Ayutthaya will not host Expo 2020, Thailand

Ayutthaya will not host Expo 2020

 

BIE rejects Thailand's bid to host World Expo 2020 Ayutthaya Thailand

There will be no Expo 2020 in Ayutthaya. The BIE has dropped the ancient Thai capital from its list after failure to receive assurances of government support.

  The Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) has rejected Thailand as a contender to host the World Expo 2020 after the government failed to endorse the bid. The BIE executive committee on Tuesday unanimously accepted a recommendation from its inquiry mission team to drop Thailand's bid to host World Expo 2020, according to BIE documents obtained by the Bangkok Post. The team visited Ayutthaya from Jan 28 to Feb 1 this year and gave the government until April 5 to answer its questions about the project's financial, legislative, organisational and diplomatic aspects. But the failure of the government to respond had cast doubts on the project's feasibility. The team said Ayutthaya had the potential to host the grand event, adding the proposed theme, centred on His Majesty the King's sufficiency economy philosophy, had merit. The country's interest in the philosophy could have been shared with the world, the team said in its report. The mission also said the theme was timely and significant at a global level. It also took stock of Thailand's experience in successfully hosting several events. Akrapol Sorasuchart, former president of the Thailand’s Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said Thailand's bid to host the prestigious event is not on the agenda of the BIE's two-day meeting which began Tuesday in Paris. The meeting will consider the remaining candidates – Russia, Turkey, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Brazil, he said. The BIE made an inspection visit to Thailand early this year and found the old capital of Ayutthaya met its key criteria, the former TCEB chief said. However, Thailand's ambitious plan to host the world's largest fair hit a snag when the Pheu Thai Party-led government failed to confirm its support for the bid, he said. "It would have been better if the BIE had disqualified our country or other countries had outdone us. But we lost because of our own fault," Mr Akrapol said.