#Indonesia - Bawah Island of Anambas Islands nominated for most popular diving spot.

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Dubbed one of Asia's top five tropical island paradises by CNN in 2012, Anambas Islands in Riau Islands province has been nominated in the Most Popular Diving Spot category for this year's Indonesian Tourism Awards (API).

Other destinations competing in the category are Gosong Senggora in West Kotawaringin regency, Banda Islands in Central Maluku regency, Karampuang Island in Mamuju regency, Tomia Island in Wakatobi regency, Lembeh Strait in Bitung city, Tanjung Pasir Moyo in Sumbawa regency, Maumere Bay in Sikka regency, Tomini Bay in Tojo Unauna regency, and Tulamben in Karangasem regency.

“Bawah Island [of Anambas Islands] has the most beautiful underwater scenery; no wonder people from all over the world come here to snorkle and dive,” said Anambas Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports Agency head Iwan K. Roni.

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 API 2017 consists of 15 categories with 10 nominees for each category, an increase from last year that only featured 10 categories.

The voting period runs from June to October. The awards ceremony will be held in November.

Voting is open to the public and those who want to vote for Bawah Island can visit ayojalanjalan.com or send a text message by typing API (space) 5C and sending it to 99386.

 Read also: Bawah Island resort to lure eco-tourists with zero-waste concept

This is the future of business-class seats

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While the vast majority of fliers are feeling the squeeze with tighter and tighter economy seats (we’re looking at you, American Airlines) and downright frightening customer-service disasters (United), we might well be witnessing the dawn of a new golden age of travel in the business-class section.

Now a standard fixture on most planes—both the jumbo jets that regularly traverse oceans as well as the single-aisle planes that make domestic short hops—business class first debuted a mere 40 years ago. British Airways created a “Club Class” between first and coach back in 1978, while Qantas coined the actual term “business class” a year later.

The new first class

So where is business class heading now? First off, it’s replacing first class on many airplanes and routes—it’s simply a less-expensive, less-expansive version of first class that still features lie-flat beds, multicourse menus created by celebrity chefs, and amenity kits stocked with spa products. It makes sense for airlines: There are more seats and more fliers who can purchase these seats, thus more money to be made.

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Second, the seats in business class are getting innovative updates—both technological and ergonomic—that should impact the flight experience in large and small ways. And since airlines typically fly just a handful of aircraft types, you’ll see similar-looking seat styles across brands. There will be uniformity in the improvements. It’s shockingly expensive (think millions of dollars and several years) to develop a new business-class product, so once risk-averse airlines find a style that works, they stick to it. 

The focus now is on refining the use of space and new technology within each seat to maximize passenger comfort.

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THE HIGH RISK OF FACEBOOK

THE HIGH RISK OF FACEBOOK
2 - 14 years old girls murdered after using Social Media / Facebook.
Control your beloved children what the do in their free time.
2 girls (16 and 17 years old ) more missing in Tilburg on the moment.

Both girls Savannah and Romy are find in a canal behind a road.
On the way home from school .  On clearly daylight.

2 suspected young boys already arrested.

Be very careful what your children do online in their free time.

 

#Thailand to require foreign tourists to buy health insurance

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BANGKOK,  (UPI) -- Lawmakers in Thailand say they want all foreign tourists to be required to purchase travel and health insurance before arriving in their country.

Thailand's Public Health Ministry Wednesday proposed the measure during a meeting with representatives from the Airports of Thailand, Royal Thai Police and other government ministries, the Bangkok Post reported.

The health ministry has suggested the cost of health insurance coverage might be included in visa fees, Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong said at the meeting. Those visiting Thailand without visas would be required to buy insurance at immigration checkpoints or the fees could be added to the cost of airline tickets.

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#Cambodia - CPP wins 70% of communes

CCP - Hun Sen

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 Opposition makes strong gains, but falls short of aspirations 

By Post Staff in Phnom Penh, Takeo and Prey Veng Monday, June 5, 2017

The Cambodian People’s Party won 70 percent of the country’s 1,646 commune councils at yesterday’s elections, according to unofficial results published by a government-aligned media outlet – a marked drop from the 97 percent it won in 2012 but one far smaller than the opposition had been hoping to inflict.

The results, published by Fresh News, said the CPP won 1,163 communes to the Cambodian National Rescue Party’s 482 but did not indicate the breakdown of the popular vote. National Election Committee spokesman Hang Puthea said he could not confirm the results.

The CPP won a whopping 1,592 of 1,632 communes in the June 2012 elections, with the two parties that later formed the CNRP winning only 40 between them – a 12th of what they won yesterday – but the opposition had been hoping for much larger gains.

Opposition leader Kem Sokha has said that the CNRP hoped to win at least 60 percent of the popular vote. Party spokesman Yim Sovann said at a press conference last night it had probably lost the nationwide popular vote 46 percent to the CPP’s 51 percent.

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Yet he nevertheless characterised the CNRP’s more than tenfold gains in its communes held – and its claimed 16 percent increase in popular vote compared to 2012 – as a triumph ahead of the July 2018 national elections.

“This is a big victory for the CNRP,” Sovann told reporters at a press conference held at the opposition party’s headquarters last night after the unofficial results were released, adding that he believed the results boded well ahead of next year’s vote.

“This means that we will manage around 500 communes in the upcoming mandate. Those are very big communes. There is potential for economic growth, and many people living there. We can conclude that [after] the 2018 election, the CNRP will rule the country.” 

“We expect 60 percent of the vote at that election.”

Opposition leader Kem Sokha casts his vote yesterday at a polling station in Phnom Penh. Sreng Meng Srun
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However, CPP spokesman Sok Eysan described the results as an overwhelming victory for the ruling party and a repudiation of the opposition’s claims it has been riding a wave of growing popular support that would make its victory inevitable in July next year. 

