Thai airline PB Air will begin operating three non-stop flights a week to Luang Prabang from 1st November. The flights on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday will use a Fokker 28-4000 configured with 75 economy-class seats. PB are targeting overseas tourists looking for a cultural break before returning to Bangkok and travelling on to one of Thailand’s beach destinations. Lao Aviation will codeshare the flight with PB Air, sharing capacity on the PB Air flights rather than operating its own aircraft.

The National Tourism Authority of Laos PDR (NTAL) has selected Pakse, in Champassak Province, as the venue for the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2004. The NTAL hope that the choice of Pakse as the forum venue will help showcase the natural and cultural attractions of the southern province and its three Mekong neighbours. Paske has a newly designated international airport with existing links to Ho Chi Minh City, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, and plans for further regional links in the near future. Paske can also easily be reached by road from northern Thailand. The Travex venue is expected to be the Champassak Commercial Centre, an existing foreign-owned three-storey building with 15,444sqm of space that could accommodate 639 booths. New hotel development is being sought, and planning 18 months out is well underway. Laos has appointed Navitas Management of Singapore to manage the ATF 2004.

Laty Mekong

A new floating restaurant opened on the Mekong River five kilometres out of Vientiane in August. The attractive teak and rosewood ‘Laty Mekong’ is open daily for Lao cuisine and seafood specialities between 16:00 and 23:00. The perfect location to relax at the end of a day of sightseeing and enjoy the Mekong sunset with the accompaniment of authentic Lao music.