Halloween will make a spooky comeback to Khao San Road, with a costume party scheduled on Oct 31 to boost Bangkok's tourism industry as it recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sa-nga Ruengwattanakul, the president of the Khao San Road Business Association, said on Monday that the event will be jointly organised by the association and Phra Nakhon District Office, Chana Songkhram Police Station and Thai Beverage Plc.
"We've received a lot of help from organisations who are keen to hold a public event on Khao San Road, as social gatherings were banned in the past few years," he said.
This year, a party will be held with the theme "Kiss or Creep", which reflects the playful dynamic of Khao San Road. A Halloween Costume Contest will be organised with prizes totalling 20,000 baht for the winners. Those interested, he said, can sign up at the venue from 6pm onwards. To get to Khao San Road when the event is underway, patrons must pass through security screening on the corner of Chakrabongse Road or Tanao Road.
Separately, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he was confident that Thailand will see 10 million foreign visitors by the end of the year, according to government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri.
He said the number of flight bookings to the country's international gateways for this year's high season is expected to be 50% higher than the numbers seen before the pandemic.
According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, throughout the northern hemisphere winter holidays, tourists booked an average of 578,538 seats on Thailand-bound flights each week -- up 74.2% from the northern summer holiday period, where tourists bought 329,288 seats per week on average.
Mr Anucha said over a third of the travellers came from Southeast Asia, followed by visitors from East Asia. Between Jan 1 and Sep 30, about 6 million international tourists visited Thailand.
