spots as prime diving destinations to position Thai and Philippine cuisines as another attraction to tourists.

“The Philippines has a variety of food from different regions, such as sinigang, bagoong, chicharon, lechon and many others, and we have also a variety of food from other regions in Thailand,” he said.

“So, we can work together and share experiences and attract tourists who like to come here diving and enjoy seafood as well after diving,” he added.

Thailand is already a known gastronomy destination, especially for tourists in the region. Prior to this success, Tangsutthitham said Thailand made efforts to strengthen all its key players at the grassroots level, especially in the agriculture sector.

“If we look at the agriculture history, we have been like focusing on that, not about only the type of what we grow, or location or the atmosphere but we really focus down the grassroots,” he shared.

He said Thailand implemented an all-encompassing plan from making a new market down to upskilling the stakeholders, including the farmers as the producers of local ingredients.

“First of all, we respect them and then we give love and care to them— that’s the bottom line of everything that’s why we have come this far,” he said.

“So, from now on we even put more security, more markets, and a lot of matching company to make them even more powerful,” he added.

Boosting arrivals

On top of gastronomy, Thailand is pushing for the “two-country-one-destination” concept with the Philippines as a way to boost both nations’ arrivals.

It has also long proposed for a direct flight between Phuket and Cebu to maximize the two states’ scuba diving tourism and have foreign tourists visiting either of the two states to consider Cebu or Phuket as their next stop.

In 2023 alone, Thailand received about 28 million international travelers, eight to 10 million visited Phuket via the more than 100 weekly direct flights from Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and China.

According to Traisorat, the shortage of aircrafts is one of the key challenges airlines in the Philippines are facing to establish this new route.

“After the Covid, airlines still suffer and also the shortage of aircraft is the key that I’ve heard from the airlines so they cannot start a new route straightaway, they need more aircraft,” he said.

“So, hopefully they could do it within this year or at least at the beginning part of next year,” he added.

Pending this, the Thai vice minister floated the possibility of sister city relationship between Cebu and Phuket, as well as Baguio and Chiang Mai to sustain exchanges on tourism. (PNA)