#Thailand - Japanese business woman marries Chiang Mai Karen mahout.

A Japanese businesswoman tied the knot with a Thai mahout in Chiang Mai province this weekend.

Staged based on the Karen traditions, the wedding ceremony took place on Saturday with more than 200 locals and elephants joining the procession of dowry from the bridegroom’s house to a Catholic church. Ray Omata, the 32-year-old bride, and Amnuay Sukkasem, the 42-year-old bridegroom, then walked down the aisle in Karen costume. 

 “I came here four years ago to conduct research on Thai elephants and mahouts,” Omata said, “That’s how I met my soul mate”.

As Amnuay taught Omata about elephants and elephant training, the couple fell in love. As their years-long relationships blossomed, they decided to get married.

Omata said she was willing to live with Amnuay in Chiang Mai. She said she would have to travel to Japan quite often to attend to her family businesses there.

Source - TheNation

#Thailand - Naked Facebook dancers apologise for setting bad example.

Two young women who appeared in a recent Facebook Live post dancing naked turned themselves in to police at Bangkok’s Bang Khen precinct on Thursday morning and apologised to the Thai public for their action that set a bad example for young people.

The surrender of Thanyakan Rojin, 23, and Kanthicha Buranon, 21, followed a police complaint filed on August 29 by Songkran Atchariyasap, a lawyer who chairs a Facebook-based network that professes to target threats to the nation, religion and monarchy. 

Songkran said he submitted to police five indecent clips that were published on Facebook from August 24 to last Saturday and went viral.

Arrest warrants were issued for the women on charges of performing a shameful act in public by indecently exposing themselves and violating the Computer Crime Act’s Section 14 (4). They were later released on Bt75,000 bail on the grounds that they did not pose a flight risk and had provided useful information implicating people who had hired them. 

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They claimed they did not want to perform the lewd acts but they needed to earn money for their families and send younger siblings to school. 

Thanyakan said she and her friend performed the nude dances because they wanted more “likes” and “shares” for the page that had hired them, which would mean higher pay. She said if the post reached 10,000 views, she would receive more than Bt10,000. 

“I apologise to society because my action is a bad example for Thai youths. I didn’t want to do it. I did it out of the need to take care of my family. I want to warn younger people not to copy me as this is a bad thing. Don’t just think this is an easy way to make money, because what you do will stick with you until you die,” she said.

 

Kanthicha said she normally performed sexy online dances with Thanyakorn to boost “likes” and “shares” on their employer’s instructions. 

This time, they wanted to glean more attention and decided to remove all their clothes. She said she felt bad after the video received the attention of the police so she would stop performing sexy dances online.

Source - TheNation

Indonesia - Riau Islands seeks to become sports tourism destination

The sports event Nongsa Challenge 2017 held on Aug. 27 in Batam, Riau Islands, showed a great partnership between the provincial administration and Tourism Ministry.

“Held for the third time, this year's event [was supported by] the Tourism Ministry,” said Sumantri Endang, the general manager of Turi Beach by Nongsa Resort, where the event took place. “For next year, we aim to make the participants stay longer and to bring their family to explore Batam."

Riau Islands Tourism Agency head Boeralimar said the agency seeks to achieve the ministry’s target of 15 million foreign tourists in 2017 and 20 million foreign tourists in 2019.

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 Among the sports events held in Riau Islands are Tour de Beleirang, Bintan Triathlon and Tour de Bintan.

The ministry's Archipelago Tourism Marketing Development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti said that Indonesia has a huge opportunity to develop its sports tourism.

The country is set to host 2018 Asian Games in August.

“There are so many studies discussing about the short- and long-term correlation between a sports event with the economic growth of a region or country, especially when it comes to infrastructure development and employment opportunities. Sports tourism has a huge impact,” said Esthy

 

Source - TheJakartaPost

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#Bangkok gets a ‘walk of fame’

The new pedestrian walkway at the Pathumwan intersection is as lovely as it is accessible to all

PATHUM MEANS “lotus” in Thai, and the new skywalk at Bangkok’s Pathumwan intersection is designed to resemble a vast lotus pond, a peaceful heaven above the clouds of exhaust fumes rising from the traffic sweeping along the road.

