Three Thai water parks have been listed among the Top 10 in Asia in travel website TripAdvisor’s 2017 Travellers’ Choice awards.

Ramayana Water Park in Pattaya took third spot among the 10 and Black Mountain Water Park in Hua Hin sixth spot. Also in Pattaya, Cartoon Network Amazone is making a splash and was named the seventh-most popular water park in Asia.

“I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to these three parks in Thailand for winning positive reviews from travellers from around the world,” says Tourism Authority Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. “These awards certainly help to further strengthen the image of Thailand as a family-friendly destination.”

The award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of user reviews and ratings posted around the world in the past 12 months.

TripAdvisor users praised Ramayana Water Park for its “beautifully clean water” and “excellent rides” and called Black Mountain “safe”, “family-friendly” and “a great day out”. 

Cartoon Network Amazone was hailed as “state-of-the-art” with both “simple and daredevil” slides.

 FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

 Ramayana opened in May last year and covers 100 rai (160,000 square metres), making it one of the largest water parks in Southeast Asia. It boasts 21 rides and more than 50 other attractions, including two children’s zones, a “lazy river” and a floating market.

It’s 20 kilometres south of Pattaya, close to Khao Chi Chan, known for its giant Buddha etched into the side of a mountain, and next to Silverlake Vineyard.

Black Mountain, which opened in 2011, covers 40,000 square metres. It’s got a 17-metre-high tower from which nine different water slides radiate, plus a spectacular wave pool, a lazy river, a beach-infinity pool and children’s pool.

It’s about 15 minutes from Hua Hin town centre.

Cartoon Network Amazone is the world’s first Cartoon Network-theme water park. Opened in 2014, it features 10 entertainment zones and more than 150 water attractions. It’s in Bang Saray, about 20 minutes’ drive south of Pattaya.

Source - TheNation

#Thailand - Shortage of migrant labour hits key sectors

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS SLOW DOWN; FISHERIES, AGRICULTURE ALSO AFFECTED

MANY SECTORS, including construction in the capital, fisheries in the South and agriculture in border areas, are facing labour shortages due to the tough new labour law, sources said yesterday as migrant workers began returning to Thailand.

A construction site of the Red Line train (Bang Sue-Rangsit) needed to slow down after many Myanmar workers left their work to reprocess work permits, an official said. 

Workers at the construction site at Bang Sue central terminal also left work, even though they did not need to: they incorrectly believed that their “pink card” was no longer valid under the new law, the official added. He noted that those workers might take 10-20 days to check or reprocess the register before getting back to work.

 FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

However, other construction sectors were less affected by the new law, since major construction firms usually hire legal workers, according to an official at the State Railway of Thailand who declined to be named. 

Millions of migrant workers in Thailand were in a chaotic situation over the past week after the government issued a new decree to manage migrant workers. The decree took effect on June 23, threatening fines for employers of at least Bt400,000 for every illegal worker they hire. 

Only a few days after the decision, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha last Tuesday invoked his special powers under Article 44 to suspend four key articles of the decree until the end of the year. The suspended articles prescribe much harsher penalties against offending migrants and their employers until the end of this year. 

The suspension came too late for many companies, as thousands of legal and illegal workers panicked over the tough punishment and rushed to go to their home countries to process or reprocess their work permits and to register. More than 50,000 migrant workers reportedly returned home since last month, mostly to Myanmar and Cambodia. 

In order to end the chaos, the Labour Ministry will allow all Thai employers to register their Lao, Cambodian and Myanmar workers at temporary centres throughout the country from July 24 to August 7. 

While Prime Minister Prayut said earlier that he believed the workers from neighbouring countries would return to work in Thailand as there are demands in the market, Nit Ouitengkor, former president of Ranong Chamber of Commerce, said they might not return due to complicated legal procedures. There are more jobs available in their countries, including Myanmar, since the economy there is now growing faster than Thailand’s, he said. 

