BANGKOK - Thailand is launching a 283 milliaht (6.4 million dollar) tourism promotion campaign in a bid to halt the alarming decline in arrivals since September 11, officials and reports said Wednesday.

The campaign, which will promote Thailand under the slogan "Be My Guest", is designed to create an image of the predominantly Buddhist Southeast Asian nation as a "safe haven" in a troubled world, AFP reported.

"The campaign will emphasize that Thailand is a very peaceful country, with a variety of destinations," said a spokesman for SPA advertising, which is advising the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) on the campaign.

The 2002-2003 promotion, running alongside the successful existing "amazing Thailand" campaign, will be aired globally on television, newspapers and radio.

Government spokesman Youngyuth Tiyapairat told the *** Bangkok Post *** that the cabinet had endorsed the extra funding for the campaign. But the daily quoted MP Anchalee Wanich as complaining the initiative had come too late.

"If the money had been put to work right after the attacks we would not have lost so many visitors," she said, adding that tourist arrivals had already shrunk by 20 percent.

Tourism is Thailand's largest foreign-exchange earner and has become increasingly vital to the nation's finances since the 1997 economic downturn.

Arrivals grew by more than eight percent over the first eight months of last year, but slumped 9.1 percent in October in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. that depressed tourism worldwide.

Business from the two most important markets, the United States and Japan, was the worst hit, falling 21.6 percent and 27.3 percent respectively in October.

However, the government is hoping the downturn from these big-spending markets can be balanced by more tourists from other Asian nations, who may opt to holiday in the region instead of venturing further abroad.

The Thai Farmers Research Center said in a report last month that Thailand has been less affected by fears of terrorism than other countries in the region, and that it was receiving some travellers avoiding the United States.

It said this was "partly offsetting the decreased numbers of tourists from certain countries like Japan, Taiwan and the United States."

SPA advertising said "Be My Guest" is part of a broader economic campaign to attract investment to Thailand. It will be launched officially at the world economic forum's annual meeting beginning in New York on January 31.