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With a parade of
Thai beauty queens and a mass release of 10,000 smiley-balloons, the Thai
tourism industry has told the world that it is back in business, safe and
ready to receive visitors.
Over two days between 25-26 July, 2014, the primary
business and shopping district of downtown Bangkok was the scene of a
giant Happiness Street Festival marked by colourful parades, shopping,
fashion shows, concerts and culinary delights.
Among the thousands of foreign and local revellers
were more than 900 specially invited travel trade journalists, bloggers
and celebrities from 47 countries around the world.
Their participation in “Thailand’s Best Friends
Forever Mega Fam Trip” generated millions of dollars worth of publicity
for the event through tweets, social media posts, blogs, live TV
transmissions and print coverage. A real-time webcast of the event
attracted 16,545,000 viewers over the two days, including a total of
157,257,193 views through various social media, such as; Facebook,
Google+, Instagram, Line, TAT mobile applications.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Mr.
Thawatchai Arunyik said, “We were very happy to see such a large turnout
for what turned out to be a very unique event. Along with our project
partners, Thai Airways International and Ratchaprasong Square Trade
Association, we believe we succeeded in making this the biggest and best
back-to-normal party Thailand has ever seen. Given the short time frame
we had to get this organised, we believe everything went really well.”
In his speech at the welcome reception, Admiral
Narong Pipattanasai, Deputy Head of National Council for Peace and Order
(NCPO) and Chief of the Royal Thai Navy said that the Council recognised
the importance of travel and tourism to the national economy and was
“strongly committed” towards promoting an environment of safety, security
and stability in order to ensure the return of visitor confidence.
In addition to the publicity generated abroad, the
event had an equally potent purpose to help bring the smiles back to the
faces of the Thai people after several months of uncertainty, which
impacted on businesses and jobs nationwide, especially among the small
and medium sized enterprises.
The Street Festival extravaganza stretched from the
Ratchaprasong intersection as far as Rama I Road, taking in Parc Paragon,
CentralWorld Square, and The Platinum Fashion Mall along the route.
Stalls and shops sold refreshing drinks and funky fashion to the
delighted crowds. Famous Thai artists performed up and down the streets
to put smiles on the faces of the crowds with fun songs, special effects,
sound and light shows.
Both “happiness days” were dominated by the sound
of music with a Happiness Concert featuring performances by contemporary
musicians and traditional Thai folk singers, accompanied by
sound-and-light theatrics at the CentralWorld Square.
At the Happy Gift Market, visitors found everything
from antique products to trendy, brand-name clothes and fashion items.
One section, called “Stars on Street” had booths manned by Thai
celebrities and TV superstars selling footwear, T-Shirts, Green Gourmet,
boutique apparel and even Thai desserts.
Another section, called Happiness Surprise allowed
visitors to take Instagram pictures of smiling faces and win awards for
the best smiles. The Happiness Activity section offered free lollipop
containers. Hundreds of “Happiness balloons” were released into the
evening sky followed by a parade of beauty queens, fashion and flowers.
 Mr. Thawatchai noted that the
invited guests also took advantage of the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale now
under way at dozens of department stores, shopping malls, restaurants,
spas, and other retail outlets in the Thai capital and nationwide.
“Thailand is fortunate to have many friends and
supporters worldwide, especially amongst our neighbours in the ASEAN
countries. For them, Bangkok is only a short flying time away. We would
very much like them to enjoy their next holiday in Thailand in line with
the ASEAN spirit of friendship and fraternity.”
Other event partners included the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration, Ministry of Interior, Airlines, Thai Hotels
Association, Thai Restaurant Association, Association of Thai Travel
Agents and several other public and private sector organisations.
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