Efforts by Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul to ease restrictions on a wide variety of bureaucratic measures that are preventing the island’s marine tourism industry from going ‘full throttle’ deserve full support.
The aim is to further develop the island into its natural role as one of Asia’s premier yachting and cruise ship destinations.
While details of the intended changes are still only very broadly mapped out, they rightfully touch on some of the main issues that have held back marine tourism over the past few decades: immigration problems faced by foreign crew members; lack of appropriate facilities for superyachts and cruiseliners; and more incentives for port concession operators to develop the needed infrastructure expansion.