#Cambodia - Thousands evacuated from Stung Treng due to floodwaters from Laos dam

Cambodian soldiers evacuate residents by boat from the floodings in Stung Treng province on Thursday. The torrent of water unleashed in a deadly Laos dam collapse has drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to evacuate, as rescuers battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after entire villages were washed away.

 About 25,000 people living in Siem Pang district in Stung Treng province were taken to safety following the flooding triggered by the collapse of a hydropower dam in neighbouring Laos.

Stung Treng provincial governor Mom Saroeun told The Post on Thursday that rescue workers managed to bring all victims trapped in the floods to high ground. 

Authorities are now providing medicines and basic necessities such as food, mosquito nets and drinking water. 

The authorities said a total of 1,289 families were affected on the Cambodian side after the dam tragedy on Monday evening, which also displaced about 3,000 people and killed at least 26 in Laos. 

The Stung Treng province is in the northern part of Cambodia and located about 50 kilometres away from the Laos border.

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The Ministry of Water Resources said until 3:10pm on Thursday, the water level of Sekong River rose up to 12.10 metres, surpassing the danger level of 11.50 meters.

National Committee of Disaster Management (NCDM) spokesman Keo Vy said: “At 5pm on Thursday the number of evacuees might change as the water level was still rising and I have not received the latest figures yet.”

The situation in Siem Pang district was grim as well. Phen Bunthoeun, Stung Treng Programme Unit Manager of Plan International Cambodia, said houses were flooded and people had to vacate. 

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 “Our findings show that 562 families living in Santepheap and Thmor Keo communes are desperately waiting for emergency assistance such as tents, food, clean water and items related to sanitation,” he said.

Bunthoeun said there was a critical shortage of clean water. Rescue workers have asked local authorities to supply it in containers apart from providing additional tents too. 

Vy said NCDM’s one-year assistance for flood victims includes 10,000 tonnes of rice, 2,000 tonnes of rice seeds and 50 tonnes of crop seeds, while financial aid will only be given if there is a request. 

“These numbers are usually allocated for emergency cases but in the last few years, we have never used them because the provincial authorities managed to cover the expenses."

“The financial package is under a special government allocation and once the situation is severe, the prime minister will authorise the allocation,” he said. 

Vy said in Kratie province, once the Mekong River’s water level reaches 20 meters high, it is considered dangerous as it could flood the low land areas. On Thursday, the water level was recorded at 20.16 metres.

If the water level touches 22 meters, he said it is considered alarming for the Mekong River in Kratie Province.

“Some low land areas – Dam Pout and Dam Lahong – have since submerged due to the rising water,” he said.

 Vy said the ministry had issued a warning to the people living along the low land areas to quickly harvest their crops before the flood arrives.

Source - PhnomPenhPost

#Thailand - Rafting added to ban on visiting Thi Lo Su Waterfall

Rafting trips have now been added to the travel ban for the Thi Lo Su Waterfall tourist destination in Tak province due to concerns about heavy run-off.

The road access to Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary in Tak’s Umphang district where the waterfall is located was closed from June to October for the rainy season and to allow natural rehabilitation.

The original closure allowed rafts to visit the waterfall and camp in the wildlife sanctuary.

But park officials have now shut down rafting starting on Tuesday due to the danger posted by heavy run-off

 

 

 Yutthachai Pattamasonthi, director of the 14th Conservation Area Management Office overseeing the Umphang wildlife sanctuary, on Tuesday issued an order totally banning access to the sanctuary and the waterfall, including by traveling on the creek.

 

 Access to the creek and waterfall will be indefinitely banned until the rains stop, he said.

 

Source - TheNation

 

 

Bali remains top destination among Indonesian travelers

Bali has once again nabbed the top spot as the favorite mid-year destination among Indonesian travelers, according to the latest data compiled by Agoda. 

The online booking platform said in a statement recently that Bali's lineup of mid-year festivals was among the reasons tourists were attracted to the area.

"From the 40^th annual Bali Arts Festival (June to July), which celebrates local culture and art, to the Bali Kites Festival (July to October), which dots the sky with hundreds of colorful kite creations, the Makepung Buffalo Races (July to November) featuring a series of buffalo racing competitions and the Ubud Writers Festival, travelers have plenty of reasons to keep returning to Bali," the statement said. 

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 West Java's provincial capital of Bandung came in second place, according to the list, which featured the top 10 mid-year destinations for Indonesian travelers. In addition to being a sought-after weekend getaway for those in neighboring cities like Jakarta, Bandung is also famous as a shopping and culinary destination. 

Other top spots domestically include Yogyakarta, sixth, Jakarta, eighth, and Malang, 10^th.

Indonesian travelers also evidently favor Japan, as two cities in the East Asian country made the list, with the country's capital Tokyo placing third and Osaka ninth.

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 Tokyo's Ueno Summer Festival, which runs through July and August, is expected to draw huge crowds with its charming toro nagashi (flowing lantern) ceremonies, outdoor ice sculpture exhibitions and live performances at the Suijo Ongakudo open-air theater.

Meanwhile, tourists can enjoy Osaka's summertime festivals such as Tenjin and Gion Matsuri, as well as enjoying the local beaches and water parks. 

Neighboring Southeast Asian cities also made the list, such as Singapore, sitting in fourth spot, Kuala Lumpur, fifth, and Bangkok, seventh.

