The first Elephant Boat Race & River Festival will be hosted this month in Bangkok, replacing the annual King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament.
The now-defunct tournament was launched in 2001 to raise funds for elephants in the Kingdom. During the past 18 years, the event raised about 55 million baht, but the Thailand Elephant Polo Association announced an end to the event last October after the animal rights group Peta Asia released a video showing elephants were repeatedly struck with bullhooks to participate in last year's event.
Starting from this year, there will be no elephants at the event, but there will be elephant-themed dragon boats to race in the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Twelve teams will participate in the event including international teams from China, the Philippines and Malaysia.
There also will be mini-concerts and food fair.
The Elephant Boat Race & River Festival will be organised from March 29-31 near Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort on Charoen Nakhon Road. Ticket prices per person per day are 200 baht and 3,000 baht for VIP ticket including free-flow drinks and snacks. There is no entrance fee for children under 12.
All proceeds will go to the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation of Anantara Hotels and Resorts to further donate to elephant-related charities.
Visit http://bangkokriverfestival.com.
Chiang Mai rail project on track
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand has announced a feasibility study of a light rail transit project in Chiang Mai.
The route will be identified as the red line and will feature a 12.54km line linking Nakhon Phing Hospital to the intersection of Mae Hia Saman Samakkhi in Hang Dong district. The route will have 12 stations in key areas including the Nakhon Phing Hospital, the 700th Anniversary stadium, Chang Phueak bus terminal and Chiang Mai International Airport.
The study will take about a year and cost about 98.2 million baht.
The project will be a public-private-partnership (PPP) investment scheme in which the initial investment is expected to be 30 billion baht. The first mass rapid transit route will take about five years for construction and when finished it will help ease traffic in the city as well as keep up with the rapid growth in tourism and infrastructure.
AIRLINES UPDATE
- Emirates will fly to Phnom Penh from Bangkok, starting on June 1.
The service will be available daily and will facilitate passengers travelling from Dubai to Phnom Penh, via Bangkok.
The new service will be operated with Boeing 777 aircraft and will depart from Dubai International Airport at 8.45am and arrive at Suvarnabhumi International Airport at 6.15pm. The same flight will depart Bangkok at 8pm and will land at Phnom Penh International Airport at 9.25pm. The return flight will depart Phnom Penh at 11.20pm and will arrive in Bangkok at 12.40am. It will then set off to Dubai at 2.25am, arriving at 5.35am.
Visit http://emirates.com.
- Nok Air will temporarily stop its direct flights between Bangkok and Roi-Et from March 1 to Oct 26.
It cited low season as the reason for the stoppage. In addition, the airline will stop flying two ATR-72 500 aircraft with 66 seats and will operate its service by using the existing 18 Boeing 737-800 with 189 seats and eight Q400 aircraft with 86 seats.
It plans to expand the network to cover more cities in China, India and Japan in the future.
Visit http://nokair.com.
HOTEL DEALS & UPDATE
- Rosewood Bangkok has been opened in Bangkok.
Located on Ploenchit Road, the 30-storey property features 159 rooms including 23 suites. Room sizes start from 42m² for a deluxe room to the 291m² Bannakarn House which covers the entire 29th floor. The Bannakarn House offers a kitchen, separate guest bathroom, private terrace and outdoor plunge pool.
Other facilities of the hotel are restaurants, spa, fitness, swimming pool, meeting rooms and ballroom which can accommodate up to 300 guests.
Visit http://rosewoodhotels.com/en/bangkok.
- U Khao Yai offers a school break package featuring accommodation in a deluxe room, breakfast buffet and tickets to enter Splash at Scenic World, an amusement and water park, for two adults and one child.
The one-night package is priced at 5,199 baht and the two-night package is priced at 8,599 baht.
The offers are available for stays from Monday to Thursday. Reservations are valid until May 31.
Visit http://ukhaoyai.com.
- Amari Ocean Pattaya Hotel has been renamed Amari Pattaya.
It features 346 rooms including new one- and two-bedroom suites. The room sizes are 67m² and 97m². To promote the new suites, it offers 15% off, late check-out until 4pm and free stay for children under 12.
The promotion is available until March 31 for stays from April 1 to June 30.
Visit http://amari.com/pattaya.
Email karnjanak@bangkokpost.co.th if you have any comments to share.
