Le Meridien Expands in Thailand

Le Meridien has unveiled three new hotels and resorts in Thailand, Le Meridien Bangkok, Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort and Le Méridien Chiang Mai. These three new Le Méridien properties highlights the significant development of the brand in Asia Pacific, which  further expand the brand’s growing portfolio in northern Thailand. All three properties offer a culturally rich environment combined with superior service designed to inspire the creative guest.

“Le Méridien is proud to broaden its reach in Asia Pacific with the addition of these three stunning properties.  The core of the arrival experience centers around custom artwork created through LM100, a group of design experts who help determine unique amenities for the chain. Here guests can enjoy a unique experience that combines contemporary European refinement with distinct Asian influences. Going through the hotel entrances with the more than 40 different works of art provided by six very different emerging artists, installed in diverse locations across the globe, is a unique experience,” said Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader.

It is a project that takes permanent contemporary art pieces to various unexpected locations and makes guest discover a new perspective of the arts, architecture, design, and cuisine at each of its destinations around the world. All three new Le Meridien hotels will feature Le Meridien’s newly introduced Arrival Experience for guests. Le Méridien Bangkok features latest recipe, an all day dining concept, and Bamboo Chic, a contemporary Asian fusion concept, a spa by Le Méridien with seven circular treatment rooms, and a fully-equipped fitness center and outdoor pool.
Le Méridien Chiang Rai resort offers 159 spacious and contemporary guest-rooms and suites, featuring expansive private balconies, the resort offers an extensive Pavarti Spa, three world-class restaurants, a state-of-the-art gym and outdoor swimming pool. Last one that is Le Méridien Chiang Mai. This newly constructed hotel features two restaurants, a modern health club, a multi-sensory spa and an outdoor swimming pool with panoramic views of Chiang Mai.

Gear up for the upcoming festivals and events around Thailand

This annual event, Butterfly Watching will take place at Impact Exhibition and Convention Center, Muang Thong Thani from June 3 to 7 which will bring together wealth of sales and marketing. The showcase is divided into different zones, among them are Gourmet Tourism, Rustic Thailand, Health & Spa, Adventure and Eco Tourism.

The annual “Amari Watergate Hotel & BMW Thailand Charity Midnight Run” will kick off at midnight at Amari Watergate Hotel on Phetchaburi Road and continue through the city’s streets. Southeast Asia’s unofficial nightlife capital, will host the Charity Midnight Run on October 10, and the good news is that you don’t have to be the fastest to have fun.

The rainy season is here, and it’s about time to swap your summer sandals for hiking shoes. The butterfly watching season in Sa Kaew coincides with the fruit picking season in the eastern provinces, so don’t forget to stop off on your way back and stock up with your favorites. Pangsida National Park in Sa Kaew, beckons the butterfly-watchers to pitch up their tents in the park, more than 400 butterfly species can easily be captured for posterity even with the camera.

Thai spa is the latest craze in global spa trend

We all know that today’s consumers are savvy. They are well-educated, know the benefits of total-body wellness and are buying into the spa experience. The new trend touched on consumer behavior and found that people wanted “pampering” in order to stay healthy and look good, and that they generally were knowledgeable and demanding about spa services. “Thai spa” does not mean only traditional Thai massage to relieve symptoms or restore health; it means holistic health care too. The country prides itself in countless spas offering the highest world-class services. Herbs also play an important role in the Thai spa industry today and Thai massage, that helps relax tense muscles and stimulate blood circulation.

Thailand’s Department of Export Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce is organizing the Thailand health and beauty show 2009 at the Royal Paragon Hall Exhibition & Convention Centers, Siam Paragon shopping complex from June 5-7 and it will coincide with the launch of Thai Spa Day 2009 as a parallel main event. It will give rise to many related businesses such as spas, weight-reduction, Thai traditional massage, private hospitals, dentistry, herbal medicine, food supplements and cosmetics.

Thai spas are not only quantity, but also quality. The success of Thai spas lies in the beauty of Thai culture which cannot be copied anywhere else. Growth in the spa business also depends on the creative services, new opportunities in new markets, and the ability to create new trends to answer lifestyle needs with value-for-money services. The highlight of Thailand HBS 2009 will be Thai Spa Day 2009, will be a one-stop service center for sourcing, services, products, and franchises in the health and beauty business.

Despite the global economic downturn, there is a growth with the spa business outlook in Thailand. Apart from serving tourists and foreign visitors, it focuses more on Thai customers. That’s why the association has been organizing more spa promotion activities to create new markets, while at the same time working with travel agents to increase our customer base.

