Late last month, The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launched their latest campaign to encourage tourists to come to Thailand and, boy, is it a beautiful one. Called Wish You Were Here, the campaign is using a series of videos of foreign tourists all over Thailand, showing what incredible things this amazing country has to offer, and saying "Wish you were here".
The plan is to get the Wish You Were Here campaign videos circling all over the world by using YouTube, Facebook, and other social networking sites. That, in and of itself, shows how well the TAT understands the value of the internet, and how what an enormous impact it can have on tourism numbers to Thailand.
The TAT has often done very well with the videos it produces though, as was evidenced by last year's gorgeous mini-series video tourist campaign "Hear the Sunshine". With this year's campaign, and others to come, they're hoping to build on that.
As a long-term resident of Thailand, I live in a country I love and a place I think every tourist should visit at least once in their life. In fact, I cannot stress enough what a wonderful holiday most tourists have here.
Thailand is known for its incredibly hospitable people with their famous "Thai smiles", its delicious food, gorgeous beaches, superb hotels, incredible weather, cheap world-class shopping and..........need I go on?
As I tell everyone, I first came to Thailand on vacation with my parents over a decade ago. In just that three week holiday, I loved it so much, I went back to America, signed up for Thai classes at a local Thai temple, sold everything I owned and, within six months, was living in the middle of Bangkok. I've never looked back.
Of course, for potential tourists to Thailand, I'm not saying you should do that too (although we'd love to have you!), but I've met so many tourists who, after just one trip, are already planning on how they can live in Thailand, it's not as uncommon as you think.
As for the Wish You Were Here campaign, the TAT plans on releasing four videos - Bangkok, Ayutthaya and Pattaya, as well as a compilation video of all three places.
You can view the first one, the 3-minute complilation, at the top of this article but, be warned, if you aren't on a travel site trying to find a ticket to Thailand right after you've watched it, all I can say is your heart is made of stone.
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