Singapore Air, Cathay Pack Planes, Mask Yield Slump
October 6, 2009 by KDSH
Filed under Related Interests
Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. are flying fuller planes. Profits may take longer to recover.
Singapore Air, the world’s largest airline by market value, packed an average of 79 percent of its seats in July and August, while Cathay, Hong Kong’s biggest carrier, filled 83.8 percent, beating their averages for the year. Airlines have slashed ticket prices to lure business and leisure travelers amid the worst global recession in six decades as well as taking planes out of service. The discounts have pushed global ticket prices to “profitless levels,” according to the International Air Transport Association, with August premium-class fares 22 percent lower than a year earlier. “It’s better than flying empty planes, but yields are still not strong,” said Christopher Wong, a fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Ltd. in Singapore, which oversees about $25 billion of Asian assets. “The worst is probably over, but I am not saying there’s going to be a strong recovery.” Airlines globally may lose $11 billion this year, IATA said last month, widening its June forecast by $2 billion. Asia- Pacific carriers will account for a third of that, the trade group predicted.
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Unique gift for Asean leaders
October 4, 2009 by KDSH
Filed under Related Interests
An impressive picture book on the Asean region will be Thailand’s parting gift as it vacates the association’s chair
Renowned artist Taveepong Limapornvanich applies his master touch to his artwork.
“Linking people with arts will help them appreciate and be proud of the closeness of one’s community,” said Vitavas Srivihok, director-general of the Asean Affairs Department at the Foreign Ministry. His words later inspired the birth of an artistic book entitled Asean: Portrait of a Community which will be presented as a special gift to the 10 Asean leaders at this year’s final Asean gathering this month in Cha-am/Hua Hin. What makes this book unique is the compilation of sketch drawings of all Asean leaders, as well as the top tourist attractions of the region. The livelihoods of the Asean peoples are portrayed in the natural flow of water colours. The project took shape in June after an exchange of ideas during a friendly chat between Mr Vitavas and artist Taveepong Limapornvanich. “The ministry thought it should have a surprise gift for the leaders. I’m sure it will be unlike anything they have
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Scam in Phuket
October 3, 2009 by KDSH
Filed under Related Interests
Beware of vanishing cabbies and pressure sales tactics in Phuket
I WOULD like to warn Singaporeans of some unsavoury sales tactics I encountered in Phuket during my recent visit with my family in the second week of June. When we arrived at Phuket airport, one taxi driver approached us. He agreed to drive us to our hotel for an agreed sum. He then asked us to follow him. We thought he was taking us to his taxi. Instead, he took us to a counter near the exit. A woman tried to sell us a Marriott hotel holiday package, but we said we were not interested. When I returned the brochure to her, she snatched it rudely. And as for the taxi driver, he had disappeared. We made our way out and were greeted by many taxi drivers. We took one. About 20 minutes into our journey from the airport to our hotel in Patong Beach, the cabby turned into a carpark outside a tour agency, saying he had to sign something, and jumped out. We waited for a few minutes. Two women from the tour agency approached us and spoke for more than 15 minutes, asking us to book an island tour. The driver did not come out and we felt stranded and pressured. In the end, we gave in and signed up for the tour at an overpriced rate, as we discovered later. Read more
Beads Of Lasting Heritage And Pride
September 19, 2009 by RDER
Filed under Related Interests
Captain Boonyarit Chaisuwan raises awareness on illegal bead hunting and the importance of conservation of artefacts
Captain Boonyarit Chaisuwan and a group of young students at an excavation pit near Ban Dan School in Ranong’s Kapoe district.
The sky was still dark when Captain Boonyarit Chaisuwan, an archaeologist of the Phuket-based 15th Fine Arts Office, readied himself for another mission. His destination: Ban Dan School, in Kapoe district, Ranong province. The archaeologist was to meet with a group of 40 students and teachers from the school who took part in a heritage conservation project in which participants attended archaeological workshops, as well as an excavation process. The project is the brainchild of Capt Boonyarit in a bid to promote conservation awareness in communities close to key archeological sites on the Andaman coast of southern Thailand. Ban Dan School and Wat Pathum Tararam were chosen because of their rice heritage, he said. The archaeologist said the project, which ended earlier this month, was to serve as a model for conservation awareness campaigns.
