Interviewed June 2014 –
Khun Suwat Liptapanlop was a Deputy Prime Minister and supervised the Tourism and Sports ministry of Thailand. He wants Hua Hin to become the sixth well known destination in Thailand. In Hua Hin, the Liptapanlop family headed by Charaspim Lipatapanlop, Chairperson of Proud Real Estate Co.Ltd., own and manage the Hua Hin InterContinental Resort& Spa, the water theme park Vana Nava Hua Hin, Asia’s first Water Jungle, and are partners in the 5 billion baht Bluport Shopping Mall currently under construction. To promote Hua Hin as an international destination, Khun Suwat is also very active in bringing sports to Hua Hin. In the last 12 months he was instrumental in bringing us the Hua Hin World Tennis Invitational, The King’s Cup golf tournament, Thai Fight Night and the Asian Beach Polo Championships. HOT Hua Hin recently sat down with the extremely busy Khun Suwat to talk tourism and sports.
HHH: Khun Suwat, Tourism is so vital to Hua Hin and Thailand as a whole providing millions of jobs and much needed income to the country. In your opinion what can be done to raise the revenue in this sector?
K. Suwat: Looking at recent statistics, Thailand received approximately 25 million tourists last year. On average each stayed 8 days and spent about 5,000 baht per day. Using those figures Thailand benefitted in the amount of 1 Trillion Baht from tourism. If we could get our tourists to extend their stay by one day the additional amount would be 125 Billion Baht, 2 days 250 Billion Baht. I believe the key to motivating tourists to stay longer is to diversify our tourism spots yet relate them to each other.
For instance, currently when people think of places to visit in Thailand they think of Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket & Koh Samui. Each of these destinations have distinctly different characteristics.
If we want Hua Hin to be included in the above list then we must improve and develop it so it becomes distinctive as well. After all, Hua Hin has beautiful beaches, unique architecture, 10 golf courses and hosts many popular events, both local and international.
HHH: There is so much development happening in and around Hua Hin now, do you see this as a good thing or a bad thing?
K. Suwat: One of Hua Hin’s strengths is that it is seen as a “family friendly” destination. While the adults will enjoy the peacefulness of Hua Hin along with its natural beauty, the kids need fun and happy activities as well as good shopping which is man-made. I believe it is important that we focus on both. For example, Singapore has less natural beauty and cultural diversity than Thailand so instead they have chosen to focus on man-made attractions which they have done very successfully. Their Universal Studio and Marina Sands projects have proven to be extremely popular with tourists.
Our country’s strong points are those precious natural sites which our ancestors conserved for us but it’s important that we also develop and promote man-made attractions for those tourists who fancy them. Such as Vana Nava Hua Hin Water Jungle; the largest and most modern water theme park in Thailand which collaborated with world class waterpark designer White Water West on the project which will open to the public soon, Bluport Hua Hin Resort Mall; the most stylish mall in Hua Hin that will create new experiences of shopping, etc.
HHH: We are seeing increasing numbers of affluent tourists from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan coming to Hua Hin. Does Hua Hin need some modern shopping centers?
K. Suwat: Yes, certainly. Affluent Asian tourists love to shop. If Hua Hin have a great place for who love shoping, I believe will be another major tourist destination. Bluport a modern shopping mall managed by well-known retails developer in Bangkok, is currently under construction across from the InterContinental Hua Hin Resort and is scheduled to open in two years.
HHH: With all of the growth happening and projected to happen in Hua Hun, do you foresee any perils?
K. Suwat: I believe it is important that we not just focus on development and profits but also focus on Hua Hin’s infrastructure needs. As an example, recently people have started to complain about the traffic congestion in Hua Hin. To keep up with the growth and to truly develop Hua Hin as a modern world-class tourist destination we must also address the traffic problems and make sure the water, electric and wastewater treatment systems are in place to support all this growth.
HHH: Khun Suwat, you are a former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand who was in charge of the Tourism and Sports Department for the Country. You have supported many large scale sporting events in Thailand. How do you see that benefiting the Kingdom?
K. Suwat: Sports have become very powerful. Many countries compete to host big sporting events such as the Olympics and the World Cup as it is a way to project the host countries image to the world. China did it spectacularly with their opening and closing Olympic ceremonies, so did the U.K..
If sports can become the image of Thailand with world famous athletes playing in our tourist destination cities I think it would be much more worth and cost effective than all the money the Government spends on public relations.
World class athletes have huge international fan base’s that follow them thru social media. News programs from around the world follow where they go and what they do both professionally and privately.
Recently there was the broadcast of the Monte Carlo Tennis Open in Monaco. During the broadcast they not only showed the tennis match but they also showed the city, the people and the Riviera. I believe almost all people who watched that broadcast wished to visit the Principality. I am certain it would be the same for Thailand.
Instead of heavily investing in P.R. campaigns as we have traditionally done I think we could save money and get better results by hosting big international sporting events in our tourist destinations. The athletes become our presenters showing Thailand’s natural beauty as well as our man-made entertainment venues exciting the viewing public to visit the Kingdom. Seeing top tier athletes competing and enjoying themselves in their free time will lessen people’s apprehension to holiday here.
Shining examples of this are when Tiger Woods visited the Kingdom to play golf. Rafael Nadal came to Hua Hin and gave alms to the Monks. Tennis Superstars Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki all came to Hua Hin to play tennis and take part in activities around town, all of which was recorded and replayed for worldwide consumption.
In addition to promoting Thailand abroad and benefitting the economy, sports also adds to the happiness of the Thai people. When Thai athletes win an event the people of Thailand feel great joy. On the day that the Thai volleyball team won to become the champions of Asia people were happy all over the country. The day that Nong May Ratchanok won the badminton championship, the day that Udombhorn Polasak won the gold medal in weightlifting at the Olympic Games etc., these all made Thai people happy and proud to be Thai. Hence, sports can make happiness, love and unity.
HHH: Speaking of sports, you are and have been for the last seven years the President of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand and travel to a lot of the big tennis tournaments, which ones are your favorites?
K. Suwat: I like going to Wimbledon and the French Open because I can see the natural tennis courts. In the world of tennis there are four great tournaments which are Wimbledon, which is played on a grass court, the French Open, which is played on a clay court and the Australian and U.S. Open’s which are played on man-made hard courts.
For me, I like the original courts of grass and clay. When I look at the green of the grass or the orange-red color of the clay it makes me feel as if I’m with nature, it’s respectful and charming. If you ask me about the third tournament that I like, I will answer that I like the Hua Hin World Tennis Invitation that is held every year around the New Year.
HHH: Thank you Khun Suwat for taking time out of your valuable schedule to be with us.