National park chiefs bank on ‘tourism challenge’

National park chiefs bank on 'tourism challenge'
Nature pass: A person holds a national park passport. Visitors who collect stamps from 156 national parks will be allowed unlimited free entries to every national park for a year. (Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation)

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has launched a tourism challenge that grants winners unlimited free entry to national parks across Thailand for a year.

The campaign dubbed “Passport to Thailand National Parks” will allow visitors who collect stamps from all of 156 national parks in the country an unlimited free entry into any national park for a year plus four complementary nights of accommodation in the national park and forest park.

DNP director-general Athapol Charoenshunsa said the campaign is one of DNP’s initiatives to encourage people to explore the country’s natural diversity.

It is also in line with the government’s soft power agenda which also focuses on promoting the country through tourism.

According to Mr Athapol, the DNP’s passport has been around for some time and received an overwhelming response from park visitors. Many travellers have made it a mission to visit all 156 national parks to collect all the stamps in the passport book.

Yet it is the first time that it has come with prizes.

Other than the year-round free entries, each prize winner will be granted a waiver of accommodation fees for two nights on two visits during the one-year prize period.

This accommodation waiver is limited to lodging that can accommodate no more than four people, Mr Athapol said.

Winners will also receive a special stamp for completing the challenge, souvenirs and a signature of the DNP chief, he added.

Park visitors can contact the DNP at its Hotline 1362 for more details about the stamp challenge campaign and the prizes.