The elevated walkway – it still needs a name – encompasses 3,000 square metres and connects Siam Discovery, Siam Square, MBK, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and the National Stadium.

Siam Synergy – an alliance of entrepreneurs in the downtown Siam area – funded the Bt350-million project, which replaces a much narrower pedestrian bridge that people found less than “user-friendly”.

 

  The new skywalk, which the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration now owns, emerged from the concept of “universal design”, meaning it’s handy and helpful for everyone, not just shoppers. The needs of the elderly and disabled are attended to with ramps and stair lifts.

“This is a friendly-design skywalk, the first of its kind in Bangkok,” Nation TV host Krisana Lalai, who’s been using a wheelchair for 20 years, said on a recent broadcast of his show “Khui Kan Yam Chao”. 

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 “The old pedestrian overpass was not designed for the disabled, the elderly or tourists hauling large pieces of luggage,” said Krisana, who’s also president of the Friendly Design for All Foundation. 

“This one has the sloped ramps and lifts. The drain covers are aesthetically pleasing as well as functional and safe – no wide gaps to swallow my wheels.”

 Chadatip Chutrakul, chief executive at Siam Piwat, a partner in Siam Synergy, told Krisana on the show that he was the main inspiration for the skywalk.

“Three years ago I saw you struggling to cross the intersection from the side where Siam Paragon, Siam Centre and Siam Discovery are. You were doing a survey of friendly-design construction and found the stairs too narrow. That’s when I decided to build a new walkway that would be accessible to all.”

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Move to exempt Thais from immigration form

Agency boosting staff and counters at Don Muang airport in bid to alleviate huge crowds of arriving passengers.

EXEMPTING Thai nationals from filling out immigration forms is among the measures being considered to help relieve the overcrowding of arrivals at Don Muang International Airport.

Immigration Bureau commander Pol Maj-General Nattorn Prohsunthorn said yesterday that his agency had discussed the passenger backlog problem with executives of the airport. 

They agreed to increase the number of immigration counters and outsource some of the work.

 He said one of the measures being considered was for Thai passengers to no longer be required to fill the departure and arrival TM6 form.

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The immigration police chief said his agency wanted the proposed exemption to be implemented as soon as possible and it was seeking to expedite amendments to relevant regulations.

He dismissed concerns that cancellation of the requirement would adversely affect national security, pointing out that authorities already have a database of Thai passengers.

“The Immigration Bureau has also sought permission for foreign passengers from certain countries to pass through the automated passport control channels” that are now reserved for Thai passport holders, to help relieve the overcrowding, Nattorn said.

Contingency plans

He said that from tomorrow, the number of immigration officials at Don Mueang airport would be increased to 100, from 42 at present, and they would work four shifts around the clock.

He also said Airports of Thailand (AOT), which oversees Don Mueang airport, has agreed to create space to set up more immigration counters. Within two weeks, the number of immigration counters will be increased from 25 at present to 39, he said.

The Immigration Bureau chief was speaking to The Nation after inspecting immigration operations at Don Mueang airport yesterday, where there were still long queues of arriving passengers.

Over the past year, the number of passengers passing through Don Mueang airport every day has increased to 40,000, up 400 per cent from 2012, when it was reopened as Bangkok’s second international airport.

 On Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered relevant agencies to tackle the problem of long immigration queues at the airport.

The PM instructed the Immigration Bureau, AOT and the Transport Ministry to prepare contingency plans to deal with chaos similar to that seen at the airport last Friday night, when almost 10,000 passengers had to wait up to five hours to be processed by immigration officials. The chaos was blamed on the delay of over a dozen flights. 

Meanwhile, the Immigration Bureau yesterday described as “inaccurate” media reports that the prime minister had signed a new ministerial order last Friday to exempt all passengers from having to fill the TM6 form when they leave and enter the country.

