Worlds Best Hotel 2024 is in Bangkok Says Major Hotel Awards List

 A hotel in Bangkok was ranked number one in the World’s 50 Best Hotels of 2024.
The second edition of The World’s 50 Best Hotels was unveiled on 17 September, 2024, at a live awards ceremony in London.
The Top Five world’s best hotels are:

No.1 Capella Bangkok
Bangkok

Situated on the Chao Phraya River on the oldest road, Charoenkrung. With panoramic views of the majestic Chao Phraya River, Capella Bangkok, among the luxury five star hotels in Bangkok Thailand, is a gateway to the eternal beauty of nature, and the urban oasis of the city.

Inspired by the soul of riverfront life, there are 101 suites and villas with views of the river, offering both intimacy and immersion in this privileged position. Imbued with the personality of a boutique pied à terre, this philosophy extends across all the elements, from contemporary dining to the renowned Auriga spa. Offering a Capella Culturist, culinary experience overseen by a 3-Michelin-starred chef, riverfront-facing Ballroom, and more.

No.2 Passalacqua
Italy

No.3 Rosewood Hong Kong
Hong Kong

No.4 Cheval Blanc
France

No.5 The Upper House
Hong Kong

 See the full list below:

 
Source: Pattaya News

 

Thailand's 5-20 Year Visa Now a Bit Cheaper

The Thai Privilege Visa (TPV), previously known as the Elite Visa, has recently suspended its 50,000 baht (approximately US$1,500) registration fee that was used for background checks of applicants.

This fee waiver is available for applications submitted from the beginning of September to the end of 2024. The TPV offers various visa options ranging from 5 to 20 years, each featuring unique perks and bonuses, with current prices spanning from 900,000 baht to over 2 million baht.

In a recent announcement, the Privilege company, wholly owned by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, stated that this move aims to attract more new members during a period of economic uncertainty and evolving visa policies.

The timing of this decision hints that the primary motive may be to compete with new visa options such as the 10-year Long Term Residence Visa and the recently introduced 5-year Destination Thailand Visa.

Additionally, travellers now have easier access to Thailand with options such as a 60-day visa on arrival, extendable by another month at Thai immigration, and border-hopping for repeated stays, writes Barry Kenyon for Pattaya Mail.

The Elite Visa, launched in 2003 and transferred to the Privilege Card in 2013, has always included benefits like multiple entries, fast-track services at Thai airports, and discounts at selected retail outlets, hotels, spas, and golf courses.

Although its appeal initially fell short of expectations, the Covid-19 pandemic saw a surge in applications from affluent visitors who sought the flexibility to enter and exit Thailand at will. It is estimated that the current enrollment stands at around 30,000, with the largest group coming from China.

Originally conceived by then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Elite Visa struggled to meet its ambitious membership goals. Early promises that members would be allowed to purchase a small plot of land in their name for residential use were eventually vetoed by the Cabinet.

Over the years, the rules for different TPV categories have become increasingly complicated, with higher-cost options offering more generous perks. While all nationalities except North Koreans are now eligible to apply, the future of the TPV remains a contentious issue.

Ultimately, the suspension of the registration fee and other strategic changes come as part of an ongoing effort to make Thailand more attractive to long-term international visitors, despite the complexities and controversies surrounding the visa.

Source: ASIAN NOW

#Bangkok tops list of trending Airbnb destinations this year

Thailand’s capital topped a list of trending Airbnb destinations in 2022. Based on searches made in the first to third quarters of the year for check-ins, Bangkok was the #1 most trending destination for Airbnb guests across the globe.

The entire list is as follows: 

Bangkok, Thailand

Sydney, Australia

Málaga, Spain

Seoul, South Korea

Melbourne, Australia

Itapema, Brazil

Angra dos Reis, Brazil

Capão da Canoa, Brazil

Auckland, New Zealand

Brisbane, Australia

In searches for future check-ins in 2023, Bangkok was #5, Nation Thailand reported. The list of top trending travels spots for Airbnb in 2023 were:

Málaga, Spain

Sydney, Australia

Melbourne, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

Bangkok, Thailand

Airbnb’s General Manager for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Amanpreet Bajaj, said…

“The reopening of more countries this year also unlocked pent-up demand from international travellers eager to reconnect with loved ones or visit their favourite destinations once more.”

Earlier this year, there was a major jump in searches for Airbnb accommodation in Thailand, according to Airbnb data. The data shows that between January and March this year, the number of searches for Airbnb accommodation in the kingdom shot up by 180% compared to the same time frame last year.

Both Thai and international travellers especially searched for Airbnb accommodations in hotspots including Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui.

In September, however, Airbnb said tourists in Thailand were opting for ‘off-the-beaten-track’ destinations, benefiting the environment and local economies.

According to Airbnb, more tourists are venturing out of these hubs and into “lesser-known” destinations such as Koh Lanta, Trat, Pai and Cha-Am.

But based on the recent list of trending Airbnb destinations, it appears that Bangkok is still at the top.

Between January 1 and December 20, Thailand welcomed 10.9 million tourists from around the world, the governor said this morning. 

Tourist arrivals in Thailand could hit the 11 million mark before the year is through, according to the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Yuthasak Supaporn.

With High Season in full swing, Yuthasak said he expects tourist arrivals to reach 11.5 million before the year’s end.

Source - The Thaiger

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Whole new world of censorship pain on its way to Thailand

 Whole new world of censorship pain on its way to Thailand

A whole new world of censorship pain is on its way to Thailand, with the latest act by the thought police becoming law on Christmas Day.

Online platforms must abide by a new regulation to deal quickly with complaints about content deemed to violate the Computer Crimes Act.

A new regulation issued by Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn establishes procedures for the notification and removal of illegal information. According to Prachatai, this prohibits the public posting of anything dodgy and includes any information made available over a public digital network.

Among other things, all online service providers must create channels to receive complaints from the public. Apart from filing complaints with providers, offended parties can also complain to the police.

Upon receiving a complaint – any complaint – providers must take down the questionable content, and notify all concerned parties, within 24 hours.

Those who don’t comply will face punishments of up to five years in jail and 100,000 baht fine (US$2,900). In addition, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Office revoke a provider’s operating licences.

Under the Computer Crime Act, the word “information” has been subject to disturbingly broad interpretation. The provision allows for digital messages, posts, and emails.

The bill also prohibits the public posting of information that might defame people, damage national security, or be regarded as pornography.

However, providers held to be negligent in the performance of their duties can still avoid punishment if they can prove that they are not responsible for the illegal information and gain no benefit from it.

Platform providers that allow for unscreened content uploads will also be exempted from the punishment, provided they abide by MDES’s notification and takedown policy.

Source - The Thaiger

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Entry requirements for international arrivals starting November 1

The Thailand Pass is set to launch in 5 days, aiming to ease the process to get approval to enter Thailand. The entry requirements for international travellers still require some hoops, but the government hopes this streamlining will help welcome back much-needed tourism to the country.

The website for the Thailand Pass has been created at tp.consular.go.th but it is not active yet, displaying a message that registration begins at 9 am on November 1. All currently issued certificates of entry will be honoured and travellers can request refunds from their hotels for the cost of lifted requirements.

Thailand Pass will open for registration on 1 November 2021 at 09.00 hrs. We recommend you to register for Thailand’s new electronic entry document (Thailand Pass QR code) at least 7 days prior to your travel date. For travellers who have been granted COE (Certificate of Entry) and will arrive in Thailand from 1 November 2021 onwards, the COE remains valid for entering Thailand. Travellers can update the approved COE with the revised terms and condition of stay complying with new entry regulations by downloading the new COE at the registration website (coethailand.mfa.go.th) or the link from your COE approval notification email.

