Bureau set up to manage Chiang Mai sites

Bureau set up to manage Chiang Mai sites

CHIANG MAI : The Tourism and Sports Ministry will hand over management of the Chiang Mai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and Chiang Mai Night Safari to the newly founded Pingnakorn Development Bureau next year.

The Chiang Mai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, due to be finished next April.

Apart from those two sites, Pingnakorn will also manage the Royal Park Ratchaphruek project in accordance with a new decree, effective Jan 1.

The ministry is speeding completion of the exhibition centre to have it ready in time.

The government's tourism agencies will assist the new bureau until its management team is completely formed, said Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa.

At Pingnakorn Development Bureau, the permanent secretary of the Prime Minister's Office will be chairman of the board and the Chiang Mai governor will be one of the board members.

The full executive structure has yet to be finalised. It depends on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the cabinet.

Mr Chumpol said Pingnakorn will be assessed after five years of operation, and if it proves effective, the bureau will be used as a model for other tourism areas.

The 2.57-billion-baht centre is due to be complete next April. Mr Chumpol said the government expects the three tourism sites under Pingnakorn to boost tourism revenue to meet the target of 2 trillion baht in 2015.

Pravit Sribanditmongkol, president of the Thailand Exhibition Association, praised the idea of combining the three sites under one management group, but he warned of political meddling.

He said government agencies and state enterprises should support the exhibition centre by selecting it as a venue for events, thus restoring confidence in the centre.

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