The News Review:

- Holiday Inn Express prepares for first Bangkok site.
- How police got a break in the case
- Good karma
- Changing travellers
- Living nightmare for lost boys of Africa
- Inside Baghdad’s International Zone

Holiday Inn Express prepares for first Bangkok site.
Free with registration – Bangkok Post – AccessMyLibrary.com – Oct 27, 2007
27–The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is preparing to introduce its Holiday Inn Express brand in Bangkok next year. The mid-market hotel will be located in.

How police got a break in the case
Globe and Mail – Oct 27, 2007
Haupt contacted Howard Miller a British DJ who also works as a volunteer for the Thai police. Miller 34 told a British reporter he went with Thai police to Mr. Haupt’s hotel the Ben Mansions and looked through the guest book. No “Christopher Neil” was signed in so they sorted through footage from the hotel’s closed-circuit security cameras as Mr. Haupt was adamant he had chatted with the wanted man in the hotel lobby. It turned out the cameras had in fact captured images of Mr.

Good karma
The Australian – Oct 27, 2007
The boutique hotels English pubs (with lager on tap and rugby on wall-mounted televisions) wine and tapas bars cafes and restaurants in Fisherman’s Village criss-cross of narrow streets attract a groovy set. By night trees are lit by fairy lights and motorbikes zip past (constantly in some cases: this is a place to show off and be seen St Tropez or Monte Carlo style). Among the ultrafashionable hang-outs are La Sirene (Thai-French food) and Cocooning (tapas bar; hotel rooms attached). These French expats are part of a growing community of retirees and life-changers particularly from Europe who have dropped out here for a simpler sun-splashed existence. Among the influx are many Brits who buy off-the-plan villas and sailboats which they bestow with names such as Gin Fizz; the Channel 4 documentary series No Going Back has advertised on several Koh Samui travel websites for British candidates who have moved here and are willing to have their stories filmed. But despite the lure of a retirement filled with Jean-Paul Belmondo lookalikes and aperitifs I am on a strict timetable: deadlines and duties await. The days assume an easy rhythm although it would be far too easy just to stay put in a Karma Samui villa and wait for Thailand to come calling.

Changing travellers
Malaysia Star – Oct 27, 2007
“In the past travellers would swarm to stay at four- or five-star hotels in Bali not aware if the shower they were taking was depriving a nearby village of water or whether the buzz the hotel was creating was robbing the locals of their livelihood” says Dr Reza Azmi founder and director of Wild Asia a conservation group that promotes a policy of Responsible Tourism (RT) that encourages tour operators to support the local environment and communities. WILD ASIA This is what sparked the idea for an RT seminar and award the first of its kind for tourism operators in Asia taking in everyone from luxury resorts to small community-based eco-ventures who demonstrate a strong level of commitment to local cultures benefit local economies and minimise damage to the environment. The award in its second consecutive year will be held from Nov 13-Nov 15 at the Evason Phuket and Six Senses Spa in Thailand this year… WILD ASIA This is what sparked the idea for an RT seminar and award the first of its kind for tourism operators in Asia taking in everyone from luxury resorts to small community-based eco-ventures who demonstrate a strong level of commitment to local cultures benefit local economies and minimise damage to the environment. The award in its second consecutive year will be held from Nov 13-Nov 15 at the Evason Phuket and Six Senses Spa in Thailand this year. The RT Awards has received a boost in funding from a foreign office grant. “ur intention is to reward credible entities that do a good job and that itself got many switched on. They were literally knocking at our door telling us to ‘come look at them’!” quips Dr Reza. perators wanting to participate need to have a checklist to see if they meet the basic requirements.

Living nightmare for lost boys of Africa
Ghana Football Association – Oct 27, 2007
No one sees Cambodian football on TV no agents come here – so how would anyone see us?” Linford Bernard. Defender Ghanaian 26″I left Ghana on January 19 2006. I was meant to go to Thailand to play I was never meant to come here and now I am stuck. “The problem is money. My money runs out before the end of the month and yet my family at home expect me to send money to them. If I don’t send money I am nothing. If I don’t send money I cannot say anything to explain myself… “So by the time I had got back to Cairo I had already used my return ticket to Thailand. So I called back to my manager at home in Ghana and he told me to wait while they sent me some money. I spent a month in a hotel in Cairo waiting. “Eventually the ticket arrived. I’d already asked my manager whether I should still go because the trial period at the Thai club had passed. He said I should still go. So I went and the club said that the trials were over and I should wait for next year.

Inside Baghdad’s International Zone
اÙشر٠اÙاÙسط – Oct 27, 2007
Numerous surveillance towers are spread throughout the area and if you look closely you can spot the barrels of the snipers’ rifles. There is a heavy sniper presence in the area; you see them hunched over their rifles their eyes unflinching before the telescope and fingers steady on the trigger. Snipers are deployed on the roofs of al Rasheed Hotel the Iraqi cabinet and parliamentary buildings and on top of the former Ministry of Planning building. The International Zone in the mind of many of the city’s dwellers is another planet that lies in the midst of their lives. Most of my friends ask me what it is like behind these walls and wonder about the daily lives of its residents while some around Baghdad have woven elaborate and unrealistic stories about the place and those living behind its fortress. Responsible for the International Zone maximum fortification and security are the US Special Forces snipers and specially trained explosive-sniffing dogs. Within the zone there are US forces multinational forces and private security companies in which most of the personnel cannot communicate in English or Arabic… Responsible for the International Zone maximum fortification and security are the US Special Forces snipers and specially trained explosive-sniffing dogs. Within the zone there are US forces multinational forces and private security companies in which most of the personnel cannot communicate in English or Arabic. These include forces from Tibet Thailand or Georgia. Entering into the International Zone you encounter various checkpoints by the gates and beyond them. The complex houses foreign embassies; their offices and accommodation including the US and British embassies. In fact excluding the German and French embassies which are located in al Karada district and by the Kahraman Square respectively all other Western embassy headquarters are enclosed within the International Zone. The complex of course also includes palaces of senior Iraqi officials and villas belonging to the prime minister government ministers MPs in addition to residences for chauffeurs security escorts and the protection squads of the incumbent government and [Ibrahim] Jaafari’s previous one.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.