There are four new projects in the works for the Pattaya area which will be beneficial to ex-pats as well.
- Firstly expats will be able to enjoy these venues and use them to entertain family and friends when they come to visit.
- Secondly these venues will help increase the value of their property.
- And finally these venues will help reduce Pattaya's image as only a sex tourist destination
The four projects are worth a total of 2.23 Billion Baht worth of investment and are poised to open next year and include
- Kidzania
- Ramayan Water park
- Amazon Falls Water Park
- Siam World Art Company
Check out this article from the Bangkok Post:
PATTAYA : Four projects in the tourism sector worth 2.23
billion baht that received Board of Investment (BoI) privileges are poised to
open this year and next.
The first is a Hong Kong investment of 550 million baht by the Kidzania
Group, the world's fastest-growing edutainment brand, to set up Kidzania this
December at Siam Paragon.
Kidzania is a role-playing activity where children aged 4-12 can try out
different adult occupations.
The second project is a 900-million-baht Thai-Russian joint venture to set up
Ramayana water park in Chon Buri's Sattahip district slated for next year.
The third is a 620-million-baht project by Pacific Shore Development to set
up Amazon Falls Water Park. This joint venture between Hong Kong and Malaysia
will be in Pattaya and is slated to open next year.
The last is a 162-million-baht project by Siam World Art Co to set up a
cultural centre with investment from South Korea. The centre will be located in
Pattaya exhibiting sculpture, paintings and Thai-Korean culture.
BoI secretary-general Atchaka Sibunruang said the board expects higher
investment in the tourism sector, especially theme parks that will enable
Thailand to compete with Hong Kong's Disneyland, Singapore's water park and
Malaysia's theme parks. Amazon Falls will be the first water park in the world
to use cartoon presenters.
The Ramayana is billed as the largest water park in Asia Pacific. Once these
two open, they should attract investment in other areas, she added.
From 2007-12, a total of 23 projects applied for investment promotion in the
tourism sector, totalling 3.48 billion baht.
Three projects totalling 1.47 billion baht were theme parks, four projects
totalling 707 million baht were cultural centres, 12 projects worth 417 million
baht were hiring boats for tourism, and three projects totalling 215 baht were
tourist boat parking areas.
Dr Atchaka said the BoI is revising its promotion policies. The tourism
sector will still be given a prominent place, but some adjustments might be made
in terms of providing incentives for projects the government prioritises, such
as theme parks and water parks.
To this point no global-scale theme park producers such as Disney or
Universal have shown interest in investing in Thailand, said Dr Atchaka.
Malaysia and Singapore provide many incentives to attract tourism projects, such
as racing arenas, she said.
In the past the BoI provided incentives for a variety of tourism businesses,
such as racing arenas, open zoos and electric hoists, but have not received any
interest from business operators, said Dr Atchaka.
