| The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is holding a ‘Japan loves Thailand' festival in Phuket in a desperate bid to pull back Japanese visitors, whose numbers to the southern resort island have plummeted by 70 percent since the December tsunami.
Held in conjunction with the Phuket-Japan Association, the festival, to be held on 27 June at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, hopes to revive the island's tourism fortunes and act as publicity for the southern island.
Visitors to the event will be able to see Japanese cultural and artistic performances, learn how to tie a kimono, and engage in traditional Japanese games. There will also be booths offering Japanese food and beverages, laid on by local Japanese restaurants and Japanese students.
According to Mr. Kazushi Miyashita, head of the Phuket-Japan Association, since the tsunami struck on 26 December, the monthly total of Japanese visitors to the island has not exceeded 5,000, compared to a pre-tsunami level of over 15,000.
Not only are the Japanese concerned for their own safety, but they are also reluctant to visit a place where many people have died.
By: MCOT, Thailand
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