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Kong Khao ceremony follows ancient Chonburi traditions
Vimolrat Singnikorn
The ancient Kong Khao festival was staged at Lan Pho Public Park in Naklua
on April 20, with members of the public bringing food as offerings to the
spirits. A country music band playing melodies traditional to this time of
the year added to the atmosphere.
Mayor Niran Watthanasartsathorn performed the opening ceremony, with
Chanyuth Hengtrakul, elected member of parliament for Chonburi, and
Banglamung district chief Supakit Thamsatidman amongst those attending, who
included city administrators, city councilors, local residents, and Thai and
foreign tourists.
During the afternoon there were competitions such as climbing a slippery
pole to retrieve an award from the top, slingshot shooting, and sea boxing.
Thai traditional folk dance was also featured, with Mayor Niran winning
hearty applause when he joined in.
The evening saw the ceremonial aspect of Kong Khao, with the ancient
traditions being followed, after which there was a dinner and traditional
folk music.
Mayor Niran
Watthanasartsathorn participated in the activities with the public.
The slingshot competition was
popular.
“Sea boxing” provided fun and
laughter.
In the evening, people
presented food as offerings to the spirits.
Climbing the oil post to
retrieve an award at the top
The Dive Site explores sunken city in an Issan dam
Divers from The Dive Site, spent most of a recent weekend
exploring and searching for sunken cities near a dam in Northeast Thailand.
With the help from local inhabitants, The Dive Site (TDS) divers surveyed
the Dam, where there supposedly was to be some 30-40 villages sunk in the
old river beds of the area.
 This
“boat” provided for a base of operations.
Dive conditions were as to be expected in such waters and visibility less
than a meter in green water.
Initial dives gave no results, although local fishermen and government
officials provided some information as to the actual whereabouts of the
villages.
Finally, some of the team members where successful in their search and found
remains of an old temple and its grounds, locating several walls, statues
and building remains. This only after applying substantial search methods
and time.
 Preparing
to dive.
TDS will return to the locations after the rainy season, in order to mark as
many locations of the sunken villages, as well as temples, enabling the
local authorities to use these as attractions for tourism in the long term.
The time required to locate these locations specifically will depend on the
information supplied by the local government officials as well as resources
provided, as “The area that needs to be explored and time required for this
task is huge and cannot be expected to be carried out by TDS alone, although
we really would like to do so,” says Scott from TDS.
“We will return after the rain season to do more exploration as well as
marking, but will need the support of local businesses as well as officials,
in order to complete this task,” says Scott.
The team
PEACH to increase capacity
Plans are afoot to expand PEACH (Pattaya Exhibition and
Convention Hall) to take the venue’s new handling capacity to approximately
8,000 people from 5,800-theatre style now. More meeting rooms will also be
added.
Royal Cliff Beach Resort Managing Director, Panga Vattanakul, said the
expansion program would cost an estimated one third of the original total
investment (US$25 million) for PEACH.
PEACH is a four-storey building built along the slopes of the cliff in a
stand-alone complex occupying 4.1 hectares set amidst 25.9 hectares of
tropical parkland. The convention and exhibition hall on the first floor,
occupies an area of 4,851m2 and can accommodate up to 5,800 people
theatre-style or 2,100 for banquets.
The hall can be divided into three large soundproof sections or into one
large section and six smaller sections. There are nine meetings rooms, which
can be used as breakout rooms with capacities ranging from 50 people to 150.
Panga said the expansion was scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this
year. (TTG Asia)
Correct Asian image:
‘dispel misconceptions’
Alarming misconceptions about Asia are scaring away
potential travelers to the region, a new survey has revealed.
A joint Visa International, PATA and ACNielsen survey of Asian travel
intentions found that a number of the countries which escaped the December
2004 tsunami were still considered to be affected by the tidal wave.