Feast for the senses
September 19, 2009 by RDER
Filed under Nakhon Si Thammarat, Related Interests
A riverside community in the South delights with its natural bounty
Women at Ban Si Somboon busy making ‘khanom la’.
There’s a host of things to see and do and lots of tasty tidbits to sample during a day’s outing to Pak Phanang, 36 kilometres east of Nakhon Si Thammarat town. During the 19th and early 20th centuries this district was the rice bowl of the far South. Its strategic location near the mouth (pak) of the Phanang River made it convenient for ships from British Malaya and even from as far away as Java to dock and load up with hulled rice from the steam-powered mills that lined a long stretch of the waterway. ”Commercial vessels no longer tie up along here,” said Paisarn Wipoosanapat, a local resident who’d volunteered to be our guide for the day, ”but we’ve preserved the old wooden shophouses and I think the atmosphere is similar to what it must have been like in the past.”
More clicking for holidays
September 12, 2009 by RDER
Filed under Related Interests
Online sites see spike in bookings even as travel firms struggle to come out of slump
INTERNET-SAVVY travellers are double-clicking their way to holidays in droves, even as the travel industry in Singapore wrestles with the economic credit crunch. An average of 1,997 bookings per month have been made on Asiatravel.com so far this year, up from 1,408 bookings a month last year - an increase of 70.5 per cent. In the past two months, hotel and flight bookings at Zuji Singapore increased 10 per cent year- on-year.
Singaporeans can expect 7 long weekends next year
September 2, 2009 by KDSH
Filed under Related Interests
SINGAPORE: Singaporeans can expect seven long weekends next year as a result of public holidays falling just before or after a weekend.
Travel agents said they are anticipating an increase in business as many will likely take advantage of the public holidays to go abroad. Agents such as SA Tours and CTC Travel are optimistic that business will pick up next year after the effects of the H1N1 global outbreak and economic crisis wear off. They plan to promote short packages to regional destinations for those who want to travel over the long weekends. One public holiday to take note of is the Chinese New Year. The first day of the Lunar New Year in 2010 falls on Sunday, February 14, which is Valentine’s Day. For Deepavali next year, it is presently deemed to be November 5, but the date needs to be checked against the Indian Almanac when it is available. Should there be a change, the Manpower Ministry will issue a press release to announce it.
SOURCE :
By Zhang Tingjun, Channel NewsAsia
Posted: 08 June 2009 2252 hrs
Thailand 2010 Public Holidays & Festivals Calendar
September 2, 2009 by KDSH
Filed under Related Interests
Here is a list of Thailand Public Holidays & Festivals of calendar Year 2010.
There are national holidays, as well as some of the most important festivals and celebrations in Thailand. Many of Thailand important holidays are based on Thai lunar calendar, thus it will have different dates from year to year. The dates for these 2010 Thai holidays are estimates. We do not and cannot guarantee the accuracy.
Celebrate the festivals and events in the Kingdom as follows:
Amazing trip with you
September 2, 2009 by KDSH
Filed under Related Interests
We’ve spent very long time to plan my CNY trip.
We have planned my trip to Bali, clubmed with my 5th uncle.
But the price is actually quite high till we can’t effort.
Then I advise to go to Hong Kong.
Cuz I want to go to Disney land, shopping and taste the nice food there.
But, you were travelled there before.SO…
This trip has been stopped of u…
Pity me…
After discussing for a week..
Finally, we decide Thailand trip…
Some of them love the island…
But, I’d love to shopping…
Is that possible any hypermarket in any island?
No… No… No…
I don’t think so…
Actually I like to island too…
Cuz I’d really love to do sunbathing, Snorkeling and diving.
But I do like shopping too…
How?
The rail runs through it
August 31, 2009 by RDER
Filed under Related Interests
The bamboo rail transporting firewood in Cambodia. -- CAROLINE CHIA/THE STRAITS TIMES
AS THE train pulls away from Tanjong Pagar, factories loom like skyscrapers and squat houses acquire an imposing air. Familiar sights turn foreign even before we cross the border. Our journey across five countries has just begun. Inside the chilly carriages of KTM’s Ekspres Rakyat to Butterworth, Mr Bean stumbles his way through gaffes on the Samsung flatscreen television as a family tucks into a breakfast of bread and apricot jam. Other passengers catch a nap on plush fabric seats before we hit the checkpoint at Woodlands. It will be the first of four borders we pass in our bid to travel 5,000km to the edge of China via the route of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link project.
