An organisation called the Tourism Organisation of Thailand (T.O.T.) was founded as early as 1960. Later in 1979 the name was changed to The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) which is an organisation under the Prime Minister’s Office with a mandate to promote Thailand’s tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports was established on the 3rd of October 2002 and TAT became a state enterprise under that Ministry. TAT, Prachuap Khiri Khan Office was established in Hua Hin eight years ago.
In late 2018 Ms Soraya Homchen assumed the position after completing a four year term as Director of the Mumbai (India) TAT office. A native of Bangkok, Ms Soraya completed her academic studies in the Arts and Language at Chulalongkorn and Thammasat Universities followed by Tourism Management studies in Austria and Belgium.
S
he commenced her TAT career in 1994 and had an extensive experience with the organisation in planning, research & development and international public relations before her appointment to Mumbai then as the youngest person in a TAT Director’s position at an overseas location. However as a frequent traveller, she had been a visitor to India on no less than seven previous occasions before her appointment.
She explains that the links between India and Thailand have long been an important part of Thai culture including sharing the roots of the ancient Sanskrit and Pali languages which form the basis of many Hindi and Thai words. This is reflected in Buddhist chanting and scriptures rituals in a similar way that Latin impacts on the Roman Catholicism.
A visit to the TAT offices in Hua Hin offers visitors a wealth of tourism information at a very welcoming and informal setting. Ms Soraya is eager for the offices to become more open as a visitor’s centre and to increase the amount of promotional information available from local businesses.
Royal Coast Review is very eager to strengthen the communication links between the TAT, visitors and the local English speaking community of Hua Hin and to increase our ability to promote upcoming events and provide the latest tourism news.
Increasing the number of flight destinations from Hua Hin is a focus for Ms Soraya’s hopes for the future of Hua Hin tourism although there’s no good news yet on that front. Her priority is to reinstate a direct air link to Chiang Mai.
Our TAT Director has a very friendly and open approach and she’s eager to receive ideas from the locals about tourism promotions. We thoroughly enjoyed a very positive meeting and introduction to Ms Soraya Homchen. Our best wishes for the future of tourism in our region with Khun Joy (our new friend’s nickname) at the helm.
TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND, Prachuap Khiri Khan Office
39/9 Phetchakasim Road Hua Hin (100 metres north of Soi 55)
Phone: 032 513 885
Facebook: TAT Prachuap
Email: tatprachuap@tat.or.th, tatprachuap55@gmail.com
