The National Reform Council (NRC) on thursday approved the integration of five tourism-related organisations under the national tourism policy committee.
The merger aims to increase their efficiency and cope with the growing industry, which expects to see 100 million foreign visitors annually in the next decade, said NRC member Kongkrit Hiranyakit.
The five agencies and state enterprises are the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Department of Tourism, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration and Pinkanakorn Development Agency.
The national tourism policy committee is now overseen by the Office of the Prime Minister. In future, the 30-member panel will be downsized but some community representatives will be brought in.
"This change is crucial because the five tourism-related organisations have weak management structures, so they can't work with the highest efficiency to promote tourism," Mr Kongkrit said.
Thailand's tourism industry still has the same tourism products and tourism developments are concentrated in only 10 major destinations such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket, which together contribute 84% of the country's tourism revenue and welcome 85% of total tourists.
Mr Kongkrit said pooling five organisations under the umbrella of the tourism policy committee required amendment of the Tourism Act 1979.
After the amendment, the TAT will no longer be a state enterprise but become a government agency.
"The change in the TAT's structure is expected to benefit the overall tourism industry as it will eventually work more efficiently," Mr Kongkrit added.
Former TAT governor Pradech Payakvichien, who is an adviser to the tourism reform subcommittee, will meet the TAT board today to discuss the future changes at the TAT.
With the restructuring, staff at the five organisations will be allowed to move to other government agencies or state enterprises.
Mr Kongkrit said the tourism industry had a lot of growth potential. In the next decade, if the industry can grow by 7.5% per year, Thailand will welcome 100 million tourist arrivals by 2025.
This year, the country expects to receive 29 million tourists with expected foreign exchange income of 1.4 trillion baht.
"More tourists will generate a lot of income but social and environmental problems will follow from the rise in travellers, so we need to fine-tune our tourism policy," he said.