The Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta) plans to develop 32 communities in the three southernmost provinces as new attractions, aiming to draw mostly Malaysian tourists.
Director-general Nalikatibhag Sangsnit said Dasta has joined with local tourism authorities, educational institutions and the Thailand Research Fund to explore community-based tourism in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces.
The group has enlisted six communities, including Julaphon Village 10 in Yala and the Wat Chonthanasinghe Community in Narathiwat, as pilot communities in the first phase, as they are seen as having high potential to attract local visitors and international tourists.
Mr Nalikatibhag said a further 26 communities in the provinces will be developed as attractions in the next three years as part of the second phase.
"Each community has its own character that should attract tourists from other places," he said.
Dasta expects the communities to draw foreigners, especially from the upper states of Malaysia. In order to promote the provinces to the Malaysian market, Dasta will bring operators to Matta Fair, a tourist trade show taking place in Kuala Lumpur in March 2019.
"Fourteen local communities out of 32 are expected to join the trip," Mr Nalikatibhag said. "This should help boost the number of tourists and also create peace for the region."
The 32 communities consist of 8,500 families with a total population of 35,000.
In 2016, the number of tourists visiting Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat totalled 1.52 million, up from 897,835 in 2015.
Dasta on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, the three provinces and Songkhla Rajabhat University to map out long-term eco-tourism development.
Deputy Prime Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said the government will use tourism as a key tool to drive the economy in the area over the next three years.
He said community-based tourism is part of the government's strategy to develop the "Southern Economic Triangle" into stable, prosperous and sustainable provinces by 2020.
"The government wants to improve people's quality of life in the provinces through tourism," Gen Chatchai said. "If they have more jobs and income, it should help boost the overall economy in the region."
