A leading international magazine themed on medical tourism has named Malaysia the number one destination in the world for this genre of holiday. At the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) dinner in London on Wednesday, Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council CEO Sherene Azli was on hand to accept the award.
A public hearing into the impact of constructing a monorail line linking north and south Bangkok has endorsed the project. A Bangkok assistant-governor says the 40km-long track will link Ram Indra Road and the Tha Phra Junction.
The Thai Transport Ministry says it plans to build a new pier to provide an interchange between Bangkok airport trains and public passenger boat services. Soithip Traisuth is a secretary at the ministry and he says construction is scheduled to commence during the next month.
On Tuesday afternoon, residents of Phnom Penh flocked to Wat Phnom to celebrate the arrival of the traditional New Year. Officials at the Cambodian capital’s iconic temple estimated that upwards of 1,000 people joined in the time-honoured rites and festivities designed to usher in Chaul Chnam Thmey.
Officials in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh have announced details of a plan to renovate a landmark temple that dates from the 14th century. Long Dimanche is a spokesperson for the municipal council and recently told media sources that the revamp of Wat Phnom would help conserve it for posterity and make it more visitor friendly.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has tacked another evening on for fun-seekers to enjoy water-fights on Silom Road. The clean-up operation due to start at 21:00 today has been put back until tomorrow morning to give revellers another chance to aim their water-guns and buckets.
A senior municipal official in Vientiane says the city’s transport bureau is set to inaugurate non-stop bus services on three key routes. The routes from the Laos capital’s central bus station will link it to Wattay Airport, the Friendship Bridge and Dongdok.
Myanmar’s government has given the thumbs up for the construction of the first public airport in Chin State. The government has approved an initial budget of MMK1 billion for the next two years to get the project off the ground.
Over the past few days, Bangkok has staged several traditional ceremonies to celebrate the Songkran Festival in Thailand. The festival marks the start of the historic Lanna New Year and is best known to international travellers for its water-fights, yet does have its traditional facets.
Singapore based hotelier Amara has brought its inimitable luxury brand of accommodation to Thailand with the inauguration of a new property in the heart of Bangkok. The Amara Bangkok is located on Surawong Road and is just minutes away on foot from the city’s legendary Patpong entertainment precinct and night-market.
A major Japanese transport corporation has announced it will provide ongoing support for bus services in a southern Vietnamese province. The president of Tokyu Corp, Koshimura Toshiaki, told reporters that assistance would come in the form of gas-powered buses and backing for new routes.
The head operations officer of Air Mandalay says the carrier is all set to resume flying scheduled routes again. Speaking to media sources in Myanmar, Kham Park Pha, stated that domestic services are due to commence on 1 May and international flights to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai before the end of 2015.
Residents of cities, towns and villages right across the top of Southeast Asia are getting ready for the pitched water-throwing battles which herald the start of the traditional New Year. In Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, the festivities typically begin on the 12 April and run through until the 19.
With effect from 16 May 2015, the British consulate in Chiang Mai will no longer offer service to UK nationals. A notice posted up on the Bangkok British Embassy’s website says the consular office in the northern Thai city will close on that date and British nationals will need to contact the embassy for emergency assistance or consular services.
The deputy-mayor of Vientiane has announced local artisans will be building sand statues to mark next week’s New Year festivities. Saythong Keodouangdee says statues representing white elephants and other Southeast Asian symbols will be erected on the city’s Mekong riverside beach.
A key river bridge on a new international highway that will eventually connect Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City was officially opened on Monday. Tsubasa Bridge is the longest structure of this genre in Cambodia and spans the Mekong River in the southwest corner of the country.
Thailand’s national tourist bureau says 500,000 foreign tourists are scheduled to fly in for next week’s annual Songkran Festival. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) boss Chuthaporn Roengronasa told media representatives an extra 300 charter flights would be arriving from the week commencing Saturday 11 April.
The tourist bureau in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap says up to 500,000 visitors are expected to attend New Year festival celebrations next week. Chheuy Chhorn is the office’s deputy-director and he says judging by statistics from previous years the number of visitors is set to increase from the 400,000 who joined in last year’s festivities.
Global hotelier Best Western expanded its presence in Myanmar last week with the opening of a new property in the former capital of Yangon. Last Tuesday, the group welcomed its first guests to the Best Western Chinatown Hotel.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Culture says it is accepting bids for the restoration of a historic palace in Mandalay. Nyo Myint Tun is an official with the national museum bureau and he told media reporters Mya Nan San Kyaw Palace needs major repair and renovation work.