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Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket
appoints new sales director
The executive board of the Cape Panwa Hotel, Phuket has
recently announced the appointment of Pojakorn Limpichai as a new director
of sales.
 Pojakorn
Limpichai
Pojakorn obtained his degree of hotel management from Hotel School Les
Roches, Switzerland. He has been working in the hospitality business for
more than 15 years. He started his work at Royal Orchid Hotel. Before
joining Cape Panwa Hotel, Pojakorn was director of sales and marketing for
Best Western Fortune Hotel.
Outbound tourism soars with more Thais opting for foreign holidays
Around 2.3 million Thais will leave the country for
foreign holidays this year, draining 62 billion baht from the nation’s
economy, according to a new report from a leading research center.
The report from the Kasikorn Research Center said that
the outbound tourism market, which picked up at the end of last year, was
continuing to enjoy steady growth, with 612,192 Thais leaving the country
during the first quarter of 2004, up 13 percent from the same period in
2003.
The report attributed the rise in outbound tourism to the
Euro 2004 football tournament, increasing competition among foreign tourism
markets, the expansion of aviation routes and the birth of low-cost
airlines.
Estimating that 600,000 Thais would leave the country
during the second quarter of 2004, the research center noted that this
represented a 44 percent rise on the same period the previous year.
Overall, the report said, around 2.45 million Thais were
set to travel abroad this year, up 14 percent on figures from 2003. Of
these, 2.3 million were tourists, while the rest were Thais going to work
abroad. According to research, the most popular destinations remain
Malaysia, Singapore, China and Hong Kong. (TNA)
Air India ups flights to U.S.
Los Angeles became the fourth Air India destination in
the USA with the commencement of services to this Hollywood city, on a
thrice-weekly basis. The inaugural flight took off from Chatrapati Shivaji
International Airport, Mumbai, amidst great fanfare.
Praful Patel, Minister of State for Civil Aviation
described the occasion as a moment of great pride since Air India was
embarking on a new milestone of launching flights to the West Coast of USA.
The United States, he said, has been a major thrust area for the airline in
the recent past as flights have been gradually increased from 10 per week in
December 2002 to 23 now. These flights, serving four cities in the USA; New
York, Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles, offer almost 10,000 seats per week.
Fifteen islands closed to divers to restore health of coral
Recreational diving restricted from July 20-September 30
The Koh Chang National Marine Park recently announced
that it would close off 15 islands in the Koh Chang Archipelago off the
eastern province of Trat to divers over the next three months in order to
allow for the regeneration of coral reefs.
Saran Jaisa-art, head of the Koh Chang National Marine
Park, said that the closure would come at a time when the south-western
monsoon left the seawater around the islands area looking cloudy, making
it difficult for divers to see where they were heading. As a result, coral
is at maximum danger from human damage between the months of June and
September.
Noting that the coral had suffered extensive damage in
the past, he said that the 15 islands in the archipelago would be closed
to tourists from July 20 for a period of three months to allow the coral
to revive. Saran, who described the islands as being part of Thailand’s
natural heritage, said that the archipelago would reopen to divers on
September 30. (TNA)
International tourists aim for first ever 6-nation kayaking record
Kayakers will visit famous Thai sights from July 24
A group of self-styled eco-tourists from three continents
is attempting to break a world kayaking record on a journey along the Mekong
River that will take them through six nations, including Thailand.
Announcing the Thai leg of the journey today, Songsak
Thongsri, head of the Parliamentary Tourism Committee, said that the
tourists from Australia, the United States, Canada, and France were paddling
eight kayaks down the Mekong to promote the need to conserve the region’s
natural, cultural and historical heritages.
The journey began in the southern Chinese province of
Yunnan, close to the border with Tibet, in April. The route will then take
the kayakers through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, to finish up in Vietnam.
On 24 July, the kayakers are due to hit Thailand, on a
month-long leg of the journey that will take them through the northern
province of Chiang Rai, as well as the north-eastern provinces of Loei, Nong
Khai, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, and Ubon Ratchathani.
During their trip, the kayakers will stop off at
important tourist destinations, including the Mae Sa Elephant Camp, the
Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens, Doi Mae Salong, the Thai-Lao Friendship
Bridge, the Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Village, the Phanom Rung Khmer Temple
Complex, and other monuments. The six-nation journey will be the first of
its kind in the world. (TNA)
Amari Watergate Hotel hosts opening ceremony for “Contemporary Thai” art Exhibition
Dr. Premsak Piereyura, chairman of the Committee of Labor
Affairs and Member of Parliament recently cut the ribbon to mark the opening
ceremony of the “Contemporary Thai” art exhibition by Wijit
Tangsatjawitoon. The exhibition is being held in the exhibition area on the
3rd floor at Amari Watergate Hotel. Part of proceeds will be donated to
Payathai Baby’s Home. The exhibition will display from until July 31.
Dr.
Premsak (front row, 4th right) cut the ribbon to mark the opening ceremony
as looking on from left are: Pierre Andre Pelletier, general manager of
Amari Watergate Hotel; Wijit Tangsatjawitoon, artist; Nichaya Chaivisuth,
director of public relations of the hotel; Nontinee Phetpaisith, from
Payathai Baby’s Home, Avasada Pokmontri and Chatchalerm Chalermchaiwat.
National Library to get facelift
The National Library in Bangkok is to close early next
month for a rapid three-day facelift which will see instant changes in
information management, safety measures and the physical layout of the
library building.
Announcing the redevelopment plan for the 40 year-old
building yesterday, Culture Minister Anurak Chureemas said that the facelift
by the National Library Office, the Department of Fine Arts and the Ministry
of Culture came at the request of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The upgrade will mean changes to the library’s service
areas, alterations in the information system for the nation’s priceless
cultural heritage, and new security measures to protect against fire and
theft. Technological developments will also make it easier for the
library’s system to connect with other agencies in the future.
The redevelopment of the National Library in Bangkok will
act as a pilot project to pave the way for similar facelifts at 18
subsidiary national libraries across the country.
The closure of the Bangkok library will fall on August
3-5, which will coincide with a training period for library staff. (TNA)
Wat Boworniwet leads way
in ‘greening’ of Bangkok temples
Over 30 temples on Bangkok’s historic Rattanakosin
Island are to undergo extensive environmental changes, following a
successful ‘greening’ attempt by Wat Boworniwet.
The environmental management program at Wat Boworniwet,
where His Majesty the King once spent time as a Buddhist monk, was organized
by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the temple itself to mark the 90th
birthday of the Supreme Patriarch, the head of the Buddhist faith in
Thailand. The program has focused on the management of wastewater, litter
and landscaping.
Under the program, the canals in the temple compound have
been dredged, the temple’s famous turtles have been moved, walls have been
painted, herb gardens have been planted, and rubbish bins have been placed
throughout the compound. Long-term plans have included the establishment of
a wastewater management system.
The temple will be used as a case study for the
introduction of similar environmental management plan at 35 other temples on
Bangkok’s historic Rattanakosin Island.
The Permanent Secretary for the BMA, Khunying Natanon
Thavisin, revealed that the program had involved moving over 3,000 catfish,
200 turtles, and 150 water monitors before water in the temple’s canals
could be treated. Stray dogs and cats living in the temple had been neutered
and sent to the BMA’s animal sanctuary. (TNA)
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