ROBUST domestic demand and Travel & Tourism are the two major factors contributing to the post-Covid economic recovery of the Asia-Pacific region, according to the flagship annual report of the UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific. Released on April 4, the report notes that although GDP growth has resumed, multiple risks loom large,
Analysis
Analysis: Biden, Netanyahu on collision course after Gaza UN vote
By Matt Spetalnick, Reuters, and published by Yahoo!News Washington – Relations between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sank to a wartime low on Monday (Mar. 25) with the US allowing passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations and drawing a sharp rebuke from the Israeli leader. Netanyahu abruptly
Read moreUN declares 2025 Year of Peace & Trust: Golden opportunity for Asean tourism to take the lead
THE UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Peace and Trust (IYPT), and called for a full scale mobilisation of efforts to build sustainable peace, solidarity and harmony via political dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation amongst nations and peoples. 2025 will mark the 80th anniversary since the end of World
Read morePATA tourism careers forum flags the perils and promises awaiting Gen Z
ON 18 March 2024, more than 1,500 university students of tourism, including about 700 onsite and another 800 online, attended a half-day forum organised by the PATA Thailand chapter and Bangkok University to “Fast Forward” their careers. It ended with a round of self-congratulatory applause and predictions of a bright future. But a closer
Read moreFeature: Thai air force’s fighter choices – why pay more?
GIVEN TODAY’S ECONOMIC circumstances which are quite far from concrete recovery, Thailand would be best suited with a planned procurement of cost-saving, upgraded combat aircraft in lieu of state-of-the-art, air-supremacy ones whilst a human factor should also be taken into account, according to a former fighter pilot. Anudit Nakorntap, the former air force captain
Read morePM leads “Peace Through Tourism” visit to South Thailand
“WHEN the people have money in their pockets, they will forget about their conflicts.” That simple rationale summarised the core objective of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s historic “Peace Through Tourism” visit to the kingdom’s southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat between Feb.27-29. Under the slogan “Travel to the South — With All Your
Read moreTourism tops agenda of Prime Minister’s Feb. 27-29 visit to the South
PRIME MINISTER Srettha Thavisin has embarked on a three-day visit to the three Muslim-majority provinces of South Thailand, specifically to promote tourism. The trip will include a range of social, cultural and economic activities designed to highlight the growth potential of Narathiwat and Yala, which share a direct land border with Malaysia, and Pattani,
Read moreSDGs will fail to meet 2030 target, but travel & tourism can still be a big help
THE “unfavourable global context” has rendered the 2030 target for the UN Sustainable Development Goals unachievable, according to a UN report. Although considerable progress has been made across all the 17 goals, it is “uneven and inadequate” across countries and categories, and will not be fully achieved until 2062. The progress report was released
Read moreThai travel industry urged to reduce usage of US$ for doing business
THE Thai travel & tourism industry has been warned about using the US dollar for business transactions and urged to use the currencies of the countries with which they are doing business. In a landmark lecture at this year’s joint meeting of the Association of Thai Travel Agents and the Thai Hotels Association on
Read moreUN report exposes dark underbelly of the seafood business
PRAWN cocktails and pan-fried salmon with warm tartar sauce are popular items on restaurant menus. But a damning report published by the United Nations this week has exposed the dark reality behind those mouth-watering delicacies. The environmental damage caused by overfishing, poor working conditions of the fishermen/women, the distortions of world trade are among
Read moreThreat of overtourism returns as Thailand, China sign total visa-free travel deal, as of March 1
THAILAND and China have signed an agreement for the citizens of the two countries to get totally visa-free access, as of March 1, 2024. The move will set off a renewed boom in Chinese visitors and help the kingdom exceed its original arrival targets for 2024 beyond eight million for Chinese nationals and 35
Read moreHuman Rights Watch report flags how dying rule of law will hit travel & tourism
THE annual Human Rights Watch report for 2024, released last week, has flagged the next big threats facing global travel & tourism: The slow boiling-frog death of the rule of law, human rights, freedom, privacy, democracy as well as the right to protest, debate and dissent. For the first time, the HRW report refers
Read moreThai tourism agencies get huge budget boost for post-Covid recovery
LED by a record 60% increase in the 2023/24 fiscal year budget of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Thai government is positioning the tourism industry as “the primary engine of economic growth” this year. However, those hopes are likely to be dashed in the event of a wider conflict in the Middle
Read moreThai tourism needs to learn the lessons of history
THE Thai tourism industry ended 2023 with 27.6 million visitors, just off the target of 30 million. It probably would have hit the target had it not been for incidents and events directly related to conflicts and violence, also known as “external shocks.” These were the Top Ten performing markets: In spite of irrefutable
Read moreThai tourism bounds ahead after post-Covid surge
SINCE the 2021 end of the Covid-19 crisis, the Thai tourism industry has enjoyed a healthy revival and is likely to end 2023 just a little shy of 30 million visitors. While that may heighten optimism of hitting the pre-Covid total of 40 million in 2024, the Israel-Palestine war is already having a significant
Read moreAnalysis: ‘House arrest’ for privileged convict Thaksin imminent
By Out-Crowd THE PRIVILEGED DE FACTO PHEU THAI boss-cum-convict at large Thaksin Shinawatra is currently speculated to be returned home from Police Hospital shortly and be held in sort of a “house arrest” there. The privileged patient who has been staying for the secrecy-shrouded “illnesses” in a tight-security, private ward at Police Hospital since
Read moreFEATURE: The fourth generation of Soi Rajakrue figures has quietly come of age
IT HAS BEEN A QUARTER of a century since senior members of the Soi Rajakrue elite clique completely stopped playing the roles of a powerhouse over Thailand’s complicated, cloak-and-dagger politics due to the passing of former prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan in 1998. Now the fourth generation of Soi Rajakrue figures has virtually come of
Read moreAnalysis: Upheavals in Xi’s world spread concern about China’s diplomacy
By Greg Torode and Martin Quin Pollard – Reuters and published by Yahoo!News Beijing – The disappearance of China’s defence minister, the latest in a string of upheavals in the country’s top ranks, is stoking uncertainty about President Xi Jinping’s rule as an internal security clampdown trumps international engagement. The growing unpredictability could affect
Read moreFeature: Move Forward’s novel campaign style attracts Bangkokians
By Thai Newsroom Reporters Bangkok – Move Forward candidates running in constituency-based mode for MP of the capital are applying a novel campaign style to literally get closer than usual to prospective voters on the city streets. The Move Forward constituency-based contestants for the May 14 general election stand on a chair or a
Read moreFEATURE: Trees literally turned into structures for roadside campaign signs
By Thai Newsroom Reporters Sisaket – Farmers in the capital district of the lower-northeastern Isaan province are tending to a special occupation with an optimum use of towering, sturdy trees grown in their backyards in peculiar relation to an upcoming general election. A variety of indigenous hardwood trees, mostly of Yangna and Payom genuses,
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