Thailand foreign minister outlines vision for revitalization

Maris also reaffirmed the kingdom's strategic location and its connection with ASEAN countries, China, Japan and South Korea, BIMSTEC and the South Asian countries.

"One of our greatest advantages is our strategic location. Our cooperation would mostly be based on logistical management with Thailand at the center of both production and logistics," he added.

He also explained another priority of the government to increase market access through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), expressing his support to further strengthen the ministry's role in giving valuable advice to the private sector and encouraging them to take advantage of the FTAs.

"The emerging or new markets, such as Africa, Central Asia and Latin America are regions that have great potential. I myself will focus more on relations with the emerging markets and pave the way for official visits by the Prime Minister to lead to concrete outcomes," he added.

Maris noted that Thailand aims to increase its role among developing countries, further improving people-to-people relations and build more accesses to the new market.

Apart from boosting two-way exchanges on the soft power, he said the foreign ministry is now working with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to expand our tourism sector.

The Thai government recently launched the "Six countries, One destination Initiative", under which Thailand will promote tourism along with five nearby countries in ASEAN to boost their cooperation in tourism.

To remove security concerns about traveling to the kingdom, Maris said the ministry is preparing to introduce the Electronic Traveling Authorization, or ETA system, which will monitor travelers' routes and tourists' behavior. The information will be further analyzed to ensure safety and security.