The News Review:

- Thailand eyes record tourism despite crash coup
- fficials struggle to ID victims in Thai crash
- Thailand organises Grand Motor Caravan for ctober

Thailand eyes record tourism despite crash coup
Forbes – Sep 19, 2007
Hassles at a gleaming new airport outside the capital Bangkok have not put off visitors either helping the tourism sector perform better than at first expected. Sunday’s Phuket crash when a plane operated by budget carrier ne-Two-Go crashed and broke up in flames on landing at the popular island resort killed 89 of the 130 passengers and crew on board. An airline official said 52 foreigners were among the dead although police put the number at 57. Despite that few foreigners have cancelled trips to Thailand said Chattan Kunkara Na Ayudhaya a spokesman for the Tourism Authority of Thailand… The low season in May and June was quieter than normal with 30 percent fewer arrivals than the same period last year and Asian tourists in particular staying away said Apichart Sankary president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA). ‘Tourists from Japan Singapore Malaysia and Vietnam had disappeared because of shrinking confidence mainly caused by rising violence in the south’ he said. But now resorts and hotels on Phuket are fully booked for the coming high season that starts in November he said speaking before Sunday’s crash. In the northern tourist magnet of Chiang Mai where a thick haze blanketed the city for much of March hotel operators also expect a record two million visitors this year. The new Suvarnabhumi Airport which opened in Bangkok on September 28 2006 has helped drive growth. It expanded capacity from the overstretched Don Muang airport which now serves domestic flights.

fficials struggle to ID victims in Thai crash
CTV.ca – Sep 19, 2007
(CP Photo) fficials struggle to ID victims in Thai crash Updated Wed. 19 2007 6:43 AM ETThe Associated PressPHUKET Thailand — The bodies of more than 30 victims of the plane crash on Thailand’s resort island of Phuket remain unidentified because they were so badly burned officials said Wednesday. The head of the plane’s parent company meanwhile defended the flight’s pilot and urged observers not to jump to conclusions about what caused the ne-Two-Go flight to crash Sunday. Thai officials have pointed to wind shear — sudden changes in wind direction or intensity — as a possible cause and said the flight’s pilot ignored a warning of such conditions during his descent. “There is a lot of speculation out there (concerning the crash). That is not good” rient-Thai Airlines President Kajit Habnanonda said in an interview with The Associated Press… Burned luggage was stacked in one corner and the smell of smoke still lingered in the air. Rama Yade the French minister of state responsible for foreign affairs and human rights visited the makeshift morgue at the end of one of the runaways where she laid flowers. She then met relatives of the dead at a nearby hotel to brief them on efforts to identify at least five French victims. Survivors have described how the aircraft lurched up then down hitting the tarmac hard. The plane skidded off the runway breaking up and catching fire as it plowed through a short retaining wall.

Thailand organises Grand Motor Caravan for ctober
ASIATravelTips.com – Sep 19, 2007
The caravan will then head in separate groups to Chonburi Petchaburi Nakhon Nayok Kanchanaburi and Sukhothai provinces. Two groups are planned: Group A: Departing from Bangkok 5 routes: 1. Bangkok Chonburi- Bangkok (60 cars) stay at Pattaya Park Hotel 2. Bangkok Phetchaburi-Bangkok (120 cars) stay at Hua Hin Grand Hotel 3. Bangkok Nakhon Nayok Bangkok (60 cars) stay at Khao Yai Grand Hotel 4. Bangkok- Kanchanaburi Bangkok (60 cars) stay at Royal River Kwai Hotel 5. Bangkok Sukhothai Bangkok (organized by the Thai Tourism Promotion Association 2 buses).

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