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TAT to attract US meditation-lovers
Thailand’s reputation as a land of Buddhist calm is to
be the focus of a new Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) campaign to
attract US visitors, who it hopes will be interested in meditation courses
in monasteries in the northeastern region.
Announcing the new plans, TAT Governor Juthamas Siriwan
said that as part of its promotion of the Isaan region, the TAT aimed to
attract students studying in US, whether from China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea or
even Thailand, to participate in meditation courses in the north-east. The
scheme would first be piloted in Ubon Ratchathani Province, home to over 10
participating temples, before being expanded to other provinces in the
region.
Noting that several Thai temples in the US had already
gained a reputation among international students for their meditation
courses, she expressed confidence that the scheme would attract 50,000
students in its first year, starting from the upcoming spring holiday.
Stressing the attractions of the scheme, she said,
“There will be no need for any new investment. There are several famous
Thai temples in the northeast, and we won’t need to construct any new
hotels. It will be enough simply to organize accommodation and places to
meditate. Foreign students want to learn new things, including spiritual
matters. Meditation will also help them study better.” (TNA)
Chiang Mai’s tourism industry gets boost from pandas
To some, they are just two cute black and white bears.
But to people working in the tourism industry of the northern city of Chiang
Mai, the two pandas recently donated by the Chinese government to Chiang Mai
Zoo are a godsend.
According to Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkijt,
the arrival of the panda pair in Chiang Mai has seen the zoo record a
fivefold increase in visitor numbers, with average revenue of 5 million baht
a day.
The pandas have also proved a boon for Thai Airways,
which has heavily publicized ‘panda viewing’ trips, and the airline is
now increasing the number of flights to Chiang Mai in order to cope with
extra demand.
However, Suriya said that the city still had some way to
go in its transformation into a regional aviation hub, noting that city bus
operators had recently pointed out that the absence of safe buses in the
city was a problem. The matter would now be looked into as a matter of
urgency, he said. (TNA)
13 million year-old ‘shell cemetery’ found in Lampang
One of the largest ‘cemeteries’ of fossilized
freshwater shellfish, dating back as far as 13 million years and as tall as
a four-storey building, has been discovered in the northern province of
Lampang, the director-general of the Department of Mineral Resources
revealed.
Announcing the discovery as part of the department’s
111th anniversary celebrations, Somsak Phothisat said that the shell
cemetery in Lampang’s Mae Mo district was 12 meters thick and covered a 42
rai area, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world.
“We have also discovered that the fossils in this
cemetery represent a single type of shellfish - viviparous, from the belemya
genus. The smallest we have discovered is a mere 0.5 centimeters, and the
largest is only 2 centimeters,” he said.
The Department of Mineral Resources will now propose that
the area be classified as a World Heritage Site, and that the cemetery is
separated off from the lignite mine belonging to the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand (EGAT).
Describing the cemetery as a “mountain of shellfish”,
Somsak said he was confident that the area could be developed into one of
the world’s more interesting tourism destinations. (TNA)
Finnair to acquire sixth MD-11 for growing Asian traffic
Finnair has decided to acquire a sixth MD-11 for its
long-haul fleet. The agreement on the lease of the MD-11 wide-body aircraft has
been signed with Boeing Capital Corporation. The aircraft is to join the Finnair
fleet towards the end of spring 2004.
As of June 2004, the additional capacity brought by the
aircraft will be used to increase frequencies to Finnair’s current Asian
destinations. The strong Asian emphasis of Finnair’s long-haul strategy has
proved to be the correct choice as Asia is the fastest growing air transport
market area.
Finnair currently operates over twenty weekly frequencies to Asian
destinations. From the start of the summer schedule in March, the number of
weekly flights to Beijing will increase from five to six. As of June 1st,
Beijing flights will become daily. Finnair’s other destinations in Asia are
Bangkok, with daily frequencies, Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo, Shanghai and
Singapore.
Emirates to offer world’s first
wireless in-flight email
Emirates Airline will be offering its passengers the
world’s first regular, airborne wireless laptop service, and has signed an
agreement with Tenzing Communications of Seattle to provide the service by
the first quarter of this year onboard all of its new Airbus A340-500s.
It will be the world’s first deployment of Wi-Fi email
laptop connectivity in regularly scheduled commercial aviation. With the new
wireless laptop system, passengers can use their own email accounts,
including corporate e-mail, in a secure environment. The ultra-long-range
A340-500 will be the first aircraft to include a wireless LAN certified for
passengers’ own Wi-Fi enabled laptop computers. Dial-up connections to the
onboard server also will be available, from passenger seats.
Emirates vice-chairman and group president, Maurice
Flanagan, said, “The seatback email and SMS products we already provide
are very popular with passengers who are not carrying a laptop. The Tenzing
service is targeted at those who do, including business travelers who like
to keep in touch with their regular email accounts on Wi-Fi.”
Passenger laptops will require minimal or no
configuration to connect to the Tenzing service. Travelers will be able to
choose between hooking up via the RJ11 dial-up method or the simpler 802.11b
wireless method. First and Business Class passengers also will be able to
connect using a standard RJ45 LAN connector. Seats have been equipped with
multiple options. Usage fees for the new wireless system will be announced
later. (TTG Asia)
Thai AirAsia is new name of carrier
Criticism that the joint venture between Thailand’s
Shincorp and Malaysia’s AirAsia was a sell-out to a foreign company has
led to the company changing its name from AirAsia Aviation to Thai AirAsia.
A spokesman for the new company said the media had given Thai people the
impression that the venture was majority-owned by Malaysian interests and
this had soured public opinion.
“The fact is that we are majority owned by Thais and we
believe that the name change will help to underline that this is a Thai
company with a foreign partner, not the other way around,” the spokesman
told TTG Asia.
The spokesman confirmed that Thai AirAsia will commence
operations in February with low-cost services from Bangkok to both Chiang
Mai and Phuket. It was also revealed that Thai national Tassapol Bijleveld
has taken up his position as Thai AirAsia’s new chief executive officer.
Thai Air Asia is owned 49 per cent by Malaysian interests
connected with AirAsia founder, Tony Fernandez. (TTG Asia)
PATA adds special session to Mekong Tourism Forum
PATA has added a special full-day session on tourism
reputation and crisis management to the program of the Mekong Tourism Forum
being held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from March 26 to 28.
Participants in the March 26 pre-forum seminar will have
to cope with a simulated crisis touching on tourism-related issues such as
terrorism, disease, computer crime, environmental disasters and biological
warfare.
Called “Catch Me If You Dare,” the seminar encourages
people to work together to solve problems effectively. Tourism executives
can join at a special PATA-sponsored fee of US$80 net per person, including
lunch and afternoon coffee. The seminar runs on March 26 at the Sheraton
Chiangmai Hotel (the Mekong Forum venue).
The theme for the 9th PATA Mekong Tourism Forum is “Protect, Position
and Promote” which reflects PATA’s commitment to managing the reputation
of Asia Pacific travel and tourism on behalf of the association’s 1,200
member organizations across the region. (TTG Asia)
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