On September, 18 1502, Christopher Columbus anchored offshore near present day Puerto Limón, Costa Rica. A lot has changed since then. Costa Rica is probably the #1 visited tourist country in Central America.
Why?
Because Costa Rica goes out of the way to protect its natural beauty and resources. Both present and future generations (meaning you) can experience portions of a natural environment similar to what Columbus saw hundreds of years ago.
Costa Rica has become something of a South American “Mecca” for tourists. Which might explain why Hollywood stars such as Bran Pitt and Angelina Jolie love spending time there.
A few real estate investors refer to it as “the Switzerland of Central America” because of its political stability and native beauty. The high standard of living enjoyed by many who retire here from different parts of the world — called “expats” a.k.a. “expatriates”– is very attractive too.
A new joint report by two international wildlife organisations to encourage “managed” wildlife trade as jobs for the poor, came under fire by local wildlife groups.
“This concept should not be adopted. The ones who would benefit are big traders not small ones, and certainly not endangered wildlife,” shot Surapol Duangkhae, former secretary general of Wildlife Fund Thailand.
Last week Traffic, a wildlife trade monitor, and World Wildlife Fund International issued a report called “Trading Nature: the contribution of wildlife trade management to sustainable livelihoods and the Millennium development goals”.
It said a managed trade on wildlife and wildlife products can offer opportunities to poor people and communities.
The report recommended governments explore “semi-intensive production methods”, experiment with management regimes, develop “pro-poor” approaches to standards and certification schemes, and consider co-ordinated approaches to different components of wildlife trade. Read the rest of this entry »
PERU, June 1 (TNA) - A group of French businessmen will travel to Thailand on June 11 to negotiate possible importing of Thai prawns, rice, fruits and spices, Thai Commerce and Deputy Prime Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan said Sunday.
Mr. Mingkwan, now in Peru attending a trade ministers meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping, said senior executives of France’s Casino Group plan to discuss buying Thai goods during their stay in Thailand.
It would enable Thailand to export more goods to France, he said.
The Casino Group now operates over 10,000 stores around the world and has gained the leading edge in the French food retail trade.
Besides the Casino Group, Mr. Mingkwan said he had also conferred with ranking executives of Tangfrere Group who are also keen on importing Thai goods.
France could become a distribution centre for Thai goods in Europe because of its preparedness in facilities, he said. Read the rest of this entry »
BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) — Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, stressed security for the upcoming Beijing Olympics on Sunday.
After overseeing the security work at major venues including the “bird nest” and “water cubic”, Zhou stressed the importance of a safe Games.
“Security is a top priority of the Beijing Olympics. It guarantees a successful Olympic Games and has a great deal to do with social stability and the national image,” Zhou said. Read the rest of this entry »
According to Forbes.com, around 60.4 million tourists visited South-east Asia in 2007, with many opting for ecotourism offerings. Ecotourism is form of tourism that focuses on volunteering, developing, and finding new way of to preserve environment and live ‘green life’ on our planet. Usually it involves traveling area with huge variety of fauna, flora, and cultural heritage.
A tourism area would become an Ecotourism if:
1.Promote the sustainable use of bio-diversity and cultural-diversity
2.The main attractions are flora, fauna and local culture
3.Sharing the socio-economic benefit to the local communities
Indonesia is one of the most preferred ecotourism destinations in south-east-Asia. It owns 3rd-largest island in the world, Borneo, with more than 15.000 flower species, 3.000 trees species, 221 species of terrestrial mammals, and 420 of birds’ species.
Below are Three Top Picks of ecotourism in Indonesia:
Tourists can take a virtual walk around Pattaya City before they even arrive in Thailand’s famous beach destination. All they need to do is visit the website PattayaPhotoGuide.com.
