Halong bay raises fees

QUANG NINH, 4 April 2017: Quang Ninh has set new sightseeing fees for Halong Bay effective 1 April.

Local media reported that new fees for sightseeing routes in Halong and Bai Tu Long Bays will range from VND200,000 to VND250,000 (USD9 to USD11) per route.

Previously, visitors paid an entrance fee of VND120,000 (USD5.27) and additional fees for each single site they visited, ranging from VND30,000 to VND50,000 (USD1.32 to USD2.2) per one site. Read more

Boat trip on Mekong River checks sights

CHIANG RAI, 20 December 2016: Representatives of the public and private sectors in four upper northern provinces enjoyed a boat trip, last week, along the Mekong River that was reportedly designed to explore tourism potential in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).

Chiang Rai’s vice governor, Boonwet Sripuangjai, led the 120-km cruise that started in the riverside town of Chiang Saen in Chiang Rai and ended up river in Kenglap Township in Myanmar.

Participants were supposed to survey the potential and come up with itineraries that could be sold by travel agencies and travel booking websites that would put Chiang Rai on the tourist map. Read more

Japanese tourist drowns off Bali

DENPASAR, 8 November 2016: A elderly Japanese tourist and two Indonesians drowned Monday after being thrown off a glass-bottomed boat battered by big waves near Bali, police said, the latest maritime accident on the island.

The 71-year-old Japanese man and three other foreign tourists were taking part in the trip southwest of Bali on the boat, a popular choice for visitors trying to glimpse Indonesia’s exotic marine life.

But the boat tipped over as it was hit by a wave, sending the tourist — whom police identified only as Nakazawa — and the Indonesian boat captain and his wife flying into the water, said local police chief Hadi Purnomo. Read more

Chao Phraya River boat hits bridge

BANGKOK, 19 September 2016: At least 13 people were killed on Sunday when a boat crowded with passengers sank on Thailand’s Chao Phraya River after hitting a bridge, an emergency response official said.

The accident happened near the ancient city of Ayutthaya, a popular tourist attraction, although no foreigners were believed to be among the dead.

“There are 13 confirmed dead and 33 injured so far,” said Udomsak Khaonoona, disaster prevention chief for the city which is 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok. Read more

Bali tourist boat accident

DENPASAR, 19 September 2016: A Spanish woman on her honeymoon was killed in an explosion on a Bali tourist boat that left another foreigner dead and about 20 injured, officials said Friday.

Police believe the accident was most likely caused by a malfunction in the fuel tank.

The speedboat, carrying about 35 mostly European tourists and a crew of four, had just embarked on a trip to a nearby island when the explosion occurred. Read more

Sail ends in rescue

KRABI, 5 August 2016: Thai navy personnel rescued four Chinese tourists when their chartered boat foundered in rough seas, Wednesday afternoon, near Lanta Noi island, Khaosod Newspaper reported Thursday.

According to the online news report, the  boat captain ignored a rough seas warning issued by local authorities on Wednesday.

The boat, chartered by the four Chinese tourists, embarked on a tour of the Lanta islands off the coast of Krabi province where it encountered rough seas and strong winds. Read more

Tourists survive sea ordeal

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 May 2016: Four people who survived 10 days adrift in the South China Sea subsisted on raw fish and water droplets as a series of rescue opportunities slipped agonisingly by, one of the survivors said Monday.

Spanish nationals David Hernandes Gasulla and Martha Miguel, Hong Kong citizen Tommy Lam Wai Yin, and Armilla Alihassan of Malaysia were on a 2 May island-hopping excursion off the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo when their ordeal began.

Lam, who runs a small resort, and his intern Armilla took the vacationing Spaniards on a tour of island caves and corals when sudden strong waves capsized their motorboat. Read more

Aussie tourist boat catches fire

SYDNEY, 13 May 2016: More than 40 tourists, many of them elderly Chinese, were recovering Thursday after jumping into life rafts when the catamaran they were aboard caught fire in Australia.

The Spirit of 1770 got into trouble 10 nautical miles off the coastal town of 1770 following a day-trip to Lady Musgrave Island on the Great Barrier Reef, apparently when a fire started in the engine room.

The local Gladstone Observer newspaper said the 42 passengers and four crew abandoned ship and jumped into the water before swimming to life rafts late Wednesday. Read more

Search for tourist boat off Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR, 10 May 2016: A missing Malaysian boat with three foreign tourists aboard that disappeared in waters near the Philippines is believed to have sunk, an official said Monday.

Mohamad Zubil Mat Som, a senior coast guard official, told AFP that Malaysian fishermen over the weekend recovered an engine entangled in their net that was from the missing vessel.

The small boat is “believed” to have sunk and divers have been deployed in the area where the boat engine was found, he said. Read more