Archive for July, 2006
Manohra Cruises just added the brand new Manohra Star to its fleet offering cruise-dine experiences on the Chao Phraya River. The 27-metre Manohra Star is the largest vessel in the group, capable of accommodating up to 70 people for a variety of sunset and dinner cruises.
Like its sister ships, the Manohra Star is blt on a traditional rice barge, and offers the same features as the other vessels in Manohra’s fleet; polished teak fitting, decorative Thai craftwork and celadon table settings. The Manohra Star features an open-air main deck with a large bar section, comfortable restrooms and a newly-built modern kitchen on the lower deck. The dining cruise offers traditional Thai cuisine, but can easily cater to custom menus on a private-charter basis.
All river journeys depart from the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa pier.
Sunset Cruise departing at 6.00 p.m. daily
Dinner Cruise departing at 7.30 p.m. daily
For us, ”Manohra Dinner Cruise” is obviously the best and most luxurious dinner cruise available in Bangkok so far.
July 21st, 2006
Bangkok top the list of the Asia’s top 10 cities this year and is joined by Chiang Mai (Thailand), Kathmandu (Nepal), Kyoto, Hong Kong, Hanoi (Vietnam), Beijing, Jaipur (India) and Luang Prabang (Laos).
Here is the top 10 list for Asia:
Rank no. 1Â (2005 rank no.1) - Bangkok (2006 score 86.11)
Rank no. 2Â (2005 rank no.4) - Chiang Mai (2006 score 85.62)
Rank no. 3 (2005 rank N/A) -Â Kathmandu (2006 score 83.61)
Rank no. 4 (2005 rank no.4) -Â Kyoto (2006 score 82.20)
Rank no. 5 (2005 rank no.3) - Hong Kong (2006 score 82.18)
Rank no. 6 (2005 rank no. 5) -Â Hanoi (2006 score 82.09)
Rank no. 7 (2005 rank N/A) - Udaipur, India (2006 score 81.96)
Rank no. 8 (2005 rank N/A) -Â Beijing (2006 score 80.46)
Rank no. 9 (2005 rank N/A) - Jaipur, India (2006 score 79.94)
Rank no. 10 (2005 rank N/A) - Luang Prabang (2006 score 79.92)
* N/A means that the property was not among the top-ranked in this category last year.
Congratulations!
Â
Source: Travel & Leisure Magazine
July 17th, 2006
Phuket has made its way to the top 10 best islands of the world in this year’s survey by readers of the Travel & Leisure Magazine.
This year’s top 10 islands are:
Rank no. 1Â (2005 rank no.1) - Bali (2006 score 88.48)
Rank no. 2Â (2005 rank no.4) - Kauai (2006 score 86.47)
Rank no. 3 (2005 rank no.3) - Maui (2006 score 86.21)
Rank no. 4 (2005 rank N/A) - Cape Briton Island, Nova Scotia) (2006 score 85.97)
Rank no. 5 (2005 rank no.10) - Mount Desert Island, Maine (2006 score 84.90)
Rank no. 6 (2005 rank N/A) - Tasmania (2006 score 84.88)
Rank no. 7 (2005 rank no.9) - Hawaii (2006 score 84.72)
Rank no. 8 (2005 rank N/A) - Galapagos Islands (2006 score 84.69)
Rank no. 9 (2005 rank no.2) - Santorini (2006 score 84.17)
Rank no. 10 (2005 rank N/A) - Phuket (2006 score 84.06)
Not only it was ranked the in the top 10 island of the world but it was also ranked no. 2 in the top 3 best islands in Asia (no. 1 is Bali and no. 3 is Borneo).
Congratulations!
* N/A means that the property was not among the top-ranked in this category last year.
Source: Travel & Leisure Magazine
Â
July 17th, 2006
We have received quite a lot of queries from many guests regarding the new Suvarnabhumi Airport so here we are trying to gather as much information as available now for you:
Official name:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Suvarnabhumi Airport (pronouced in Thai as SU-VAN-NA-PHOOM)
Scheduled Opening date:Â
September 28 2006 (with trial run for 19Â flights from TG and 5 low-cost airlines)
Location:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
The airport is located in Racha Thewa in Bang Phi (district of Samut Prakarn province, some 28 kilometers east of Bangkok
Public Transport:
The construction of the City Airport Terminal in Makkasan and a 28.6 km high-speed rail link to the new airport started in July 2005 and are planned for completion in November 2007, although this deadline, too, seems unlikely to be met. The airport express, informally known as the Pink Line and operated jointly with SRT’s planned Red Line commuter service, will connect with the BTS Sukhumvit Line and MRT Blue Line at Phaya Thai and Phetchaburi stations respectively, offering airport-bound passengers a fast 15-minute limited stop journey from the city.
Approximate traveling to/from city center of Bangkok BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
No information is available at this stage.
