TRAVEL & TOURISM
HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

New dam creates rafting attraction for tourists

China familiarization trip at Pattaya Marriott Resort

Dusit Thani Pattaya welcomes its new Italian Chef

Thailand to get US$111 million budget boost

Chiang Mai’s Royal Garden to go public

SKAL Asia reaches an historic milestone

AFG members look to clean up their back yards


New dam creates rafting attraction for tourists

The Thadan Canal Dam is the world’s largest roller compacted concrete dam.

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Rafting behind the new dam in Nakhon Nayok in Central Thailand is a soft-adventure tourism attraction that is now being promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
An activity that can be done throughout the entire year, even during the dry season, and with three levels of expertise starting from “very easy”, rafting allows visitors to get close to nature and enjoy the natural environment.
Canoes, kayaks and inflatable rubber rafts can be used, allowing the more skilled to navigate different watercourses, maneuvering the boats around curves and islets. The distance traveled is also up to the person steering the craft. For example, Kaeng Samchan is a distance of 3km, and Wang Yao 7km.
Patanapong Pongthongcharoen, assistant director of TAT Central Region 8, Nakhon Nayok, said that the Thadan Canal Dam is the world’s largest roller compacted concrete dam. With a crest 93 meters high and measuring 2,720 meters in length, the reservoir behind the dam contains 224 million cubic meters of water.
Located at Ban Tha Dan in Hintang Sub-district, Muang District, Nakhon Nayok, construction of the dam was completed at the beginning of 2005. It started providing water for agriculture at the beginning of 2006. The dam was created under the Royal Project for protection against flooding from the Nakhon Nayok River.
Alongside the flood protection and the provision of water for agriculture, an indirect consequence of the dam is the creation of tourism facilities, such as rafting and boating. In previous times during the dry season, no one was able to go rafting.
Another attraction is the well-known seasonal fruit of the province, such as the several types of sweet or sour Marian plums.
Those wishing to go rafting have to take a boat at the pier behind the Klong Tha Dan Dam to pick up their craft. Trips take between 30 and 90 minutes. An inflatable rubber raft costs between 1,500 and 2,000 baht, while the price to ride in a kayak is 350 to 450 baht per person.
For more information and a list of the service providers, please contact TAT Central Region 8 at tel 0-3731-2282, 0-3731-2284, 0-3731-5664, and at www.tat8.com
Traveling by road to Klong Tha Dan Dam from Bangkok, take National Road No 305 or 33 - Nakhon Nayok - Nangrong Waterfall (Road No 3049) - Wangtakrai National Park - turn right onto the road leading to the dam. An ordinary bus and an airbus service travel every day from Bangkok to Nakhon Nayok from the Northern Bus Terminal at Kamphaengphet 2 Road.

Sturdy inflatable rubber rafts can be hired out
for between 1,500 and 2,000 baht per trip.

Tourists can have a great time navigating
the different waterways situated behind the dam.


China familiarization trip at Pattaya Marriott Resort

The Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa recently greeted 25 travel agencies from the land of the Great Wall for a visitation of the property and its facilities. The group was led by the Thailand Tourism Authority (TAT), East Asia Division. In the picture Somsak Tanruengsri (back row, 7th from left), General Manager, and Hans Van Steertegem (back row, 6th from right), Director of Operations, welcome Chaiwat Charoensuk, Director of TAT Central Region Office: Region 3 (back row, middle) and the visitors from China.


Dusit Thani Pattaya welcomes its new Italian Chef

Claudio Mendini, the new head chef at The Bay Italian Restaurant, Dusit Thani Pattaya.

Chatchawal Supachayanont, General Manager of Dusit Thani Pattaya recently announced the new addition to the culinary team of the five-star deluxe hotel.
The new man at the helm of The Bay Italian Restaurant is Claudio Mendini. He hails from Trento, Italy and brings more than 20 years of expertise to this position. His past experience includes serving as Executive Sous Chef in different hotels in Austria, Morocco and Costa Rica in Central America before making his way to Asia.
Claudio had a short culinary stint in Myanmar before he decided to join Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, where he served as Italian Executive Sous Chef.
 


