TRAVEL TIT BITS
Top choice
Phuket has been listed in 10th place by Traveller’s Choice Award for Destinations 2017 by TripAdvisor, the travel planning and booking site.
Bali is the global winner followed by London, Paris, Rome, New York, Crete, Barcelona, Siem Reap, Prague and Phuket.
According to TripAdvisor, award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions in destinations worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period, as well as traveller booking interest on TripAdvisor.
Meanwhile Karon Beach in Phuket was named the second most popular sandy beach in the world by Booking.com. Topping the list is Venice Beach in California, followed by Karon Beach on the west coast of Phuket, Porto-Vecchio on Corsica, Taiwan’s South Bay, San Teodoro in Italy, Sanya in China and Boracay in the Philippines.
Like a local
Visa has handed 100,000 postcards of 15 photos to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to promote the Kingdom’s tourism through TAT’s offices around the world.
The pictures were selected from more than 40,000 photographs submitted by locals from the “Not A Tourist: See Thailand Through Local Eyes” campaign launched last June.
Almost a quarter of the pictures were taken in Bangkok, followed by Chiang Mai (9%) and Phuket (6%) and one out of every 10 photos was about food. Popular images included traditional Thai desserts, Ayutthaya grilled river prawns, roadside noodles and sweetened drinks.
“I hope these photographs will inspire and encourage travellers to experience popular local activities, food and hangouts — living like locals instead of just visiting,” said Visa country manager Suripong Tantiyanon.
Traffic help
The Rural Roads Department will temporarily open Central Pattaya’s road tunnel during April 9-17 to ease traffic during Songkran holidays.
The 837 million baht project was started in November 2014 to build the 1.9km four-lane tunnel. The tunnel is located under the intersection of Central Pattaya on Sukhumvit Road (Highway 3) in Bang Lamung district.
The tunnel is expected to officially open on May 1, which is two months behind schedule.
The 5% work that remains includes murals on tunnel walls, implementing dolphin sculptures and testing the security system.
Airlines update
Emirates is offering an option for passengers travelling to the United States via Dubai to either pack their electronic devices into their checked-in luggage or to hand them over to security staff at the gate before boarding their US-bound flight.
According to the airline, the devices will be carefully packed into boxes, loaded into the aircraft hold, and returned to the customer at their US destination. There will not be any charge for this service.
The new policy was announced to help business travellers use their personal devices until they board their flights to the United States.
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced on March 21 enhanced security procedures for passengers from 10 specific airports before departing to the United States. The airports are Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan, Cairo International Airport in Egypt, Ataturk International Airport in Turkey, King Abdul-Aziz International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait International Airport, Mohammed V Airport in Morocco, Hamad International Airport in Qatar, Dubai International Airport, and Abu Dhabi International Airport.
The aviation security enhancements include requiring a ban on all personal electronic devices larger than a smartphone. The banned devices include laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players, electronic game units larger than a smartphone and travel printers/scanners. If the electronics are damaged or missing from the baggage, TSA advises the passengers to contact the airline immediately.
The policy does not impact on domestic flights in the United States or flights departing the United States. Electronic devices will continue to be allowed on all flights originating in the United States.
Meanwhile the United Kingdom also joined the TSA’s policy in banning passengers from six countries to carry electronic devices that are larger than the smartphone on board. The countries are Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
Hotel updates
Park Hyatt Hotel will open in Bangkok on May 12. Located on the top of Central Embassy’s retail complex, the luxurious hotel will feature 222 guestrooms including 32 suites. The rooms range from 48m² to 510m².
Other facilities are restaurants, bars, a sky lounge, 12 meeting/function rooms covering a total of 2,000m², a 40m swimming pool, spa and a 24-hour fitness centre.
Visit bangkok.park.hyatt.com.