Of the 5,500 Visa cardholders surveyed in late March, 48 percent said the
Philippines was still somewhat affected by the tsunami, while the figure was
45 percent for Singapore, 44 percent for Vietnam, 42 percent for Hong Kong
and 41 percent for Japan.
Visa International Director of Corporate Relations for South and South-east
Asia, Paul Wilke, said: “What came out of the survey that really stuck out
to us was that education is just so crucial because there are so many
misconceptions in the markets.”
The survey looked at which tourists were coming to the region and what
barriers were keeping them away. (TTG Asia)
‘Phuket still alluring’
Phuket remains an attractive destination for Asian and
western tourists to visit after the tsunami, according to a study by
Thailand’s Siam University lecturer, Bongkosh Ngamsom-Rittichainuwat.
Bongkosh conducted the “study of tourists’ motivation in visiting Phuket
after the tsunami” last year by data collection, onsite survey and
interviews.
She said some 800 questionnaires were sent to tourists staying in Phuket
last year and 506 forms were returned, representing a response rate of 63
perrcent.
From the study, both western and Asian tourists said Phuket remained
attractive after the tsunami for its nature, people, good value for money,
convenient accessibility, Thai hospitality and willingness of locals and
foreigners to assist the tsunami-affected people. (TTG Asia)
Thailand tourism ministry undergoes shake-up
Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports is in the
process of streamlining the national tourism plan.
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Sakthip Krairik, said the committee of
the national tourism plan had met last week and endorsed immediate actions
on four key tourism strategies.
Citing the current political instability, the committee told the ministry to
urgently work upon building international tourist confidence. It wanted to
convey a message that the internal strife had no impact on the country’s
tourism. The committee also cited an evident lack in collaboration between
the tourism-related public bodies. It told the ministry to take the lead in
revision and fine-tune the national tourism plan to create a more united
working image.
Meetings for 19 provincial clusters are to be organized. The committee
wanted to ensure that all provincial governors and administrators share a
consistent understanding of the national tourism plan and thus can
appropriately allocate tourism spending.
Lastly, a national public relations commission is to be established. The new
body is to be chaired by the ministry’s permanent secretary.
Krairik said the ministry would be able to take up the tasks as soon as the
new Cabinet approved the national tourism budget of 50 billion baht (US$1.25
billion). (TTG Asia)
Reporting live from 2006 PATA Conference First aid call
An international medical travel association is
desperately needed in the face of booming growth in this niche market,
according to the director of healthcare services at the Singapore Tourism
Board (STB).
Speaking at the medical travel plenary session last week, Dr Jason Yap said
STB was prepared to offer secretariat support to the association, which
would ideally facilitate networking opportunities, knowledge sharing,
industry development, bench marking and quality control. He added: “Perhaps
this is something PATA may want to look in to.”
Asian Hospital Federation immediate-past president, Datuk Dr Ridzwan Bakar,
said more than two million people traveled to an Asia-Pacific country for
medical treatment each year, with Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and India
the most popular destinations.
Statistics showed medical tourists spent an average of US$362 a day,
compared to US$144 a day for normal tourists, he said.
Dr Bakar highlighted the potential of medical travel by stating the
healthcare industry generated US$3.5 trillion in revenue globally each year.
Flight Centre Vice-President for Product and Contracting, John Beauvais,
said for travel agents to succeed in medical travel, they needed to follow
five steps: increase market awareness, improve product knowledge, integrate
technologies, maintain flexibility and keep costs low. (TTG Asia)
InterContinental to relinquish Phuket property
Interncontinental Hotels Group has been served with a
notice of termination for the management agreement for Crown Plaza Karon
Beach Hotel in Phuket. The move followed the sale of the property by its
owner, Siam Resorts Company.
InterContinental Hotels Group released a statement saying it was extremely
proud of the excellent job its team had done with the property. “After
extensive refurbishment and rebranding as a Crowne Plaza, the resort has
established itself as a great property in Phuket,” the statement said.
