New road will benefit Trat, Koh Kong

Visitors walk along a platform in a mangrove forest on Koh Kong, Cambodia.

The Bangkok Post

Monday May 26, 2008

CHATRUDEE THEPARAT

KOH KONG, CAMBODIA : Tourism between Thailand and Cambodia is expected to flourish now that road transport has been improved, said Sasithara Pichaichannrong, the permanent secretary of Tourism and Sports Ministry.

Work was completed last month on the route known as the Southern Coastal Sub-corridor, linking Thailand's Eastern Seaboard provinces and Trat with Koh Kong and Sihanoukville in Cambodia, and onward to Nam Can in Vietnam.

According to Ms Sasithara, foreign visitor numbers are also expected to increase because Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to offer a single visa for travel to both countries.

However, tourism flows between Thailand and Cambodia could grow more if immigration procedures were relaxed by the Thai government, said Bun Beav, director of the tourism unit at Koh Kong province.

Cambodian visitors to Thailand totalled 108,776 last year but only 35,796 Thais visited Cambodia.

He proposed that the Thai government allow Cambodian visitors who hold border passes to travel in Trat province. Currently, Cambodian visitors must seek a visa in Phnom Penh if they want to travel to Trat. According to Mr Bun Beav, the improved road increased the number of foreign daily visitors to Koh Kong by 50% in April from an average of 400 a day in March. Koh Kong has six hotels and 12 guesthouses with a total of 780 rooms.

Sakol Sunate of the Trat Tourist Association said Thailand would gain the most benefit from the route because visitors from Phnom Penh liked to travel to Trat and other eastern provinces in Thailand.

He agreed that the Thai government should consider issuing visas on arrival for Cambodian visitors at the border of Bann Haad Lek in Trat. The two countries also should allow tourist buses to cross the border, he said.

Currently, caravan tours are allowed to drive in the cities but general tourists are required to change buses at the border.

Mr Sakol said Trat had potential to become the gateway for foreign visitors from third countries to Cambodia. However, the Thai government should consider attracting longer-stays in Thailand, rather than just transit at Suvarnabhumi airport.

Tourism packages to link eastern Thailand and Cambodia thus needed to be developed, he added.