The Thai government has given the green light for the construction of a road to link one of the country’s northeastern provinces with Luang Prabang. The Thai cabinet decided to allocate the THB1.97 billion needed for the project late last week.
The Cambodian riverside town of Kampot is to get a new pier to enable it to tap into the Southeast Asian passenger cruise market. City-hall director Sim Vuthea said an application had already been submitted to the Asian Development Bank for the necessary US$40 million funding to build the facility.
The Kazakhstan national airline has just released a statement saying it will commence a new route to the Thai capital of Bangkok next month. The new route will see Air Astana fly from its secondary hub at Astana Airport to Bangkok and back twice a week with effect from 15 December.
Thai Immigration Department officials are set to cancel the visas of almost 200 foreign nationals. The department’s Chartchai Saengiam said the individuals concerned had colluded with a corrupt local government officer in registering sham marriages to enable them to stay longer in the country.
Bangkok Airways has just opened revamped domestic passenger lounges at two of its principal airports. The Thai carrier’s ground services director, Tresarun Sitakalin, told media sources that lounges at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok and Chiang Mai Airport had undergone makeovers to make them more inviting for passengers.
The Bank of Thailand has announced that the national ATM pool will be shut down tonight to enable system upgrades. A bank spokesperson said yesterday that the inter-bank system operator, National ITMX, needed to close the network between 00:00 and 02:00.
Myanmar’s Transport Minister has just announced that the country will be competing for the status of Southeast Asian air hub. Minister U Nyan Htun Aung told local reporters the country was in a prime position to fulfil the target and it intended to strive for an eco-friendly air industry.
A report released by the HSBC bank says that Thailand is in the top 10 of affordable locations for expats to live in. The country ranked first in the table on monthly expenses in comparison to quality of life and seventh in the table of affordable places to live.
City authorities in the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya have confirmed the dates for this year’s fireworks extravaganza. In a just released programme, the dates show as 28 and 29 November and the festivities are due to kick off at 15:30 on the first day.
Officials at the airport serving the Vietnamese resort town of Nha Trang say the facility is to be upgraded. They say the revamp is needed at Cam Ranh Airport so that it can accommodate more international flights.
The Thai Culture Ministry has stated that the 10-day puppet festival staged in Bangkok successfully ended yesterday. Culture minister Weera Rotephotchanarat stated that record numbers of Thai and foreign visitors had attended shows at the Harmony World Puppet Carnival venues.
Thailand’s newest carrier is reportedly on the brink of obtaining its operational certificate from the national Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). Thai VietJetAir successfully ran a test flight with an A320-200 aircraft between Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai late last month.
Thailand’s tourist bureau has introduced a new country guide app for iPads. Announcing the release of ‘Yours’, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) spokesperson Santi Chudinthra said it was the board’s initial online travel guide app and that eventually the ‘Yours Connect’ family would support all android devices.
Colder weather over the past week has encouraged tourists to take camping trips to Thailand’s second biggest national park. The chief ranger at Thap Lan National Park said up to 5,000 visitors had spent nights in tents since the start of the cold season.
The Vietnamese town of Bac Lieu has just initiated a cyclo sightseeing service. The southern town’s Culture and Tourism board says 20 cyclo-drivers have been draughted into a team which will take tourists on tours of the local attractions.
Delegates from 204 national Olympics committees are in Bangkok this weekend for their annual conference. The city’s Centara Grand Hotel is the principal venue for this year’s discussions about Olympics related events and topics.
Thailand’s king and queen kicked off the Loy Krathong festival celebrations in Bangkok yesterday. A tradition of the annual festival is to launch a model boat (krathong) into a river. The royal couple joined the festivities by having their krathongs launched into Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River.
Vietnamese carrier VietJet has released a statement saying it will add a new domestic destination to its timetable later this month. The budget airline will commence daily services from Ho Chi Minh City to the northern city of Thanh Hoa with effect from 25 November 2014.
Police commanders in Thailand say they will be increasing the presence of officers in key locations for today’s Loy Krathong Festival celebrations. The festival is one of the biggest on the nation’s annual events calendar and a Thai custom is to launch a small boat (krathong) into a river, lake or pond.
Cambodia’s government has stated that it deems a gateway to the landmark Preah Vihear Temple from Thailand is not needed. A spokesperson for the Cambodian Foreign Ministry told media sources that the improvement in access roads to the border temple on the Cambodian side had rendered an entry point from the Thai side as superfluous.