Among the largest of the gatherings are the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG), always held together, which are anticipated to draw 12,000 delegates to Bangkok. These events have not been held in Thailand since 1991.
The country will also host the FIFA Congress in 2024 for 2,000 delegates and the World Diabetes Congress in 2025, for an expected 10,000 delegates.
Of the 23 international wins, 14 events are medical conferences.
TCEB attributes a significant chunk of its bid winning success between October 2022 and October 2023 to its ‘One Ministry, One Convention’ (OMOC) program that streamlines the involvement of Thailand’s government department in supporting and hosting major international events.
The bureau says the program was essential to bringing the IMF and World Bank meetings to Thailand, as well as the FIFA congress and three of the medical conferences, including the World Diabetes Congress, which has never been held in Southeast Asia before.
“Thailand’s latest wins prove how effective TCEB’s OMOC programme can be when we bid for global events,” said TCEB’s president, Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya.
“We created OMOC as a mechanism to attract more international conventions to Thailand by extending the support of the related government ministry.
“Through more targeted collaboration and promotion in related sectors and agencies, we hope to help convention owners and organisers achieve breakthrough success when they bring their events to Thailand. We are pleased to note that Thailand continues to inspire strong trust as a destination for conventions.”
In terms of physical infrastructure, Thailand’s capital Bangkok received a major boost in 2022 with the reopening of the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC), which closed in 2019 to undergo a major renovation and came back onto the market last September with five times more space.
