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HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Cathay Pacific is recruiting cabin staff

“Healthy Work Place” award goes to Amari Watergate

‘Elite Card’ members to be allowed to own land

Marine clean-up makes way for mass wedding

Air India specials for Europe/USA

Phuket’s tourist submarine gets poor response

Cathay Pacific is recruiting cabin staff

Cathay Pacific Airways is recruiting 500 new cabin crew staff to handle additional flights as the airline eyes the expansion of its fleet. Cathay, which currently employs a cabin crew of about 5,700, will hire an extra 400 Hong Kong-based flight attendants and 100 to be based in London.

Cathay is also hoping to increase its three weekly flights to Beijing to daily service, and to begin flights between Hong Kong and Shanghai. The carrier resumed flights to the Chinese capital city last month after a 13-year break. The Hong Kong and Chinese governments are discussing giving Cathay permission to operate more flights to the mainland.


“Healthy Work Place” award goes to Amari Watergate

Dr. Praphan Kitisin (right), deputy governor of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, recently presented a gold certificate to Pierre Andre Pelletier (left), general manager of Amari Watergate Hotel, for winning the “Healthy Work Place” Award. The presentation took place at Bangkok Youth Center (Thai-Japanese) in Dindaeng.


‘Elite Card’ members to be allowed to own land

The world’s rich and famous who shell out 1 million baht each to sign up for the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s ‘Elite Card’ scheme will be given the legal right to own land and property in Thailand, under a new deal proposed on January 22.

Somjainuek Engtrakul, permanent secretary for finance and head of the board of Thailand Privilege Card Co. Ltd. that the company would increase the privileges offered to Elite Card members, with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) amending legislation to allow members to own land and property within exclusive ‘Tourism Estates’.

However, there will be restrictions on ownership - members of the Elite Card scheme will only be allowed to own one rai of land, and will not be able to sell or transfer it within a five-year period. Members whose membership expires will be forced to sell the land and property back to the company.

The new proposals will be forwarded to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for further consideration.

Under the new plans, members will also have use of an upgraded Bangkok Sports Club, and will be able to use the facilities offered by the Royal Navy conference room. At the same time, golfer Jack Nicklaus will be invited to design new golfing facilities to Elite Card members at the Thap Lamu golf course in Phang-gna Province.

The various upgrades, which are expected to be completed within 18 months, will be paid for from membership fees and loans from commercial banks, and are expected to run to over 5 billion baht. Somjainuek and Juthamas said that a marketing offensive for the Elite Cards would begin in earnest on 1 March. (TNA)


Marine clean-up makes way for mass wedding

Sprucing up a church for a wedding is reasonably easy, but how do you clean up the venue when the marriage ceremony is to be held in the sea? This is the problem facing teams of divers in the southern resort province in Trang, who are making preparations for a mass underwater wedding ceremony on Valentine’s Day.

The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources will launch the clean-up operation on February 3rd with the aim of creating a pristine marine environment around Kradan Island.

The area is noted for its coral, seaweed, dugongs and underwater caves, as well as its beautiful islands and white sand beaches.

It is hoped that the mass wedding ceremony on February 14 will encourage locals and foreigners alike to conserve the area’s marine resources, while the clean-up operation will make them realize the environmental damage caused by litter. (TNA)


Air India specials for Europe/USA

New promotions have been introduced for passengers traveling by First and Executive Class on the Europe/USA sectors. Passengers bound for Newark can now have a free hotel night in Paris and those traveling to London, Paris, Frankfurt and Newark are being provided with limousine pick-up service for arrival and departure. This is in addition to the Companion Free Scheme that First and Executive Class passengers are eligible on full IATA fare.

Passengers traveling on full IATA fares to UK, Europe and US, but not taking a companion, can now get a free ticket to Dubai in lieu of the companion.


Phuket’s tourist submarine gets poor response

Visitors to Phuket now have a new attraction to draw them to the island - one of the world’s first tourist submarines. But although the ‘Deepstar’ has been operating since the beginning of the year, insufficient publicity has curbed response, which operators Phuket Submarine Co. now hope they can turn around.

The number of foreign visitors has been well below target, with only around 40-50 passengers a day, compared to expectations of 200. The company blamed the low take-up rate on poor publicity, while also conceding that visibility in the waters where the submarine was operating was poor. The sub has now moved its operations to Mai Thon Island, where visibility is better.

‘Deepstar’ is being supported both by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Board of Investment (BOI). One of only a few of its kind in the world, the submersible can take up to 48 passengers for journeys of 40 minutes under the sea. (TNA)