Best choice of self catering holiday villas – Thailand

Thailand’s climate is mostly tropical that is a mix of both temperature and humidity. Most people find this kind of climate pleasant and nice. So move on to Thailand to explore its beautiful villas and beaches at Koh Samui and the great option is Samui Luxury villas. It is the best idea if you are looking for luxury villa rentals where the price is charged in British Euros. They provide a stress-free booking experience and offer an easily navigable site for contacting them.

If you can afford the best, why not use it to the hilt. Choose from innumerable villas at Koh Samui. A holiday villa is preferable over a hotel or lodge, because staying at a villa, along with independence, you can have loads of privacy away from the hustle bustle of hotels. Meanwhile, you will gain a genuine incite to the Thai hospitality when you interact with the localities learning the local culture of there. They provide a stress-free booking experience and offer an easily navigable site for contacting them.

Similarly another such holiday villa in Thailand is Hua Hin villa. There are a number of activities offered by this holiday villa- some of them are golf at Lake View, Milford, Palm Hills, Banyan, and many other golf courses, Thai boxing lessons at Grand Sports Center, elephant camping at Elephant Garden, fishing, eco-cruising, kite-boarding, fitness, Thai rub, health spa, cookery courses, trekking, walking, cycling, plunging, imaginative arts, water games, pony-riding and many others. The list is indeed very long. So these luxury holiday villas are good as they provide a peaceful and calm environment away from the hustle bustle of the hotels.

Tourist to Thailand halved

The Thai tourism association said that number of international tourists has plunged which is more than 50 per cent in the first quarter from a year ago, with the forward hotel bookings also sluggish due to the current H1N1 flu threat. More of Chinese, Japanese and South Korean tourists dropped in visitor between the month of January and April said by Surapol Sritrakul, association of Thai travel agents president.

The recent outbreak of A/H1N1 flu has become the obstacle to tourism, along with the prolonged worldwide economic crisis and internal political problems and if the disease reaches this country, the tourism sector will suffer an even greater impact. Not only this, it is also hitting the tourism business with local travel agencies. In fact the new bookings from abroad are reportedly very slow, particularly for the next two months added, by Thai Hotels Association president Prakit Chinamour-phong.

Tourism Council of Thailand chairman Kongkrit Hiranyakit estimates the tourism sector will decline 30 per cent in the first half of the year and possibly 20 per cent for the whole year, generating about 540 billion baht annually. This makes up more than 6 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product and 7 per cent of its work force.

Bhundari – The luxurious Spa Resort in Thailand

Bhundhari Spa Resort & Villas Samui hotel Koh Samui is the ultimate tropical island getaway, that you must have dreamed of, a luxurious resort with privacy and without the distractions of being surrounded by families, where you could live right on the beach and simply wallow in the attractions of your natural surroundings and the fine service that the resort offered. Bhundhari means Lotus or Water Lily which is the religious flower of Buddhism which can be found around our resort. The four star hotel is actually a spa inspired by traditional southern Thai house in architecture.

The location of the hotel is quite favorable for peace and relaxation that demands of luxuries spa provided foe couples, families and children. With its 124 deluxe rooms and villas is built on a scale that allows privacy. There is lots of space in the rooms, the deluxe rooms start at 42 sq m, while the villas start at 48 sq m. Each room and villa has its own private terrace or patio, while the larger villas offer the choice of a private pool or a Jacuzzi on the sun-deck. Therefore been developed for this concept, and now that the resort is fully open it is being marketed to the adult sector, to honeymooners and to couples and individuals who want to get away for a quiet celebration and vacation, says Mr Chris Bailey, Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing at Central Hotels and Resorts.

The hotel amenities at this luxury hotel also feature number of recreational facilities for the leisure of the guests. There are some other hotel amenities too like baby sitting service, car rental service, children pool, doctor on call, Internet access, tour desk, etc.

Celebrating the Vesak day festival in Thailand

The Day of Vesak, or Visakha Puja, is the celebration, the birth enlightenment and passing away of the Lord Buddha. It falls on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month of Vesak, which falls in May 8 this year. About 2,000 Buddhist leaders from all over the world have joined an International Buddhist Conference on the United Nations Day of Vesak in Thailand. The Day of Vesak was first celebrated during the Sukhothai period. An extraordinary aspect of the occasion is that the three incidents took place on the same day but different years.

