Suvarnabhumi Improves Services Amid Thailand’s Tourism Rebound

 BANGKOK (NNT) - The Ministry of Transport has instructed Suvarnabhumi Airport to urgently address the issue of long immigration queues and wait times at baggage carousels in order to better facilitate the entry of international travelers amid Thailand’s tourism rebound.

Serving as the country’s main port of international arrivals, Suvarnabhumi Airport last month saw a total of 4.3 million passengers at an average of 138,287 daily passengers, representing 317% year-on-year growth.

The airport in January 2023 served 25,690 flights at a daily average of 829 flights. Some 2,000 of the flights that month - or around 80 flights per day - were from China, bringing in a total of 255,000 arrivals, or around 11,000 passengers a day.

The surge in arriving passengers has caused some issues at the airport, particularly congestion at passport control and long processing periods for baggage. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said that while these issues have already been addressed, more work needs to be carried out to ensure the airport’s capacity for future growth.

The Ministry of Transport has ordered Airports of Thailand (AOT) to add 60 additional immigration counters at the airport’s passport control areas. This expansion, which is in the process of selecting contractors, is expected to expand the processing capacity at passport control to 3,000 people per hour.

On the baggage handling front, AOT has instructed the two ground-handling companies to increase the number of staff members and equipment in order to accommodate more flights. Some airlines have received temporary authorization to manage their own ground-handling at the airport, in an effort to help reduce delays.

The AOT is also in the process of selecting a third ground-handling company to serve flights at the airport, as this would enable the airport to more sustainably increase its growth capacity for flights and passengers.

Sourse - ASIAN NOW

Chinese tourists will not return until late 2022

Despite Thailand being just days away from reopening the country to international tourists, it could be almost another year before Chinese tourists return, a leading industry body has said.
According to the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), Chinese tourists are not expected to return to Thailand until late 2022.

The prediction comes despite China being listed as one of the 46 low risk countries eligible to enter Thailand without quarantine from November 1.

Chinese tourists visiting Thailand will be dependent on Beijing’s policy of allowing people in and out of the country, said ATTA president Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn.

Mr Sisdivachr said that two events – the 2022 Winter Olympics due to be held in Beijing and the 2022 Asian Games due to be held Hangzhou – will give a clearer indication on the country’s policy with regards to people travelling in and out.

Pre COVID-19, the Chinese accounted for the largest number of foreign tourists to visit Thailand, with approximately 11 million tourists visiting from China annually, accounting for 27 percent of the total number of foreign tourists arriving in Thailand.

Source - BangkokJack

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Cambodia expects Chinese tourists to drive its tourism growth after COVID-19 outbreak

Cambodia is hoping that Chinese tourists will drive its tourism growth when the world is cleared of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Saturday.

Khon said the COVID-19 pandemic had made profound impact on the country's tourism. However, he was optimistic that Chinese tourists would support the kingdom's tourism growth when the coronavirus is over.

The minister said mutual help and trust between the two countries in the fight against COVID-19 has not only deepened bilateral ties, but also earned praise from the two countries.

"The visit of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen to Beijing in February during the virus outbreak has received lavish praise from the Chinese people, and through this visit, I believe that more Chinese people will spend their holidays in Cambodia when the COVID-19 crisis is over," Khon told Xinhua.

China has become the largest source of foreign tourists to Cambodia since 2017. Cambodia's tourism industry, which amounted to 4.92 billion US dollars, is currently being hit hardest by the ravaging pandemic. A tourism data showed that Cambodia received a total of 223,400 foreign tourists in March, a decrease of 65 percent over the same month last year.

Air passenger numbers dropped by more than 90 percent in April, according to the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, while ticket sales at Cambodia's world famous Angkor archeological park fell by 99 percent in April.

Secretary of state and spokesman of the Tourism Ministry Top Sopheak said, "Before COVID-19, the Angkor archeological park in Siem Reap province received up to 9,000 foreign tourists a day, but now, it gets only 20 per day and those are foreigners living and working in Cambodia."

