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Tourists warned to avoid Khao Yai mudslides
The Thai authorities have warned tourists to be cautious
when traveling in the Khao Yai National Park because of the high rainfalls
there this year. Tourists should take precautions against mudslides, flash
floods or fallen trees on the road, the chief of the Khao Yai National Park,
Prawat Wohandee has warned. These are frequent problems in the natural
reserve, he said.
The heavy rainfall in Khao Yai this year has led to an
unusually high volume of water in the park, which has caused the soil to
become very soft and made the road very slippery.
Prawat also urged tourists to avoid traveling in the park
at night. The park is normally closed between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Tourists
entering Khao Yai are warned of the problems, and the need to take
precautions at the two main entrances to the park. (TNA)
Samet Island to get restoration
as top-class dive site
Once upon a time, the island of Samet off the eastern
coast of Thailand was one of the nation’s top locations for diving. But
then the tourist hordes moved in, and the coral was destroyed, leaving
diving operators out of work. Now, however, the local authorities hope to
restore the island to its original fame and natural beauty with an ambitious
environmental rehabilitation plan.
Manthana Saengsiwarit, director of the activities
division of the Rayong Provincial Administration, admits that the island is
undergoing a ‘virtual environmental crisis’ through the destruction of
its coral. She is determined, however, that through an injection of funding
and the help of local conservation networks, the local environment will be
restored.
Seventy local leaders will study coral revival work at a
local university, and will use their new-found knowledge to help improve the
island’s environmental conditions. The local authorities hope that they
will be able to put Samet Island on the tourist map as an area of
outstanding natural beauty once more, bringing jobs back to local people. (TNA)
Cost of fuel increases surcharges
In response to rising fuel prices, Singapore Airlines (SIA),
its regional arm SilkAir and Air France all announced that they are
increasing their fuel surcharges to defray costs.
From September 1, SIA’s fuel surcharge is US$7 per
sector for flights between Singapore and Bandar Sri Bagawan, Bangkok,
Manila, Penang, Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The
surcharge for Singapore-Kuala Lumpur is US$4 per sector and for all the
airline’s other long haul flights is US$12.
The surcharge for SilkAir flights between Singapore and
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia and Yangon, will be
raised from US$5 to US$7 per sector, and US$12 per sector will be charged
for flights to Macau, China and India.
Air France’s new surcharges apply from August 24. The
increases are from 2 euros (US$2.47) per flight leg on domestic services and
by 3 euros per leg on medium-haul services (Europe and North Africa).
On long-haul routes, the surcharge will increase by 12
euros per flight leg, excepting flights to and from French Overseas
Departments (Cayenne, Fort-de-France, Pointe-เ-Pitre, and R้union)
which will amount to 10 euros per leg. (TTG Asia)
New double daily for Valuair
Valuair launched a second daily flight from Singapore
to Jakarta commencing August 23. The airline is offering a promotional
fare of S$158 per return ticket to Jakarta valid for booking until October
31. Travel must be completed by February 28, 2005.
New three day/two night travel packages, including
airfare, accommodation and transfers, to Jakarta starting from S$199 per
person are available for booking until October 31.
Members of the public who book online at www.
valuair.com.sg with a VISA credit card will enjoy S$10 off the fare.
Valuair also flies twice daily to Bangkok and once to Hong Kong. (TTG
Asia)
Tiger kick starts with popular Thai spots
Having received its AOC on August 23, Tiger Airways will
begin operation ahead of schedule in September and kick start with three
daily flights from Singapore to Bangkok, followed by Phuket and Had Yai once
daily.
Ticket sales will begin in early September. Tiger’s
lowest average fare will be 40 percent lower than the lowest average market
fare and it has contingency plans to counter any price war, especially on
the Bangkok route.
Tiger announced earlier that it would begin operations in
the last quarter. The airline received its AOC ahead of AirAsia, which had
applied for its license earlier than Tiger.
Tiger plans to fly to up to 10 destinations in its first
year, and 15 by its second. Destinations in China within a four-hour radius
of Singapore are on its wish list. CEO Patrick Gan said, “We expect to
become profitable within the first year of operation and secure up to
200,000 customers by the end of this year. We anticipate a 25-35 percent
growth in each of the next five years.”
In-flight services will include F&B, toiletries, free
paid mobile phone cards, watches and disposable cameras. Tiger expects 80
percent of sales to come through its website. There will be no GDS
partnership, Gan said. (TTG Asia)
Trade and consumer shows will combine for more punch in Thailand
Thailand’s premier annual travel trade show, the
Thailand Travel Mart (TTM), will receive a major boost next year by being
staged at the same time and in the same place as the kingdom’s leading
international travel show for consumers. The Tourism Authority of Thailand
(TAT), which owns TTM, confirmed that the fifth TTM will be co-located next
year with the second International Travel Show (ITS) at IMPACT Exhibition
Center from June 15 to 19.
