- Muay Thai festival events this weekend/
- Today’s Thailand Open matches/
- Hua Hin one of 30 Thai ‘Smart Cities’/
- Commercial fishing banned 3 months off PKK, Surat Thani/
- Bangkok disappearing under smog/
- Confusion reigns over e-cigarette enforcement/
- Thai Police Continue to Warn Vaping is Illegal/
- THB24 billion for subsidies to boost domestic manufacture of EV batteries/
- Ex-national parks chief ‘temporarily’ dismissed from government service/
- Tourism: Digital ID now accepted to board domestic flights/85% of Hotel Rooms in South Booked Until Next Month/Bangkok’s New Chinatown bustling again as Chinese tourists return/2023: A vital year for tourism in Asia Pacific/Thai AirAsia adding back idled jets amid China tourism restart/
- Thailand Experience: Thailand’s uber luxe eco resort Soneva Kiri/
- International: Hong Kong to give away 500,000 free airline tickets/
- Links: Calendar of events/airport schedule/Bangkok airport bus schedule/Hua Hin-Pattaya bus schedule/90-day online report/driver’s license/Market Village and Bluport cinemas/Emergency numbers
Muay Thai festival events this weekend
Today’s Thailand Open matches
Hua Hin one of 30 Thai ‘Smart Cities’
Senior ministry officials were in Hua Hin recently to discuss the Hua Hin Smart City project. Hua Hin is among 30 cities in Thailand that will be transformed into “Smart Cities”, Chaiwut Thanakmanusorn, minister of Digital Economy and Society (DES), announced at the meeting.
A Smart City is defined as a city that takes advantage of modern and intelligent technology and innovation to increase the efficiency of service and city management.
The aim is to reduce the cost and resource utilization of the target city and population, with an emphasis on good design and the participation of business and people in urban development.
Commercial fishing banned 3 months off PKK, Surat Thani
The Department of Fisheries will close the southwestern part of the Gulf of Thailand for three months from large-scale commercial fishing this month, after finding a similar closure last year led to a 63% increase in mackerel in the area.
Chalermchai Suwanrak, chief of the department, revealed that the closure will ban large-scale fishing in the central section of the Gulf of Thailand in Prachuap Khiri, Chumphon and Surat Thani provinces.
The policy is part of the department’s marine resources management to allow time for mackerel to breed and nurture their young. The announcement was endorsed by the Chumphon and Surat Thani provinces. Continued …
Bangkok disappearing under smog
Bangkokians awoke to a shroud of fine dust this week with over 70 areas reporting levels of PM2.5 had breached 90 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/m3).
Thailand’s safety limit is 50 μg/m3. High levels of PM2.5 pose health risks, especially for people with chronic lung disease.
The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) forecasts levels of PM2.5 – particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter – will rise across much of Thailand through Friday as the fine-dust pollution accumulates in stagnant air. Continued …
Confusion reigns over e-cigarette enforcement
A senior Thai cabinet minister called for the legalization of e-cigarettes on Friday following this week’s dramatic events linked with the damaging extortion case involving Taiwanese actress Charlene An or An Yu Qing.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakhamanusorn said a move to legalize the currently illicit activity would help to raise money for the government and eliminate a dangerous breeding ground for corruption. His view appears to contradict sentiments expressed by Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the Thai public health minister who controversially made cannabis legal in Thailand last year.
Anutin told a conference in August 2022 that e-cigarettes should remain prohibited as a threat to public health, despite being used regularly by over 80,000 Thai adults, many of them young while it is perfectly legal in most countries. Continued …
Thai Police Continue to Warn Vaping is Illegal
A Thai senior police officer from the Legal and Litigation Department said that anyone caught carrying e-cigarettes or vapes can be fined up to 500,000 baht and get a maximum jail term of five years.
Lt. Gen. Trairong Phiewphan, head of the department, said Wednesday that e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, are prohibited products, which cannot be imported into the Kingdom, according to the 2014 and 2016 directives of the Ministry of Commerce. The statements come after several high profile cases of alleged extortion have hit Thai news.
People with e-cigarettes in their possession, therefore, violate the law for accepting or owning prohibited products and can be fined up to 500,000 baht and/or get a jail term of up to five years in line with Section 246 and Section 244 of the 2017 Customs Act, said Trairong. Continued …
THB24 billion for subsidies to boost domestic manufacture of EV batteries
A budget of 24 billion baht has been set aside to subsidize domestic manufacturing of battery cells for electric vehicles (EVs), Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said on Friday.
He said that the state subsidy was aimed at helping manufacturers cut their production costs, which would result in cheaper prices for EVs in the domestic market.
The subsidy is part of measures agreed upon by the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee at its first meeting of the year. Among other measures is a reduction in excise tax for EV battery-makers, from 8% to 1%. Continued …
Ex-national parks chief ‘temporarily’ dismissed from government service
Embattled former national park chief Rutchada Suriyakul Na Ayutya was “temporarily dismissed” from government service yesterday, with immediate effect, after initial findings show there are grounds to support bribe-taking allegations against him.
Natural Resources and Environment Permanent Secretary Jatuporn Buruspat, who signed the dismissal order, said that the action is intended to ease pressure on and damage to the image of officials at the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and to ensure transparency.
