Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to host Formula 1 street circuit race in Bangkok to boost tourism

Thailand is laying claim to hosting a Formula 1 race, with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin proposing Bangkok as a track for a street race that will help boost the Southeast Asian country’s status as a major tourism hub.

Srettha, whose government has focused on entertainment and sporting events to attract high-spending tourists, met F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali on Monday and said the country has what it takes to host the competition.

F1 drivers were in Bangkok at the invitation of the Thai government to research and study the routes for the race, Srettha said in a post on X.

The visit followed the leader’s meeting with Domenicali in Paris last month, when the two discussed the possibility of Thailand hosting a street race, Rudklao Suwankiri, a deputy spokeswoman for the Thai government, said in a statement.

A third of the 24 F1 races scheduled for the 2024 season, which started on March 2, will be held on a street or hybrid circuit, compared to around 15 percent a decade earlier. These are races that take place entirely or partially on closed public roads that have been briefly transformed into motorsport locations, where hi-tech racers drive that can reach more than 322 kilometers per hour.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore hosts the F1 race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, located on the city’s waterfront. Since its debut in 2008, the Singapore F1 Grand Prix has attracted more than 550,000 foreign visitors and generated around S$2 billion (US$1.47 billion) in additional tourism revenue, according to the island’s government.

Srettha has vowed to elevate Thailand’s status as a tourism hotspot to an aviation and logistics hub as his government uses so-called ‘quick wins’ to boost the country’s economy. He has run promotional campaigns to extend holidaymakers’ stays and organized year-round festivals to increase the number of foreign tourists, and presented Thailand as an ideal location to host the Formula E competition and MotoGP.

If Thailand wins the rights to host an F1 race in 2027, it could generate about 4 billion baht ($108 million) in economic value and more than 1,000 jobs, said Jakkaphon Tangsutthitham, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister , on X.

Tourism is one of Thailand’s most important sectors, accounting for about 20 percent of total employment and about 12 percent of the country’s $500 billion economy.

The government of Srettha has set a target of attracting 80 million tourists by 2027. To achieve this, it has signed a reciprocal visa waiver agreement with China – Thailand’s largest tourist market – and offered temporary visa waivers to travelers from India, Taiwan and Kazakhstan.

This year, the country plans to welcome 35 to 40 million foreign tourists, close to the pre-pandemic record of 40 million visitors in 2019. The country is also considering a plan to open casinos in major entertainment complexes and promote event-based tourism to country generates more income.