Kathmandu, Apr. 20
Ambassador of Thailand to Nepal, Vosita
Vorasaph has said that several airlines in Thailand have shown interest to fly
to the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) in Bhairahawa.
"Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam
Buddha, holds high importance among Thai people and they want to visit it at
least once in their life, so airlines want to come here," he said while
speaking at an event organised by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) New Delhi
Office in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
Vorasaph also said that promotion of
Buddhist Circuit that includes Lumbini in Nepal, Bodhgaya, Sarnath and
Kushinagar in India, is an important agenda of the BIMSTEC of which Thailand is
also a member. "So, promotion of Lumbini and GBIA is our agenda,
too," he said.
According to Thai embassy in Kathmandu,
discussions about conducting direct or indirect flights from Bangkok to Lumbini
have been going on but there has not been any significant progress.
TAT said that it was positive about
resuming the 'on-arrival visa' for Nepali tourists while entering Thailand.
"We will talk to the high authorities in Thailand," said the agency's
New Delhi director Vachirachai Sirisumpan while making presentation about
'Amazing Thailand' a new tourism-promotion campaign of the country.
He said that Bangkok, Pataya, Phuket, Khao
Iak, Krabi, Koh Samui and many other locations in Thailand are the favourite
destinations of Nepali tourists. President of Nepal Association of Travel and
Tours Agents (NATTA) Ramesh Thapa said that there was a significant tourists
exchange between Thailand and Nepal.
Thapa said that collective efforts are
needed to revive tourism in the region. Stating that Nepalis were facing
problems in obtaining visa to Thailand, he said that it should be provided as
prior to COVID-19.
Nepali tours operators complained about
insurance issues that was troubling Nepali visitors bound to Thailand. In
response, TAT representatives said that travelers had problems in claiming
their insurance after returning to Nepal after being COVID-19 positive in
Thailand and staying in quarantine in a hotel there.
They suggested Nepal to develop an insurance policy covering COVID-19 in foreign countries.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 April 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment