#Phuket looks to build ties with Gold Coast sister city

Australia’s Gold Coast city and Phuket plan to sign a letter of intent to establish themselves as sister cities on September 10.

The intent of the agreement is to explore a stronger relationship between the two municipalities and create international business opportunities.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate will travel to Phuket to sign the agreement with his Phuket counterparts.

The mayor is half Thai, originally from Saraburi, and emigrated to Australia at a very young age. He said that Gold Coast and Phuket share similarities in economic success, year-round sunshine and a cosmopolitan lifestyle.

 

“I want this sister city partnership to work, because I know that Gold Coast and Phuket are a good match. The two cities share a significant beach culture and we could possibly exchange knowledge on lifeguard procedures and training. We will see what Phuket authorities and other business operators will be interested in, this is the first stage,” said the mayor.

He said Phuket has the potential to become a mid-way destination for European travellers to spend a few weeks before flying on to Gold Coast.

He says that for an interim period of one year, the Gold Coast government will send officials to Phuket to explore areas where they can exchange work ideas and knowledge.

“For instance, if Phuket is looking at developing a better waste management policy, or green energy utilisation, we will see how both parties can work together on the initial high-level studies,” he said. 

Gold Coast is a multicultural city and a hub for Australia’s tourism with its geography and economy similar to  Phuket. 

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For Gold Coast, international partnerships of this type are a source of economic growth; provide cultural, educational and professional opportunities, and boost international profiles. These relationships open doors to the world and create real outcomes for Gold Coast residents and businesses.

Traditionally, sister city relationships focus on cultural and education exchanges. It is now recognised that these relationships also have the ability to stimulate economic growth, increase tourism and assist in establishing reliable business contacts, which can create long-term benefits to the local communities in both cities.

They also enable communities to exchange ideas, gain an international perspective and increase their understanding of global issues.

Currently, Gold Coast has eight sister cities and one friendship agreement, all of which have helped shape Gold Coast as a city of global significance by fostering successful business and cultural ties. This is through initiatives that include two-way trade missions, hosting inbound delegations, and offering business and student exchanges.

As for the benefit to Phuket, Andrew Park, the Honorary Consul of Thailand for Queensland, Australia, says that the partnership is important at many levels. Apart from generating government-to-government links between the two cities, it also creates direct links at the people-to-people level. 

 “Prince Songkla University Hospitality and Tourism School in Phuket is well established and well regarded as one of the world best hospitality, hotel management and tourism schools while the Griffith University in the Gold Coast has the same high acclaim globally,” Park said.

“There is a possibility of academic exchanges between the two institutions for the benefit of both,” said Park. 

He also said that in terms of the business linkages, the agreement will be a driver for the government of Gold Coast to express an interest in developing stronger partnerships with Phuket at the business level. 

“Next year, Mayor Tate will be taking business delegations across to Phuket and I believe Phuket will be doing the same. The marine sector, with the wealthy high-end yachting industry, is something Phuket does very well and I believe that is something Gold Coast can learn and benefit from.” 

Park said that he is excited to be part of creating this inaugural relationship between the two cities to set a good example for further relationships between cities in the two countries in the future.

Source - TheNation

 

Order threatens #Bangkok’s charm

Singapore has asked Unesco to formally recognise its street-hawker culture, which would help the island-state promote it as yet another tourist attraction. In Thailand, it’s a completely different story.

Prodded by the orderliness-obsessed military-led government, Bangkok authorities are determined to transform the city’s reputation for unsurpassable street food – or extinguish that reputation, as critics charge. The mobile noodle vendors and everyone else informally touting goods on the sidewalks have to clear out.

 The Bangkok Metropolitan Administra-tion (BMA) wants street vendors licensed, registered and contained neatly in designated areas well away from busy footpaths. It’s imposing military-style order in such tourist hotspots as Siam Square, Sukhumvit, Yaowarat, Nana, Khaosan and Chatuchak. 

 The push hasn’t gone down well with many Thais, including academics and urban planners, who regard the sheer chaos of crowded street-hawking scenes and especially the clots of food vendors’ smoky, aromatic carts as being among Bangkok’s premier attractions.

The city is being sanitised, the critics complain, while pointing out that foodies from around the world rave about the tasty yet cheap dishes they can slurp up on any Bangkok sidewalk.

“Bangkok is famous as the city of markets, but now many markets are dead,” said British expatriate Philip Cornwel-Smith, author of “Very Thai”, a well-received book exploring what is unique about the Kingdom. 

 

“Just to treat the markets with eviction after eviction actually does big damage to parts of Bangkok’s identity and its reputation internationally.”

French tourist David Lago, making his third visit to Khaosan Road recently, found it utterly changed. It was cleaner now, he noticed, but “boring”.

