Bangkok – July 22, 2025 – As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and integration (RCI) in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), Mr. Suriyan, Executive Director of the Mekong Institute (MI), held a high-level meeting with Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) to discuss potential collaboration in enhancing sustainable tourism development in the region.
The meeting was hosted by Mr. Seksan Ngaosuwan, Assistant Permanent Secretary of MoTS, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, and was attended by senior officials from the Strategy and Planning Division of the Permanent Secretary’s Office, as well as the Department of Tourism.
Established in 1996, MI is an intergovernmental organization that works to accelerate sustainable development and regional cooperation in the GMS. Under its mandate, MI supports cross-border and cross-sectoral connectivity across key thematic areas, including trade, energy, agriculture, innovation—and increasingly, tourism. Recognizing the dynamic growth of the tourism economy in the Mekong region, MI has been expanding its programmatic focus to align tourism development with broader RCI frameworks, particularly those tied to the region’s main economic corridors.
During the meeting, Mr. Suriyan emphasized the importance of embedding tourism planning and investment within the RCI agenda. “Tourism is not only a major economic driver but also a platform for deepening people-to-people ties and regional integration,” he noted. He highlighted the untapped potential of Northeastern Thailand (Isan) as a vibrant tourism destination and its strategic position along the emerging China–Lao PDR–Thailand railway corridor, presenting new opportunities for inclusive and interconnected tourism growth.
The dialogue also served as a platform to introduce the upcoming “Regional Conference on Advancing Sustainable and Inclusive Growth through Regional Economic Corridors”, which MI is organizing on August 19, 2025, in Khon Kaen. Mr. Suriyan extended a formal invitation to MoTS to participate in the event and its tourism-related sessions, which aim to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue, promote cross-border tourism initiatives, and explore investment-ready opportunities.
In response, MoTS expressed appreciation for MI’s ongoing efforts in promoting tourism cooperation in the GMS and confirmed its interest in deepening collaboration. The Ministry nominated Ms. Siriwan Pornlertwiwat, Director of the Strategy and Planning Division, to represent the Ministry at the August Conference.
The Ministry further welcomed MI’s development of a new strategic plan and proposed a follow-up dialogue to explore future cooperation. Key areas of interest include joint regional consultations on tourism policies and planning, cross-border tourism route development, tourism-related business matching and promotion, and structured learning visits to assess connectivity bottlenecks and service delivery gaps.
Additionally, both parties discussed the growing potential of the sports tourism industry. Mr. Suriyan proposed the idea of promoting a Mekong Marathon Series or similar active lifestyle events to attract domestic and international travelers, aligning tourism development with health, wellness, and regional branding.
The meeting marked an important step forward in reinforcing the tourism pillar within regional development strategies and underscored MI’s commitment to catalyzing impactful partnerships across the GMS.