To be ready to receive Chinese tourists during the post-COVID-19 era, Cambodia will continue to promote the "China Ready" strategy and urge tourism businesses and other tourism destinations to further implement health and safety measures for all tourists, he said.

Cambodia has banned entry of foreign visitors from six countries - the United States, Italy, Germany, Spain, France, and Iran - since mid-March and has imposed entry restrictions for all foreigners since March 30 to curb COVID-19.

Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), said all tour and travel companies across the kingdom have suspended their businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting more than 30,000 employees.

"Although Cambodia has detected no new COVID-19 cases for over one month, there are still only a few foreign tourists coming to the country because they're still scared of the virus and our travel restrictions remain in effect," she told Xinhua.

Sivlin agreed that Chinese tourists will be the main driver of tourism growth in Cambodia after the pandemic, and tour and travel companies will unveil new tour packages to attract Chinese tourists when the pneumonia-causing virus is over.

"We will design our strategy again to attract tourists during the post-COVID-19 era, and the strategy will focus on hygiene, health and social distancing on buses and in restaurants," she said.

Clais Chenda, president of the Cambodia Hotel Association, which represents about 250 hotels in the country, said almost all of the hotels have either partially or completely suspended their businesses due to the virus.

She said her two hotels, Terres Rouges in Ratanakiri province and Rajabori Villa in Kratie province, have also been closed temporarily as there were no customers.

"Our tourism mainly depends on foreign tourists. Due to the pandemic, there are very few foreigners coming to Cambodia at this time, so most of the hotels have been temporarily closed," she said. "Currently, we are negotiating with landlords who lease premises to hotels to reduce their rental prices in order to enable us to survive this difficult time."

Chenda said for the hotels that are still open during the COVID-19 pandemic, the association has advised them to stick to health and hygiene measures by screening guests' temperatures routinely, providing them with alcohol or antibacterial gel for handwashing, and keeping social distancing among them.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Shunned by Chinese, Thai tourism hotspot braces for rare slump

Hotels on Thailand's most popular holiday island have been forced to slash prices with rooms left vacant and beaches sparse as tourist chiefs struggle with a plunge in Chinese visitors caused by the US trade war and a stronger baht.

Located on the Andaman Sea and known for its beaches and nightlife, sun-drenched Phuket was the most visited destination in the country last year after Bangkok and a good gauge of the state of its crucial travel industry.

Tourism accounts for 18 percent of Thailand's gross domestic product and Chinese holidaymakers make up more than a quarter of total arrivals. 

But while 2.2 million people from the country visited in 2018, according to official figures, numbers for January-September were down almost a fifth on-year.

Claude de Crissey, Honorary Consul of France in Phuket and owner of about 40 rooms in the popular Patong Beach area, said Chinese tourists are usually present even during the current low season.

"That was not the case this year," he said, adding he had to lower his prices by as much as 50 percent. 

The problem is not just in Phuket, with hotels also struggling to fill rooms in the seaside resort of Pattaya on the mainland and Koh Samui island.

Trade tensions with the US have already made some Chinese reluctant to take holidays owing to uncertainty back home, while the Thai baht has risen around 10 percent against the yuan this year. 

A boating disaster off Phuket's coast that killed 47 Chinese holidaymakers has also scared some off.

"We are worried," an industry insider told AFP, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic in a country where tourism provides tens of thousands of jobs. 

Adding to the headache is the fact that more than 3,000 new hotel rooms are being constructed on the island, raising the question of who will fill them.

"In terms of business, it's not good," said Kongsak Khoopongsakorn, vice president of the association of hotels in Thailand and director of Vijitt Resort.

"Because...we have more hotels, more rooms to sell, we have more restaurants, more coffee shops."

Still, tourism authority chairman Yuthasak Supasorn told AFP he remained "optimistic", adding: "We should reach our goal of 39.8 million foreign visitors" this year.

 However, that is only up from 38.2 million in 2018, much less than the jump seen from the previous year's total of 35.6 million.

