Industries

Tourism

Thailand greenlights quarantine-free travel model for Phuket

Thai authorities on Tuesday (Jun 22) greenlighted a pilot model for quarantine-free travel to ultra-popular beach destination Phuket, a first step towards the tourist-hungry kingdom’s goal of resuscitating its pandemic-battered economy. Thailand has imposed strict restrictions on visitor arrivals in order to stem COVID-19 infections, but ...

Sand beach in Mekong River reopens, brings local economy to life

A popular sandy beach on an island in the Mekong River has been reopened to visitors, to the delight of local businesses, after being closed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. The reopening last week of Had Hae beach, in tambon Nam Kam, ...

PATTANAPONG SRIPIACHAI

Lao Dams Lower Water Levels on a Scenic River, Harming Tour Boat Operators and Other Local Businesses

Water levels lowered by seven dams along a stretch of the Nam Ou River in Laos are blocking boat travel in a scenic area popular with tourists, impacting tour and passenger boat operators and other local businesses, Lao sources say. Travel by water between Nong Khiaw ...

Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney

Zoo agency sets up board to investigate illegal trade

The Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand (ZPO) board on Tuesday set up a panel to investigate the illegal wildlife trade across zoos nationwide in the wake of the disappearance of rare albino barking deer at Songkhla Zoo. Chavalit Chookajorn, the former permanent secretary of the Ministry ...

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Alcohol banned at national parks after complaints of trash and drunk tourists

Alcohol is now banned at national parks after tourists allegedly got drunk at a waterfall and others left a load of trash by their campsite. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has updated other park rules to make sure parks are kept ...

Caitlin Ashworth

Hin Nam No to gain World Heritage status by 2022

Laos is hopeful that Hin Nam No (Karst) National Protection Area in Bualapha district of Khammuan province will achieve UNESCO World Heritage status by 2022. The 9th national steering committee meeting on the application for achieving this status for the site was convened in Vientiane on ...

Souksamai Boulom

Three-Decade Economic Boom Comes to a Sudden Halt in Vietnam

For the past three decades, Vietnam has known only good — or great — economic news. The nation’s consistent growth as an exporter, propelled by Communist leaders who began embracing market-oriented policies in the late 1980s, pushed many into the middle class. The coronavirus pandemic changed ...

John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen

Conservation activists urge post-pandemic tourism reset in Thailand

It is 9 a.m. on a sultry Sunday morning off the coast of Koh Phangan, a popular tourist island in the Gulf of Thailand. More than 30 divers are getting ready to plunge into the tropical waters — not to marvel at the underwater world ...

TOM VATER and LAURE SIEGEL

How eco-tourism saved this stunning Cambodian valley and is key to attracting visitors back after Covid-19

“Mind your head, you are too tall!” warns Rin Rith with a big grin as we dodge another low-hanging branch, the motorbike he is driving skidding along a forest path made muddy by a rain shower. We are hurrying to the base of Mrech Kongkep ...

Peter Ford

NESDC: 14.4m workers at risk

Thailand may lose up to 14.4 million jobs in the second and third quarters, largely because of the coronavirus outbreak and widespread drought, says the government’s planning unit. Of the total, some 8.4 million workers are estimated to be at risk of job loss, 2.5 million ...

CHATRUDEE THEPARAT

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