The Department of Consular Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have prepared an infographic outlining the 5 steps of the entry requirements for Thailand starting November 1.

1/ PREPARE: Required documents
1/ Passport
2/ Thai visa (if required)
3/ Vaccine certificate (for Test & Go or Sandbox Blue Zones scheme – unvaccinated travelers can quarantine 7 or 10 days for air travelers and 14 days for overland travelers.)
4/ Insurance with a minimum of US $50,000 coverage
5/ Paid SHA+ or AQ hotel reservation (including fee for RT-PCR test)

2/ REGISTER: Register at tp.consular.go.th at least 7 days before travel
1/ Fill in details and immigration forms
2/ Upload to the site
3/ Wait for pre-approval of your vaccine certificate
4/ Receive a Thailand Pass QR code

3/ TEST: Within 72 hours before departure, obtain a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test

 
4/ ARRIVE: Travel to Thailand
1/ Officers will check your Thailand Pass QR code and negative RT-PCR test
2/ Pass through immigration and disease control checkpoints
3/ Take another RT-PCR Covid-19 test
1/ At the airport OR
2/ At your approved hotel OR
3/ At designated accommodations in the Test & Go or Sandbox Blue Zones schemes

5/ STAY: According to which entry program you do (see below)
1/ Test & Go – 1 night in AQ or SHA+ hotel while waiting for test results
2/ Blue Zone Sandbox – SHA+ hotel for 7 nights
3/ Happy Quarantine – AQ hotel for 10 nights (14 if you enter by land)

Source - The Thaiger

 VISA AGENT  /  THAI PASS

Thailand’s ‘Bold Move’ to revive tourism to take years, analysts say

BANGKOK, Oct 12 (Bloomberg): Thailand's plan to end quarantine for vaccinated visitors is "a fight to win foreign tourists", Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Tuesday (Oct 12).

But analysts and industry executives see it as a long road to recovery fraught with risks of periodic virus resurgence and unpredictable travel trends.

Minister Phiphat said Thailand's reopening plan coincides with many other nations' efforts to allow easier cross-border travel and is a fight to win foreign tourists in the next few months.

His ministry wants to attract travellers from China the most, and may seek travel bubbles with Asean nations if they are low-risk countries and travellers have been fully vaccinated.

A return to the pre-pandemic levels of tourist arrivals and spending will likely take a few years, according to Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, the president of the Thai Hotels Association.

It is unlikely that large groups of visitors will immediately head to Thailand, given the volatile nature of global travel and the coronavirus situation, she said.

"The light at the end of the tunnel is here, but at the same time it will be a slow climb back to the levels seen before the pandemic," Marisa said. "Travel is still so volatile so we have to manage our risks. Keeping costs low will still remain a key strategy for all the hotels in Thailand."

Thailand will end quarantine for vaccinated visitors from low-risk nations from Nov 1, joining a growing list of nations reopening to cross-border travellers ahead of the year-end holiday season, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said on Monday.

The surprise announcement saw the nation's currency surge the most in more than two weeks, and stocks of airport operators, hotels and airlines rally to lift the benchmark index to a one-month high.

Ekasit Kunadirekwong, an analyst at Krungsri Securities, said that with the "bold move", tourism recovery is expected to accelerate in the fourth quarter along with rising vaccination rate and roll-out of booster shots.

Thailand's low vaccination rate of 32 per cent could lead to a spike in new cases upon reopening for inbound travellers and easing of restrictions for business activities.

Krungsri expects Thailand's population to reach 70 per cent vaccination rate by year-end with tourist arrivals forecast maintained at 300,000 this year, 14 million in 2022, 34 million in 2023, and a rebound to pre-pandemic levels of 40 million by 2024.

Sunthorn Thongthip, an analyst at Kasikorn Securities, said the latest move will help remove the barriers preventing tourists from coming to Thailand and to stimulate economic activity during the New Year festive period.

Sunthorn sees an upside to Bank of Thailand's 2022 GDP forecast of 3.9 per cent which is based on tourist arrivals estimate of 6 million next year. Every 3 million tourist arrivals in Thailand is expected to create 1 per cent upside to GDP growth.

Sunthorn expects the baht to rise to 32.75 vs US dollar by end-2021.

Kasikorn Securities is positive towards the Thai equities market as the reopening should benefit domestic, tourism related sectors.

Kampon Adireksombat, deputy managing director of SCB Securities' Chief Investment Office, said the economic recovery still faces many downside risks and there is a need to monitor how many tourists actually come in, especially from China, the biggest source of visitors pre-Covid.

Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said the reopening is necessary to boost the Thai economy as tourism accounts for more than 10 per cent of GDP.

"Thailand needs to reopen to gain more income and benefit from global economic recovery. If not, the nation will only suffer from higher costs due to rising oil prices," Supant said. - Bloomberg

Source - ASIAN NOW

Our VISA AGENT

Thailand bets on prisons to boost tourism

  

 Thailand plans to turn about half its prisons into tourist attractions to boost visitor numbers as the Southeast Asian nation struggles to recover from an economic slump caused by the corona-virus outbreak.

Sporting events, art exhibitions, cooking contests and souvenirs made by inmates will be rolled out in 72 of the country's 143 prisons, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said this week.

A pilot scheme is being tested in five prisons, including those in the cities of Trat, Rayong and Ratchaburi, he said.

This would not only bring much-needed visitors, but also prepare inmates for a "normal life in society" and change the image of prisons from being "a twilight world to a world of opportunities", he added.

The concept of prison tourism is not new. From tours of Alcatraz in San Francisco to the notorious Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi that is now a museum, prisons are major attractions worldwide.

Some defunct prisons have even been converted into luxury hotels, while a women's jail in Colombia has a restaurant run by inmates, and a Singapore prison hosts an annual charitable run.

But luring tourists without addressing fundamental concerns about Thailand's prison system, including overcrowding and the large number of women inmates, is "not acceptable", said Debbie Stothard, founder of Altsean, a human rights network.

"It's a good idea if it's meant to give prisoners more skills and help them integrate into society," said Stothard.

"But it has to be part of a broader rights-based approach to reform the system," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Thursday.

Thailand has the largest prison population in Southeast Asia, and inmates have limited access to medical facilities, food, water and sanitation, according to a 2017 report by the International Federation for Human Rights.

A 2017 law was aimed at improving prison conditions, and Thailand's Justice Ministry has vowed to ease overcrowding, as well as provide vocational training for prisoners.

The tourism project is a part of this plan, Somsak said.

Thailand's tourism-dependent economy has taken a hit from the corona-virus, with only about 8 million visitors expected this year, a fifth of last year's total.

But driving visitors to correctional facilities is not the answer, even though Thailand has successfully turned the islands of Koh Tao and Koh Tarutao - which were once prisons - into popular tourist spots, said Stuart McDonald, co-founder of website Travelfish.

"It raises significant concerns around the sensitivity of what is made available to the public, and how the rights and privacy of prisoners would be protected — for instance, would they have a choice not to participate?" he said.

"Prisons should be working to rehabilitate prisoners regardless of any possible tourism appeal wrapped up in the process."

Source - TheJakartaPost

Proper safeguards needed for long-term AEC benefits, #Thailand

Asean countries need to integrate appropriate safeguards to ensure inclusiveness and sustainability in any benefits to be brought about by the Asean Economic Community (AEC), experts said recently.

 At a Bangkok symposium on "Shared solutions: Safeguarding sustainable development in the Mekong region", Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, senior energy economist at the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia, said AEC will propel infrastructure investment in the Mekong region.

The benefits of AEC for the subregion include faster and more dynamic economic growth, stronger Asian voices in international forums, an alternative to global multilateral institutions, less poverty and better social indicators.