 

 

Cloud brightening, 'sun shields' to save Barrier Reef

Australia announced plans Friday to explore concepts such as firing salt into clouds and covering swathes of water with a thin layer of film in a bid to save the embattled Great Barrier Reef.

The UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef, about the size of Japan or Italy, is reeling from two straight years of bleaching as sea temperatures rise because of climate change.

Experts have warned that the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long area could have suffered irreparable damage.

While the government has pledged to tackle climate change -- the greatest threat to the world's largest living structure -- there has also been a push to explore shorter-term measures to buy the reef some time.

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 Canberra in January offered Aus$2.0 million (US$1.5 million) to attract innovative ideas to protect the site, which is also under pressure from farming runoff, development and the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish.

Six schemes selected out of a total of 69 submissions will be tested to see if they are feasible.

One selected concept is cloud brightening where salt crystals harvested from seawater are fired into clouds, making them more reflective and therefore deflecting solar rays back into space.

David Mead, a researcher at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said the idea might seem wacky but the proposal has real potential.

"The team have been looking at using a very fine nozzle to pump small droplets of salt water at the rate of several billion per second," he told national broadcaster ABC.

"The water vaporises and you're left with a salt particle which will float around, and if you can introduce those into the system you can increase the amount of sunlight reflected back."

Another idea was a biodegradable "sun shield", where an ultra-thin film containing light-reflecting particles covers some reef waters to protect corals from heat stress.

"The great thing about the film is it is only a molecule thick so you can swim straight through it and it'll just keep self-forming," Andrew Negri from the Australian Institute of Marine Science told the ABC.

Other short-listed projects include mass producing coral larvae with the aid of 3D-printed surfaces to support new growth, and large-scale harvesting and relocation of larvae.

The experimental commissions came as Canberra said Friday it was updating its Aus$2.0 billion "Reef 2050" plan -- first unveiled in 2015 -- to protect the reef, with further measures to improve water quality.

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

 

An onslaught of tourists is stressing out Thailand

Back in early June, a small pilot whale gained global attention after it ingested plastic bags and packaging, and then died in southern Thailand. It wasn’t a good look for the nation’s tourism industry.

A month later, Thailand’s Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat holds up a picture frame containing pieces of an instant-noodle packet recovered from the stomach of the whale. For him, it’s emblematic of the environmental and other stresses of a record tourism boom that could see 40 million foreign arrivals -- equivalent to over half the nation’s population -- in 2019.

"Tourism can create, and at the same time, tourism can disrupt," said Weerasak, 52, in an interview in his office in the Thai capital. "Congestion is no good for anyone, including the hosts and the guests."

A surge in Chinese holidaymakers has stoked the growth in the tourism sector, which now accounts for roughly 20 percent of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

Managing the inflow is proving challenging, underlined by a tragedy last week that put the spotlight on safety standards after more than 40 Chinese tourists died when a boat sank off the coast of Phuket.

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 The disaster hasn’t had a significant impact on Chinese enthusiasm for holidays in Thailand but the government has to be proactive to prevent a wider fallout, said Thongyoo Suphavittayakorn, a spokesperson for the Association of Thai Travel Agents.

Many of the overseas travelers head to Bangkok, beach hot-spots like Phuket or the popular northern city of Chiang Mai, straining local resources.

Asked if Thailand is now coming close to its tourism capacity, Weerasak said: "Oh yeah."

The minister is looking to promote visits to less-traveled spots inside the country to tackle congestion in popular destinations as well as addressing national income disparities. Yet that throws up a new challenge: How to preserve the character of local communities and heritage sites such as the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya that might have to absorb a wave of foreign visitors.

Weerasak said he’s seeking to "encourage domestic and international travelers to be very responsible, not only to the culture but also to the environment."

Consider the case of Maya Bay on Phi Phi Island, which was made famous by the year 2000 movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The bay has been closed down by authorities for four months to give the island time to recover from environmental degradation, such as coral damage from boat anchors and trash on beaches, caused by constant tourist traffic.

"The increased influx of tourism is already having very visible impacts on the Thai seas and coasts," Eike Schoenig, director and chief resident scientist at marine environmentalist group COREsea, said in an email. "Few countries have good track records managing mass tourism."

The Thai tourism minister is planning to install a reservation-only system to control the number of visitors to the bay. Boats will be forced to dock at the back of the bay, so that there will only be a single entry point for tourists.

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 Thailand’s military government is also considering imposing a travel insurance system to prevent tourists arriving without any protection and ending up as a burden on the state if they get into trouble, he said.

Despite the difficulties, tourism is going to remain a critical engine for Thailand, where economic growth is accelerating but lags behind some neighboring countries. Government data shows revenue from foreign tourists is projected at well over $60 billion next year, and that spending remains focused mainly on major cities.

The country is pushing ahead with investment to expand airports as passenger traffic climbs. State-run Airports of Thailand plans to pour billions of dollars into boosting capacity in Bangkok as well as the tourist-heavy spots of Phuket and Chiang Mai.

Countries such as France and Italy that get heavy tourist traffic manage to disperse visitors, said Weerasak.

"That is the pattern we want to see," he said. "The numbers keep increasing. It all depends on how you manage them."

Source - TheJakataPost