 

Counting on India 

Now hoteliers and tour package operators are targeting visitors from elsewhere, particularly India, which experts see as a huge untapped market.

"We are counting on the Indians to revive the sector," Kongsak said.

A rapid expansion of the middle class in India, increased direct flights and visa-free travel have prompted Thailand to revise forecasts upwards.

It now expects two million Indian tourists this year, after an increase of nearly 25 percent on-year in the first seven months.

But for now, the lower arrivals is evident on the streets of Phuket.

"I've never seen anything as bad as what it is at the moment," said Paul Scott from Australia, who said he has been coming to Thailand for 15 years.

He mainly blamed the stronger baht for the drop-off but also the fact that Thailand wasn't the untouched vacation paradise it once was. "Now it's not so new...and it's not cheap," he said.

Source - JakartaPost

#Vietnam - Trees that grow green tea and their own snow

Well-known tea production areas in Vietnam are Mộc Châu, Thái Nguyên, Lâm Đồng and Phú Thọ, but when it comes to tea trees of hundreds of years old, the important provinces are on the axis from the northeast to the northwest such as Hà Giang, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Sơn La and Điện Biên.

My search for old tea trees was motivated by tales about a tree hundreds of years old in the Hà Giang highlands that grows wild and has a white down. Monkeys are trained to pick this tea, because the job is dangerous for humans.

The trees are called chè (tea) san tuyết (san – transcription of a Chinese word which means mountain and tuyết means snow).

I started along the mountain range of West Con Linh in Hà Giang Province. This province shares its border with China on its northeast side. I was disappointed to find that some very big plantation tea trees – two or three people can barely join hands around the trunk – had been cut down, milled and sold away to China since 2008. The law does not prohibit the felling of plantation tea trees. There are only trees with trunks 20 cm to 40 cm across left. According to the tea-growers I have met, tea trees 20 cm across are 60 to 80 years old.

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Until recent decades, the Dao ethnic groups used to grow tea trees. Above their doors they used to hang bundles of tea for the treatment of stomach upset or ailments caused by the weather or miasmas.

The lowlanders have known about the old san tuyết tea trees in Hà Giang since 1979 when their soldiers went to the frontier to defend the country against an invading Chinese.

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Mr Ngo Viet Thanh, a tea dealer in Hà Giang, told me that san tuyết tea trees in Hà Giang grew untended on the highlands above 1,000 metres. The san tuyết tea in Hà Giang has a tart taste when drunk for the first time due to a high level of tannin, but then the taste becomes pleasantly sweet. ‘The ethnic people consider this a gift from the heavens and pick they take it without having to tend it’, he said.

Mr Thanh in 1993 he began to be interested san tuyết tea. He went to hamlets and villages in the Hà Giang highlands to bring it to the lowland markets. I accompanied him to the Nhìu Sang Dao hamlet, in the commune of Xín Chải, Vị Xuyên District, Hà Giang Province. It took us more than two hours to go 50 kilometres in a Russian automobile, covering steep, stony and dangerous tracks along the Vietnam-China border, with precipitous slopes above and below.
The old tea trees in Nhìu Sang, close to the Dao houses, have a diameter of 20 cm and more. A dozen kilometres away from Nhìu Sang, where the Mông Hoa (Flower Hmong) ethnic group live in Lao Chải, there are tea trees with trunks that can only just be circled by the arms join clasping hands. Mr Thanh said ‘It was hard to transport the tea out because of the tracks full of obstacles. People picked the tea, dried it in the sun, and sold it to Chinese merchants. It is a few kilometres from Lao Chải to China.

I was told that on top of Mount Fansipan, in the Hoàng Liên Sơn mountain range, there were tea trees hundreds of years old.

Having got through a number of paperwork formalities that required waiting two days, I had permission to enter Hoàng Liên National Park on foot in search of old tea trees. The path I travelled on there was the one travellers take for the peak of Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam.

