Thailand’s international airports are preparing to welcome record numbers of tourists for the Chinese New Year Festival. Airports of Thailand (AoT) says that its key airports will process up to four million passengers during the 10 day-holiday period beginning tomorrow.
Yangon’s Heritage Trust has designated Bogyoke Aung San Market as an important historical and cultural landmark. In recognition of the iconic market’s importance to the Myanmar city, the Heritage Trust put up a Blue Plaque at an official designation ceremony last week.
The Australian government has issued a travel advisory for the popular Laos holiday town of Vang Viang. The alert states that travellers should avoid roads north to Luang Prabang and also heading east into Xaisomboun Province.
Thailand’s tourism minister says the government could launch e-visas before the end of the year. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul told press representatives the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in the process of weighing up whether giving foreign tourists the option of applying for visas online would benefit Thailand.
A spokesperson for Cambodia’s Transport Ministry says land expropriation issues are slowing down the launch of a rail link to Thailand. Va Simsorya told media sources in Phnom Penh that the government had not yet agreed compensation packages with people living near the line in Poipet.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has announced the temporary relocation of Bangkok’s Chinese New Year Festival. The national tourist agency says all events typically staged in Chinatown will instead be held in the city’s Lumphini Park this year.
In a bid to woo international visitors, Thailand has proposed the extension of a promotion giving free tourist visas. Under the current promotion effective from 1 December 2016 until 28 February 2017, single-entry tourist visas issued at Thai embassies and consulates worldwide are free of charge.
Late last week, Koh Samui’s Chaweng Beach was thronged with holidaymakers basking in the warm rays of the sun. The scene was a reminder that the inclement weather which had battered South Thailand since the New Year was passing over.
Last weekend saw the inauguration of a VIP bus service linking Ho Chi Minh City’s airport and two of the city’s bus stations. The new buses run from An Suong Bus Station to Tan Son Nhat Airport and then on to Mien Dong Eastern Bus Terminal.
Authorities at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport have declared war on taxi drivers who refuse to use meters or do no not have one fitted in their vehicles. After a recent incident involving a rogue cabbie, an airport spokesperson said only metered taxis are allowed to serve passengers at Thailand’s main international gateway.
A Thai AirAsia director has announced the addition of extra flights to the Bangkok Mandalay timetable. Commercial-director Santisuk Klongchaiya says the frequencies will increase from once to twice daily with effect from 17 March 2017.
A Vietnamese development company has proposed the construction of a cable-car connection to the country’s busiest airport. A spokesperson for Vu Huy Thang explained that cable cars would enable passengers to avoid getting stuck in the almost gridlock traffic conditions in the streets leading to Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport.
Yangon’s council has announced that a new downtown evening market zone is being set up to help ease the city’s traffic woes. The new market will be on 52nd Street and the council is hoping to attract 130 stallholders.
Thailand’s Transport Department has set a deadline for public passenger vans to be fitted with GPS tracking systems. The department’s director-general told reporters that all concerned parties had agreed on an implementation deadline of 31 March 2017.
The Meteorological Department of Thailand says more rain is expected in the southern regions of the nation this week. The warning covers the Southern peninsula from Chumphon and Suratthani provinces all the way down to the border with Malaysia.
The State Railway of Thailand is running special excursion trains to one of the nation’s most famous dams and beauty spots this month. The special services are running on weekend days until the end of January on the route from Bangkok to Pasak Jolasid Dam Station.
Government officials in southern Thailand say floods across the region have abated and most transport links are now operational. However, the director of the national Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department says more rain is expected today.
A Cambodian government spokesperson says Phnom Penh to Bangkok train services are unlikely to be inaugurated any time soon. The Public Works and Transport Ministry’s Va Simsorya notes that although the track at the Poipet-Aranyaprathet border crossing has been reconnected, work on other parts of the line is behind schedule.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has released its latest updates for travel to the flood-hit southern region of the country. The bulletin noted that damaged train tracks in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province have been fixed and mainline train services are now operating again.
The tourism bureau in Ho Chi Minh City has put forward a proposal to extend visa-free-entry for citizens of five European countries. The current visa waiver promotion for passport-holders from the UK, Italy, France, Germany and Spain is due to expire in July.