The General Assembly of the United Nations took into consideration the fact that Buddhism is one of the world’s oldest religions. The Buddha taught mutual loving-kindness and forbearance for the sake of peace and happiness in society. Buddha attained enlightenment at the age of 35 and passed away at the age of 80. He spent 45 years propagating his principle of freedom from suffering. This still continues to make, a significant contribution to human spirituality, and therefore as a consequence, sixteen Buddhist countries jointly agreed to organize activities on the Day of Vesak at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, U.S.A. from 2000 onwards. In this way Buddhism began to make its way into Thailand. Buddhism gained wide acceptance because of its emphasis on tolerance and individual initiative, which complemented the Thais’ cherished sense of inner freedom.

At present, Thailand is the location of the headquarters of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, an international Buddhist organization which promotes coordination and cooperation to enhance Buddhism throughout the world. There are currently around 32,700 Buddhist monasteries and more than 350,000 monks across the country.

Thailand’s tourism industry likely to suffer 35% revenue drop

The Thailand Abhisit government is making tourism a top priority for Thailand. The confidence level of the people has dropped down because of growing fears about influenza. The flu pandemic is all the more aggravating the situation. However, travel industry experts are confident that Asia is well prepared to handle a potential health crisis. In fact, Dale Lawrence, director of Corporate Communications, Pacific Asia Travel Association said that in the Asia Pacific region, we are very experienced in dealing with it, in the wake of the SARS crisis of 2003.

Thailand’s tourism industry could suffer a revenue drop of 35 per cent this year due to prolonged political instability and the global economic crisis, aside from the H1N1 issue, last year’s closure of Bangkok’s airports and continued protests at the Government House have dampened travelers confidence in Thailand as a safe tourist destination. About 200,000 jobs could be lost ant the government is hoping that incentives such as reducing visa fees and flight landing charges will entice visitors.

Deputy Prime Minister Kobsak Sabhavasu is trying to extend assistance to travel businesses with the aim of stopping redundancies. He talked to the business people especially in tourism, asking them not to lay the employees off and also that the Govt. would help shoulder some of the courses for them to retrain people at their workplace. But critics of this plan said it is not feasible in the long term as the government may have to borrow money to stay afloat.

ASEAN to meet in Thailand to discuss Swine Flu

In order to take care of the Swine Flu threat, the Health Ministers of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries are scheduled to meet in Thailand on May 8. This was notified by the ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan through a press release issued by the ASEAN secretariat on Friday.

“Thailand will propose the idea of border and cross border surveillance, information exchange, stockpiles and production of vaccines,” the statement quoting Thai Public health Ministry said.

It was the Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen who proposed to hold this meeting after the swine flu had spread. In this meeting, the ASEAN public Health officials will discuss the swine flu issue with the Atlanta-based disease control centre.

It may be mentioned here that Southeast Asia was badly hit by earlier viral outbreaks of SARS in 2003 and the deadly human strain of bird flu in 2004.This meeting will show the unity of Asean in fighting this flu pandemic, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit said.

ASEAN includes Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar.

Thailand – The City’s Most Popular Western Restaurant

The most popular restaurant for western food in Bangkok is, The Bourbon street. It is probably the most popular restaurant in Bangkok with expats and tourists. It lies on Sukhumvit in downtown Bangkok. Its best thing about the restaurant is the ambience and the atmosphere which gives a cozy and friendly feeling, with burnt orange walls, very comfy rattan and leather fabulous furniture and subdued lighting. They also have a pretty area outside stocked full of huge leafy plants, where you can wait if your table isn’t ready. This is a perfect place to have western food and mind relaxation with its atmosphere. Its bar area is comparatively nice, where you can really hang out.

Thailand’s Bourbon street is really unbelievable, and just not worth missing. Bourbon Street is American owned and operated (a rarity in Thailand) and serves authentic Cajun, Creole and Mexican food in a very cool atmosphere. Food arrives quite quickly, it’s still piping hot. Bourbon Street is also always packed full of people every time for its goodness and delicious food. Even the staffs are the most efficient staffs of any other restaurant. They are so friendly and sweet, which is actually a given in Thailand but that doesn’t usually come with efficiency too!

Coronation Day – a special event in Thailand

In Bangkok, the Coronation day is celebrated every year for his Majesty king Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was crowned as Rama, the ninth King of Chakri dynasty on 5th may 1950. This event includes commemorative sport, dance, gun salutes and other cultural events across Bangkok. On this event, there are religious rites that last for three days.

On the very first day (3 may) there is a Buddhist ceremony at Amarindra Vinichai Hall, in which scriptures are chanted and a sermon is delivered by a high monk. On the second day, the ceremony includes two pars-  a Brahmanic one and a Buddhist one.

