Ngapali Beach draws almost 15,000 domestic, foreign visitors for Thingyan

By Admin 18 Apr 2023

DMG Newsroom
18 April 2023, Thandwe

Nearly 15,000 local and foreign travellers visited Ngapali Beach in Arakan State’s Thandwe District during the Thingyan holiday period, according to an official from the district’s directorate of hotels and tourism.

A total of 14,790 travellers — 14,456 local holidaymakers and 334 foreigners — visited Ngapali Beach from April 12 to April 16, according to the directorate.

“Fifty-eight hotels opened, and among the foreign travellers were Americans, Laotians, and Koreans. Local travellers were from Yangon and other parts of the country,” assistant director U Kyaw Zeya of the directorate told DMG.

The actual number of local travellers was likely higher, according to locals, who pointed out that some holidaymakers would have stayed at the houses of friends and relatives in Thandwe and Ngapali.

“There are many people who did not lodge at hotels. [Several] planes landed [in Thandwe] daily for three consecutive days. And many people also came in cars. A lot of people visited Ngapali this year,” said Ngapali resident Ko Kyaw Lwin.

Tour operator U Tun Than Kyaw from Ngapali said: “Business was good for hotel owners, restaurants, and other sellers. But the prices of food, especially seafood, went up. So, the visitors had to pay higher prices for food.”

Visitor numbers were up due to the ceasefire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, allowing for Thingyan festivities to be held across Arakan State on a larger scale than some previous years.

When asked about the total number of visitors to Arakan State during Thingyan, staff officer U Tin Tun of the state’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism told DMG that his office was still compiling the list.