'India-Thailand already strong tourism partners...': Thai envoy urges digital payments partnership to deepen ties further

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 22 (ANI): Thailand's Ambassador to India Chavanart Thangsumphant highlighted that India and Thailand are already strong partners in tourism, with growing travel between the two countries, greater integration between India's UPI and Thailand's PromptPay digital payment systems could further boost economic ties and make cross-border transactions more convenient,
Speaking in an exclusive interview to ANI on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Convention of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), the Thai envoy highlighted the growing movement of tourists between the two countries, including Indian destination weddings in Thailand and Thai tourists visiting destinations such as Ladakh.
"We are very good partners in tourism already. I saw a lot of Thai people going to Ladakh, and Indian people come to have the wedding ceremony in Thailand a lot because somehow flying from Delhi to Bangkok or to Phuket is shorter," Thangsumphant said.
She also underlined the potential of integrating the two countries' digital payment systems, saying such connectivity could accelerate economic growth and make travel and shopping more convenient for people.
"The digital economy will accelerate our economic growth. If you can use UPI to pay for your shopping in Thailand and we can use our PromptPay to pay for any of our shopping goods here, it would be brilliant, right?" she said.
The envoy said seamless digital payments could provide people with a more convenient way of life while also strengthening economic engagement between India and Thailand.
"And people can have a more comfortable or convenient way of life," she added.
India and Thailand share warm and friendly ties across sectors of their partnership.
An earlier release by the Ministry of External Affairs noted how the two countries are well connected, with direct flights to Thailand from more than 15 Indian cities, with over 500 weekly flights with seasonal variation.
Citing the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, MEA observed that during 2025, around 2.48 million Indian tourists visited Thailand (a year-on-year increase of around 17%), which is around 6% of the total tourist inflow into Thailand and Indians were the third-largest group of tourists visiting Thailand during this period. (ANI)