Tourist entries from Thailand plummet amid political turmoil

The Phnom Penh Post – October 09, 2008

Written by Kay Kimsong

As anti-government mobs wreak havoc on Bangkok, tourists are turning to Vietnam as an entry point to Cambodia, officials say

POLITICAL instability in Thailand has led fewer tourists to use the country as an entry point to Cambodia, with foreigners now choosing to instead go through Vietnam, tourism officials say.

“Since the former Thai prime minister put Bangkok under emergency rule, foreigners have been cancelling trips to Bangkok. Many are re-routing to Malaysia and Vietnam before flying to Siem Reap,” said Kousoum Saroeuth, secretary of state for the Ministry of Tourism.

He said the number of flights and road arrivals from Vietnam has increased since fighting between Thai police and the royalist People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) broke out earlier this week.

He added that more Western tourists are visiting Cambodia, but that tourism in Thailand had fallen by 30 percent.
Kousoum Saroeuth also said the Ministry of Tourism has reassured Western and Asian tourists that Cambodia and Thailand will not go to war over the Preah Vihear temple dispute, which began in July.

“We have run advertisements on CNN, and world travellers know that Cambodia is a safe place to visit,” he said.
He added that Cambodia aims to see 2.3 millions visitors by late 2008 – an increase of  13 percent over last year.

Visitors drop in September
The Tourism Ministry’s statistics officer, Kong Sophearak, said in August some 30,000 travellers arrived in Cambodia via Bangkok. But that number fell below 30,000 in September as tensions flared between the Thai government and anti-government protestors.

By contrast, travellers entering Cambodia from Vietnam rose to 32,000 during September.
“Since Bangkok issued travel warnings, the number of tourist coming to Cambodia by road declined, while those from Vietnam rose,” Kong Sophearak said.

Ho Vandy, president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, said direct flights from Vietnam to Siem Reap increased from just a few flights per day last year to eight flights per day in recent months.

He said a new road leading to the Preah Vihear temple, proposed by the government in August, should be completed quickly in order to facilitate access to the World Heritage Site, and urged Asian travellers to consider direct flights to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh instead of transiting through Bangkok.

“Thailand seems to be creating unnecessary problems for travellers attempting to enter Cambodia through the international checkpoint at Poipet,” Ho Vandy said. “Thai immigration police are asking tourists for several unnecessary documents. Entering from Vietnam is much more convenient.”

Cambodia to target Mideast for tourism

The Phnom Penh Post – September 23, 2008

Written by Chun Sophal

A NEW government strategy hopes to make Cambodia a target destination for more Middle Eastern travellers, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon told the Post.

“We want to attract as many tourists from the Middle East as possible,” Thong Khon said Sunday.
The move comes amid efforts by Prime Minister Hun Sen to strengthen ties between Cambodia and the Gulf nations.
The government last month signed a direct-flight agreement with Qatar, Thong Khon said, adding that a similar agreement with Kuwait is expected soon.

In April, the Qatari prime minister announced a US$200 million investment in Cambodia’s agriculture sector, while Kuwait last month pledged $546 million in soft loans to upgrade irrigation systems and roads throughout the Kingdom.

Hun Sen is expected to pay a state visit to the Middle East in January next year, with stops in Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Cambodia has more than 300,000 ethnic Muslim Cham residents. Cham communities are currently marketed to Muslim tourists, said Ho Vandy, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents.

“Cambodia has a Muslim Centre and other sites of interest, and several restaurants serve halal [religiously permissible] food,” said Zakaryya Adam, secretary of state for the Ministry of Culture and Religion.

He said the Phnom Penh airport and several hotels in the capital and Siem Reap are also equipped with Muslim prayer rooms.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY HOR HAB

Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Triangle Focuses on Tourism

VIENTIANE, Sept 23 Asia Pulse – Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have agreed on the need to develop tourism as a spearhead in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty in the three countries development triangle.

The agreement, which also included the creation of favourable conditions for the triangular region that comprises 10 border provinces of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, was reached at the third meeting addressing trade, investment and tourism promotion in the Development Triangle, held in Champassak, Laos, on September 22.

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc joined Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Soulivong Daravong and Cambodian Secretary General of the Development Council Suon Sitthy in chairing the meeting, which brought together both state officials and businesspeople of the 10 localities in the Development Triangle.

Minister Phuc described the three countries policy to develop their shared triangle as a right decision that has contributed largely to promoting each country’s socio-economic growth and reinforcing friendship between the three nations.

Following the second meeting of its kind in February this year, the three countries have taken their own initiatives to spur the development of the triangle. In the meantime, mechanisms and policies to facilitate the cross-border flow of people and commodities, investment and trade in the area are being discussed, Minister Phuc added.

At this meeting, the participants focused on assessing what has been done since the two previous meetings and discussed ways to solve difficulties that arise in the process of implementing the reached agreements.

They informed each other of their own countries’ current policies, investment environments and related legal regulations in addition to the potential and priorities of the localities located in the development triangle and worked on orientations for cooperation in the future.

