PAK CHONG ACCIDENT HAS NO IMPACT ON THAI TOURISM

Travel and tourism to the northeastern Thai province Nakhon Ratchasima and nearby tourist destinations is still normal and has not been affected by an explosion and fire at the military ammunition storage dump in Pak Chong district yesterday morning.

The fire was the result of a road accident involving a military truck loaded with explosive materials. The truck caught fire and exploded near the ammunition dump. The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the incident is definitely not related to any outside attack.

The storage is located about three kilometres from the centre of Pak Chong district, about 25 kilometres from the road leading to Khao Yai National Park or about 300 kilometres northeast of Bangkok.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Northeastern Office Region 1 in Nakhon Ratchasima has also confirmed that domestic and international visitors can travel safely to all northeastern provinces.

Just as a precautionary measure, local residents and visitors within a 10-kilometre radius of the explosive site were evacuated to other areas. The TAT has worked closely with the Tourist Police to facilitate and evacuate tourists from seven hotels and two golf courses in Pak Chong municipality.

The situation is now under control and returning to normal. Only a few roads have been temporarily closed. There are no casualties among international visitors.
Visitors can still travel from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima via two alternative routes including:

Bangkok – Saraburi – Ban Lamnarai – Thep Sathit district – Daan Khunthod district – Nakhon Ratchasima with a total distance of 320 kilometres; and

Bangkok – Nakhon Nayok – Prachin Buri – Kabin Buri – Nakhon Ratchasima with a total distance of 300 kilometres.

Visitor arrivals to Pak Chong district totalled 279,010 in 2000. Of these, 13,306 or about 5% were international visitors who stayed an average of 3.27 days and contributed a total of 49.25 million baht to the Thai economy.