The partial closure of one runway at Bangkok’s main international airport is taking its toll on flight schedules. Statistics released by Air Traffic Services Thailand show that for the first 10 days of the shutdown at Suvarnabhumi Airport, an average 100 flights a day were 10 minutes late in taking off.
Last Thursday saw the inauguration of a new bus route linking Ho Chi Minh City and its international airport. Dignitaries were on hand for the official launch of Route 109 at Tan Son Nhat Airport.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Finance has released a letter confirming entry fee increases for two top museums in Phnom Penh have been deferred. Admission ticket prices for the city’s Cambodian National Museum and the S21 Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum were originally due to go up in January.
Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority has put forward a proposal to raise all service fees at the country’s airports. Lai Xuan Thanh is the CAA’s boss and he says the current charges mandated in 2011 do not accurately reflect the increased operational costs of the airports.
Thailand’s Marine Resources division organised a coral planting activity in the waters off an Andaman Sea islet over the weekend. The event saw 250 natural coralline algae embedded in a manmade reef close to Koh Mai Thon Island.
Torrential rain yesterday afternoon on the Thai island of Phuket flooded highways and wiped out electricity supplies. The downpour lasted for about one hour and the resulting flash floods caused major traffic snarl ups around west coast resorts such as Kamala and Cherng Talay.
Vietnam’s Immigration Division says the launch of a pilot scheme providing online visa applications has proved a major success. The division of the Ministry of Public Security explained that 490 applications were made in the month after the system went live on 1 February 2017.
Thai Lion Air has announced it will start flying the popular Bangkok to Hanoi route later this week. The new service will launch on Friday with two round trip flights between the two Southeast Asian capital cities.
An undersecretary at Cambodia’s Transport Ministry says Thailand has made a verbal promise to supply trains for a soon to reopen rail link. Ly Borin told reporters that Thai authorities had not so far put the pledge in writing, but said they would provide four trains in three to four months time.
The Thai governmental cabinet says it is considering enlarging U-tapao Airport and making it into Bangkok’s third international gateway. Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak told reporters that the Eastern Economic Corridor Committee (EEC) had put forward proposals that could eventually up capacity at U-tapao to 60 million passengers a year.
The operator of a new Pattaya to Hua Hin ferry service says the boats are averaging 50 per occupancy. The 346-passenger catamaran Royal 1 began operating to a daily timetable in the first two weeks of last month and Royal Passenger Liner says some vessels have been up to 60 per cent full.
Rankings just released by Passport Index show that Cambodia is one of the top 15 nations in the world to enter with visas on arrival. Cambodia allows passport-holders from 198 nations easy access to entry visas.
Ireland’s ambassador in Thailand will launch the 2017 edition of the St Patrick’s Day parade in Pattaya on Friday. The start point for the parade is the Alcazar Theatre and the entertainment kicks off at 15:00.
Bangkok’s Royal Oak Pub is putting the finishing touches to preparations for next week’s three-day comedy extravaganza. The Royal Oak is the main venue for the Magners International Comedy Festival, but the gala opening will take place at the Bangkok Westin Grande Sukhumvit Hotel on 23 March.
Administrators in the Xiangkhouang Province of Laos say they plan to reopen a former mountain military base as a tourist attraction. Provincial tourism director Vongsa Duangthongla told reporters Mt Phou Kout will be a fitting complement to the renowned Plain of Jars.
The Malaysian government has disclosed details of a project which could see a new 600km long rail route built. The government released the proposed route details for a line from Kelantan and Kota Bharu to Port Klang on the opposite west coast of mainland Malaysia last week.
Ticketing agents in the Thai capital of Bangkok say there are still some tickets left over for next month’s Coldplay concert. The top UK alternate pop band is due to take centre stage at the city’s Rajamangala National Stadium on the 7 April.
Chiang Mai Airport garnered one of the top prizes for service quality in the Airports Council International’s awards announced last Monday. The Northern Thailand airport took joint third place in the category of facilities with annual passenger numbers of between five and fifteen million for 2016.
Competing elephants and their mahouts kicked off the 2017 edition of the King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament yesterday. Following an official blessing ceremony by Buddhist monks, the initial heats saw 2016 champions King Power successfully thwart a challenge by upstarts Benihana.
Tourists on a boat trip out to Thailand’s Similan Islands were treated to a rare sighting of giant dolphins earlier this week. The Wow Andaman tour boat was approaching Elephant Head Rock on Wednesday when the so-called false killer whales swam up to the boat and enabled passengers to take photographs.