Established in 2004 by a decision signed by the three countries prime ministers, the Development Triangle comprises Vietnam’s central highlands provinces of Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak and Dak Nong,

Laos’s provinces of Attapeu, Sekong and Saravanh, and the Cambodian provinces of Rattanakiri, Stungtreng and Moldonkiri.

The governments of the three countries have high hopes for the effects of promoting the development of the region, which has been highly evaluated for its great potential in the areas of hydro-power industry, mining, industrial crop growing and processing and tourism, to improve the living conditions of local people, the majority of whom belong to ethnic minorities.

(VNA)

Cambodia’s Siem Reap Airways to fly direct to Ho Chi Minh City

M&C Business News – September 16, 2008

Phnom Penh – Siem Reap Airways International is scheduled to launch direct flights between Siem Reap in Cambodia and the Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh late next month, the airline said in a press release Tuesday.

Siem Reap is the tourist hub of Cambodia and gateway to the Angkor Wat temple complex, 300 kilometres north of the capital.

Siem Reap Airways International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thailand’s Bangkok Airways, based in Phnom Penh.

Sokimex breaks ground on luxury hotel in S’ville

The Phnom Penh Post – September 13, 2008

Written by Nguon Sovan

New resort complex to target high-end visitors to seaside town

 

 Once quiet Ochheuteal beach, pictured here, is set to be transformed by the latest luxury hotel, as depicted in this artist’s rendition on the site. (Photo: NGUON SOVAN)

THE Sokha Hotel Co broke ground Wednesday on 500-room luxury hotel to be built on Sihanoukville’s Ochheuteal beach as the demand for high-end accommodations in the seaside town increases. 

Company CEO Bobby Toh said that the hotel, which is expected to open in 2010, will provide some 1,200 new jobs and contribute to Sihanoukville’s transformation from a once-sleepy backpacker haven to a top-shelf tourism attraction.

“The development will actively contribute to improving the local economy, tourism infrastructure and facilities, as well as creating new job opportunities for Cambodians,” Toh said.

He added that the company plans to expand the size of the hotel as demand for more facilities increases.

Sok Kong, executive chairman of Sokimex and the Sokha Hotel Co, told the Post that the beaches in front of the US$50 million  hotel will remain public.

“We will never ban the public from playing on the beach when the hotel is finished, and we will not charge a fee for people to use the beach,” he said.

Sihanoukville is the anchor of a coastal development plan that is hoped to make the seaside a key tourist destination.

Tourism ministry officials say that while the city has enough accommodations for budget travellers, it is facing a shortage of about 1,500 high-end hotel rooms. “The hotel investment is a right decision,” said Sam Prumnear, secretary of state with the Tourism Ministry.

Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia to boost tourism at borders

Viet Nam News – August 16, 2008

Phnom Penh — Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia have agreed to boost tourism development projects in 10 provinces in the three countries’ economic development triangle.

At a recent meeting in Phnom Penh, the tourism ministries of the three countries also agreed to conduct joint surveys on tourism development potential and foreign direct investment attraction capacities in the provinces of Ratanakiri, Mondolkiri and Stung Treng of Cambodia; Atopu, Sekong and Saravan of Laos; and Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dac Lak and Dak Nong of Viet Nam.

The tripartite agreement also outlined that ministries would propose that their Governments approve projects related to immigration control and tourism infrastructure construction in those provinces.

The Cambodian tourism ministry would submit to its Government a project to build a road segment running from Krache Province to Viet Nam’s border areas via Mondolkiri Province.

A book of 148 pages introducing famous tourist sites at the border triangle of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia will also be published in the coming time, according to the agreement. — VNS

Tourist visits double at Preah Vihear

Written by Khouth Sophakchakrya

Phnom Penh Post – Tuesday, 12 August 2008

THE presence of machine guns and rocket launchers hasn’t kept proud Cambodians from making a pilgrimage to Preah Vihear to pay their respects to the mythic 11th-century temple and its new hoard of guardians.

Thai and Cambodian soldiers remain locked in what looks set to be a prolonged standoff in and around the temple’s grounds.

But domestic tourism to the site has more than doubled since its UNESCO World Heritage listing on  July 7, said Pheng Sameoun, assistant to the general director of the Preah Vihear National Authority.

“Since Thai troops entered the temple, there have been fewer foreign tourists, but the number of locals visiting has doubled,” Pheng Sameoun told the Post on Sunday.

According to Pheng Sameoun, the dispute has stirred such a torrent of interest in the temple that, if the surrounding infrastructure  such as roads were developed considerably, it could come to rival the Angkor Wat temple complex as the leading domestic holiday destination among Cambodians.

Chheang Solina, 22-year-old Phnom Penh high school student, said she was shocked last Sunday when she saw Thai and Cambodian soldiers occupying the temple, but was reinvigorated walking through its corridors.

“When I arrived at the top of the temple, and breathed in the fresh air, I had a feeling of great pride to be born as a Khmer,” she said.

She added that she was happy because the Naga statues seemed to eat the Thai troops.

Bad roads and high transportation costs didn’t stop Seng Vireak, 19, and his family from making the daylong trip from the capital, bearing food and supplies to hand out.