Ranong is Thailand’s southern port province, sitting next to Myanmar. The province is home to some of the most important fishery piers in the country. 

Many piers in the province yesterday were seen almost empty, while some were working with only half of the normal workforce. While it is estimated that more than 5 million migrants from neighbouring countries are working in Thailand currently, it is estimated that only half of them are documented. 

In the eastern border province of Sa Kaew, where there is a shortage of farm workers, local authorities coordinated with their Cambodian counterparts to encourage workers to cross the border to work. Many Cambodian workers have fled due to the new labour law in the past month, leaving many farms in trouble during the growing season. 

Sa Kaew provincial immigration chief, Benjapon Rodsawad, said Cambodian people are allowed to cross the border to work temporarily in the area in order to ease the current labour shortage.

With border pass papers, Cambodians would be allowed to enter and stay in Sa Kaew and neighbouring Pachin Buri province for seven days, he said, “so we have to strictly check their document in order prevent them from going deeper to other provinces or the capital”. 

Source - TheNation 

.

#Indonesia - Talaud Islands regency celebrates anniversary on uninhabited island.

Talaud Islands regency in North Sulawesi held a festival on Monday as part of its 15^th anniversary celebration.

The Sara Island Festival reportedly attracted some 5,000 visitors, who participated in the event’s various activities, such as tug of war and ship decorating competitions.

  FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

 “The festival aimed to boost tourism in the region as Talaud has many potential tourist attractions that are unique and enchanting,” said Talaud Islands Regent Sri Wahyumi Maria Manalip.

To travel to the uninhabited Sara Island, a destination popular for its underwater paradise, white sand beaches and three-colored seawater, visitors need to take a 30-minute ride on a small boat that can be rented for between Rp 300,000 ($22.36) and Rp 400,000.

“Several cottages and clean water facilities have been built on the island, but we’re keeping it uninhabited because the atmosphere feels different if nobody permanently lives on it,” Sri added.

 

Source - TheJakartaPost

Read also: Bolmut regency, North Sulawesi to develop tourism sector

#Thailand - Koh Tao run by mafia

Gangster’s Paradise: Foreign papers allege ‘death island’ Koh Tao run by mafia

Since the reopening of the case on the April death of Belgian backpacker Elise Dellamagne this week, stories have been coming fast and furious in international news about Koh Tao, nicknamed “Death Island” by some press due to all the mysterious foreign deaths on the small isle.

While most stories have been updates on Dellamagne and the last backpacker to disappear, Russian tourist Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, back in March; others have been roundups of all the foreigners to die or disappear on the island over the last three years. The most famous of these being Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, who were savagely murdered on the island’s beach in 2014. 

Today, a writer for the UK’s Independent, who used to live in Thailand, wrote about the island’s “dark side” and strongly urged tourists to avoid the destination. 

 

  FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

 

 She wrote about how both locals and expats on Koh Tao are afraid to speak on the deaths and disappearances since it’s allegedly an open secret that the island is run by a mafia family that has no qualms about killing those they see as opposition. 

  The writer claims that the mafia family “demanded protection money, controlled the local police force, and were not above attacking or burning down the homes and businesses of people that crossed them.”

The Sun followed up with the story this afternoon of a young man, Sean McAnna, who claims he had a run-in with the Koh Tao mafia family and they threatened his life.

 McAnna spoke to the press back in 2014 and is a friend of the murdered David Miller. He fled Koh Tao a week after Miller and Witheridge’s bodies were found amid alleged threats on his life. Two newspapers saw fit to repackage and republish his story today in the wake of the latest foreign death. 

The young man said he was drinking at the same bar Miller and Witheridge visited just before they were murdered. He claimed that two men approached him, claiming that McAnna had murdered the Brit backpackers. 

He alleges that they told him they were going to take him into the jungle and hang him to make it look like he hung himself. The claimed to tell him that this would make him look like he was was responsible for the murders. He believes these people were part of the island mafia family. He fled from them and spent the night hiding out before taking the first flight he could from the island paradise. 

