Wat Pho goes tech-savvy

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BANGKOK, Dec 3 – The Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho or Wat Phra Chetuphon in Thai, has launched  a bilingual website www.watpho.com with a Wi-Fi network set up on the premises to facilitate an increasing number of Thai and international tourists.

Phra Udorn Kanarak, assistant to Wat Pho’s abbot, said the temple has started to improve its landscape as well as sanitation at the temple’s restrooms.

There have been regular art and cultural shows as well as exhibitions, with leaflets being distributed in order to attract tourists’ interest. Social media technology has also been used to promote the temple to welcome increasing tourist arrivals in the country.

A bilingual website has been launched this month, with the Wi-Fi signal now available throughout the temple’s premises for tourists and the public to have better access to the temple’s information.

The senior Buddhist monk views that the Thai tourism in the second half of this year would continue growing despite concerns of political unrest and that the temple would remain unaffected only if political turmoil does not escalate.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand reported that Thailand welcomes 12.7 million international tourists during the first six months of the year and the number of arrivals should keep on increasing following greater business expansion and opening of new air routes to Thailand.