Bang Saen, one of the family destinations in Chon Buri, will host a car racing competition on the streets next week.
The annual 'Bang Saen Thailand Speed Festival' takes place next week.
An annual event, "Bang Saen Thailand Speed Festival 2014" will turn the 3.7km-long beachfront road of Bang Saen into a racing circuit, according to Sonthaya Khunpluem, the president of Chon Buri Sports Association.
The 55 million baht event is co-hosted by seven organisations, the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Sports Authority of Thailand, Chon Buri Provincial Office, Chon Buri Provincial Administration Organisation, Saen Suk Municipality and the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand. It is managed by Racing Spirit Company, which organises motorsport events nationwide. The highlights include not only various types of car racing, but also car drift shows and Bangsaen Criterium, which for the first time will see 30 bike teams race on the car racing circuit.
The event will run from Dec 9 to 14. It is expected to attract up to 500,000 visitors to Chon Buri.
Visit www.facebook.com/ThailandSuperSeries.
Free national park entry
All national parks in Thailand will offer free entry to celebrate Father's Day and the New Year.
According to Nipon Chotibal, chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, the 147 national parks will open their doors without charge during Dec 4-6 and Dec 31-Jan 1. For Thais and expat residents only.
Visit www.dnp.go.th.
Working on vacation
People in Southeast Asia do not mind working while they are on holiday, according to TripAdvisor's "Working-On-Vacation" survey.
The survey of 16,765 employed respondents across 14 countries, including Thailand, found that 46% of respondents worked on their vacation, and the percentage increased to 67% for those who have lived in Southeast Asia.
The major work activities that people carry out are checking emails (67%), responding to emails (58%), creating or editing documents (28%) and participating in conference calls (9%).
When focusing just on people from Southeast Asia, the numbers are higher. For example, 90% of people in the region keep checking office emails while taking days off while 81% still respond to emails.
Almost half (43%) spent time creating or editing documents and 11% participated in conference calls.
The TripAdvisor survey revealed that travellers in Southeast Asia already receive less annual leave than Western countries, but they still work while taking leave, said TripAdvisor spokesperson Jean Ow-Yeong.
"In today's highly connected world, Southeast Asian travellers feel the need to stay plugged in even when on vacation," he said.
Reasons given were that there may be "urgent situations" that need attention (75%) while 19% said they felt guilty if they did not work on vacation. The last reason was that their managers expected it (15%).
Airlines update
- Air, a Taiwan-based low cost airline of TransAsia Airways, plans to launch its first flight to Thailand this month.
According to the airline, the schedule will be Dec 17 for the flight from Taipei to Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport and Jan 7 next year for landing in Chiang Mai.
The airline has Airbus A321 aircraft with capacity for 194 seats.
- Air also plans to add more destinations in Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea in the future.
Visit www.vair.com.tw.
- Nok Air will add an extra flight between Bangkok and Chiang Mai to meet passenger demand during the long holidays.
It will charter Boeing 777-200 from NokScoot, a joint-venture airline between Nok Air and Singapore-based Scoot to offer long-haul and low cost flights. The aircraft has a capacity of up to 415 seats.
"Extra flights to Chiang Mai has brought us closer to achieving one of our aims, which is to take Thais to see the beauty of their country, to see families and family members that they haven't seen in years during this high season and New Year holiday," according to the airline CEO Patee Sarasin.
At present Nok Air operates 12 daily flights on the Bangkok (Don Mueang) — Chiang Mai route with Boeing 737-800 capacity up to 189 seats per flight. The extra flights will start on Dec 5, 7, 14, 19, 21, 26, 27, 30, 31 and Jan 4 and 5 Jan.
Visit www.nokair.com.
Hotels update
- Centara Hotels & Resorts launched Centara Blue Marine Resort & Spa Phuket on Dec 1.
Located at the northern end of Patong Beach with Kalim Bay, the hotel features 266 room suites and villas with a choice of one and two bedrooms. Each villa comes with a private pool.
There are three swimming pools including a water slide feature, plus two pools for children, a spa, fitness centre, "Kids Club", bar, restaurants and meeting facilities which can accommodate up to 180 guests and outdoor locations for parties and gatherings.
Visit www.centarahotelsresorts.com/centara/cmp.
- Kata Rocks Resort was officially opened in Phuket last week.
The resort features 34 villas with options of one to four bedrooms. Each villa has a private pool and a central control system for lights and other electronic devices via an iPad.
There is also a beachfront restaurant, 35m swimming pool with bar, spa and fitness centre.
Visit www.katarocks.com.
Email karnjanak@bangkokpost.co.th
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