[Tlc] L-new rail-link

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI.
Best,
justin

2008-0228 - BKK Post - Travel Tidbits: Train service across
the Mekong

http://www.bangkokpost.com/Horizons/28Feb2008_hor002.php

TRAVEL TITBITS

Train service across the Mekong

KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

Schoolgirls in Vientiane. Tourists can travel to the Lao
capital by train soon
A rail link between Thailand and Laos is scheduled to open
this May.

Thirty per cent of the total project costs of 197 million baht
was covered by the Thai government with the remainder funded
by a "soft" government-to-government loan.

Three-and-a half kilometres of tracks will connect the town of
Nong Khai to Tha Na Laeng, across the border in the Lao PDR.
The work is now around 80 per cent complete, said Nong Khai
Governor Jadej Musikwong, adding that the State Railway of
Thailand (SRT) has undertaken to train Laotian officials how
to operate the service.

The French government has put up two million baht to fund a
study into the feasibility of extending the tracks a further
nine kilometres to reach the Laotian capital of Vientiane,
according to the SRT.

-

Boosting tourism to Isan

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) wants to recruit 49
amateur photographers from Europe and the Middle East to take
pictures of the Northeast for a project dubbed "Amazing
Thailand through the Lens".

Due to be launched on March 18, it is part of a long-term plan
to boost tourism to Isan between 2008 and 2010, said TAT
Deputy Governor Jutaporn Reungronasa, adding that seven
overseas TAT offices will each be given the responsibility of
hiring seven photographers and flying them to the Northeast.
The images will be entered for a contest and later published
to promote tourism in the region, she said.

TAT will also be launching an "Amazing Taste of Thailand"
campaign in August to encourage Europeans to sample Thai
cuisine. It plans to work with some 100 restaurants in Europe,
offering customers the chance to win 100 free air tickets to
the Kingdom, and will also be collaborating with various
hotels to organise Thai food festivals.

To attract more visitors from Europe in the rainy season, the
time of year when tourist arrivals from that continent are at
their lowest, TAT will be sweetening package-tour deals to the
Kingdom during this period with special offers such as free
tickets to Thai kick-boxing matches.

-

Wacky holiday reading

`World's Weirdest Travel Book'.

Looking for something unusual to read on your next journey?
You could do that by checking out the first "World's Top 10
Weirdest Travel Books", a list selected by 891 visitors to
online retailer AbeBooks.com:

- Travel by Cargo Ship by Hugo Verlomme (1995);

- Other People's Business: A Guidebook to 87 Company and
Industrial Tours in and Near Ohio by Jane Ware (1993);

- The Complete Medical Tourist by David Hancock (2006);

- Mini-Trips for Maxi-Fun by McDonalds Staff (1970);

- Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks (2001);

- Flattened Fauna by Roger M. Knutson (1987);

- Biking to the Arctic Circle by Allen L. Johnson (1997);

- Laid to Rest in California: A Guide to the Cemeteries and
Grave Sites of the Rich and Famous by Patricia Brooks (2006);

- Up Sh*t Creek: a collection of horrifyingly true wilderness
toilet misadventures by Joe Lindsay (1997); and

- The Space Tourist's Handbook by Eric Anderson (2005).

- or more information, visit http://www.abebooks.com.

-

New stamps celebrate culture

Thailand Post has joined hands with the TAT to issue a set of
10 com- memorative postage stamps depicting traditional Thai
ways of life.

Part of the "Amazing Thailand" campaign, the stamps bear
illustrations of typical everyday scenes like people giving
food to Buddhist monks on their morning alms round and a
street-side vendor with portable noodle stall.

The stamps have a face value of three baht and are available
at post offices nationwide.

For more information, phone Thailand Post on 1545.

-

Easier connections

Thai Airways International has signed an agreement with
Australian domestic airline Virgin Blue to offer smoother
connections for travellers flying between and within Australia
and Thailand.

Virgin Blue currently flies to 13 destinations: Adelaide;
Canberra; Broome; Mackay; Rockhampton; Maroochydore; Cairns;
Townsville; Hobart; Launceston; Ballina; Coffs Harbour; and
the Gold Coast (in Queensland). THAI operates regular flights
from Bangkok and Phuket to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Our national carrier is the first interline partner for Virgin
Blue, according to that company's CEO, Brett Godfrey.

"This will be a benefit to travellers and gives Virgin Blue a
well-established partner airline to operate services to a new
and popular destination," he said, adding that his firm is
drawing up plans to introduce an e-ticketing service.

If you have any comments or news to share, email
karnjanak at bangkokpost.co.th.

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