THAILAND: Thailand Doubles Visa-on-arrival For 18 Countries

The new charge will come into effect on 27 September, and apply to the citizens of all 18 countries offered visa-on-arrival in Thailand. These include China, India, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper reported the Thai Foreign Ministry as saying that the decision to implement a 100% increase was based on the belief that the current charge is lower than the visa fees paid by Thai tourists visiting other countries.

The timing of the decision is not ideal however; Thailand’s tourism authorities are working hard to encourage international travellers not to cancel their trips to the kingdom, following the recent bombings in several resort areas. The reason for the attacks is still unclear.

The other countries offered visa-on-arrival to Thailand are Bulgaria, Bhutan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Romania, San Marino, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

NEPAL: Extinct Bird Rediscovered

A species which was on the list of extinct birds in Nepal has been found in the hilly region of Chitwan district recently.

The bird “red-faced liocichla” with the scientific name “Liocichla phoenicea” of Leiothrichidae family was presumed to be extinct in Nepal. A joint team from the Bird Education Society and the Nepalese Ornithological Union has found the bird at Chisapanitar, Dahakhani VDC in the district.

Ornithological studies since 1838 were unable to find any red-faced liocichla in Nepal, said the former president of Bird Education Society Basu Bidari.

The red-faced liocichla and eight other species of birds have been listed among the extinct birds of Nepal in research projects after 1970.

The bird measures about 23 centimetres in length. The scarlet wings, neck and the ventral part of the tail dominate the brown-coloured body. The male and female liocichla resemble each other. The bird is found in the tropical forests of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, and Myanmar.

Now, after the rediscovery of liocichla, Chitwan district has become a home to 631 species of birds among total 878 species of birds found in Nepal.

Dr Hem Sagar Baral, Tika Ram Giri, Basu Bidari, Badri Chaudhary, Bishnu Mahato, Raju Tamang, Som Bahadur Tamang, Ramgir Chaudhary, Phuleshwar Chaudhary and Rupendra Karmacharya were members of the team which rediscovered the supposedly extinct bird

NEPAL: Nepal To Woo Chinese Tourists With Free Visas

Nepal will grant free visas to visitors from neighbouring China as the Himalayan nation seeks to rebuild its tourist industry after two devastating earthquakes in April that killed nearly 9,000 people.

The first of Nepal's tremors struck during the peak of the tourist season, forcing thousands of visitors to flee early while thousands of others cancelled.

China - the second-largest source of tourists to Nepal - was one of several countries that subsequently warned their citizens to stay away.

China lifted its Nepal warning on Friday, after the two countries' foreign ministers held talks in Beijing.

"This will help increase the number of Chinese tourists and boost our economy," Sherdhan Rai, Nepal's minister for information and communications technology, said on Saturday.

Nepal has already turned to China to beat an acute fuel shortage following a blockade at India border crossings enforced by ethnic Madhesi groups. They complain that a constitution adopted in September has failed to address their grievances.

Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks including Mount Everest, received 800,000 tourists in 2014. Of those, 123,000 were Chinese, second only to 135,000 Indian visitors, who do not require a visa for Nepal.

Nationals from Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the other members along with India and Nepal in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, also get a free visa every year.

Tourism accounts for 4 per cent of Nepal's economy. On Friday, eight months after the twin earthquakes, Nepal gave the green light for its National Reconstruction Agency to begin work and appointed a chief.

NEPAL: Nepal Woos Chinese Tourists With Free Visas

Nepal will grant free visas to visitors from neighbouring China as the Himalayan nation seeks to rebuild its tourist industry after two devastating earthquakes in April 2015that killed nearly 9,000 people.

The first of Nepal's tremors struck during the peak of the tourist season, forcing thousands of visitors to flee early while thousands of others cancelled. China - the second-largest source of tourists to Nepal - was one of several countries that subsequently warned their citizens to stay away.

China lifted its Nepal warning on Friday, after the two countries' foreign ministers held talks in Beijing. "This will help increase the number of Chinese tourists and boost our economy," Sherdhan Rai, Nepal's minister for information and communications technology, said on Saturday.

Nepal has already turned to China to beat an acute fuel shortage following a blockade at India border crossings enforced by ethnic Madhesi groups. They complain that a constitution adopted in September has failed to address their grievances.

Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks including Mount Everest, received 800,000 tourists in 2014. Of those, 123,000 were Chinese, second only to 135,000 Indian visitors, who do not require a visa for Nepal.

Nationals from Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the other members along with India and Nepal in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, also get a free visa every year.

Tourism accounts for 4 percent of Nepal's economy. On Friday, eight months after the twin earthquakes, Nepal gave the green light for its National Reconstruction Agency to begin work and appointed a chief.

How Tourism Is Ruining Everything

One billion tourists now roam the planet—and the world’s most pristine spots are showing the strain. In the new film ‘Gringo Trails,’ the consequences of unchecked global wanderlust.

