BANGKOK—Finance ministers and central bank governors from all 191 IMF member countries arrived in Bangkok this week for the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings. Organizers stressed that the location was chosen solely for its proximity to the debt.

The International Monetary Fund says global public debt is near its highest level since World War II and projects it to pass 100% of world GDP before 2030. Officials said a problem that large can only be tackled from a hotel with an infinity pool.

"People assume this is a vacation," said Gerald Tunstall, a senior fiscal adviser, adjusting a lanyard over his swim trunks. "It is not. It's a six-day working session, with a sunset break. The debt is very serious. That's why we brought it somewhere nice."

Attendees said the agenda is packed. It includes a plenary session, a ministerial lunch and a panel called "Living Within Our Means," held on a chartered riverboat.

Several delegations said proximity to the problem helps. "In Washington the debt feels abstract," Tunstall said. "Here, when you're charging a $40 cocktail to a sovereign expense account, you really feel it."

Organizers said they had considered holding the meetings somewhere modest, to signal restraint, before deciding that would be "a lot to ask of everyone."

At press time, the delegates had agreed to address the record global debt and put the bill on the room.