Centara joint venture with Dubai group

BANGKOK, 3 October 2017:  UAE-based master developer Nakheel and  Centara Hotels and Resorts, Monday, concluded the formation of a joint venture company and signed a management agreement for their 600-room beachfront resort and waterpark at Dubai’s Deira Islands.

The joint venture, cemented by Nakheel Chairman, Ali Rashid Lootah, and Centara Chairman of the Board, Suthikiati Chirathivat, at a signing ceremony at Centara’s headquarters in Bangkok, will deliver a family lifestyle destination at Deira Islands, Nakheel’s new, 15.3 sq km waterfront city.

The resort will also be managed by Centara, a group that already musters over 14,000 room keys across 67 hotels and resorts in Asia and the Middle East. Read more

Dance to save Indonesian park

GAYO LUES, Indonesia, 15 August 2017: More than 10,000 people turned out in Indonesia’s Aceh at the weekend to stage a record-breaking song and dance performance stressing the need to conserve a threatened national park in the westernmost province.

The men, clad in elaborate black and yellow traditional costumes, sat in neat rows, clapping their hands on their shoulders and laps and moving in an increasingly fast-paced rhythm to a traditional song.

The saman, or “the dance of a thousand hands”, is one of the country’s most popular. In 2011 it was included in the UNESCO list of items of intangible cultural heritage. Read more

Fly to Udon, drive to Laos

UDON THANI, 8 August 2017: Udon Thani is best known as a gateway province to both upper Northeast Thailand and neighbouring Laos and its capital Vientiane.

The city itself serves as an aviation hub, the closest airport to the border with Laos and the starting point for heritage tours that visit Mekong River towns such as Nong Khai, and the World Heritage sites of Ban Chiang.

Major highways link this city to other provinces, while the border is just 60 km by a four and six-lane highway. It is also an important station on the north-south rail line linking Bangkok with Nong Khai. Read more

Angkor’s price is spot on

SIEM REAP, 5 July 2017: Ticket sale revenue earned from foreigners visiting Angkor Wat’s archaeological park reached USD52.1 during January to June, this year, up 66.8% when compared with the same period last year.

Xinhua News quoted figures released by Angkor Enterprise, the state-owned institution in charge of Angkor income management.

The report also claimed foreign visits to the World Heritage site rose 12.9% to 1.23 million visits during the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year. Read more

Angkor fees boost national coffers

SIEM REAP, 11 April 2017: Ticket sales revenue earned from foreigners visiting Angkor Wat archaeological park reached USD30.85 million during January to March, this year, up 51.6% compared with the same period last year.

Khmer Times quoted figures released by the state-owned, Angkor Institution, which is in charge of ticket sales at the World Heritage site.

The report also claimed the number of foreign visitors to the World Heritage site rose 8.95% to 764,146 in the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period last year. Read more

HCMC gives green light to safari park

HO CHI MINH CITY, 29 March 2017: Long in the pipeline, the Saigon Safari project looks like it will see the light of day.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities now say they will press ahead with the long-awaited Saigon Safari project that will  be sited in Cu Chi District.

Saigon Times media reported Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee made a decision, late last week. It ends speculation on the project that first surfaced for city authorities to consider in 2015. Read more

Vietnamese town opens sand park

BINH THUAN, 4 October 2016: A sand statue park titled Forgotten Land will open next January in the south central province of Binh Thuan as a new product to attract family travellers.

Local media reported work on “Forgotten Land” sand statue park began last week in the province’s Phan Thiet city.

The 1.3-hectare park will display various statues featuring fairy tales and legends of Vietnam and the world,  made entirely from natural sand by sculptors from 12 countries, worldwide.  Read more

Hanoi Lake park bans vehicles

HANOI, 1 September 2016: Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake (or Sword Lake) and its surrounding area will be transformed into a pedestrian zone in the evenings from Friday to Sunday starting today.

Local media reported the pedestrian zone will be effective 1900 to midnight from Fridays to Sundays.

Hanoi’s Transport Department will limit  access to commercial vehicles that are serving establishments in the zone and re-route other traffic. Read more

Tourist park venture

VIENTIANE, 27 January 2016: Vientiane Planning and Investment Department signed an agreement, last week, with two private companies to develop the Nong-Or zone in Sikhottabong district, Vientiane, into a tourist site.

Vientiane Times reported that the Vientiane Planning and Investment Department concluded a Memorandum of Understanding for the project last Thursday.

The MoU was inked between the department director, Phoukhong Bannavong, Leading Real Estate Development Company president, Qing Jikang and Automart Import-Export Sole Company president, Thongsavanh Onkorlabout. Read more

Yangon park now a landmark

YANGON, 23 December 2015: Yangon Heritage Trust awarded a blue plaque to Maha Bandoola Park in Kyauktada township, Yangon, to distinguish it as one of the city’s top architectural landmarks.

Global New Light of Myanmar reported the Blue Plaque is the 10th that the Trust has granted in the city. Other recent additions were the Government Technical Institute (GTI) and the Lawkanat Building.

Blue Plaques are permanent signs installed at a public place to commemorate a link between the location and a famous person, event, or landmark. They serve as a kind of historical marker. Read more

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