Agencies line up for Thai travel brief

<p>BANGKOK: The Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) domestic and </p><p>international accounts, valued at US$9 million combined, are up </p><p>for review. Seven agencies are pitching for the international assignment </p><p>and 11 are pitching for the domestic. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, incumbent agency Leo Burnett, which has held the account for </p><p>six years, is not taking part in the pitch. According to Pornsiri </p><p>Rojmeta, the managing director of Leo Burnett Thailand: "We decided it </p><p>was time to take a break and allow other agencies to have an opportunity </p><p>to work on this prestigious and important account." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The surprise decision comes as a TAT source said that the review process </p><p>would give some consideration to a controversial Government directive </p><p>issued about six months ago, in which Prime Minister Thaksin </p><p>Shinawatra's office instructed state enterprises to hire Thai </p><p>consultants instead of foreign ones in order to save money. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>That same month, TAT awarded a portion of the domestic account to small </p><p>local agency Creative Juice, at the expense of Burnett. But the Prime </p><p>Minister's office later issued a clarification, saying the directive was </p><p>only a suggestion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The source said that multinational agencies would not be disadvantaged </p><p>during the review process. "You have to remember, these are not foreign </p><p>agencies. They may have international headquarters, but they are </p><p>majority-owned by Thais and are staffed by Thais. They will get a fair </p><p>chance. But we need to see if there are Thai agencies that can handle </p><p>the work." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Pornsiri, however, left the door open for project work. "We have indepth </p><p>knowledge of, and experience in the tourism business - it would be a </p><p>real shame not to draw on all that experience again." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>