The hotel group will continue to manage its current portfolio of five hotels
in Thailand - in Bangkok, Phuket and Phi Phi Island. It is also scheduled to
open four new hotels over the next three years in Pattaya, Samui, the Phi
Phi Islands and Bangkok. (TTG Asia)
India steps up
Look East strategy
Buoyed by double-digit growth in inbound tourism, India
has increased its marketing budget by 25 percent this year, and will be
spending a lot more to support the travel trade in South-east Asia and
Australia to sell the destination.
Ministry of Tourism Secretary, A K Misra, said India would further develop
pilgrim and cultural tourism circuits to cater to the rising interest among
tourists from Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and China.
India expects to cross the four million international arrivals mark this
year, representing a rise of 14 to 15 percent. This comes on top of a 14
percent increase in 2005 and 24 percent in 2004. Foreign exchange earnings
from tourism last year rose 20 percent, and 36 percent in 2004, giving cause
for more investment in marketing and product development, although Misra
declined to reveal the budget.
India Tourism Regional Director Australasia, G Shanker Dhar, said: “India
has diverse offerings, from Buddhist trails and culture tourism to wellness
and wildlife tourism. Unfortunately, agents tag it as a seasonal destination
from October to March, when India as a matter of fact has many products and
is a year-round destination.”
The US and UK/Europe are major markets for India. But a Look East policy the
country adopted in recent years, which has seen India engaging trade blocs
such as BIMP (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN growth
area), and initiatives such as Mekong-Ganga, has resulted in a pickup in
tourism from the region. (TTG Asia)
1.7 million Thais to travel overseas in first half of 2006
Some 1.7 million Thais are expected to travel overseas,
mainly to countries in Asia, during the first half of 2006, according to a
report issued by the Kasikorn Research Center (KRC), while Thailand will
lose foreign exchanges worth roughly Bt55 billion (US$1.375 billion).
The report says the number of Thai tourists visiting overseas has continued
to grow in 2006 from last year.
Some 750,000 Thai tourists are expected to have traveled abroad during the
first quarter of 2006 (January-March), an increase of 8 percent from the
corresponding period of 2005, and the number of outbound Thai tourists are
anticipated to further rise in the second quarter of this year due to an
ease in the domestic political tension and a stronger baht.
The report estimates that approximately 950,000 Thais are projected to
travel overseas during the second quarter of 2006, up 12 percent from the
same period of 2005.
Favored destinations for Thai tourists remain in Asian countries such as
China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Laos, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, says the
report, adding that Thai tourists visiting these countries account for more
than half of Thais traveling abroad.
South Korea has attracted an increasing number of Thai tourists due to its
popular TV dramatizations, while China and Hong Kong remain favorite
destinations following expanded direct flights from Thailand and low cost
travel, the report says.
Laos, situated next door to Thailand, with which it shares similar languages
and cultures, is gaining popularity among Thai tourists, while the number of
Thais traveling to Malaysia declines steadily due to unrest in the three
Thai southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.
The report also noted that most Thai tourists now prefer to travel overseas
by just buying plane tickets with accommodation and transportation services
to and from airports, instead of purchasing a full package tour service, as
they could save between 30-40 percent in expenses. (TNA)
Nok Air to add
domestic destinations
Low-cost carrier, Nok Air, a subsidiary of Thai Airways
International, is adding three new domestic routes in May.
The airline will operate nine flights per week on the Chiang Mai-Mae Hong
Son route and two flights per week on Bangkok-Loei. In addition, it will fly
twice-weekly flights on the Udon Thani-Loei. It will utilize its latest
66-seat ATR aircraft on the new routes.
Nok Air CEO, Patee Sarasin, said the expanded domestic network would meet
the needs and offer comfort for all travelers.
“Mae Hong Son has become one of the fastest-developing tourist destinations
in Thailand. Loei and Udon Thani meanwhile serve our purpose to providing
convenient and affordable method of transportation while creating
connectivity within the country’s Northeastern region.”
Reservations on the new routes can be made from April 22. (TTG Asia)
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