TAT deputy governor for international marketing,
Phornsiri Manoharn, said the co-location will add a regional dimension to
TTM. “We believe that co-locating it with ITS will make TTM more
attractive to overseas buyers and sellers, and will give the show a higher
regional profile which will benefit suppliers. With good management I
believe it can become a mini ITB,” Phornsiri said.
TAT will continue to provide hosting, pre- and post-mart
tours, fam trips and media facilitation, but has appointed TTG Asia Media to
manage the exhibition components, including venue selection, booth sales,
appointment scheduling and booth construction.
Association of Thai Travel Agents Association (ATTA)
president, Suparerk Soorangura, said TTM was an important exhibition and he
was glad to know it will benefit from third party management. But Suparerk
added TTM had originally been started for the benefit of small suppliers who
could not afford to attend the larger regional shows. “TTM must remain
affordable,” he said. (TTG Asia)
Volunteer network set up to protect marine resources
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment is
establishing a network of volunteers to protect marine ecosystems from
illegal fishing and environmental degradation.
Speaking after the launch of the program in the southern
province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Bamrungsak Chatranantawet from the
Department of Marine and Coastal Resources warned that marine ecosystems
were suffering serious degradation. Speaking of the need for local
communities to take an active role in protecting marine and coastal
resources, he said that the most pressing danger came from illegal fishing.
Recent surveys of Ao Khanom on the Nakhon Sri Thammarat
coast have shown that the area maintains a pristine but fragile ecosystem,
with a school of 10 dolphins living in the local seas. However, illegal
fishery is having a devastating impact on the marine food chain, which could
put the dolphins at risk.
Bamrungsak said that the establishment of a network of
volunteer conservationists would both help protect marine resources and help
promote local eco-tourism. (TNA)
- ADVERTORIAL -Kitchen of Thailand
IFHS 2004 opens on September 8
If Thailand is the Kitchen of the World then IFHS is not
only Thailand’s Kitchen but also its restaurant, hotel and retail outlet!
In 2004 the IFHS (International Food & Hospitality
Show) exhibition has grown by a tremendous 38%. Most importantly IFHS has
emerged as the only international trade event for Thailand’s Food &
Hospitality Professionals, recognised and supported by all the major trade
associations in Thailand representing the food & beverage, chefs, hotel,
restaurant and retail sectors.
IFHS 2004 brings together the leading international
product, equipment and technology for the entire scope of Thailand’s food
and hospitality industry with the leading trade professionals from
throughout the provinces of Thailand. Last year IFHS attracted 15,006 trade
visitors from 47 countries and 370 exhibiting participants from 29
countries.
Covering a total of 8,568 m2 IFHS 2004 has completely
sold out and has a full of schedule of competition and conference programmes
throughout the 4 day event at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC)
that opens on September 8. The QSNCC is based in the heart of the central
business district of Bangkok and provides perfect access to the whole city
throughout the recent opening of Bangkok’s new Metro system.
Special events at IFHS include the ASEAN Hotel &
Restaurant Congress, the 10th National Culinary Competition, the National
Wine Competition, the Housekeeper Fashion Show and 2nd World Franchise
Forum. New for 2004 are the National Restaurant Association Awards, the Chef
Master Classes, the ASEAN Bartender Championship and International product
pavilions from Germany, China and the United Kingdom. In total, IFHS 2004
has attracted over 200 new participating companies to the event.
Dr. Strunk, executive director of the German-Thai Chamber
of Commerce, stated that, “IFHS is the only food, hospitality and retail
event in Thailand with constant and consistent growth over the past years
both in terms of trade visitors and exhibitors.”
Trade visitors to IFHS 2004 can register on-line to
receive free entry to the event at www.ifhs.net. To contact the organisers
Bangkok Exhibition Services (BES) e-mail [email protected] or call +66(0)
2 617 1475.
Phuket to get mega-entertainment complex
A large Japanese company plans to build a
mega-entertainment complex in Thailand’s southern resort island of Phuket
in the near future, according to the provincial governor, Udomsak
Asvarangkoon.
A duty-free shop, a convention hall, a hotel, a long-stay
housing estate and a variety of other tourist and entertainment businesses
would all be housed in the complex. However the site for the complex has not
yet been decided, Udomsak said.
The long-stay housing estate should be located near
coast, he said, but the convention hall would be better located in the urban
area for easy access by the public. The level of investment has also yet to
be decided, and will depend on the results of a feasibility study that is
currently being conducted. (TNA)
Sofitel Paradise comes to Phi Phi Islands
Accor Hotels & Resorts are working on a 148-villa
development on the Phi Phi Islands, near Phuket. General Manager Bernardo
Godenez said several details are still to be concluded with the owner, but
the resort is on schedule for a January 2005 opening.