He echoed the statement made by the Independent writer when he said he would never return to Koh Tao. 

Source + Photo - Coconuts.co

 

 

#Thailand leads the pack for Asia's abused tourist elephants

Twice as many elephants work in Thailand's tourism industry as the rest of Asia combined, with the vast majority kept in "severely inadequate conditions", a new report revealed Thursday.

The world's largest land mammal is a huge draw for tourists across two continents. But while Africa's elephants are more likely to be spotted roaming vast nature reserves, their Asian cousins are less fortunate.

A multi-million dollar industry has flourished in recent decades with tourists taking rides on the giant beasts or watching them perform in circus shows.

Researchers from World Animal Protection spent two years visiting 220 venues using elephants across Asia, in what they describe as the most comprehensive survey to date of a rapidly growing, lucrative, but poorly regulated industry.

Their data showed pachyderm welfare routinely came in second place to turning a fast profit, with three-quarters of Asia's captive elephants kept in conditions that were rated poor or unacceptable.

 

 FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

 

 Thailand stood out as the global epicentre. Of the 2,923 elephants WAP documented working within Asia's tourism trade, 2,198 were found in Thailand alone. 

 

The next largest industry was India, with an estimated 617 elephants, followed by Sri Lanka on 166, Nepal on 147, Laos on 59 and Cambodia with just 36.

All the venues visited, which researchers said represented 90 percent of the industry, were rated on a scale of 1-10 in terms of conditions with 77 percent scoring between just one to five -- what researchers classified as "poor or unacceptable".

"When not giving rides or performing, the elephants were typically chained day and night, most of the time to chains less than three metres long. They were also fed poor diets, given limited appropriate veterinary care and were frequently kept on concrete floors in stressful locations," the report said.

'Tourists can push change' 

India fared the worst on living conditions with an average score of 4.4, followed by Thailand on 4.6, Nepal on 4.8, Sri Lanka on 4.9 and on Laos 5.0.

Cambodia averaged 6.5 but researchers noted there were just 36 elephant in four venues, two of which got good marks.

Highest rated venues rarely or never chained their elephants, limited or banned close interactions with tourists and allowed the animals to socialise in herds.

In Thailand only eight venues were rated as good, compared to 114 rated poor.

Jan Schmidt-Burbach, a Thailand-based expert with WAP, said tourists had the power to improve captive elephant lives by choosing venues that promote observing animals over interacting with them.

"As a general rule, if you can ride, hug or have a selfie with a wild animal it's cruel and you just shouldn't do it," he told AFP.

Researchers added that the 30 percent increase in Thailand's tourist elephant population since 2010 was based mostly in poorly rated venues.

Thailand's elephant entertainment industry took hold in the 1990s after authorities banned the use of elephants in commercial logging and owners said they had to find new revenue.

Most of that generation of elephants have now died out, yet the number of elephants involved in the trade keeps increasing. The country has more elephants in captivity than living in the wild.

WAP said they were particularly concerned by Thailand's animal circuses, where elephants can often be seen riding tricycles, walking on tightropes and even playing basketball.

"The training required to make elephants perform such tricks is particularly cruel and stressful," researchers said.

Source - TheNation

Indonesia, Sulawesi - Life on the wild side

The Indonesia island of Sulawesi is not only a marine paradise, but also home to the critically endangered black crested macaque

THE CHUGGING of the converted fishing boat stops and the world is silent. The palm tree-lined coast of the Indonesian island is hundreds of metres away.

Although the reef edge is near, the water where we hover is 100m deep. The captain gestures to my family to jump off the boat. I wonder if this is right.

“What, here?” I ask. “Yes here, Turtle City,” he grins.

My trusting four-year-old daughter turns her wide eyes up to me. I flash her a smile and, together, we plunge into the bottomless blue.

Immediately, my sons, aged 11 and eight, are squealing through their snorkels.

 FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

 Right below us swims a 2m-long green turtle. Sunlight bounces off the ancient creature’s shell in every direction. The behemoth seems to fly as her front flippers haul her through the water. She is unafraid and, soon, we cannot keep pace and watch her glide into infinity.

The clarity of the water is breathtaking and I see several more turtles – to the left, right and far below.

The island of Sulawesi lies 600km north-east of Bali. I have flown from Singapore to Manado in Northern Sulawesi, intending to show my children the wild highlights of this zone.

Over the next nine days, we will be immersed in the underwater paradise of Bunaken Island and encounter monkeys in the Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve.

Emerging from the airport, we take a 40-minute drive to Manado Port, the gateway to Bunaken and other islands.

I am eager for our adventure to begin but, at the port, I notice with great dismay that the water is bobbing with plastic. I find it astonishing that this polluted harbour is the gateway to a natural paradise.

 

 

The wooden boat we will take to Bunaken Island is filled with bags of rice, crates of vegetables, beer, crew and, lastly, my family. Once underway, the garbage of the port lessens and my eyes are soothed by mountainous, green views of the mainland.

We are in one of the most diverse coral reef ecosystems in the world, with approximately 2,000 species of tropical fish and 390 types of corals so far recorded from the area. There are still infringements of the fishing rules here, but on the whole, the reef is pristine.

On my first snorkel from the beach, I encounter a green turtle followed by a skittish whitetip reef shark. Reef fish of orange, blue and pink cloud my vision and it feels like I am in an aquarium dream.

I am inspired to dust off my dive certification and go out with a scuba tank.

The in-house divemaster is a local from Bunaken and a man of few words. However, under the water, he conducts my refresher course with confidence, then proudly leads me through his shimmering backyard.

Gently parting some rubbery soft coral, he shows me the tiny, delicate orangutan crab. No bigger than the nail on my pinky, its orange “fur” sways with the current.

A metallic “tap, tap” on the divemaster’s tank prompts me to look straight down.

About 15m below me, a 2m-long blue and green Napoleon wrasse darts upwards and flashes back down, followed by the sleek and silvery body of a shark.

The two dance aggressively and, as I watch, I am astonished to see a 1m-long giant trevally glide over to check out the action.

Dolphins accompany my boat as I bid farewell to Bunaken Island and, when they finally slide away into the glassy expanses, I turn my thoughts to the wild animals of the land.

Sulawesi and the neighbouring island of Borneo have been separated by deep water for more than 50 million years. An imaginary line was drawn between the two in 1859 by naturalist Alfred Wallace and is thus named the Wallace Line.

The animals on either side of the line are quite distinct, with only a few successfully crossing the line. Many native animals unique to Northern Sulawesi are still found in the forests and these are only a two-hour drive from Manado.

Emerging from my mosquito net at 4am the next morning, I hope it is worth the effort.

My torch lights the track as I follow our guide deep into the forest.

Shushing excited kids, I am surprised to hear leaves rustling and see shadowy figures up ahead.

A troupe of macaques is travelling in the same direction as us and, as the sunrise starts to penetrate the forest, they are suddenly, eerily, all around us.

The black crested macaque is one of 127 species of mammals found in Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve. Still hunted for bush meat and threatened by deforestation, the monkey is critically endangered and lives only in Northern Sulawesi.

There are about 40 macaques in the group we are with, all with a distinctive black mohawk style.

Males squabble, chase and wrestle, showing off to females. Mothers piggy-back their babies and munch on bugs they pull from one another’s fur. Rowdy adolescents jump from branch to vine before scampering across the forest floor in play.

I return later that night for a second guided walk. This time, I am seeking the world’s smallest monkey – the tarsier.

Creeping through the dark jungle, I am quickly rewarded by our guides’ local knowledge.
The tiny furball is perched on a branch, having emerged from its daytime refuge.
It is impossibly cute, with enormous eyes, and I laugh as my daughter whispers: “Mum, can we get a tarsier?”

