BANGKOK, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- An estimated one million Thai people are expected to travel around the country to celebrate the Loy Krathong festival later this month, a move to help stimulate domestic tourism, said a top executive official of the country's tourism agency.
This year, the traditional event of floating banana-leave vessels in waters nationwide is scheduled for Oct. 31, and the government will provide special holidays on Oct. 29 and 30 to make a long weekend for people to celebrate the annual Loy Krathong festival, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn Tuesday.
The domestic travelers are expected to spend some 1.4 billion baht (about 44.82 million U.S. dollars) during the festival celebrations in provinces, the TAT governor said.
The tourism authority has planned to host the Loy Krathong event in Ayutthaya province and officially promote the festival celebrations in other provinces, namely Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Tak, Roi Et and Samut Songkhram. Enditem
