Wangpaichitr was in the city today to kick off a tourism hardsell revolved around the Games. He said, ``the Asian Games is a good public relations exercise for our country. We want to project Thailand as a safe destination and a cheap place.''

Wangpaichitr played down speculations that the Games infrastructure will not be ready before the December 6 opening ceremony. ``Work is going as per schedule and everything will be in place,'' he said.

He said he expected 850,000 visitors to Thailand in the month of December. ``The lower-priced tickets (starting Rs 300) for the opening ceremony have beensold out. Only the higher priced ones (Rs 3000 to Rs 5000) are now available.''

He added there would be a 20 per cent discount on a comprehensive pass to all the Asian Games events.

Wangpaichitr made no bones of the fact that Thailand was keen to extract as much economic mileage out of the event as possible. After India, he planned to make another trip to China, from where he expects the maximum number of tourists.

Later, he will also lead delegations to North and South America. ``December is the peak tourism period in Thailand. We have distributed the sporting events among the scenic provinces of Thailand to ensure maximum economic benefits to these regions.''

The Games has already drawn over 50 million dollars in sponsorships from companies such as Samsung, Carlsberg, Toyota and Fuji Xerox.