EU and Vietnam ease air agreements
October 5, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
BANGKOK, 5 October 2010 – The European Union and Vietnamese authorities yesterday signed off on an aviation agreement, which will remove nationality restrictions in bilateral air services agreements between EU member states and Vietnam.
The agreement will allow any EU airline to operate flights between any EU member state and Vietnam, where a bilateral agreement exists and traffic rights are in place.
Air Mekong readies for launch
September 29, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
HANOI, 29 September – Vietnam’s private airline, Air Mekong, loaded fares on its website, late last week, as it prepares for the launch of domestic services this October.
Air Mekong’s commercial services director, Truong Thanh Vu, announced routes and fares at a press conference in Hanoi. The airline intends to start services from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao, Phu Quoc, Pleiku and Buon Ma Thuot from 9 October, with one-way fares set at VND400,000.
Sector fares will rise to around VND800,000 and VND1.2 million for longer routes.
Mega rail project in Hanoi
September 29, 2010 by AFP
Filed under Mekong Region, Vietnam
HANOI, 29 September 2010 – Vietnam has started work on Hanoi’s first urban rail system in an effort to ease traffic congestion in the capital.
A ground breaking ceremony was held last Saturday for a 12.5 kilometre line, which will cost around US$1 billion, according to a news report on the government’s website.
According to the Thanh Nien newspaper, Hanoi aims to build eight urban rail lines, five of which already have government approval.
Adventure biking in Vietnam
September 23, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under Mekong Region
BANGKOK, 23 September 2010 – SpiceRoads Cycle Tours is launching a new bicycle tour to Vietnam’s remote northeast mountains in Ha Giang province, covering 660 km in 14 days.
Thailand denies entry to activists
BANGKOK, 13 September 2010 – Thailand has refused entry to two human rights campaigners due to speak at a Bangkok press conference Monday about alleged abuses in neighbouring Vietnam, a journalists’ organisation said.
The move forced the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, a long-time critic of the country’s communist regime, to cancel the event at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT), the media group said.
The FCCT said on Sunday it had been asked by Thailand’s Foreign Ministry not to allow its premises to be used for the news conference “as it might contain information detrimental to a neighbouring country.”
Novel gives Vietnam a new attraction
September 10, 2010 by AFP
Filed under Mekong Region
SADEC, 9 September, 2010 – For years, the home of the main male character in French writer Marguerite Duras’ steamy novel “The Lover” was closed to the public in Vietnam.
Now it is recognised as a national historic site, and is open to tourists.
Vietnam considers bullet train project
September 1, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
HANOI, 1 September, 2010 – State-owned Vietnam Railways reported, yesterday, the government was seeking support from Japan to finance and build a bullet train project.
However, the request failed to gain approval from parliament, based on the high cost of funding a 1,570 km track and train system.
An official of the state-owned Vietnam Railways told the media in Hanoi that the government would go ahead despite statements by parliament that claimed the cost would run up a bill equivalent to two-thirds of the nation’s gross domestic product.
Vietnam’s tourism rolls to new records
August 25, 2010 by Rapeepat Mantanarat
Filed under Mekong Region
BANGKOK, 25 August 2010 – International visitors to Vietnam in July were reached an estimated 410,000 an increase of 51.1% over the same month last year.
International arrivals for the first seven months of the year tallied 2,920,521 representing a 34.9% growth. According to data supplied by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam and published on the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism website, China continued to be the country’s top supplier.
Berry pickers ticked off over treatment
STOCKHOLM, 10 August 2010 – Around 120 seasonal berry pickers from Vietnam staged two demonstrations against their working conditions in Sweden on Tuesday, days after a similar protest by Chinese workers, officials said.
In one of the demonstrations, some 70 berry pickers locked six of their team leaders in a room at the former school where they were living.
“Six of them were locked in, they were Vietnamese foremen, and in addition to being locked in, they were beaten up and two of the six were tied up,” Hans-Aake Hedin of the Dalarna county police told AFP.
National park adventure in Vietnam
July 6, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
BANGKOK, 6 July 2010 – Exotissimo Travel has launched a new three-day Vietnam tour that combines soft adventure with a wildlife educational component at Cat Tien National Park.
Covering an area of 720 sq km of lowland tropical rainforest, Cat Tien National Park has only recently adopted overnight stay policy.
Due to a lack of accommodation within the region, it was not feasible to extend day visits in the park until quite recently when the park approved the opening of a new Forest Floor Lodge.
