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TAT to attract US meditation-lovers

Chiang Mai’s tourism industry gets boost from pandas

13 million year-old ‘shell cemetery’ found in Lampang

Finnair to acquire sixth MD-11 for growing Asian traffic

Emirates to offer world’s first wireless in-flight email

Thai AirAsia is new name of carrier

PATA adds special session to Mekong Tourism Forum

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)