The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is planning to promote thecountry as a weekend holiday and shopping destination to other ASEANnations in order to achieve its tourism target set for next year.

TAT has lined up marketing plans and events for ASEAN markets for thecoming year to recall visitors back to the country, Director for ASEAN,South Asia and South Pacific Jamnong Junnapiya was qouted by TheNation newspaper as saying.

In the first nine months of the year,tourist arrivals from ASEAN countries to Thailand reached 4.7million, decreasing by 11.3 percent from the same period of last year.

Visitorsfrom Myanmar recorded the highest growth in the region with 13.2percent, followed by Cambodia and Laos with 12.6 percent and 8.6percent, respectively. Brunei saw the biggest drop with 29 percent.

ASEAN visitors this year will decline from the projection ofeight million to seven million, however, TAT aims to maintain the samenumber of eight million next year when its plan to promote Thailand as aweekend vacation and shopping centre is carried out.

TAT alsohas plans to improve awareness of travel attractions through a TVreality show for Vietnamese tourism market which is scheduled to bebroadcast in January 2015.

Key spots in Bangkok likethe Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Siam Square, Wat Pho, Asiatiqueand the Chao Phraya River will be featured in the show, which isexpected to be seen by about 90 million people in Vietnam.

This year, 700,000 Vietnamese are expected to visit Thailand , thesame figure as last year's. Vietnamese travellers love to visitBangkok and Pattaya.

Charter flights between Vietnam’s centralcity of Danang and Udon Thani to be operated by a regional airline nextFebruary is expected to bring more Vietnamese to Thailand.-VNA