Thailand to get US$111 million budget boost

Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) is likely to be allocated an “urgent” mid-year budget of 3,492 million baht to boost tourism to the country.
Tourism and sports minister, Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, said the amount was approved last Thursday (March 13) by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board and the Budget Bureau, but pending a nod from the Cabinet.
Mr. Weerasak said the ad hoc budget was important as when he took over the helm at the ministry on February 7, 2.7 billion baht from the 4.9 billion baht allocated for the 2008 fiscal year had already been spent.
Mr. Weerasak said: “We requested for an urgent budget of 9.6 billion baht, but 3,492 million baht was approved. Of the total (plus the remaining budget of 2.2 billion baht), around 1.6 billion will be allocated to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), about one billion baht to the office of ministry’s permanent secretary and the rest to the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Provincial Administration Offices and the MoTS Office of Tourism Development. “
He said the newly approved and remaining budget would be used within the next six months to boost tourism revenue. When he took office last month, Mr. Weerasak vowed to raise revenue from foreign visitors to 800 billion baht this year, around 33 per cent higher than the target of 600 billion baht set by the TAT.
In addition, the minister is preparing a 2008-2010 tourism attraction development plan. It includes the development of new tourism routes and the improvement of existing tourism areas, involving 14 tourism clusters. An additional budget of 4.3 billion baht has been requested. (TTG)
 


Chiang Mai’s Royal Garden to go public

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports is co-operating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Department of Agriculture and Horticultural Science Society of Thailand to convert the 75.2-hectare Royal Garden and Royal Pavilion in Chiang Mai into a public multi-functioned park.
At a the press conference on March 10, the minister of Tourism and Sports, Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, said while the venue came under the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports would be involved in promotions and monthly campaigns.
Plans for the park include a meeting and incentives venue, a horticultural knowledge centre, sports complex and northern cultural centre.
The minister of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Mr. Somsak Prisananantakul, said: “In the first year, the project will be under a governmental budget of 105 million baht from the revenue of the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006. It will be divided into two parts; 60 million baht for management of the park and another 45 million baht for maintenance and development.”
The official grand opening will be in the middle of April this year to celebrate the Songkran Festival. (TTG)
 


SKAL Asia reaches an historic milestone

In a statement released last week by the Skål Asian Area president, Mr. Earl Wieman, it was announced that Skål International (SI)) India will become a member of the Skål Asian Area, completing an amazing period of development for the region.
Mr. Wieman said, “For the first time in our history this will make us whole, as no clubs in geographic Asia will be outside our committee.
“Our Indian Skålleagues decided at a meeting on March 8, 2008 to come into the Skål Asian Area. Skål India will be with us at the 37th Skål Asian Area Congress, 21-25 May 2008,” he added.
SI India is one of the largest national committees in Asia.
Mr. Andrew Wood, Skål Intl Asian Area Director of Development said, “India has 713 Skålleagues and that number is set to increase dramatically as India gains increasing confidence in the global economy.
“Two years ago we set ourselves a target to double the members in the Asian Area. With India now confirmed, and (also) new regional members such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, membership in the area has exceeded that target already by 12%,” he confirmed.
Mr. Wood also added: “We are very hopeful that this year South Africa will also consider joining this vibrant and dynamic region. The Asian Area is set to be a rising powerhouse of the modern era and together our opportunities to develop Skål friendship and contacts will be second to none.”
The Skål Asia Area, part of Skål International has a footprint that stretches from Mauritius through the Middle East, India, SE Asia, the Philippines, Japan and the Pacific Rim.
 


AFG members look to clean up their back yards

Legal waste management site.

Dr Iain Corness
The Automotive Focus Group (AFG), a loosely knit group of people in the automotive industry (manufacturers, suppliers, etc.) meets under the aegis of the Australian Thai Chamber of Commerce (AustCham) just before the Seaboard Sundowners held on the Eastern Seaboard.
This month, the meeting was held in the All Seasons Hotel (Soi 5 Pattaya Second Road) and was addressed by John L Hamilton, the MD of Waste Management Siam. Since all manufacturing processes produce waste as the final end product, this was a most pertinent topic for the AFG members.
John was able to show the locations of six illegal dumps on the Eastern Seaboard, and warned the AFG members that it would not be government agencies that would indicate who was using these dumps, but rather local citizens living in the proximity of the dumps, and NGOs with a social conscience. It was not accepted as an excuse that the manufacturer had used a local contractor to take away the waste - it was the waste producer who had to know the final resting place of his detritus, and take responsibility for it. And the cost of rehabilitating the area if discovered!
John also pointed out, “The garbage truck is a license to hide things and get it out of your company,” as apparently everything from small items to a complete car have been secreted away in the rubbish skip.
Waste Management Siam is able to handle all kinds of waste, including mercury contaminated waste which is shipped to Holland for reprocessing, as it cannot be handled in Thailand, where it is dumped illegally, contaminating the water table and producing problems for generations to come. (Waste Management Siam can be contacted at 038 346 364-7 or email [email protected])
New president of the AFG, Mike Diamente advised the members that more of these very informative lectures were being arranged covering such diverse areas as labor, medical requirements, infrastructure problems and this will include addresses by government members as well as expat experts.