The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is making big plans to ring in 2016 with a New Year countdown at Wat Arun on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has tentatively agreed with the idea of making the Temple of Dawn another countdown landmark for Bangkok.
The TAT will discuss arrangements with the Fine Arts Department and other relevant organisations, as renovation of the temple's main pagoda is not due to be completed until next March.
The scaffolding around the pagoda will be removed for the countdown and then reinstalled afterwards.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said his agency wanted to attract the attention of foreign travellers in a big way after the Aug 17 bombing of the Erawan Shrine.
"Bangkok is one of the world's top 10 tourist destinations. The number of visitors falls only 400,000 short of arrivals in London," he said.
"It's a pity not to see Bangkok featured in global New Year countdown coverage on major international TV networks such as CNN and BBC."
The TAT is now drafting a marketing plan for the countdown and will submit it for cabinet approval.
If approved, the TAT will ask BBC and CNN to cover the event.
The TAT is confident the image of Wat Arun will represent the Thai identity, in line with the "Discover Thainess" tourism promotion.
Mr Yuthasak said while the countdown would cost anywhere from 100-200 million baht to organise, it would be worth it.
The countdown is expected to be a main factor in achieving the 2016 tourism revenue target of 2.3 trillion baht, he said.
Mr Yuthasak said the TAT was also paying more attention to domestic tourism, setting the revenue target at 750 billion baht this year and 802 billion next year.
Growth of 20% is then projected for both 2017 and 2018 before exceeding 1 trillion baht for domestic tourism in 2018.
"We actually hope to achieve the 1-trillion-baht target before 2018," Mr Yuthasak said.
Yesterday, the TAT launched three big tourism campaigns to boost domestic travel: "12 Hidden Gems Plus", "Khao Lao Wa" (Someone Said) and "Outdoor Fest".
The "12 Hidden Gems Plus" campaign will build on the success of "12 Hidden Gems", which helped tourism revenue in 12 provinces to grow by 12% on average.
"Khao Lao Wa" will tell the stories of 24 selected communities to promote their way of life and traditional beliefs -- for example, the Village of No Lies in Uttaradit's Laplae district and Golden Dragon Beach in Satun province.
Outdoor Fest will feature outdoor activities such as birdwatching, forest treks, hiking and triathlons aimed at Generation Y travellers.
The TAT will organise the Weekday Special Travel Fair at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center next May 12-15, with revenue of 120 million baht expected to be generated.