Awarded Thai Pavilion to be showcased in Phuket

BANGKOK, August 21 (TNA) - Thailand Pavilion, which was exhibited at the Expo 2012 Yeosu in South Korea from May 12-August 12 with two international awards subsequently, will be permanently housed in the resort Phuket province in the Thai South next year to boost local tourism and to promote the conservation of marine resources. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Preecha Rengsomboonsuk told journalists on Tuesday that Thailand Pavilion had successfully attracted over one million international visitors during the three-month world fair in South Korea, or about 10,000 daily. Preecha acknowledged that Thailand Pavilion had also won two prizes subsequently, including the Editor’s Choice Award as the world most recommended pavilion at the 2012 Expo from the US-based EXHIBITOR Magazine and the highly-voted pavilion prestige publicly scored on the Expo 2012 Yeosu's facebook social network system. According to the minister, his ministry's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources will, therefore, permanently showcase the Thailand Pavilion, with a robot mermaid among its highlights, at Phuket's Aquarium, starting from February 2013, aimed to also publicize the beauty and diversity of the Thai marine resources. In another development in Phuket, the globally-renowned Thai resort island has opened a "Phuket Pineapple" sale and distribution centre to promote and boost regional and global sales of its unique high-quality pineapple strain, which has also been licensed as a geographical indicator of the province since November 25, 2009, in the lead-up to the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. (TNA)