The development will be named Sofitel Phi Phi Villa &
Spa and the resort will feature 115 deluxe-and 26 premier villas, as well as
four villas with jacuzzi and two with their own swimming pool.
The development confirms Accor’s growing interest in
resort development throughout Thailand. Other properties due to open in the
near future include a Novotel and a Mercure in Pattaya. (TTG Asia)
Digging for the ignominious roots of the wealth of the West
Pattaya resident relives awful visit to slave dungeons
Noel Bruyns
Sweating in hot, murky and oppressive dungeons with
impenetrable stone walls, the agony of the millions who were incarcerated
here are palpable. I can almost hear the weeping and groans of anguish,
smell the abject fear.
We are in Cape Coast Castle, a fort on the coast of Ghana
in West Africa from where up to an estimated 25 million West and Central
Africans were shipped out in the ignominious trans-Atlantic slave trade by
European nations to their colonies in the Americas from the 1500s to 1870.
 Cape
Coast Castle on the coast of Ghana houses the dungeons from which West and
Central Africans were kept in darkness deep below the fort before being
shipped off in the ignominious trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Figures vary, but some suggest Africa lost 60 million to
the slave trade. That many were captured, only 15 million reached their
destination.
Cape Coast Castle and Elmina, about 150 kilometers west
of Accra, the Ghanaian capital, are the two most notable dungeons of the
slave trade, monolithic structures set upon the sea.
 The
menacing black hole leading down to the murky slave dungeons made of
impenetrable stone walls.
“Some might wonder about the wealth of the West
compared to the poverty of Africa,” says Afro-American Mark Lomax. He
could by implication be talking about many expats in Pattaya.
The answer lies in that this wealth was built in no small
measure by the labor of those Africans who were forced to go from these
dungeons, through the “Door of No Return” at the foot of the fort,
shackled hand and foot in chains in the hulls of ships, to the New World.
Millions died of diseases and suffocation on the arduous
voyages across the Atlantic.
Slavery has existed for thousands of years, but in the
15th century a global slave trade emerged to fuel European colonial
expansion. The Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and British took turns pillaging
the west coast of Africa, ripping able-bodied Africans from their homes and
families.
The coast is dotted with forts where Africans were held
until ships arrived to carry them across the Atlantic. It took up to three
months for ships to deposit their human cargo and return to fetch a new
batch.
Gingerly, I feel my way in deep blackness after the
bright African sun down the sloping stone floor into the bowels of the earth
where they were kept, only a narrow shaft of light allowed in and a small
hole for the hot tropical air. In the center of the dungeons is a furrow, to
drain away their urine. No toilets for defecating are provided. Food is
lowered by rope, and the starving slaves fight like animals for scraps.
Particularly troublesome, disruptive and dangerous slaves
are put into a punishment cell behind three heavy doors, deep under the
castle.
“They had no air, no light, no food, no water. They
were left literally to die, and their corpses would be hauled out and dumped
into the sea when all of them were dead,” the castle guide explains.
There are separate cells for the female slaves, with
stairs leading up to the quarters of the governor for the most beautiful
summoned, with whom he can “have his way”.
Those who refuse to submit to his sexual demands have
their own female punishment cell.
Lomax says, “In the 17th century, an African could be
bought for US$25 and sold in the Americas for US$150. When the slave trade
was declared illegal, prices went even higher. Slavery was abolished in the
British empire in 1833 and in the United States in 1865.”
Brazil received one-third of all Africans, the Caribbean
islands together received the second third, and the final third was spread
throughout the rest of the Americas, according to documentation in the
museum in the Cape Coast Castle.
Contrary to popular belief, the present North America
took only a relatively small percentage of African slaves - maybe two
million, the documentation room reports.
For me, one of the most appalling realizations while I
silently, reverently, trace the area where the slaves were treated like
sub-humans by their colonial masters, is that above the dungeons of horror
Christians worshipped in the castle chapels.
The first Catholic Church in Africa was constructed in
Elmina Fort. “While the slave trade was being carried out, people in the
Reformed tradition were silent,” says Mark Lomax, a Presbyterian minister.
“They had chapels above the dungeons where the slaves were held where they
worshipped God.”
Lomax is in Ghana taking part in the general council of
the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) that links about 75 million
Christians in more than 200 Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed and
United churches around the world.
Indeed, the 400 delegates in their “Letter from
Accra” to its member churches, the final message of the fortnight of
deliberation, warn against believers worshipping “in comfortable
contentment” in the face of modern-day enslavement.
They recall the inscription of Ghanaian chiefs found at Cape Coast an
Elmina: “In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors. May those
who died rest in peace. May those who return find their roots. May humanity
never again perpetuate such injustice against humanity. We, the living, vow
to uphold this.”
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