At an altitude of 2,200 metres, I and my guide came to a fork. On the right a path led to Fansipan’s top. We took to the left, leading to a ravine. The guide warned me that the area where the tea trees grew had a warm climate that favoured several kinds of snakes.
The first tea tree I found was about a metre in diameter and taller than I could estimate. It was hard to recognize it as a tea tree because the whole area was dark green, every root covered with a lush, green moss. Under the canopy was a fern forest. Although I had seen several old tea trees, I had never seen such lofty and big ones. The trunks were close to each other and covered with a white mould. This made the tea trees very different from the other kinds of trees in the area. The guide told me that from the altitude of 2,200 metres up to 2,800 metres, there were old tea trees everywhere and the higher we got the smaller and shorter they would be.

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READ CONTINUE

VIDEO

  Ha Giang tea tree remains productive after 500 years
A 500-year-old Shan tuyet tea tree in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang still retains its productivity and the special taste of its leaves.

 TEA TOURISTS

Chinese tourists skip Thailand after Phuket boat disaster

A ferry disaster that killed dozens of Chinese tourists in Thailand earlier this year has sent visitor numbers plunging from the kingdom's single largest market. 

The Chinese make up about a quarter of Thailand's 35 million annual visitors who are drawn by cheap beach vacations, renowned food and Bangkok nightlife.

But in July a ferry carrying mostly Chinese tourists back to the resort island of Phuket sank killing 47. 

August recorded an immediate dip of 12 percent and September brought 15 percent fewer Chinese tourists than the same months last year. 

October was the hardest hit, with the tourism ministry reporting Wednesday a same-period decrease of about 20 percent -- or 160,000 people -- from 2017.

About $476 million was lost in spending over the three-month period, statistics showed. 

Thailand has seen tourism slowdowns following a bombing in 2015 in central Bangkok and a military coup in 2014.

 But the prolonged slump of the past few months has been a "wake-up call" for Thailand's tourism operators, Paul Pruangkarn of the Pacific Asia Travel Association said, as it has pushed the sector to mull its overreliance on one country. 

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"Too many people have always been focusing too much on getting Chinese tourists," said Pruangkarn, whose association represents hundreds of businesses around the region. 

He predicted tourist numbers will ultimately bounce back.

Since the Phuket tragedy the government has rolled out inducements aimed at regaining trust and making travel easier.

The immigration bureau exempted Chinese tourists from paying a $60 visa-on-arrival fee from November to mid-January. 

Last month four immigration officials were demoted from their position following a probe that found they were demanding "tips" from Chinese tourists to fast track their entry. 

Source - TheJakartaPost

#Bangkok - Khaosan vendors to ‘disobey’ orders from Monday

Khaosan Road vendors will resort to “civil disobedience” from Monday if Bangkok authorities do not allow them to sell their wares during daylight hours, a leader of the Khaosan Road Street Vendors Association said.

“We will defy the order and set our stalls up at the usual time,” Yada Pornpetrumpa said. 

The vendors are also planning to march to the capital’s City Hall at around 11.30am on Monday to seek permission to sell their wares during the day.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) banned street vendors from trading during daytime since August 1. Though the BMA is coming up with a new regulation to allow trading from 4pm to midnight, vendors at present can only conduct their business from 6pm. 

 This time limit has meant a huge drop in income for daytime traders, largely because they have to hand their stalls over at 8pm to vendors who sell at night, Yada explained. 

“It’s like we set our stalls up for nothing. Now, we [daytime vendors] make only Bt500 or Bt1,000 daily,” she added. 

According to the 1992 Public Cleanliness and Orderliness Act, vending on the street is illegal. However, since Khaosan Road is known the world over for its vibrant street market, the City Hall decided to draft a municipal order allowing vendors to take over the Khaosan Road footpaths from 4pm to midnight. 

Khaosan vendors, however, said this order would cripple vendors who make a living by selling trinkets to backpackers and Chinese tourists during the daytime. 

Source - TheNation

#Thailand and Big Joke roll out the red carpet for VIP tourists: they mean the Chinese

A special lane at Suvarnabhumi airport has been inaugurated - it is for the ease and convenience of Chinese visitors. 