The web developer has designed the virtual map from thousands of panoramic street-level photographs, allowing anyone with a ‘Net connection to travel the streets of the resort. You can adjust the angle, turning left and right and moving back and forwards. The virtual map will help first-time visitors learn their way around Pattaya as well as giving them the chance to check out hotels, bars and shopping destinations.Boutique Thai hotels join WorldHotels Indigo Pearl Phuket and Villa Lawana in Koh Samui are the latest members of WorldHotels, the Europe-based group specialising in boutique hotels. Indigo Pearl celebrates Phuket’s tin mining heritage with a subtle theme that runs through the finest details, from the names of the restaurants and bars to the staff uniforms. Villa Lawana, on Koh Samui’s Chaweng beach, has a stylish contemporary design with a Sino-Thai accent, recalling the history and culture of the region. Read the rest of this entry »
Government puts Bt100-bn tourism project back on the ‘fast track’ The government of Prime Minister Samak Sundara-vej has given the green light to the Ao Phuket development plan, a 100-billion-baht mega-project on 3,000 rai of reclaimed land that would include a convention centre, marina and other facilities. The latest movement in the Ao Phuket plan, first conceived over two decades ago, follows from PM Samak’s assigning responsibility for the project to the the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Adminis-tration (DASTA), a public organisation under the direction of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports established in 2005 under the first Thaksin government. Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit met with DASTA’s Ao Phuket working committee at the Phuket Merlin Hotel on May 2. The Ao Phuket committee, accompanied by DASTA chairman General Soonthorn Khum-komkul, earlier that morning traveled to the waterfront to view the intended project site, which stretches across Phuket Bay all the way from Saphan Hin to Rassada Harbor.Sustainable development Samak authorised the DASTA in March to take responsibility for areas it deems as appropriate for “sustainable” tourism development. Rajathin Syamananda, who heads DASTA’s Ao Phuket project committee, is well acquainted with the project as a former director-general of the Interior Ministry’s Town and Country Planning Department. Allowing DASTA to develop the project meant it could be fast-tracked, he said. Before the Ao Phuket project was put on hold following the coup, responsibility for it fell to the Town and Country Plan-ning Department, who put a Bt63.5-billion price tag on the designs it drew up. That plan in many ways resembled a spectacular Bt130-billion plan put forward for the project in 2005 by Japanese construction specialist Umeza-wa Tadao - except that the Japanese design called for a “floating city”, not one on reclaimed land. ”The most important aspect of this development will be environmental and natural resource conservation, and ensuring that it improves the lives of local people,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
After a nationwide spate of thefts and damage done to important cultural sites, Phuket Vice Governor Wora-poj Ratthasima visited the Thalang National Museum yesterday to ensure its collection and other sites looked after by the Fine Arts Depart-ment remain safe. Thalang Museum Curator Atjima Nukong told him all the museum’s items were accounted for and properly protected. Fine Arts Department director-general Kriengkrai Sampat-chalit called earlier for better security measures at ancient sites nationwide, after high-profile incidents of damage or theft reported in Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram and Rayong. After meeting with staff at the Thalang museum, Vice Governor Worapoj and his entourage stopped to inspect the condition of the nearby Heroines’ Monument. Built in 1967, the statues of Thao Thepkrasattri and Thao Srisoonthorn were found to still be in good condition. Read the rest of this entry »
A schoolgirl has written a guide to teenage slang after her parents complained they couldn’t understand her.
Lucy van Amerongen, 13, from Box in Gloucestershire, penned The A-Z of Teen Talk, reports The Sun.
Now Lucy, who goes to Cheltenham Ladies’ College, is “stoked” (very happy) because sales of her “nang” (cool) book are “owdish” (excellent).
She said: “I hope the book clears up confusion. Some parents don’t give teenagers enough credit for some of the words they use. More come up every day and a lot are very creative.”
Her guide includes 300 teen words such as “antwacky” (unstylish), “cotch down” (sleep), “rago” (OK) and “zip” (yob).
It also includes her three golden teen talk rules: never make eye contact when talking to a “mouldie” (parent), always mumble inaudibly, and try to include “like” in every sentence.
Lucy came up with the idea on holiday with dad Victor, 52, mum Amanda, 54, and sisters Amii, 23, and Rosie, 11.
Victor said: “The guide sheds light on the strange mumbo-jumbo of teenagers’ talk.”
Sussex-based publishers Ravette snapped up her book and 3,000 have been sold already. Updated editions are planned.
Thai Airways International plans to push Don Muang Airport to be the regional maintenance hub.
Pilot Officer Apinan Sumanaseni, Thai Airways Plc’s president, revealed the government had a policy to use Don Muang Airport to be the regional maintenance hub after the launch of the Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Mr. Apinan said increasing the number of flights to Don Muang Airport would be against the government’s policy to promote the Suvarnabhumi Airport as the regional hub.
Thai Airways will further propose this issue to Transport Minister Santi Prompat.
Don Muang was an important hub of Asia and the hub of Thai Airways International prior to its closure.
Handling over 38 million passengers and 700,000 tons of cargo in 2005, it was the 18th busiest airport in the world and 2nd in Asia by passenger volume.
The airport was replaced by Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 28, 2006.