“Khaosan has lost that charm of being chaotically filled with street vendors. It’s empty during the daytime,” he said, adding that he’d be back after dark, the only hours the hawkers are allowed to set up.

A network of street vendors founded to push back against the clean-up effort marched on Government House early this week with a handful of demands. Many more attended a pair of public discussions about the ruckus coincidentally organised for the same week.

 One, called “Street Vendor and City: Leaving No One Behind”, took place at Chulalongkorn University.

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 “The management of street vending is a complex issue,” Assistant Professor Narumol Nirathron of Thammasat University pointed out. “The BMA alone can’t handle it – it’s a matter for the national agenda. 

“To achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the government needs to handle this issue properly, by integrating the work of the Economic Affairs, Security, Commerce, Tourism and Sports and Culture ministries.”

Narumol and fellow academics from Thammasat, Chulalongkorn, the Thailand Development Research Institute Foundation and Urban and Design Development Centre plan to present an open letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha asking him to reconsider street-vending regulations designed to “return the pavements to the public”.

The government’s ultimate intention is to ban street hawkers in 683 areas of the capital where they’ve long been “temporarily” permitted to do business. As of last month, they’d been shut down in 478 areas, affecting 11,573 vendors in all. 

The BMA is gradually moving in on the remaining 210 areas and most recently has had Khaosan Road in its gun sights.

In their letter to Prayut, the academics note that one reason given for the cleanup was “to liberate Bangkok from a ‘disorderly’, ‘antiquated’, ‘undeveloped’ look. 

“In reality, however, a state of disorder – or order, for that matter – also depends on the management by government agencies, while an antiquated or undeveloped look has nothing to do with street vending. 

“In the US and Europe, known for their advanced development, the governments are allowing more street vendors to operate because the authorities are not able to create enough jobs [for everyone]. Thus, in pursuing the goal to make Thailand modernised and more developed, the government must not leave a number of people behind, as seems to be the case at present.

“Singapore is more advanced,” Narumol said. “It has a long-term policy to make the country clean and green and recently bid for Unesco to recognise its hawker culture as an intangible cultural asset.”

 Assistant Professor Niramon Kulsri-somba, director of the Urban and Design Development Centre, said Bangkok street vending could be sustainably managed and become “a win-win situation”. Niramon, an urban architect, is with her team redeveloping the Phaholyothin Soi 9 (Soi Aree) area with zones for street vendors. “Rather than top-down management, community engagement is the key. We need to get all the stakeholders talking so they can compare their needs and come up with a solution that will satisfy everyone,” she said, while admitting it will take time.

At the second discussion, “Negotiating Bangkok Streets”, held at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Trude Renwick, a PhD candidate in architectural history and theory at the University of California Berkeley, said street-vendor culture was important for a “creative city like Bangkok”.

“Street culture is something that can’t be taken away. It’s an essential part of the urban and rural ecosystems in Thailand,” said Renwick, who in 2011 began making “Observations from the Siam Square night market” on her way to earning her master’s degree.

“Good urban change benefits all citizens and requires complex thought. Bans haven’t produced any positive changes in the past, so I have a hard time believing that it will be any different now.” 

Rangsit University architecture lecturer Parisa Musigakama has been focusing on the Khaosan situation for her PhD.

“Top-down governance by the state is infective and exploitative,” she said. 

“The Khaosan Road Street Vendor Association is very strong, with a powerful leader in Yada Pornpetrumpa, and their negotiations have reached the national level.”

In response to the petition given him by the marching street vendors, Prayut ordered the BMA and Metropolitan Police to establish committees to address issues with the vendors.

Unesco Bangkok director Hanh Bich Duong believes it would be best to consider the matter in terms of sustainable tourism and preserving old communities.

 “Properly planned community-based tourism might be a measure to address this dilemma,” he said. “It’s important to work closely with communities when planning for tourism, to hear their voices and see whether and to what extent they want to open up their neighbourhoods to tourists. 

“Fair-benefit sharing is another important aspect to ensure that local communities do benefit from tourism development, rather than being left out or being at the lower end of the supply chain,” Duong said. 

“In addition, awareness about the importance of safeguarding the heritage, both intangible and tangible, needs to be raised among local communities and the authorities alike to ensure that age-old heritage doesn’t have to give way to modern tourism facilities.”

Source - TheNation

#Thailand ‘best country for people’, says travel survey

Thais have been voted the best people in the world in an online survey by Conde Nast Traveller magazine, a leading US source of travel features.

Thailand won in the category of “Best Country for People” in the 2018 annual award.

The award honours “the best that the travel world has to offer”. Other categories include hotels, airlines, ski resorts, islands and architecture.

In addition, Thailand came third in the “Best Country” category after Italy and Greece .

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 Two hotels – the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok and Six Senses on Kho Yao Noi – came fourth and fifth respectively in the category of “Best Hotel in Asia and the Indian Subcontinent”. 

