Pattaya to charm with films
August 10, 2011 by Paphada Apimonton
Filed under News, Pattaya
PATTAYA, 10 August 2011 – Pattaya has applied for Creative Culture City Network status from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
Pattaya Municipal Administration’s mayor, Ittipon Kunpleum, together with Ministry of Culture Contemporary Culture director, Prisana Pongthadsirikul, attended the signing ceremony late last week which will lead the way for Pattaya’s application into the Creative Culture City Network.
It hopes to gain designation as a City of Films, which is one of seven categories listed in the network. Read more
UN chief seeks to end border conflict
UNITED NATIONS, 9 February 2011 – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Tuesday on ending their border conflict and said he again offered UN help to negotiate a deal.
At least eight people have been killed in four days of cross-border shelling which the two neighbors have blamed on each other.
With a lull in fighting since early Monday, the UN Security Council has held back from formal talks on the clashes to give time to an Indonesian mediation bid, diplomats said.
Envoy slams Myanmar elections
UNITED NATIONS, 8 November 2010 – Sunday’s elections in Myanmar were not free or fair, the top US diplomat at the United Nations said Sunday.
“Today’s elections in Burma were neither free nor fair, neither credible nor legitimate,” said US Ambassador Susan Rice, using Myanmar’s alternate name.
“Yet again, the Burmese regime has missed a critical opportunity to move toward democracy and improve the lives of the Burmese people,” she said in a statement.
Smooth talk on Silk Road
SAMARKAND, 11 October 2010 – The United Nations tourism chief on Friday hailed the historic Silk Road as a potential major tourist destination, speaking in Uzbekistan at a meeting of officials from the region.
“Already Silk Road countries account for 30% of international tourism arrivals and 20% of international tourism receipts,” said Taleb Rifai, the secretary-general of UN’s World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
First class way to cutting poverty
UNITED NATIONS, 21 September 2010 – For the past four years, French business- and first-class air travellers have been paying more than US$50 each toward the cost of the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis each time they get on a jet.
Most have probably not noticed.
Even economy travellers on French jets on trips within Europe pay just over one dollar to the special multi-national fund.
Asia leads world tourism recovery
MADRID, 5 September 2010 – World tourism rebounded strongly this year from the global financial crisis, led by Asia and the Middle East, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said last Friday.
But the Madrid-based body also urged caution, noting that some major developed nations have not yet fully emerged from the economic doldrums.
International tourist arrivals stood at 421 million in the first six months of 2010, up 7.0% on last year but still 2.0% below the record year of 2008, the UNWTO said in a report.
Cambodia warns UN of Thai threat
PHNOM PENH, 8 August 2010 ― Cambodia wrote to the United Nations on Sunday in an escalating war of words over a border spat with Thailand, saying it was ready to defend its territory.
Prime Minister Hun Sen accused neighbouring Thailand of threatening to use its armed forces to settle the dispute.
Hun Sen said statements by Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, when he addressed “Yellow Shirt” protesters in Bangkok on Saturday was “a clear threat to use military force” to settle the border problem.
UN enters sustainable tourism partnership
August 2, 2010 by Imtiaz Muqbil
Filed under Blogs
BANGKOK, 2 August 2010 ― The already bloated deck of global, regional and local organisations focusing on “sustainable tourism” got even fatter last month with the UN Environment Programme announcing the launch of a “Global Partnership” that “aims to transform the way tourism is done worldwide.”
UN urges BKK peace talks
Thousands of anti-government protesters were locked in a tense confrontation with troops today, Tuesday, 18 May, as the UN urged Thailand to “step back from the brink” to avoid further loss of life.
Columns of smoke billowed over central Bangkok from piles of tyres set ablaze by the “Red Shirt” protesters, and an explosion boomed from the conflict zone where five days of violence have left 37 people dead and 282 wounded.