Twenty years ago, when I first visited the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, it was already one of Mexico’s most popular attractions. Though a fair amount of visitors roamed the grounds, the atmosphere was mellow, respectful of the site’s history, and vendors were at a minimum.

That was then. On a trip there this year, tour buses stretched almost a mile down the road, its big parking lot overflowing. The entrance had been turned into a kitschy Mayan shopping mall, full of cheap restaurants, jewelry stores, and T-shirts featuring drawings of bodacious—and totally mythical—Indian princesses prancing around in next to nothing.

The pyramids were still spectacular, but you can’t climb them—they’ve been closed since an Italian tourist fell off one and died. Vendors were everywhere selling sweatshop tchotchkes. And tourist hordes had trampled all the grass, so the huge area of loose dirt that was left became choking dust with even the slightest breeze.

Chichen Itza had become an ethnic Disneyland—a monument to the kind of touristic overdevelopment that is the subject of Gringo Trails, a new film out on DVD and VOD on Nov. 17. Although director Pegi Vail’s documentary concentrates on backpacker culture and how it has hurt pristine sites around the world, the stories it tells can also be applied to spots that have already fallen to the tourist industrial complex. Spanning from Bolivia and Mali to Bhutan, Vail shows how unplanned development can turn formerly exotic spots into developing-world dumps—the ultimate horror story being Ko Pha-Ngan, a once-unspoiled Thai beach that has become home to a yearly “full moon party” that attracts upward of 30,000 revelers who leave the place looking like a New Jersey landfill.

“We’re one billion on the road right now,” says Vail. “This industry is huge. It’s estimated one in 11 people in the world have jobs related to tourism. The idea now is the planning ahead. If there’s no plan anywhere, you’ll have a museumization, like Venice, or a Disneyfication.”

“In ‘undiscovered’ places, tourism is a huge lure, and so people see it as quick, easy money,” “So they go ahead and build, build, build. It often happens they don’t do so with a long-term vision, and that’s where the problem lies.”

Travel journalist Rolf Potts, author of the wanderlust how-to book Vagabonding, notes that destination tourism seems to progress in stages. It begins, he says, “with an ‘undiscovered’—to mainstream outsiders—place known to a handful of backpackers and expats, which then becomes a ‘scene’ for bigger numbers of independent travelers, and eventually becomes developed for a larger demographic of mass tourism. How exactly that economic development happens is what makes a difference.”

Whether or not the locals have a say in the process, and how much of a say, can go a long way toward determining whether the location will have a few cool eco-lodges, or the latest outlet of the Señor Frog’s restaurant chain.

Getting tourists—the vast majority of whom are middle- or upper-middle-class travelers—to care if the place they’re headed to will soon become another Margaritaville is, however, another matter. The problem is not one of first-world arrogance, but ignorance.

“There’s an ignorance in understanding our impact,” says sustainable-tourism advocate Costas Christ. “By and large, people are generally well intentioned and want to have a positive impact. But I think a lot of them are ignorant about how their behavior impacts places negatively.”

“Oftentimes people are less sensitive when they don’t have to be, when they’re not told they have to be,” says Vail. “Learning culturally what’s happening in a place, which is easy to do, I think that’s happening more and more. There are responsible and irresponsible [travelers] at every level.”

Vail’s film is particularly effective when it shows the yin and yang of the tourism process. Incahuasi, for example, an isolated Bolivian island situated in the middle of the world’s largest salt flat, was practically unknown to the outside world until the locals decided to promote tourism. Now it attracts 300 to 400 tourists a day, and the residents are regretting it. They’re disturbed by overbuilding, garbage disposal, how vehicles coming to the island have altered the landscape, and how some local animals have been scared away by the tourist boom. “We have deteriorated the natural look of the island,” says one local.

One Bolivian island was practically unknown to the outside world until the locals decided to promote tourism. Now it attracts 300 to 400 tourists a day, and the residents are regretting it.

At the other end of the spectrum is Bhutan, a country which only opened up for tourism in 1974, and pursues what it calls a “high value, low impact” policy.

Concerned by travel overkill in nearby Nepal, the Himalayan kingdom offers all-inclusive, eco-friendly group packages ranging from $200 to $250 per day. The government approves all housing for tourists, and the day rate includes a “royalty” of $65, which goes toward free education, health care, poverty reduction, and new infrastructure. So far, it’s been attracting an older, richer, and more eco-conscious tourist trade.

There are plenty of other far-sighted places. Christ points to Plancencia, Belize, where locals and the government have partnered to protect the local barrier reef, the world’s third largest. And Tasmania, which has a master plan to protect the island’s largest rain forest

BHUTAN: Le Méridien Hotels To Open Second Hotel In The Kingdom Of Bhutan

Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, today announced the opening of Le Méridien Paro, Riverfront, the brand’s second hotel in the Kingdom of Bhutan following the successful opening of Le Méridien Thimphu late last year. In conjunction with the highly anticipated hotel opening, renowned American photographer Gray Malin has unveiled his newest series, “Bhutan, Land of Happiness,” which will contribute to Le Méridien brand’s Follow Me partnership – a multi-faceted global art collaboration with that brings compelling video art installations and still photography into Le Méridien hotels around the world.