 Thailand's poster boy top cop Maj Gen "Big Joke" Surachet Hakpal - deputy commissioner of the tourist police - and Pol Maj Gen Pritthipong Prayoonsiri at Region 2 immigration have shaken hands on the deal that provided the new lane.

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 Both major generals were at Suvarnabhumi yesterday evening for a PR exercise assuring Chinese media that everything was all well and good in Thailand for their nationals.

The TPB website said that Thailand did not want to be seen as taking advantage of the Chinese.

They said VIP measures were already in place to give them every assistance from the plane to their waiting transport outside the airport.

They said they were looking at short term and long term answers to problems faced by Chinese tourists.

 Though they did not mention if this was in response to bad press after the boat accident in Phuket recently that saw many Chinese cancel their holidays.

Thaivisa notes that the accident claimed many lives and has had the Thai authorities scurrying to repair the damage. Many will see the latest gesture as part of that and ask the question:

"What about other nationalities?"

Source - TheNation

#Thailand not seen as safe tourist destination until it fixes problems

TOURISM and Sport Minister Weerasak Kowsurat yesterday urged agencies to sort out a series of problems before they can send a convincing message to the world that Thailand is still a safe destination for tourists.

Weerasak was responding to the Phoenix boat accident that killed 47 Chinese tourists earlier this month off the southern resort island of Phuket. 

There are many issues that authorities should review and rectify to help improve tourists’ confidence in Thailand as a safe destination, Weerasak told The Nation in an interview. 

He said authorities should complete the first phase of the process by paying all compensation that is due to the relatives of victims and return them to their country.

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Authorities should then try to figure out what happened to the boats by retrieving the wreckage for inspection. Concerned agencies should collect statistics nationwide about boat accidents and study international standards for tour boats that can be compared to Thailand. 

He also urged authorities to explain that the cause of the accident was not related to so-called zero-dollar tours or nominee ownership in tourism. “[People] should not generalise. We should be sympathetic to those who lost their loved ones. Money cannot bring them back,” he said. 

He also urged authorities to speed up the completion of a safety standards manual to improve confidence. 

“If we can manage all the issues we then can send a single, convincing message to the world, the Chinese, and local people and ask them to have confidence in us,” he said. The number of Chinese tourist visitors to Phuket has dropped sharply in the wake of the tragedy. 

Source TheNation 

 

Phuket hit as Chinese cancel room bookings after boat disaster

Tourism industry seeks tough measures to protect reputation after boat tragedy

THAI TOURISM authorities are worried following the massive cancellations of hotel room bookings by Chinese tourists in the southern island resort of Phuket following the tragic July 5 boat accident.

So far, 7,300 Phuket hotel room bookings for July and August have been cancelled by Chinese tourists. Industry insiders say the numbers are likely to increase as more hotels report their booking status. Chinese account for as many as 3 million tourists in Phuket per year, while on average some 10 million Chinese tourists visit Thailand every year.

Kongsak Kupongsakorn, president of the Southern Hoteliers’ Association, said 19 member hotels had already reported their cancellations while another 160 hotels have yet to file their reports. The negative impacts of the July 5 accident in which nearly 50 were killed are widespread and more serious than previously thought, he said.

Chatchai Tipsunavee, permanent secretary at the Tourism and Sports Ministry, said a massive number of hotel booking cancellations had been reported despite remedial measures taken by the Thai government following the boat accident.

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 At this stage, hotel room cancellations are estimated to account for 10-15 per cent of the total business in the world-renowned resort province.

Chiaya Rapuepol, president of the Andaman Sea tourism business association, said the boat accident could cost as much as Bt42 billion in lost tourism and related revenues over the next two months. He called for the government to restore confidence in tourist safety as soon as possible to avoid even greater damage being caused to Phuket’s Bt350-billion-a-year tourism industry. News reports of the two boats capsizing received worldwide media coverage.

Phuket Governor Napat Prodthong wants the government to set up a command centre to regulate all Andaman Sea tourist activities in the nearby Phang Nga province. 

