AMAZING THAILAND GRAND SALE 2014 WILL BE THE BIGGEST EVER WITH 15,000 SHOPS TAKING PART FROM 15 JUNE TO 15 AUGUST. BUT TOO BAD LOUIS VUITTON, HERMES, PRADA AND GUCCI WILL NOT BE OFFERING 50% DISCOUNTS! BUT OTHERS WILL!

KEE@FSWMAG.COM
Anytime is a good time to go shopping in Thailand as all the malls, night markets and complexes offer fantastic buys but things will get even cheaper and more attractive from 15 June when it appears all of Thailand goes on sale!

With the current political turmoil, hotel rates are obeying the pull of gravity and offer lower rates than before and upgrades of rooms.

So see you there during these 2 months!

Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2014 to be the biggest ever      A record 15,000 establishments in seven of Thailand’s most important tourism cities are participating in the “Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2014”, which will be held between 15 June – 15 August, 2014, making it the biggest ever. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a special website to promote the grand annual shopping event, which will be held in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Samui. Participants include department stores, shopping centres, accommodation, spa and beauty, golf courses, entertainment centres and restaurants. The website (www.thailandshoppingparadise.com)of this year’s Grand Sale includes a Shopping Tips feature to help visitors get better deals, understand the VAT refund process and avoid buying sub-standard products.  A special section has also been created to promote the locally-made OTOP products, income from which goes a long way towards boosting rural income and supporting local artisans. As in previous years, the Grand Sale is designed to boost tourism and visitor expenditure, further building the image of Thailand as a major shopping destination, and contributing to job creation and distribution of income nationwide. TAT Governor, Mr. Thawatchai Arunyik said, “This year’s Grand Sale has a special meaning because it will be an important part of our tourism recovery strategy for 2014. This campaign will help provoke an income to tourism sectors and entrepreneurs in the participating areas and we hope visitors will take full advantage of the great discounts.” There are two activities during “Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2014” as follows: 1.     Up to 80% discounts at department stores, shopping centres, shops, spas, hotels and other Grand Sale participants. 2.     Amazing Thailand Grand Sale Shopping Challenge; On June 18, 2014, well known celebrities in various fields from Asian countries will have a shopping competition in participating complexes and centres.  A total of 15 teams from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar,Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea are competing this year. The winner team will receive a cash prize of 100, 000 Baht.   This year’s Grand Sale has been enhanced by two lucky-draw prizes of “Travel 365 days in Thailand” for two couples (one from abroad, one local) to enjoy a trip within Thailand. Visitors will get a couponfrom participating partners, which upon expenditure of every 500 Baht by cash or any credit card at any one place. However, if they pay by VISA card, they will get two coupons. The coupons can be dropped into the lucky draw drop box. The winning couples will get free Thai Airways’ return air-tickets and Centara’s hotels & resorts chain. As for the prize, the winning couples can take their trip any time within 365 days. TAT estimates that tourist spending on shopping via credit cards alone will grow by 20% over last year. In 2013, Thailand attracted 26.5 million international visitors, a good growth of 27.03% over the 2012. For further details, please check out www.thailandshoppingparadise.com Facebook: Thailandshoppingparadise Available on the App Store and Google play; Thailandshoppingparadise Download the news as PDF file   TAT to strengthen partnership with Middle East Big Three Airlines Friday 16 May, 2014         Bangkok -16 May, 2014 - The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is to collaborate with the Middle East big three airlines to help maintain a steady flow of visitor arrivals from some of Thailand’s highest-spending source markets. During the recent Arabian Travel Market, TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik and a team of senior executives held back-to-back talks with executives of Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways to explore collaborative ways of maintaining the flow of visitor arrivals from these Gulf States. Over the last few years, these airlines, along with others; such as, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways, Royal Jordanian, and Turkish Airlines have played a major role in providing much-needed seat capacity via connections through their respective hub cities to Bangkok. Mr. Tanes Petsuwan, Executive Director of the Europe, Africa and Middle East Region, said, “TAT officials had been told by the Gulf airlines that they would maintain this capacity, in spite of the current political situation. “Our main focus of attention at the Arabian Travel Market was to help the travel trade better understand the reality on the ground and stress the fact that the overwhelming vast majority of Thailand, including tourism attractions and transportation facilities, are open for business and operating normally. “The TAT team personally visited all the airline pavilions to meet their senior executives and find ways of helping each other. All the airlines told us that Bangkok was one of their most important points in Asia, and that it was important for them to maintain their route profitability.” He said that the main problem faced by the Thai tourism industry was the continuing travel advisories issued by various governments. To combat this perception, Mr. Tanes said TAT and the Gulf airlines had agreed to undertake a series of familiarisation trips for media and travel agency representatives in the Gulf countries to help them see the situation for themselves and make their own decisions. These trips will be operated over the rest of the year with each airline bringing in one group every quarter. He also mentioned that although there had been a decline in visitor arrivals from the Gulf countries, TAT was hoping to make up for the shortfall in the coming months and end the year with the same number of arrivals as last year. “Our main focus continues to be on the niche markets; such as, health and wellness, weddings and honeymoons. Gulf visitors are among the highest spenders per capita with an above average length of stay.” As of the summer schedule 2014, there are 98 scheduled flights per week between Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket) and Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. This comprises Emirates (35 flights), Qatar Airways (35 flights), and Etihad Airways (28 flights) Visitor arrivals from the Middle East countries totalled 171,323 in January – April 2014, tabulated by country of Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and others.