Thalerngsak Petchsuwan, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in his capacity as head of the disciplinary committee, said today that the panel had questioned about 50 people and most of them have given testimonies pointing in the same direction, namely that bribes have been paid to Rutchada, with a handful of them insisting that they paid money to Rutchada in return for images of King Chulalongkorn. Continued …
Digital ID now accepted to board domestic flights
Passengers are now allowed to use digital IDs to verify their identity when boarding domestic flights, a government spokesperson said on Friday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has given the go-ahead for the use of digital ID following the rollout of the D.DOPA mobile application, said Traisulee Taisaranakul.
D.DOPA was developed by the Department of Provincial Administration (DPA) for registering a digital ID. It can be used on both the iOS and Android platforms. Continued …
85% of Hotel Rooms in South Booked Until Next Month
The southern tourism situation has improved, with 85% of hotel rooms booked until next month, said the president of the Southern Hotel Assn.
Sueksit Suwandissakun, the president of the association, said, “Tourism in the southern part of Thailand is better than December last year. Room bookings are at 85 percent, which is more than we expected. Tourism has increased to levels at about the same as before Covid -19 in 2019. Many hotels are full in famous tourism areas. However, most of the room bookings are in three-star hotels and below.
“The booking rate this month is up to 80 percent; meanwhile, next month it is at 60 percent and even more booking is continuing . The limiting factor for tourism is that only 50 percent of flights are back to service when compared to 2019 (240 fights from 450 flights). Continued …
Bangkok’s New Chinatown bustling again as Chinese tourists return
Eateries, shops and street stalls in Bangkok’s New Chinatown area are once again bustling with customers after having been quiet for two years due to the pandemic.
The New Chinatown (not to be confused with the original Chinatown in Yaowarat area) stretches from Huai Khwang intersection to Pracha Uthit Road.
3.Most of the people spotted in the area this past week were Chinese nationals who had arrived to mark the Lunar New Year and decided to extend their vacation. Continued …
2023: A vital year for tourism in Asia Pacific
This year is shaping up as a big one for tourism in the Asia Pacific. Travel started recovering in 2022, with more and more countries throwing open their borders – and now China, with its zero-Covid policy left behind, is ready for Chinese group travel tours to start heading overseas from Feb. 6 to a handful of countries, including Thailand.
The travel and tourism outlook for Asia Pacific was recast in the evening of Dec. 26, 2022. The Chinese government decreed that, from Jan. 8, 2023, Chinese travelers would no longer need to undertake quarantine when re-entering China.
Few other details were released, but the announcement delivered what the travel industry had coveted for almost three years: the return of the world’s largest outbound market. Continued …
Thai AirAsia adding back idled jets amid China tourism restart
Budget carrier Thai AirAsia plans to resume operations of eight aircraft that were idled during the pandemic and is considering shifting planes from other parts of the group to cater for the growing number of visitors from China.
Asia Aviation, the operator of Thailand’s biggest low-cost airline, also expects improved earnings growth with the resumption of more flights to Chinese cities, Chief Executive Officer Santisuk Klongchaiya said during an interview in Bangkok on Thursday.
“Our advance bookings have demonstrated strong earnings momentum”, Santisuk said. “We may find a big challenge to expand seat capacity with demand from Chinese travelers. But seat shortages are a problem we’re happy to deal with”. Thai AirAsia currently has 53 jets in its fleet, he said. Continued …
Thailand’s uber luxe eco resort Soneva Kiri
Walking barefoot up the wooden pathway, it’s hard not to feel slightly Robinson Crusoe-esque. My partner admits he’s having more of a Lost Boys in Hook moment. But one thing is clear, this is unlike any place we’ve been before.
Soneva Kiri is Thailand’s uber luxe eco resort on the island of Koh Kood, one of the biggest, yet least developed islands in the country on the sparkling waters of the Gulf of Thailand.
Unlike Robinson Crusoe, who washed ashore to his far-flung paradise in heavy storms, we arrive by the resort’s private eight-seater plane on an 80-minute trip from Bangkok, landing on a tiny neighboring island. Continued …
Hong Kong to give away 500,000 free airline tickets
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will distribute 500,000 free airline tickets to woo visitors “from every part of the world” to visit the financial hub in a bid to revive the battered economy and boost its global image. Continued …
Hua Hin-Suvarnabhumi bus schedule
The VIP bus service from Hua Hin to Suvarnabhumi Airport has a new Cha Am boarding location in front of Government Savings Bank. The one-way fare is 325 baht.
- Leaving Hua Hin: 6am, 8am, 10am, 12:00, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm
- Leaving Suvarnabhumi: 7:30am, 9:30am, 10:30am, 12:00, 2:30pm, 4pm, 6pm
The bus from Hua Hin to Pattaya departure time remains unchanged at 11am, at 473 baht. Tickets
Hua Hin-Pattaya bus service twice a day
Hua Hin now has twice-daily bus service to Pattaya, starting Feb. 19. The bus leaves Hua Hin at 9am and 3pm, and departs from Pattaya at 8am and 4pm. Tickets are 473 THB.
Tickets can be bought in person at the Hua Hin bus station or online. Buses depart from the Hua Hin bus station and in front of Government Savings Bank, Cha Am.
