News in Asia

Today is national mother’s day in Thailand and also a public holiday dedicated to the nation’s Queen Sirikit. The queen was born on 12 August 1932 and is celebrating her 83rd birthday today. 

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have released a list of banned activities on its newly pedestrianised main thoroughfare. All pets, including dogs on leads, are at the top of the list of what is no longer allowed on Nguyen Hue Street. 

Koh Tao translates to English as Turtle Island. This unusual name is a nod to the island’s shape and the turtles that were once plentiful in this area of the Gulf of Thailand. Nowadays, Koh Tao is noted for its range of adventure activities chief among which is scuba-diving.

Bangkok’s urban transport operator has been forced into scrapping a proposal to sell its aging buses. Thailand’s transport ministry vetoed a proposal from the BMTA (Bangkok Mass Transit Authority) board of directors to replace 2,860 buses with new ones that ran on natural gas (NGV).

Thailand is home to a unique collection of museums. Among them, and in the far north, Chiang Saen is home to two facilities tracing the region’s history of opium production while Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital hosts the Forensic Science Museum’s macabre exhibits.

Heavy storms battered the Andaman Sea region of southern Thailand overnight and caused floods in multiple locations. The storms struck coastal provinces all the way down from Ranong to Satun on the Malaysian border. 

The tourism ministry in Thailand is in the process of setting up a new visitor visa which will have a six month validity. The tourist minister stated that prime-minister Prayut Chan-ocha had approved the new visa option and it could be available at Thai embassies and consulates around the world from October onwards.

The town of Mae Sot is on the Thai side of the River Moei in the northwest of the country. The Friendship Bridge across the river here is a fairly busy trade link giving access to the Myanmar town of Myawaddy.

A brand new park complex in Hua Hin has started taking delivery of an assemblage of enormous statues of Thailand’s former royal kings. The Thai army has allocated a plot of its own land in the seaside resort town to provide the tribute to the country’s illustrious monarchs.

Data just released by Skyscanner shows that Thailand is currently the most searched about country in Asia. The figures, which relate to the first six months of 2015, place the Southeast Asian nation at number 10 in the global search listings.

People travelling in the Golden Triangle region of Northern Thailand have the opportunity of making a quick excursion into Laos. The Mekong River island of Koh Don Sao is slightly downstream of Sop Ruak. Longtail boat owners congregate at piers close to the huge golden Buddha statue and his boat. 

Laos’s national transport division has announced experts will conduct a survey into the viability of launching a new Mekong riverboat service. Transport Department senior director Bounkhong Souksavat said the study will analyse whether ferries linking Luang Prabang and Loei will benefit tourism and riverside communities.

People living in provinces in Northern Thailand have been warned that there is a possibility of floods and landslides this week. Weather forecasters say this particularly affects those living close to rivers or other waterways or on the sides or at the foot of mountains. 

The Transport Minister of Thailand has confirmed that Thailand’s biggest privately owned corporation wants to invest in a new high-speed train line. Prajin Juntong says the ministry has been holding talks with the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) over upgrading the route connecting Bangkok and Pattaya. 

Thailand’s Meteorological Bureau has forecast heavy rain and storms for the eastern and southern regions of Thailand. A bureau spokesperson noted that in the southwest Andaman Sea region heavy storms which began on Saturday are set to continue though until next weekend.

Two key Thai tourist destinations have been named among the top ten global hotspots to retire in. Live and Invest Overseas placed the Gulf of Thailand heritage resort of Hua Hin in seventh place and the northern city of Chiang Mai in eighth.

The majestic remains of the temples at Si Satchanalai are a lasting tribute to the construction technology of the artisans of the ancient Thai kingdom of Sukhothai. Wat Chang Lom and other well-preserved temples, statues of Buddha and palaces are up to 800 years old.

Buddhists throughout Thailand made their way to local temples this morning to offer food donations to monks to mark the onset of the Buddhist period of Lent. Today is known as Asarnha Bucha and when Buddhists start their period of abstinence from the likes of alcohol and other worldly vices. 

The three southern Thai islands of Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui lie in the Gulf of Thailand opposite the provinces of Chumpon and Surathani. Wonderful beaches and myriad activities including the best diving and snorkelling in this part of Asia pull in countless visitors every year.

Thailand and Myanmar yesterday inked an agreement giving their citizens visa-free access upon arrival at the neighbouring nation’s airports. Effective 11 August 2015, Thai nationals landing at an airport in Myanmar will be granted entry without the necessity of having first obtained a visa.