Thai Ambassador in Sri Lanka Thinakorn Kanasuta Monday assured that the situation in Thailand has returned to normal and the drop in tourist arrivals during the imposition of emergency was negligible.

In an interview with "The Traveller" after he opened the Thai Food Festival at the Hilton Colombo on Monday he said that the reality of the situation in Bangkok was that though a state of emergency was declared it was never implemented.

However,he admitted that some of the tourists who had planned to visit the country during that period had only postponed their holiday in Thailand."There were only a few cancellations," he said.

According to statistics provided by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) tourist arrivals are on the increase and there is growing confidence that that the numbers will increase significantly with the tourist season approaching he said .

As Sri Lanka and Thailand are predominantly Buddhist countries, there is a lot of scope to promote Religious Tourism between the two friendly nations he noted.

Both Sri Lankan Airlines and Thai Airways operating direct flights between the two destinations has facilitated easy travel to Colombo and Bangkok he pointed out.

Thai Airways operates four frequencies Bangkok-Colombo-Bangkok per week.

"What is needed is an aggressive campaign by the tourism authorities of the two countries and already it is being done he emphasised.

Speaking about the food festival, he said that the Thai Embassy in Sri Lanka has given all the encouragement and assistance to organise this culinary event because this is one way that the country could be promoted as a tourist destination, catering to wide and diverse tastes, with culinary delights indigenous to different regions in Thailand the Ambassador said.

The Food Festival will continue till September 30.

The event is a joint promotion by Thai Airways International and Hilton Colombo and it had been held for many years in the past at the same venue.

Ambassador Kanasuta congratulated the Hilton Colombo General Manager William Costley, on the five star celebrating its 21 anniversary last Sunday.

He was fascinated with the scenic beauty of the country and said that he has traveled to places such as Kandy, Galle, Nuwara Eliya, Kithulgala etc during his short stay here.

Kithulgala is a special place for him and the Ambassador said that when he visited the area, he spent hours on the banks of the Kelani river enjoying the panaromic view and the sound of the music provided by the gushing water banging against the rocks.