“As a country that measures its success by the Gross Domestic Happiness of its people, Bhutan truly is a one-of-a-kind destination waiting to be discovered, and with two stunning Le Méridien hotels in Paro and Thimphu, we are delighted to help adventure seekers unlock the country’s mythical allure,” said Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader, Le Méridien Hotel & Resorts. “Our latest collaboration with Gray Malin offers a unique lens to the destination and invites our creative and curious-minded guests into his world with a modern twist on Bhutan.”

Le Méridien Paro, Riverfront is situated on the edge of the Paro River, offering panoramic views of the Eastern Himalayas. The intimate hotel features 59 contemporary guestrooms and suites, all designed with a classic Bhutanese point of view. With an idyllic swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center and signature Explore Spa, the hotel is poised to become the creative hub in the destination. Located ten minutes from Paro International Airport, the only airport in Bhutan, Paro is home to several sacred fortresses and hidden monasteries, including Bhutan’s iconic Paro Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest) as well as Ta Dzong, the National Museum and the hotel’s Unlock Art™ partner, allowing guests of Le Méridien Paro complimentary access.

Located in Bhutan’s capital city, Le Méridien Thimphu is a thirty minute drive from the breathtaking sights of Paro. With 78 thoughtfully-designed guestrooms and suites, the hotel is the largest in the country. For rich culinary experiences, the hotel provides three distinctive dining options, including an all-day dining restaurant that creates an evocative mix of local and international cuisine; a Pan-Asian restaurant that highlights authentic flavors from South-East Asia; and a casual café by day that transforms into a vibrant bar in the evening. Through Le Méridien brand’s Unlock Art™ programme, guests also receive complimentary and exclusive access to The Voluntary Arts Studio to explore and discover local art.

Both hotels are captured creatively in Malin’s latest photo series, “Bhutan, Land of Happiness”, which juxtaposes the iconic landscape and traditional architecture of Bhutan with his modern interpretation of joy and happiness. For instance, vibrant, bright-colored balloons pour from the doors of Le Méridien Paro while colorful tassels, reminiscent of prayer flags that line the countryside, frame exterior of Le Méridien Thimphu.

“From the rice paddy fields to the riverside, shooting the series, which will be included in the second installation of the Follow Me partnership with Le Méridien, was truly a moving experience,” said Malin. “Bhutanese people and their breathtaking landscape both evoke an overwhelming sense of happiness that served as my inspiration for the collection.”

The Le Meìridien brand’s Follow Me partnership launched earlier this year, bringing video and still photography shot by Gray Malin on all seven continents into signature Le Meìridien Hubs,™ the brand’s re-interpreted traditional lobby spaces. Malin hopes his vast breadth of work will inspire guests and encourage them to see with new eyes during their travels. The collection will also be featured on the brand’s collectible hotel key cards.

This collaboration celebrates Le Méridien as the first global hotel brand to bring its guests an immersive experience of this scale, capturing the excitement of world travel through photography.

THAILAND: Thailand To Host Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2016 Awards

The lavish event, supported by TAT, is expected to generate extensive publicity for the kingdom’s gastronomic delights, promote Thai cuisine worldwide through various publicity channels, as well as enhance the delight of sampling the huge array of restaurants that have opened in Thailand.

Thailand has been selected to stage “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016 Award.” The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) together with William Reed Business Media is preparing to officially announce this collaboration at Paste, Artisanal Thai Cuisine, Gaysorn Shopping Centre, on 20 October, 2015.

The lavish event, supported by TAT, is expected to generate extensive publicity for the kingdom’s gastronomic delights, promote Thai cuisine worldwide through various publicity channels, as well as enhance the delight of sampling the huge array of restaurants that have opened in Thailand.

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said “TAT’s support for this event is consistent with the theme of our marketing plan 2015, which is to promote Thainess, Thai culture and Thai cuisine. It will also strengthen the country’s strong brand image and differentiate us from other countries. Moreover, this event will promote the high-end side, especially on the fine dining of Thailand that accommodates various upscale Thai and international restaurants underlined with the expertise chefs and unrivalled services.”

This year, Gaggan in Bangkok took first place in the list of “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” at a ceremony hosted in Singapore. Also, Nahm took seventh place and was joined by other Thai successes including Chef Tim Butler’s Eat Me (25th place), Bo.Lan (37th place) and Ian Kttichai’s Issaya Siamese Club (39th place).

Mr. Yuthasak added that “Thailand will draw tourists as well as gastronomes to visit Thailand not only for indulging themselves with dishes from the awarded restaurants but also for enjoying a trip in Thailand.”

“Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards” has been held annually since its founding in 2013 by the publishing venture William Reed Business Media. The list is created by the Diners Club Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of over 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Asia, each selected for their expert opinion of Asia’s restaurant scene.

The Asian countries eligible for voting are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Lao PDR, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Micronesia, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.