“The CPP won around 71 percent [of the communes] and the CNRP won around 29 percent,” Eysan said, adding that the ruling party’s internal numbers also showed it had increased its nationwide popular vote compared to the 2013 national election.

“Although the CPP dropped a number of communes, the number of voters [for the party] increased compared to 2013,” he said. “The CNRP now has increased its number of communes – but if it was compared to 2013, this party has lost more than 200 communes.”

The CPP defeated the CNRP at the disputed 2013 national election with 48.8 percent of the vote to the CNRP’s 44.4 percent, but many in the opposition had argued – even as they aimed for 60 percent – that the party would have a harder time in local elections. 

 A police official stands guard as people wait in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station in Phnom Penh yesterday. Hong Menea
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 Voting went mostly without incident, with the first election run since the formation of the bipartisan NEC receiving the tick of approval of local elections monitors, who had observers at booths around the country reporting back to Phnom Penh.

“The elections at the polling stations went smoothly today,” Koul Panha, head of local elections group Comfrel, said at a press conference after voting closed, explaining his coalition of NGOs known as “The Situation Room” received few reports of irregularities. “We only had a few cases,” Panha said, noting the group had 14,000 observers around the country.

“There were no big cases of worry, because our observers were told to report them immediately, and they did not.”

Panha said observers had to be pulled out from two locations in Kandal province due to intimidation, and that there were 19 communes where large numbers of nonresident soldiers had registered and voted, and that the group would be investigating both issues in the coming days.

 Around the country, the CNRP made the largest of its gains in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap and Kampong Cham – the home province of Prime Minister Hun Sen, where the opposition won 76 of the 109 communes on offer, according to the unofficial results published by Fresh News.

 In Phnom Penh, the CNRP took 54 communes to the CPP’s 51, preliminary results showed, while in Battambang it won 48 communes to the CPP’s 54 – having won none of the communes in the province at the 2012 vote. In Siem Reap, the CNRP won 56 to the CPP’s 44.

The CPP had its most devastating victories in provinces like Pursat, where it won all of the 49 communes; Stung Treng, where it won 33 communes to the CNRP’s one; and the tiny seaside province of Kep, where it won all of the five communes available.

In Kandal province’s Takhmao town, Hun Sen opened the day’s voting to some fanfare, arriving at the city’s provincial teacher training centre with his wife Bun Rany to greet voters before entering the booths to choose their commune chiefs for the next five years.

 An election official helps a voter apply indelible ink to his finger after voting at a polling station in Phnom Penh yesterday. Hong Menea

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#Myanmar (Burma) Shwedagon Pagoda entry fee increase put on hold

Shwedagon trustees have suspended plans to increase the entrance free of the pagoda for about six more months after getting a directive by the department of archaeology, national museum and library under the ministry of religious affairs and culture.

 The board of trustees of Shwedagon pagoda had intended to increase the entrance fees from K 8,000 to K 10,000 from June 1. The announcement had been made in early May.

According to an archeology department directive they had to report six months ahead before any increase was made and that’s why they weren’t allowed to do it.

 
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“This is not only applicable to the Shwedagon pagoda but also for all things happening in the country. A discussion must be made with the stakeholders involved first before making a final decision on policy. It is very important,” Daw May Myat Mon Win, vice chairman of Myanmar Tourism Federation told The Myanmar Times.

“This is because although the change in entrance fee does not affect the free independent traveller it does affect package tour operators as they have sold their packages a year in advance. This means they cannot amend the prices in their itinerary,” U Ye Tun Oo, Chief Executive Officer of Vivo Myanmar travel and destination told The Myanmar Times.

So the Union of Myanmar Travel Association, UMTA submitted to the ministry of religious affairs and culture that notice of six months should be given for any price change according to a press release on May 31 by UMTA.

“It is better if they took more time to discuss this and with more people so there are more options. For instance, recently Siem Reap increased the entrance fee to almost double the original amount but no one complained about that. So we should copy their business model and see how countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia charge,” Daw May Myat Mon Win said.

#Indonesia to promote #Golf tourism in #Japan

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 The Tourism Ministry is set to hold the 2017 Indonesia Golf Sales Mission event in Katori city, northern Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on June 8.

This event is part of the ministry’s effort to achieve this year’s target of welcoming 762,000 Japanese tourists to Indonesia.

“Four sellers are set to participate in this event, namely Bali Fantastic, Riverside Golf Club, Multi Holiday and the Garuda Indonesia [branch] in Tokyo. They are at the frontlines in selling golf travel packages to 50 buyers consisting of travel agents, golf communities and associations in Katori,” said I Gde Pitana, the ministry's deputy for overseas promotion.

The event, supported by the Indonesian Embassy in Japan, Visit Indonesia Tourism Office (VITO) Japan and the Indonesian Golf Course Owners Association (APLGI), will be held at the Narita no Mori Country Club.

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 The ministry's deputy assistant for Asia Pacific tourism promotion, Vinsensius Jemadu, said the sales mission will promote Indonesia's 10 priority destinations of Lake Toba, Tanjung Kelayang, Tanjung Lesung, Thousand Islands, Borobudur temple, Bromo - Tengger - Semeru, Mandalika, Wakatobi, Labuan Bajo and Morotai.

“A number of foreign and local investors are invited to develop these destinations. But apart from them, the historic relations between Japan and Indonesia have resulted in plenty of Japanese caves located across the archipelago. The tight relationship between the two countries was also evidenced during Japan’s fifth anniversary [event] of the tsunami disaster a few months ago at the Aceh Tsunami Museum,” said Vinsensius. 

 

 Read also: Seven must-visit places in Shibuya for first-timers