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Bangkok
voted 'Best Tourist City in Asia'
Bangkok was
recently voted the ‘Best Tourist City in Asia’ by 200,000
Travel & Leisure Magazine readers. Readers were asked to
consider the city’s food, culture, shopping, attractions, people
and value. The Peninsula Bangkok Hotel also won the award for the
‘Best Hotel in the World’. Second place for the ‘Best
Tourism City in Asia’ went to Hanoi with Hong Kong in third
place.
The
Emerald Triangle
The
emergence of the Emerald Triangle as a tri-national tourism
destination took a step nearer to reality in August when ministers
from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia met in Pakse, Laos, and agreed to
make tourism the priority for the area. The Emerald Triangle
comprises two provinces from each country: Si Saket and Ubon
Ratchathani in Thailand, Champasak and Attapeu in Laos and Preah
Vihear and Stung Treng in Cambodia. The Emerald Triangle is an
unspoiled area of great natural beauty, accessible by road from
the three countries and by air to Ubon, Pakse and Stung Treng.
Thai
airline update
Thai
Airways International (THAI) has invested 64 million USD to
upgrade its eight 777-200 aircraft used on Asian routes. In economy class,
the seat design will be changed to offer guest more seat space. Business
class seats will be redesigned to offer more leg-room and shell seats for
privacy. THAI will add three new destinations, Chennai in India, Guilin in
China and Luang Prabang in Laos, to its schedule at the end of October.
Many of the airline’s domestic and international flights will also see
an increase in new routes and flight frequencies. THAI has also started
code-sharing with UK-based BMI British Midland carrier for services to
Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Tee-side and to
Dublin. In September, the airline was given approval from the Thai
government to purchase eight Airbus aircraft and seven B747s for 1.4
billion USD from the U.S.-based carrier United Airlines. This purchase is
part of THAI’s five-year 3.11 billion USD plan to increase its worldwide
weekly flight services and add new international destinations.
Orient
Thai Airlines has purchased another Boeing 747 and is scheduled to
start business in December.
In
late September, Bangkok Airways (PG), introduced flights to a third
China destination, Guilin. Flights are available once a day on Tuesdays and
Saturdays. By the end of the year, PG agents in Thailand will be able to offer
passengers e-tickets. E-ticket passengers only need to present an itinerary
and one form of identification when checking in. By 2005, PG expects to expand
the system to include Singapore, Europe, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
Thailand
has a new airline, Thai Pacific Airlines (TPA). The privately
owned airline will begin flying to four destinations in October. The four
routes to Sydney, Seoul, Osaka and Honolulu will be followed by more
destinations in the future.
In 2001,
Italian-Thai Development began construction on the new Suvarnabhumi
International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province near Bangkok,
which is due to open in August 2005. It will replace the current
international airport, Don Muang, which has reached full capacity with 30
million passengers each year. Don Muang will eventually be closed and may
be turned into a convention centre. Suvarnabhumi will be able to receive
45 million passengers a year after the first stage of construction and
will eventually accommodate up to 100 million passengers a year. The new
airport will offer passengers two parking garages, a first-class hotel
with 1,500 guest rooms, an electronic underground railway system and a
passenger terminal complex that will be the largest in the world. Roads
will be built from the passenger terminal to connect to Bangkok’s main
highways, and plans are underway to connect the Skytrain in On Nut to the
airport.
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