Yet, the benefits outweighed its costs - greater divide between rich and poor, loss of independence of national economic policies, weaker economic linkages with non-Asian countries and a loss of national culture and identity.

He called for proper environmental safeguards. This issue is challenging as Asean has a diverse mix of environmental and natural resources, a different environmental governance structure, dynamic legal regime, land tenure and taxation, and absence from region-wide institutions and systems to regulate, manage and monitor social and ecological impacts.

To improve regional cooperation, it is important to establish a standard approach that is programmatic, systematic, sequenced, targeted and transparent; to adopt a coherent framework for safeguard policies, legislation, tools and initiatives that compliment and strengthen each other; and to integrate policies in the administrative and legislative dimensions.

Networking and institution building, data and information management, education and training, international best practices and dispute settlement are the strategies to achieve the target.

"Asean is different from the European Union, which has a wide range of diversity. We need to learn how they can move forward with this diversity. Both government-to-government and business-to-business cooperation, coordination and collaboration are needed. Development will largely depend on how far we are going," he said.

At the event, Matthew Baird, of Environmental Counsel Asia, stressed the importance of climate change and environmental impact assessments (EIAs). Countries in the region need to seriously take into consideration the two factors for all investment projects.

"It is time for an Asean framework convention on EIA to ensure the bloc will see further developments in the near future," he said.

The framework convention should cover regional EIA capacity-building, access to information and public participation, registration and training of EIA consultants, transboundary EIA assessment, strategic environmental assessment and screening lists for projects.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, compared to the climate in 1961-90, the average global temperature will increase by 1 degree Celsius from 2010-39 and 3-4 degrees from 2070-99.

Average rainfall will decrease by 20 millimetre from 2010-39, then increase by 60mm from 2070-99. Globally, water has been projected to be a key indicator of these changes. The increase in fossil fuel consumption for economic development directly leads to an increase of carbon dioxide emissions as the major man-made cause of climate change.

Actions on climate change were part of the United Nations' new 17 sustainable development goals. Countries are being invited to submit their action plans on the issue to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as the world is expected to strike a new universal climate change agreement at the UN climate conference in Paris in December.

The Paris agreement will go into effect in 2020, empowering all countries to act to prevent average global temperatures rising above 2 degrees Celsius and to reap the many opportunities that arise from a necessary global transformation to clean and sustainable development.

Over 50 countries have submitted their action plans, including four Asean members - Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia.

During the Union Nations General Assembly last week, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said, "We have no hope of ending extreme poverty unless we tackle climate change".

According to data from the World Wildlife Fund, across the Mekong region, temperatures rose by 0.5-1.5C in the past 50 years. The region is vulnerable to climate change with expected impacts on the region's terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems.

According to a report by the Asian Development Bank, Thailand's temperature increased from 1-1.8C in the past 50 years, while Vietnam's temperature increased by 0.7C during this period.

The climate change action plans of the countries in the subregion mainly involve energy policies.

Thailand targets to boost the renewable energy portion to 20.3 per cent by 2022. Vietnam's renewable energy portion will be raised to 5 per cent by 2020 and 11 per cent by 2050. Cambodia aims to raise both the electrification rate and renewable portion to 100 per cent by 2020. Laos aims to extend electricity access to 90 per cent of households by 2020 and increase renewable energy to 30 per cent by 2025.

Seree Nonthasoot, Thailand's representative to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, said human rights and environmental issues are interlinked.

Asean should adopt people-oriented and gender-responsive development programmes, and needs to develop a CSR (corporate social responsibility) strategy for the grouping. The current discussion on CSR and human rights should be broadened to include other stakeholders.

"Asean needs to incorporate human rights into community vision. Development of regional guidelines and closer cooperation among regional stakeholders is essential. Alignment between NAPs (national action plans) and existing human rights action plans is also needed," he said.

Source: The Nation

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