He suggested inspection points for all incoming and outgoing vessels so that authorities could more effectively enforce safety and |related laws on vessel operators, captains, passengers and crew.

The Phang Nga command centre could take responsibility for Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Phang Nga provinces, he said, adding that Phuket itself will have its own vessel command units at Ao Por, Ratchata Harbour and Ao Chalong Harbour, with closed-circuit and surveillance TV systems installed to record all incoming and outgoing tourists.

Overall, the Phang Nga command centre and other facilities would cost Bt500 million to Bt600 million to boost tourist safety in the Andaman Sea, he said.

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 Meanwhile, the Phuket governor and other provincial authorities have joined with Vice Admiral Somneuk Prempramoj, commander of the Third-Region Navy responsible for Phuket and other Andaman Sea provinces, to work with harbour operators and other businesses to ensure tourist safety in the wake of the disaster. The government has announced a revamping of safety rules and regulations to prevent future accidents. The large number of vessels, boat services and even harbours in Phuket alone present a challenge for properly regulating the industry.

The Navy has sent its personnel to help provincial authorities restore confidence and to help upgrade the safety system by issuing early warnings on bad weather. Tourism authorities and others must step up preventive safety measures, such as ensuring passengers are taught how to use safety vests.

Somnuek said the Navy would propose that the central government use Article 44 of the charter to empower Phuket authorities to fast-track enforcement of rules and regulations to boost safety.

Meanwhile, Woraluk Reukch-aikan, managing director of TC Blue Dream Co, owner of the ill-fated Pheonix tourist boat, surrendered on Saturday and will appear in court today to seek release on bail. 

Relatives of the 29 victims killed in the accident have been paid more than Bt60 million in combined compensation. Altogether, 46 bodies have been recovered from the sea, while authorities are still attempting to recover another body struck in the boat’s wreckage and another passenger is still missing.

Source - TheNation

 

Top Chinese Tourist Destinations in Pattaya

Pattaya Floating Market: 10 reasons Why It Is One Of the Top Chinese Tourist Destinations in Pattaya

We couldn’t be happier about the popularity of these attractions are having with Chinese tourists. As Jomtien Beach’s most well known luxury property developer, we are ecstatic to learn Pattaya is viewed in such a positive way by Chinese visitors and investors. Before continuing reading about our lovely floating market, make sure you learn the details about investing in Pattaya and the reasons why Jomtien is becoming Pattaya’s fastest developing area.

Thai Food

There is food represented at the Floating Market from every corner of Thailand. Delight in North Eastern fare like Som Tam Bpu Bpala (spicy papaya salad with rotten crab) and fresh vegetables with Nam Prik Tha Dang (spicy fermented fish paste) Barbecued chicken and sticky rice.

The North Eastern region of Thailand is also knows as Issan and you will find some of the spiciest food on the planet comes from here. The foods suggested here are intense, spicy, sour, sweet, salty and bitter all at the same time creating a veritable symphony of flavors. If you want to be ultimately adventurous try this super spicy fare.

On the other side of the Kingdom far to the south you will find some of the best curries around with ingredients like bamboo shoots, lotus stems, and phak tong, a japanese pumpkin.

The central region produces milder fare and is known for the variety of kanom (snacks and desserts) available. I suggest the cotton candy like knom from the Ayutthaya region, the former capital of the kingdom of Siam.

For Northern fare check out all the different types of sausages available to try. Some are spicy and some are sweet. They are made from pork, chicken or fish.

Perhaps before you decide on the best type of food for lunch you should tour the market in the traditional style.

 Thai Food

 

As far back as the late 1600s the Ayutthaya region was known world wide as the Venice of the East. This feeling is still captured when visiting there, and the floating market of Pattaya has captured the essence of this feel as well.

Hire a row boat (bpai lira) powered by a man to tour the 100,000 sqm market the traditional way. The boats are typically large enough to accommodate up to 4 people. The ride down the canals is peaceful and you can even conduct business from boat to boat just like they have been doing in Thailand for hundreds of years.

Source: Powerhouse

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