Low-cost carriers are dramatically expanding their network of flights across the Mekong region, encouraging record numbers of Southeast Asian tourists to explore neighboring countries.
Thailand's top budget airline, Thai AirAsia, plans to double its flights from Bangkok to Hanoi and Phnom Penh next month, while adding Shenzhen as its third destination in China.
Air Bagan, Myanmar's largest private carrier, launched its first international flight last month linking Bangkok with Yangon.
PHOTO: AFP
Deals are also in the works for direct flights between Cambodia's Angkor temple town of Siem Reap and Myanmar's top tourist spots Bagan and Mandalay.
"Low-cost carriers bring ever more city-pairs into the equation," aided by relaxed aviation rules among major Southeast Asian capitals, said John Koldowski, spokesman for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in Bangkok.
As people in the region see their disposable incomes grow steadily, many are proving willing to splash out on travel, especially for affordable destinations within the region, Koldowski said.
Thai visitors to Cambodia soared 38 percent in the first four months of the year, while the number of Vietnamese travellers jumped 70 percent, according to Cambodia's tourism ministry.
Cambodian Tourism minister Thong Khon said travellers from the two countries are helping to boost the nation's tourism industry.
Overall arrivals to Cambodia had grown by 20 percent year-on-year to more than 710,000 as of April. PATA expects the trend to continue in the coming years.
The number of Thai tourists to Cambodia is expected to jump 34 percent over the next two years to 85,400, while visitors to Myanmar are seen rising by 13 percent to 48,400 over that period, PATA says.
Vietnam is also more popular, with arrivals from Thailand expected to jump 17 percent to 126,000 in two years.
In Myanmar, Thais are the top foreign visitors, but many use land crossings as well as flights.
"We hope more tourists will be coming this year as we extend flight connections to international destinations," an official from Myanmar's tourism official said.
For Thais, the increased desire to travel is all the more remarkable because of the economic slowdown at home.
Soraya Srimit, 31, from Bangkok is heading to Hanoi next month on holiday despite her concerns about the economy.
"I thought I should keep that money for a rainy day, because the economy is unlikely to recover until early next year," Soraya said.
"But I found an attractive package from AirAsia, and I really wanted to taste authentic Vietnamese cuisine in Hanoi," she said.
Political turmoil in Thailand has led to almost monthly downgrades in the nation's economic forecasts. The downturn has hurt Jakara Samarnthae's construction business, but he still plans to visit Hanoi later this year.
"A low-cost air fare will make my first overseas trip possible," the 63-year-old said.
The number of Thais travelling overseas rose 20 percent last year to 3.3 million, and their favorite destinations were Vietnam, Laos and China, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
"With airlines, especially budget carriers, expanding their route networks, countries in the region ... have become more accessible to each other," said Juthaporn Rern-gronasa, TAT's deputy governor for international marketing.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile applications. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, also unveiled its A12 chip at its annual technology symposium in Santa Clara, California. The A12 chip, which features TSMC’s super-power-rail technology to provide backside power delivery for AI and HPC applications, is also to enter volume production in 2029, a year after the scheduled release of the A14 chip. The technology moves
RSS