Meanwhile Koh Samui island was awarded the ninth spot in the “Best Islands in the World” category, falling after Greek islands, Maldives, Balearic islands, Hawaii, St Lucia, Bali, Sicily and Mauritius.

Source - TheNation

 

THAI cancels all flights to and from Osaka after Typhoon Jebi

Thai Airways International (THAI) has cancelled more flights on the Bangkok-Osaka route due to the temporary closure of Kansai Airport after Typhoon Jebi hit the city.

The typhoon approached Japan on Tuesday at noon, damaging the airport and flooding the runways, Flt Lieutenant Pratana Patansiri, vice president for THAI’s aviation safety, security and standard’s department, said on Tuesday night.

Other airlines have also temporarily stopped flying in and out of Osaka.

The flights to be cancelled are:

1. TG622 scheduled to depart from Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 4 at 11.30pm and arrive at Kansai Airport at 7am (local time) the following day;

2. TG623 scheduled to depart Kansai Airport on September 5 at 11.45am (local time) and arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 3.35pm.

Earlier, THAI had cancelled the Bangkok-Osaka TG672 flight, and the Osaka- Bangkok TG673 flight.

The airline has said it will closely monitor and assess the situation, and resume normal operations once Kansai Airport reopens.

THAI operates two round-trip flights daily between Bangkok and Osaka. For more information, visit thaiairways.com or call (02) 356 1111 (24 hours).

Source - TheNation

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#Thailand - 14,000 taxi drivers arrested in 12 months: police

More than 14,000 taxi drivers have been arrested and fined for breaking the law, including refusing to accept passengers, during the past year, a deputy tourist police chief said Friday.

Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, held a press conference in Phaholyothin with the Land Transport Department to announce results of the operation to clean up the taxi trade launched last September.

Surachet said police from several agencies, including tourist police, and 191 Special Operation police and officials of the Land Transport Department, have been enforcing the law against taxi drivers so passengers would not be exploited.

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 Surachet said 4,811 taxi drivers were arrested for refusing to accept passengers without justification, which violated Article 93 of the Land Traffic Act.

Source - TheNation 

#Thailand - Pha-Ngan Full Moon party still popular

More than 10,000 foreign tourists joined the popular Full Moon Party on Koh Pha-Ngan late Sunday night and the early hours of Monday under the watchful eye of security officials, the Pha-Ngan district chief said.

Pha-Ngan district chief Krirkkrai Songthani dispatched 120 troops, police and Interior Ministry officials to the designated area on the island’s Haad Rin Beach to maintain security during the party.

Krirkkrai said the beach was crowed with partygoers and he had deployed the officials to prevent crime and drug abuse.

Haad Rin has been famed for its Full Moon Party celebrations for decades but the parties had become notorious for drug and alcohol abuse. Tourists reportedly liked to eat “magic mushrooms”, a kind of fungus with hallucinatory effects, and regularly drank all night before passing out on the beach. Clinics and hospitals were often full of exhausted and hung-over tourists the following day.

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Tourists danced to the blaring music as security officers patrolled the beach.

Krirkkrai said the large turnout showed that foreign tourists had regained confidence and were returning to both Koh Pha-Ngan and Koh Tao. He said officials have measures in place to ensure the safety of visitors and hoped they would return to visit the two islands.

Source - TheNation

 

#Vietnam's Golden Bridge among Time's top 100 destinations this year

Just months after it opened to public, Vietnam’s amazing Golden Bridge continues to grab the world’s attention.

The Time magazine has listed it in its list of top 100 World’s Greatest Places for 2018.

Remarking on its architectural creativity, the magazine’s Julia Zorthian notes: “The two massive stony hands emerging from the mountains of central Vietnam may look mossy and cracked like ancient ruins, but don’t be fooled: they’re brand-new wire mesh and fiberglass supports for a striking footbridge that opened in June.”

Images of the two giant hands holding up the 150 meters long bridge at Ba Na Hills near Da Nang have gone viral and many international media outlets have remarked on the bridge, including AFP, Reuters and CNN.

Vu Viet Anh, Design Principal at TA Landscape Architecture that designed the pedestrian walkway, told Reuters that the bridge was designed to stimulate the image of the “giant hands of Gods, pulling a strip of gold out of the land.”

Other places on Time’s list include the Macan Museum in Indonesia and Tianjin Binhai Library in China.

According to Time, editors and experts at the magazine evaluated the entries based on quality, originality, innovation, sustainability and influence.

Offering grand views of mountains and forests from a height of almost 1000 metres above sea level, the bridge is set to attract increasing numbers of tourists to Da Nang and Ba Na Hills.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism reported that Ba Na Hills attracted 2.7 million visitors in 2017.

In the first six months of this year, more than 1.7 million of four million plus people visiting Da Nang also visited Ba Na Hills.

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