THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: The 2010 Pattaya International Music Festival kicks off on March 19 and plans are well underway to ensure that this years event, the ninth, is even bigger than last years.

The three day event will see at least four sound stages setup along Pattaya Beach providing different genres of music, with organisers hopeful of two more stages being added prior to the event beginning.

Organized by Pattaya City, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and GMM-Grammy, the Bt40 million (about $US1.227 million) event will see artists from South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia join with local Thai performers for a nightly non-stop entertainment extravaganza.

The four confirmed sound stages are the variety and reggae stages in front of Central Festival Pattaya Beach at Soi 9 and the Central Pattaya Intersection, the Indie and Thai pop stage in front of Soi 4, and the international music stage at the Bali Hai Port

Pattaya City Mayor Itthiphol Kunplume said the 2010 Pattaya International Music Festival is expected to generate revenue of at least Bt500 million ($US15.3 million), with about 500,000 visitor expected.

Mr Itthiphol said he expected all hotels in Pattaya will be fully booked int he lead-up and during the festival, claiming occupancy was already running at 80 percent on weekends and between 60 and 65 percent during the week.

He said Pattaya currently has about 70,000 hotel rooms, with 5,000 more being added this year, and the 2010 Pattaya International Music Festival is just one of the major annual attractions held in the seaside city.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for March 7, 2010