Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are looking to join hands to establish a maritime route that links the islands near Trat province with Cambodia’s Sihanoukville province and Vietnam’s Kiên Giang.
The plan is to boost trade, investment, tourism and the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) industry.
Trat governor Natthapong Sanguanjit recently presided over a meeting about the initiative at the CVTEC-Trat Business Roadshow 2024.
The meeting was attended by the deputy governors of six provinces in the three countries, Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) president Chamnan Srisawat and Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) senior vice president Puripan Bunnag.
Mr Chamnan said the TCT has been pushing for a Cambodia-Vietnam-Thailand Economic Corridor (CVTEC) conference, with the TCEB as a co-organiser and main sponsor.
Their aim is to push for the maritime route linking the three countries, which will create a market under the concept of “One Market, Three Destinations”, he said.
“The maritime route will not only function as a modern-day economic route, but it will also be a charming tourism route, with beautiful nature and culture along the way,” Mr Chamnan said.
Mr Natthapong said the important thing is to find a way to foster tourism that links the eastern coastal regions of the three countries together via the maritime route.
Representatives of the private sector and public sector of the three countries have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly ramp up trade, investment, tourism and the Mice industry in the areas along the route.
The meeting, he said, developed a plan to boost tourism and the Mice industry on the maritime route to make more progress on the initiative.
TCEB deputy director Apichai Somboonpakorn said TCEB believes Thailand is ready for this project, and if it is successful, it will allow tourists to travel from Pattaya to Laem Chabang, from which they will then travel on to Trat, Sihanoukville and Kiên Giang, and vice versa.
Wiyada Suang, vice president of the Tourism Council of Trat province, said the maritime tourism route will open during this year’s high season in November.