The last third day is Coronation day, in which the king is dressed in full regalia, and a feast is given to Buddhist monks. They hear their Royal Thai Army and Navy each fire a salute of 21 guns. This day is very special and is enjoyed by the Civilians.

Thailand’s world comedy film festival

Thailand will host the World Comedy Film Festival,which will be sponsored by The Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT) under the helm of the Federation of National Film Association of Thailand which will feature more than 50 comedy films, will run from 23 – 29 April, 2009, at Siam Paragon Cineplex and SF World Cinema at Central World. The first in Asia this April, will follow the success of the Bangkok International Film Festival, in an effort to position Thailand as the film industry hub of Asia and also to help boost the country’s tourism industry.

Thailand has long been known as the Land of Smiles. Laughter’s Beyond Frontier is the theme of this maiden comedy film festival in Bangkok, with an international array of films from such countries as the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, Poland and Asian movies from Iran, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Taiwan, as well as the host country Thailand. The film fest will feature 20 films from the World Cinema category, 20 movies from Asian Cinema, and 10 Thai comedies plus 5 classics.

This is the first time that the Comedian Association, the Federation of National Film Associations, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are working together in close cooperation to showcase the local prowess of comedy acts in films and other kinds of media.

Thai Govt to spend 50 billion Baht on South Thailand

The Southern provinces of Thailand has been suffering from insurgency for quite long now and in an attempt to improve the condition of people in the four southernmost provinces, the Thai government has decided to spend more than 50 billion Baht (1.4 billion U.S. dollars). This will not only develop the infrastructure there but will also resolve violence in the region, a senior official said.

A special committee set up for improving economy in the region declared that this amount was a must if development projects are to be set up in the unrest regions of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat provinces as well as four districts of Songkhla during 2010-2012, Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam was quoted as saying.

The projects aim that each village in the area should get 228,000 Baht (6430 U.S. dollars). Again the villagers are to cooperate in planning development projects for their village without intervention by the government. For this, more than 100,000 households in the region will be picked up to join an economic self-sufficiency program, with each household receiving 6,000 Baht (170 U.S. dollars) in leading the program.

On Friday, a special cabinet meeting agreed to extend the emergency decree in South Thailand for another three months. This decree was due to expire on April 19.

Thai water festival goes on, but tourists check out

Thailand tourism had barely started picking up from last year’s shutdown of Bangkok airports by protesters when violence returned to the capital as troops and demonstrators swapped gunfire and firebombs this week. Hundreds of local and foreign tourists still gathered on Monday to celebrate the water festival in Bangkok’s Khao San Road, a magnet for budget travelers, but some businessmen wondered how many foreigners would be back next year.” This could be the last time you see such joy and celebration here in Thailand,” said a less-than-festive Surat Wongcharnsilp, chairman of the Association of Khao San Business Operators.” Around 80 percent of tourists have checked out and more tourists are expected to leave after Songkran,” Surat said.

The Songkran water festival marks the start of the Thai New Year. A public holiday began on Monday, officially three days but for many Thais stretching into a week, a period to soak passers-by on the streets or spend time upcountry with family. With many Thais moving around the country, the festival is normally one of the year’s high points for tourism, which employs around 1.8 million people out of a population of about 65 million and accounts for around 6 percent of gross domestic product.

In all, the industry generates about 540 billion baht ($15.3 billion) annually, but maybe not this year. By Monday four countries — Singapore, Canada, Australia and Britain — had issued advice to their people to defer non-essential travel to Bangkok after the government declared a state of emergency there.

Thailand urged to lift state of emergency to boost tourism

The Thai government is requested to lift the current state of emergency and find measures to boost the tourism business shattered following Monday’s clashes between government forces and anti-government protesters in the capital, said a senior hotelier on Wednesday.

Prakit Chinamornpong, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said that the people should think first of the country’s interest, and that the government should lift the state of emergency immediately. It should also ask 19 foreign countries to lift the travel warnings they have issued advising their citizens to refrain from traveling to Thailand due to the political unrest.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday declared the state of emergency in the capital and five neighboring provinces, one day after anti-government protesters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship stormed into the hotel in Pattaya where the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations was holding a summit with six dialogue partners.

It was determined that visiting government heads and other participants at risk, and the government acted decisively, canceling the summit on that day.

Mr. Prakit said that the Thai government must find ways to boost the tourism sector before the start of the high season in October. It should focus on encouraging Chinese, Japanese and South Korean travelers to visit Thailand.

As Mr. Abhisit plans to visit China, he should discuss with Chinese leaders on ways which could boost confidence for Chinese tourists to visit this country, Mr. Prakit. Advised. (TNA)