In a statement, the bureau said that the order, effective from October 1, would cancel the existing TM6 form and replace it with a new one that asks for information necessary for the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in analysing and planning tourism marketing strategies.

“Passengers still have to fill the form when they leave or enter the country,” the Immigration Bureau statement said.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports clarified yesterday that from October 1, the existing TM6 form would be replaced by a new one – in which both the “departure card” and the “arrival card” will be on the same page. 

The ministry said in a statement that an electronic alternative to collect necessary passenger information would be needed before the TM6 form was eventually scrapped.

“The relevant state agencies are in the process of doing so,” the statement added.

Recently, Somkiat Tangkitvanich, president of the think-tank Thailand Development Research Institute, said the TM6 form cost Bt5 each and that almost 7 million Thais travelled overseas, according to the 2015 statistics.

He noted that all the information that passengers have to fill in is already on the passport, which has to be produced while passing through the automated passport control machine.

Source - TheNation

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#Indonesia - Ubud listed among 'world's top 15 cities'

American travel publication Travel+Leisure recently made a list of the "World’s Top 15 Cities".

“Every year for our World’s Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe—to share their opinions on the top cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines and more. Readers rated cities on their sights and landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping and overall value,” as quoted from the article.

Taking the 9th spot with the score of 90.13 is Ubud in Bali, right after Cape Town in South Africa that has the score of 90.24. Meanwhile, topping the list is San Miguel de Allende in Mexico that scores 92.12.

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 In a separate article from Travel+Leisure titled "The Top 10 Cities in Asia", Ubud takes the 4th spot with the same score, coming after Hoi An in Vietnam that takes the 3rd spot with the score of 90.31. The 1st winner is awarded to Chiang Mai, Thailand, with the score of 91.40.

 

“High up in the interior of the island of Bali, Ubud continues to draw those who favor the arts and reflection—rather than beaches and parties. ‘I loved everything about Ubud,’ said one reader. ‘I was spoiled by the kind and thoughtful people I met everywhere I went,’” the article wrote.

Ubud has arguably become more famous after being shown in the popular movie Eat Pray Love that featured Julia Roberts, where it showcases the beauty of Ubud Monkey Forest. These days however, Ubud is known as the best place for yoga.

Read also: Six glamping sites in Indonesia for adventure seekers

Other attractions that you can visit while going to Ubud include Campuhan Hill, Nyuh Kuning Village, Tegalalang, Ubud Temple, Sarawati Temple and Apung river where you can do rafting.

Just like other Balinese, Ubud residents adopt the traditional philosophy of tri hita karana that epitomizes the balance and harmony between the three sources of life: humans, nature and God

Below is the list of the World’s Top 15 Cities according to Travel+Leisure:

1. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
2. Charleston, United States
3. Chiang Mai, Thailand
4. Kyoto, Japan
5. Florence, Italy
6. Oaxaca, Mexico
7. Hoi An, Vietnam
8. Cape Town, South Africa
9. Ubud, Indonesia
10. Luang Prabang, Laos
11. Santa Fe, United States
12. Roma, Italy
13. Siem Reap, Cambodia
14. Udaipur, India
15. Barcelona, Spain

Top 10 Cities in Asia according to Travel+Leisure:

1. Chiang Mai, Thailand
2. Kyoto, Japan
3. Hoi An, Vietnam
4. Ubud, Indonesia
5. Luang Prabang, Laos
6. Siem Reap, Cambodia
7. Udaipur, India
8. Bangkok, Thailand
9. Tokyo, Japan
10. Thimphu, Bhutan
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#Thailand - Passengers in Krabi boat capsize rescued.

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All passengers were rescued after a small diving boat capsized in Ao Nang, in Krabi province, on Friday afternoon due to strong winds and waves.

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The boat, named Phetwari 4, carried 12 passengers – two Thais and 10 foreigners – and was heading for a sightseeing in the seaside Nopparat Thara-Phi Phi National Park, off Krabi.

The incident took place at around 3.30pm.

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 Source - TheJakartaPost