Khmers living overseas have joined the wave, making the trip from Europe or the United States to set foot on the temple, whose symbolic value seems to appreciate every day troops occupy it.

Many were seen making donations of money to monks and soldiers living there.

(Non-Olympian) Cambodian diver … on the Tonle Sap River

A Cambodian boy dives into the swollen water of the Tonle Sap River in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Cambodian boy dives into the swollen water of the Tonle Sap River in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

World Heritage list grows

Associated Press – August 10, 2008

QUEBEC CITY, Canada

Baha’i holy places in Israel, the Monarch butterfly biosphere reserve of Mexico and the historic center of Camaguey, a Spanish colonial town in Cuba first settled in 1528, are among the new sites added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee met last month in Quebec City to add the 19 cultural sites and eight natural sites to the list, which now numbers 878 sites in 145 countries. Detailed information about each site is available at whc.unesco.org/en/news/453.

In Mexico, in addition to the butterfly reserve, the fortified town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesus Nazareno de Atotonilco, cited for their architecture, were added to the list.

In Europe, new UNESCO World Heritage sites are the ancient stone walls, shelters and landscape of Stari Grad on the Adriatic island of Hvar in Croatia; 17th-century fortifications along the borders of France; innovatively designed Modernist housing in Berlin, dating from 1910-1933; the Italian towns of Mantua and Sabbioneta, cited for architecture and their role in Renaissance culture; eight wooden churches dating to the 16th through 18th centuries in Slovakia; the Rhaetian Railway, which includes two historic railway lines in Italy and Switzerland that cross the Alps; and the historic center of the republic of San Marino, which dates to the 13th century, and San Marino’s Mount Titano.

In Asia and the South Pacific, new sites added to the World Heritage list are Cambodia’s Temple of Preah Vihear; the “tulou” of China’s Fujian province, which are circular communal earthen houses; Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca in Malaysia; the Kuk swamps in New Guinea, which contain archaeological evidence of thousands of years of farming, and three sites on islands in Vanuatu associated with a 17th-century chief, Roi Mata.

In the Middle East, the World Heritage list now includes, in Iran, the Armenian monasteries of St. Thaddeus and St. Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor; Al-Hijr, Saudi Arabia’s first World Heritage property, an archaeological site preserving Nabataean civilization dating to the 1st century B.C., and the Socotra islands in Yemen, cited for their biodiversity.

In Africa, Kenya’s Mijikenda Kaya Forests were recognized for the remains of fortified villages dating back centuries that are now considered sacred sites, and Le Morne, a mountain on the coast of Mauritius, was included for its history as a shelter for runaway slaves.

Natural properties added to the UNESCO list, in addition to the Mexico butterfly reserve, are Canada’s Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a fossil-rich area of Nova Scotia; China’s Mount Sanqingshan National Park, noted for its scenic landscape and “fantastically shaped” granite peaks and pillars; the coral reefs and lagoons of New Caledonia; Surtsey, an Icelandic island formed by volcanic eruptions in the 1960s and which is a pristine laboratory for plant and animal life; two nature reserves in the steppe and lakes of northern Kazakhstan; and a geologically significant mountainous area of Switzerland known as the Glarus Overthrust.

Cambodia tourism up 13 percent, but Thais may turn away

August 06, 2008

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Tourist arrivals in Cambodia soared 13 percent in the first half of 2008, but the tourism minister warned Tuesday that Thais may avoid the kingdom as a border dispute drags on.

Ministry of Tourism statistics showed that nearly 1.1 million foreigners, including 67,502 from neighbouring Thailand, entered Cambodia from January until June, up 13 percent on the same period last year.

“This is a satisfactory increase,” Tourism Minister Thong Khon told AFP.

But he said arrivals of Thai tourists were expected to drop after a territorial dispute on their joint border over land near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which was listed as a UN World Heritage Site last month.

“We don’t expect many more Thai tourists to come because they cannot go see the Preah Vihear temple,” Thong Khon said.

Cambodia closed the border crossing from Thailand to Preah Vihear in late June, ahead of the July 15 arrest of three Thai nationalist protesters who tried to illegally cross into Cambodia to reach the temple.

The incident sparked a military stand-off, and more than 1,000 Thai and Cambodian soldiers are now stationed on a patch of disputed land near the ruin.

The tourism ministry did not say how many Thais entered Cambodia at the Preah Vihear crossing this year.

Of all international visitors, more than half flocked to Cambodia’s famed Angkor temples in northwestern Siem Reap province, the ministry said.

Those World Heritage-listed ruins have been key in reviving Cambodia’s tourism sector since 2003, when a regional SARS panic and anti-Thai riots in the country’s capital Phnom Penh drove visitor figures into the ground.

But the government has also begun planning a number of tourism initiatives as part of a broader plan to both keep foreigners in Cambodia longer, and develop some of the country’s more impoverished areas.

Tourist arrivals to Cambodia topped two million in 2007, and the sector remains one of the few sources of foreign exchange for the country, where millions live in poverty after decades of civil strife.