Approximate traveling to/from city center of Bangkok BY PRIVATE VEHICLE:
1 hour up to 1 and a half hour depending on traffic
Specifications of the airport:
The airport has 2 parallel runways (60 m. wide, 4,000 m. and 3700 m. long) and 2 parallel taxiways to accommodate simultaneous departures and arrivals. It has a total of 120 parking bays (51 with contact gates and 69 remote gates) and 5 of these are capable of accommodating the Airbus A380 aircraft. With a capacity of handling 76 flight operations per hour, both international and domestic flights will share the airport terminal but will be assigned to different parts of the concourse. In the initial phase of construction, it will be capable of handling 45 million passengers and 3 million tonnes of cargo per year. Above the underground rail link station and in front of the passenger terminal building is the 600-room hotel operated by Accor Group under the Novotel brand. Between the airport hotel and the terminal building are the two 5-storey car park buildings with a combined capacity of 5,000 cars. The airport has 5 main access routes, among these the most convenient route is via the Bangkok-Chon Buri Motorway (Highway No. 7). In addition to the express rail link, 11 city bus routes operated by BMTA will serve the airport.
Long-term plans for four runways flanking two main terminals and two satellite buildings with a combined capacity capable of handling up to 100 million passengers and 6.4 million tonnes of cargo a year are on the drawing board. The second phase of airport expansion involving the construction of a satellite building south of the main terminal is expected to begin 3 to 5 years after the completion of the first main termi
Source: http://www.wikipedia.com and others
July 13th, 2006
For those planning planning to visit the national parks, the recently launched National Parks and Other Wild Places of Thailand could be useful source of information on how to prepare for such trips and what they can expect there.
The full-colour title covers 35 national parks. It categories them by region and all information is sourced from theh Forestry Department and observations of its author, Stephen Elliott. The pictures were taken by Gerald Cubitt.
The book contains information about their geography, history, as well as box of tellng their location, climate, recommended visiting time, how to get there, equipment one needs to carry, facilities and activities.
The book is priced at THB 1,195.00 and available at all branches of Asia Books (http://www.asiabooks.com)
Source:Â Bangkok Post (July 13 2006)
We have already seen the book and must say its really one of the best books on National Parks of Thailand. Ideal for all nature lovers who are planning to visit any of the national park here in Thailand as you have all the useful information you need to know!
Â
July 13th, 2006
This year, Asian hotels account for almost a quarter of T&L Top 100 Overall so for the first time, they have expanded the Asia List to include the 50 highest-scoring properites. Among those of the top 50 - following hotels are featured in our website:
Rank No. 1 - The Peninsula Hotel (Bangkok, Thailand)
Rank No. 7 - The Oriental Hotel (Bangkok, Thailand)
Rank No. 9 - The Four Seasons Resort (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
Rank No. 11 - Banyan Tree (Phuket, Thailand)
Rank No. 13 - Amanpuri (Phuket, Thailand)
Rank No. 19 - Ana Mandara Resort & Six Senses Spa (Nhatrang, Vietnam)
Rank No. 20 - The Sukhothai (Bangkok, Thailand)
Rank No. 27 - Shangri-La Hotel (Bangkok, Thailand)
Rank No. 29 - Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
Rank No. 30 - JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa (Phuket, Thailand)
Rank No. 33 - Raffles Grand Hotel D’Angkor (Siem Reap, Cambodia)
Rank No. 36 - Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers (Bangkok, Thailand)
Rank No. 40 - Hotel Sofitel Metropole (Hanoi, Vietnam)
Rank No. 41 - Raffles Hotel Le Royal (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
Rank No. 42 - Grand Hyatt Erawan (Bangkok, Thailand)
Rank No. 46 - JW Marriott Hotel (Bangkok, Thailand)
To see the full list of its top 50 hotels in Asia - you can click into:
http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2006/results.cfm?cat=hotelsasiaÂ
July 12th, 2006
Here is the list of the hotels featured in our website that received the World’s Best Awards for Top 100 Hotels:
Rank No. 4 - Peninsula Hotel, Bangkok (was ranked no. 6 in 2005)
Rank No. 9 - Oriental Hotel, Bangkok (was ranked no. 11 in 2005)
Rank No. 11 - The Four Seasons Resort, Chiang Mai (was ranked no. 4 in 2005)
Rank No. 33 - Banyan Tree, Â Phuket (was ranked no. 40 in 2005)
Rank No. 41 - Amanpuri, Phuket (was ranked no. 72 in 2005)
Rank No. 65 - Ana Mandara Resort & Six Senses Spa (was NOT ranked in Top 100 list Â
                    in 2005)
Rank No. 75 - The Sukhothai, Bangkok (was ranked no. 48 in 2005)
For those of you who would like to view the list of all Top 100 Hotels, please go to:
http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2006/
Â
Â
Below, the list of the Top 100 Hotels and, above, links to the World’s Best of everything else
July 12th, 2006
Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can now travel within the region without visa starting next month.
A report from Philippines Daily Inquirer quoted Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar as saying that the 10-nation ASEAN will meet on July 23 2006 for their annual meeting and sign the agreement.
Some ASEAN members are already in place with biliteral agreements that allow their citizens limited travel without visas.