Source - TheNation

BOOKING YOUR HOTEL

#Cambodia - Thousands of migrant workers head home

New labour law causes panic but many expect to return with valid documents 

Several tens of thousands of  Cambodian and Myanmar migrant workers have left Thailand from various border checkpoints in a bid to obtain proper document in their home towns before re-entering the country for work.

In the Thai province of Sa Kaew, several thousand Cambodians sought to return home to apply for passports so that they could come back to work here legally as required by the new Thai foreign labour law. The stricter law has prompted some employers to stop hiring illegal migrants.

According to the new foreign labour law, employers of illegal migrants could face a hefty fine of Bt400,000-Bt800,000 per migrant worker if found to have violated the law. The government said enforcement of the law will be suspended for a 120-day period, starting June 23, to allow time for all parties concerned to comply with new requirements.

 FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

Pol Colonel Benjapol Rodsawad, the Sa Kaew immigration chief, said Cambodian migrant workers voluntarily turned themselves in at the border checkpoint to be handed over to Cambodian authorities. Some Cambodians said their previous employers wanted them to leave due to the hefty penalties under the new law, while many said they wanted to apply for Cambodian passports so that they could return to work here legally.

On June 28-29, immigration authorities also reported that a total of 546 Cambodians were detained for illegal entry into Thailand, including those detained by immigration offices in Saraburi, Ayuthaya, Samut Prakan and Pattani provinces.

Under the new foreign labour law, migrant workers are also subject to heavy penalties, including a fine of Bt2,000-Bt100,000 per person and/or imprisonment of up to five years, if arrested by Thai authorities for working here without proper permits.

Myanmar authorities in Myawaddy province opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot district of Tak province have opened a temporary facility to accommodate more than 10,000 returnees from Thailand at the border crossing.

Returnees are also offered food and shelter as they prepare to travel back to their hometowns. At least, 8,491 Myanmar workers are reported to have left Thailand over the past few days, while Myanmar authorities said they welcome returnees and no legal action would be taken.

Pol Colonel Passakorn Kwanwan, the Mae Sot police chief, said the Thai police would face disciplinary and other actions if they demand bribes from returnees.

However, business operators in Mae Sot have complained of labour shortage resulting from heavy penalties under the new law since about 90 per cent of workers in the area are illegal migrant workers.

Chaiwat Withit-thammawong, an adviser of Tak province’s chamber of commerce, said the new law is good for Thailand in the long run in terms of tackling problems resulting from a large number of illegal migrant workers in the country. 

The next step is to require employers and migrant workers to register properly but the government has to ensure that the process is fast and convenient while expenses are not high, Chaiwat said.

The fisheries industry also reported a severe shortage of labour due to enforcement of the new law.

Meanwhile, two Myanmar workers were injured when a bus taking them from Mae Sot to Samut Sakhon province veered off the road in Angthong province early Saturday.

The accident happened at 4am on the Bangkok-bound Asia highway in Moo 3, Tambon Lakfah, in the province’s Chaiyo district, said Pol-Lieutenant Chatchai Chaiya of Chaiyo police station.

The bus driver, Pinchai Thongsakul, 47, admitted that he had dozed off, causing the bus to veer off for about 100 metres. A Myanmar man suffered from back pain and a pregnant Myanmar woman suffered from vaginal bleeding. The two were rushed to the Chaiyo district hospital.

Pinchai said he had taken 26 Myanmar men and 22 women by bus from Samut Sakhon to renew their passport across the Mae Sot border and he was returning with them to Samut Sakhon when the accident happened.

Meanwhile in Tak, three police officers were removed from their posts and assigned  guard duty at Mae Sot Police Station, after a video clip showed them asking for bribes from Myanmar migrant workers.

Pol-Colonel Passakorn Klanwan, Mae Sot Police superintendent, revealed that the committee to investigate this issue has already been set up and if these three police officers are found guilty, there will be swift punishment according to the law.

Source - TheNation