January/February 2002

Tour information

CAMBODIA
New Express Boat Service: A new express boat service from Phnom Penh in Cambodia to Chaudoc in the Mekong Delta and back operates twice a week (on Tuesdays and Saturdays). The boat departs from Phnom Penh at 8.00am and arrives in Chaudoc at 1.30pm. From Chaudoc, it departs at 8.30am and reaches Phnom Penh at 2.00pm. This express boat’s capacity is 80-90 pax and it also features air-conditioning. Please contact us for further details.

Jungle Hideout to be turned into Tourist Resort: The Minister of Tourism said that Cambodia plans to turn the remote jungle hideout of Pol Pot, the infamous leader of the 1970s Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" regime, into a tourist resort.

Draw Regional Tourists by Road: The experts say that good roads are the key to Cambodia's plan to replace missing Western tourists with more visitors from nearby Asian nations. So Cambodia and Thailand will launch a joint marketing effort to convince potential tourists that now is a great time to jump in the car for a visit to Cambodia.

MYANMAR
Road to Mandalay: One of the highlights of travelling to Myanmar is certainly the ‘Road to Mandalay River Cruise’. Their regular cruise programme between Bagan and Mandalay has an updated schedule now, which is valid until the end of the year 2003. For the special departures to Bhamo we have two cruises this summer season on 14 and 28 August 2002. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more details of the Bhamo itineraries and these fascinating programmes.

Hotels & Restaurants

VIETNAM
Renovation Completed: The Ana Mandara Resort in Nha Trang was closed last month due to maintenance and renovation. We are pleased to inform you that the work is now completed and the resort is ready to provide better facilities and services to guests again!

LAOS
Luang Prabang: Sanakeo Hotel is a new property, which has been opened last month. It is a standard hotel of 35 air-conditioned standard rooms. All rooms have a private bath and TV set. It is located on Phouvao Road, close to major restaurants and just about 2 kms from downtown.

Lane Xang Hotel: The planned renovation at the Lane Xang Hotel in Vientiane has been postponed for at least one year. The hotel is still closed and has still not confirmed its reopening date, we will keep you updated about this.

CAMBODIA
A new hotel has recently opened in Poi Pet. It’s called ‘Holiday Palace’, and is situated at the gateway between Thailand and Cambodia, only 50 metres from Aranyaprathet on the border of Thailand. This hotel has 300 well-decorated guestrooms including 25 luxurious suites. Holiday Palace is an ideal place for nightlife, recreational activities and duty free shopping. Moreover, this hotel is a good stopover point while travelling to and from Angkor Wat in Siem Reap.

Phnom Penh: The Cambodiana Hotel has inaugurated the renovation of the 4th floor on September 7, 2001. The hotel plans to renovate all the Junior Suites by the end of 2002.

Siem Reap Angkor Century Hotel will inaugurate its Health Club and Spa with traditional massages, treatments, beauty salon, gymnasium, sauna and Jacuzzi. Angkor Village has now 49 rooms in total: 33 deluxe rooms and 14 standard rooms (10 deluxe rooms facing the beautiful swimming pool). A new "Boutique" selling traditional Khmer handicraft is open since last week. Auberge Mt. Royal will inaugurate its own restaurant. It is scheduled to open next month.

THAILAND
Bangkok: Effective 1st November 2001 the former Empress Bangkok Hotel has been renamed to “Eastin Bangkok Hotel”. The upgrading projects of Westin Banyan Tree have been finished since the 1st December 2001.

Phang Nga : Khao Lak Bayfront Resort advised that there is construction work taking place next to their property. There is no announcement for the period of construction work.

Phuket : The latest schedules of the renovation plan at Maiton Resort indicate that all renovation work should now have been completed.

Baan Laimai Beach Resort is undergoing construction work and is scheduled to be complete on 10th January 2002. All exterior/interior refurbishment work at Karon Villa Phuket Beach Resort & Spa has been completed since 15th November 2001. The “Silk Spa” is ready to provide complete health service since 10th December 2001.

Trang : Amari Hotels & Resorts recently signed a pre-opening and management contract with JBB Co Chairman Andrew Yao for the 140-room Amari Trang Beach Resort, which is scheduled to open late 2003.

Samui : Construction work of the “First House Hotel” has started, which is located near First Bungalow Beach Resort. The work is expected to be complete by August 2002. The latest update of the renovations work at Impiana Resort Samui is: swimming pool temporarily closed until 31st January 2002. All guests will be lodged in the newly renovated rooms available from 1st February 2002 onwards.

Travel

LAOS
Bangkok Airways has started operating a flight Bangkok - Luang Prabang via Sukhothai effective from 4th November 2001. The flight operates on every Sunday-Monday-Wednesday and Friday respectively by PG 630 (11:30-14:20 hrs.) and PG 631 (15:00-17:50 hrs.).

CAMBODIA
Royal Air Cambodge stopped operating all its flights on October 16, 2001 because of heavy losses. Siem Reap Airways International, President Airlines and Royal Phnom Penh Airways are continuing to operate between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

MYANMAR
Airfield repairs: In order to repair the runway Heho airfield is undergoing its construction from 4.00pm to 6.00am (local time) until further notice. No flights are allowed to land or take off during this period. All tour programmes affected will be adjusted accordingly.

THAILAND
British Airways: Effective 28th March 2002, British Airways will cut three flights between Bangkok and London. All three daylight flights will be withdrawn from the schedule, leaving the airline with 14 weekly overnight flights from Bangkok. British Airways also confirmed it would close its joint cabin-crew base in Bangkok at the end of the year, making 35 local staff redundant.

Social

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