On 9 January 2024, H.E. Ms. Lada Phumas, Ambassador of Thailand to Malaysia met with Dato’ Roslan Tan Sri Abdul Rahman, Secretary-General, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), Malaysia at MOTAC, Putrajaya, in which Mrs. Sirinthara Surakanitaya, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Kuala Lumpur Office, MOTAC and Tourism Malaysia officers also participated.
Ambassador Lada followed up the discussions between Thai and Malaysian Prime Ministers, whereby both sides agreed to promote and increase two-way tourism between Thailand and Malaysia as well as establish a joint Task Force on Tourism to discuss the initiatives in order to achieve the common goal. She expressed Thailand’s readiness to execute the plan and also shared that in 2023 Malaysian visitors remained Thailand’s top foreign visitors, whereby approximately 60 percent enter and exit the country via land especially via the CIQ Sadao in Songkhla and ICQS Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah.
Dato’ Roslan Tan Sri Abdul Rahman, MOTAC’s Secretary-General likewise expressed Malaysia’s readiness to work closely with Thailand to promote two-way tourism between the two countries, especially connecting travel routes and tourist attractions along Thailand’s southern provinces and Malaysia’s northern states borders. Dato’ Roslan also exchanged information to further facilitate Thai visitors to Malaysia and expressed MOTAC’s support to convene the first meeting of the joint Task Force to discuss more details at the earliest opportunity.
Ambassador Lada informed the meeting that Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) recently published the Self – Drive Tourism and ASEAN Connect Guideline (English version) consisting of (1) Muslim Friendly Tourism Route and (2) Gastronomy Tourism Route, which covers Thailand’s 14 southern provinces – Malaysia – Singapore – Batam, Indonesia as part of the IMT-GT Visit Year 2023 – 2025 initiative.