Laos and Myanmar are surprise signatories in the accord. The Laotian government requires all foreign visitors to secure a visa before entering their country. However, it has a visa-free travel arrangement with Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
While Myanmar does not allow any foreign national to visit the country without a visa. Vietnam has existing visa-free travel arrangement with most ASEAN members, except neighboring Cambodia and Myanmar.FAVE (Framework Agreement on Visa Excemption) is aimed at standardizing these bilaterlal agreements into a uniform pact that will allow citizens of ASEAN to visit member nations without a visa for a period of 2 weeks.
FAVE (Framework Agreement on Visa Excemption) is aimed at standardizing these bilaterlal agreements into a uniform pact that will allow citizens of ASEAN to visit member nations without a visa for a period of 2 weeks.ASEAN is comprised of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Myanmar and Vietnam.Source: http://www.allheadlinesnews.com
Source:
July 12th, 2006
chicagotribune.com has this article in their July 09 2006 issue:
—————————————————————————————
How do you impress kids glued to iPods and DVDs? Rock their world by showing it to them.
Here’s a list–OK, a wish list–of 10 places to take the kids before they graduate from high school. As parents of grown  has listed a wish list–of 10 places to take the kids before they graduate from high school. As parents of grown children have learned, college, careers and love lives make family trips a lot more difficult to coordinate. So go now, while you have the chance. With its sense of exploration and discovery, travel truly is a classroom without walls.
1). Washington DC
2). Disneyland/World
3). The Grand Canyon
4). The Great Wall
5). Hong Kong
6). Taj Mahal
7). Paris
8). Machu Picchu
9). Angkor Wat. Chances are, your children will never formally study this massive 1,000-year-old capital of the Khmer empire. And yet, they may know that actress Angelina Jolie came here to campaign against the land mines, adopting an infant son in the process. Located near Siem Reap, Cambodia, the temple complex, spread over 40 miles, was built at the beginning of the 12th Century. Scaling the steep temples to view the sunset is a memorable (and dizzyingly athletic) experience. What’s most poignant, though, is meeting the local residents who openly discuss what it was like to survive the deadly years of the Khmer Rouge
10). Jerusalem
————————————————————————————–
I could not agree more with them especially when they say “travel truly is a classroom without walls“!
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com
Â
July 11th, 2006
Two of Bangkok’s leading hospitals popular with foreign patients have set up in-house visa extension facilities to help those who have to overstay their visas while undergoing medical treatment. The facility gives a substantial boost to Thailand’s competitive position as it seeks to attract more global visitors to its world-class medical facilities.
In both cases, the Bumrungrad and Samitivej hospitals are bearing the expenses of providing the space and having Immigration officials come in once a week to process the paperwork. Have the facility in-house is far more convenient for them than having staff shuttle with the paperwork back and forth from the Immigration Division head office in Bangkok on a daily basis.
Thailand’s health, wellness and medical facilities are becoming increasingly popular all over the world. Thus far, people seeking to avail of these facilities have had to first see which type of visa they are holding, and the duration of stay permitted.
Visitors come to Thailand on many different types of visas. Citizens of 41 countries and territories get 30-day visa free stay, 20 nationalities get 15-day visas on arrival while the rest have to apply for visas beforehand. Full details of the visa requirements are available on www.immigration.go.th or www.mfa.go.th.
The different types of visas have various terms and conditions related to extension of stay. Some are extendable and others not. While many people come to Thailand under a 90-day “tourist visa� specifically for treatment, others are taking advantage of their presence in Thailand under a 15-day visa-on-arrival to get a check-up and any accompanying treatment, if necessary.
Either way, many find that an extension of stay is required. The Immigration Department acknowledges that patients who seek bonafide treatment should be given an extension so as not to incur an over-stay fine upon departure.
Extensions are now being granted for periods of one month to 90 days, depending on which type of visa the patient is holding. A doctor’s certificate is required (organised by the hospital) along with original passport, a photocopy of the passport and one photograph.
An Immigration Department form also has to be filled out, which is normally handled by the hospital. A charge of 1,900 baht is levied by the Immigration Department and the hospital may add a service charge. The extension is normally granted immediately.
Bumrungrad International
This centre was set up on 17 August 2005 to serve Bumrungrad’s in-patients, their relatives, tourists and general public. It is open every Wednesday from 13.00-16.00 hrs, 3rd Floor, of Bumrungrad Hospital Building,
Bumrungrad Hospital
33 Sukhumvit 3 (Soi Nana Nua), Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2667 1000
Fax:+66 (0) 2667 2525
E-mail: info@bumrungrad.com
Samitivej hospital (Sukhumvit):
This was opened on 27 April 2006 to serve in-patients as well as tourists, students and retirees on long-stay visas. It is open every Thursday from 0900-1500 hrs at Building No. 1, 1st Floor, Samitivej Hospital.
Samitivej Hospital
133 Sukhumvit 49, Klongtan Nua, Vadhana, Bangkok 10110
Tel: +66 (0) 2711-8000
Fax: 662(0)2391-1290
Email: info@samitivej.co.th
For further information about visas to Thailand: http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2381.php#Type
Source: http://www.tatnews.org
Â
Â
Â
July 11th, 2006
Next Posts
Previous Posts
