Archive for January, 2007
Traveling to Vietnam during the Tet Festival?.
In 2007, the traditional Tet Festival will be held from February 16-21 2007. During this time of the year:
* All museums in Hanoi will be closed (but museums in Ho Chi Minh City will remain open).
* There will be no markets in the Northeast and other parts of the country (such as Can Cau,
Bac Ha and Coc Ly).
Most Vietnamese (locals and overseas Vietnamese) will be traveling during this festive period therefore domestic traveling within Vietnam will therefore be increased tremendously so be prepared that there maybe changes in flight and train schedules throughout the whole country!
Happy New Year of the Pig!
January 20th, 2007
Thailand’s Bangkok Airways will launch the services between Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City from March 2007. The new route will be operated under a code-share agreement with Vietnam’s Pacific Airline. Bangkok Airways will be the 3rd airline operating flights between the two cities after Thai Airways International and Vietnam Airlines.
More information on the flight schedules and airfares will be annouced once available.
January 20th, 2007
Those of you who are traveling on your own to Luang Prabang should read this latest news from our local office in Laos:
As of March 01 2007, the new entrance fees will be applied at the tourists’ sites as follows:
Kip 20,000 (US$ 2) for the entrance fee at all temples in Luang Prabang
Kip 30,000 (US$ 3) for the entrance fee at Royal Palace Museum
Kip 20,000 (US$ 2) for the entrance fee at Kuangsi Waterfall, Phousi Hill, Pak Ou Caves
Kip 15,000 (US$ 1.5) for the entrance fee at Sae Waterfall
January 20th, 2007
(TNA) Thailand has been voted as the World Best Tourist Country in the Norwegian Grand Travel Awards 2007 held in Oslo, Norway earlier this month, according to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Ministry said that the Thai Embassy in Oslo reported that it is the fourth consecutive year Thailand won the annual award organised by Travel News Magazine of Norway.
Greece, Denmark and Italy ranked second, third and fourth respectively.
Meanwhile, Thai Airways International was also voted Best International Airlines in the airline category.
Norway’s Travel News Magazine sponsors the Grand Travel Awards annually, this year being its 12th yearly event.
The awards were divided into 17 categories.
The award granted to Thailand resulted from an opinion poll of more than 300 tourism industry-related companies in Norway.
In a related development, the Chicago Tribune newspaper in the United States on January 7 ranked
Thailand as first among the top ten Top Value For-Money Countries under the Country Brand Index 2006 rankings.
To complete the top ten list, Indonesia, the United States, Turkey, Spain, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Greece and Hungary are included in the rankings.
Source: Bangkok Post
January 19th, 2007
The Khantoke Chang Festival will be held on February 14 -17 2007 at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, Hang Chat District, Lampang Province.
The Thai Elephants Conservation Centre is a training school that teaches mahouts and elephant keepers on how to care for and train young elephants. It also has a facility that provides free veterinary services to sick and old elephants from all over the country. The centre is located in the Thung Kwian forest park in Hang Chat district, about 32 kilometres from Lampang town.The Khantok Chang Fair is held at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre every year on the first weekend of February. In this event, elephants are feasted with an assortment of their favourite fruits and vegetables served on a big northern style food tray called “Tok”. Talent shows from the elephants are also part of the activities.
January 8th, 2007
The Chiang Mai Flower Festival is similar to other flower festivals held around the world such as Taiwan’s In-Season Flower Festival, Japan’s Sakura Festival and the Netherland’s and Belgium’s Flower Parades.
Thailand’s first Flower Festival was hosted by Chiang Mai in 1977. It was such a big success that it became an annual event in Thailand since then. The festival’s interesting highlights is the many beautiful flower floats decorated with different species of flowers. Each flower, each petal, each shade of colour is carefully selected and positioned on the float to form patterns, words and pictures.
Every float conveys a unique message of its own; some tell of Chiang Mai’s rich heritage, others speak of the life style of
Thai people, some illustrate a religious principles or show some event of Buddha’s life, others look to the past with
scenes from history, and still others express a contemporary idea with abstract and modern designs.
The parade begins at Chiang Mai Railway Station and passes Nawarat Bridge and ends at Nong Buak Hat Park.
At the Park there are competitions for various categories of flowers, fruit and vegetables, for flower arrangements and miniature gardens as well as hundreds of stalls selling everything you can imagine. As the festival is very popular for both the tourists and locals so most of the hotels are generally full so be warned to book in advance!
All in all - if you will be in Chiang Mai during the above dates, this event is one of the most interesting sites that you should not miss!
January 8th, 2007
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