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.
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS