Samret Phusaensri, chief of Phu Ruea National Park in the Phu Ruea district, said on Saturday (December 28) that next week numerous visitors are expected to enjoy the sight of winter flowers and decorated Christmas trees, as well as enjoy the camps on the mountaintop.

“During winter, the temperature at the park drops to around 10-15 degrees Celsius, creating a cold atmosphere that will attract tourists from all over the country,” he said. “Furthermore, the route leading to the Phu Ruea mountaintop is around 8km long, providing a moderate challenge for trekkers who will be rewarded with beautiful camping sites and a panoramic view of the sea of fog in the morning.”

The national park chief added that during the holiday season, more than 1,000 tourists visiting Phu Ruea every day, averaging 160,000 tourists annually.

“Besides Phu Ruea, there are also other tourist attractions in the nearby areas such as Phu Kho View Point, Phu Hua Hom Camping Site, and Phu Suan Sai National Park where you can spend the night and watch the Sun rising from Laos’ mountains,” said Samret.

The temperature at Phu Ruea National Park was 11 degrees Celsius on Saturday morning, while the temperature in downtown Phu Ruea district was 16 degrees Celsius.

The manager of Wow Andaman Tour, Lertsak Ponklin, told media on Saturday (December 28) that a tour group of Thai and foreign tourists led by a tour guide, Angsumalin Putnok, spotted them at Koh Miang Island.

“These whales broke through the water and greeted the tourists travelling on a boat, while some of them jumped and played around the boat,” he said.

“This was a very lucky sighting because these whales appeared during the Christmas holidays. We expect that it will swim around the Similan Islands for many days to greet tourists during the New Year festival.”

Meanwhile, the director of Phuket Marine Biological Centre, Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong, confirmed that they were false killer whales, a large oceanic dolphin with no relation to the killer whale, one of the rare aquatic animals in Thailand.

“For the safety of rare aquatic animals, the boat driver should slow down or stop the boat until they swim away instead of chasing them, while tourists should not feed them,” he said.

Vice Admiral Prachachart Sirisawat, spokesperson and deputy chief of staff of Royal Thai Navy, said in a statement that Petty Officer First Class Beiret Bureerak, a Navy Seal officer of Naval Special Warfare Command, Royal Thai Fleet, had been receiving treatment but his condition worsened and he succumbed.

Beiret had taken part in the operation to rescue 12 boys and their football coach who were stranded in the flooded Tham Luang cave in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province.

The footballers had gone to explore the cave on June 23, 2018, but found themselves trapped inside when sudden rain water flooded the cave. Many experts from around the world took part in the rescue mission that lasted 17 days.

The 12 boys and their coach were fitted-out in full-face breathing masks and sedated before being pulled to safety through a hazardous underwater labyrinth.

Beiret is the second fatality from this rescue operation that made international headlines. A former Navy Seal diver, Saman Gunan, also had died during the operation.

Beiret’s funeral was held on Friday at Talosai mosque in the Langu district of Satun province.

Beirut will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) and receive a royal decoration as well as Bt465,000 from related funds, Prachachart added.

The Government Saving Bank (GSB) Research Centre estimated total spending at Bt49.9 billion, based on a survey, with average spending per person at Bt3,550.

“The survey focused on data collection from a sample [monthly income less than Bt15,000] of 2,186 grass-roots people nationwide,” GSB president and chief executive officer Chatchai Phayuhanaveechai said.

Most respondents answered that their source of spending for the New Year was their personal income (85.5 per cent), followed by savings (10.3 per cent), government subsidy (3.4 per cent), and loan (0.8 per cent).

The most popular spending activities during New Year holidays are: giving money to family members (55.4 per cent), with average spending of Bt1,985; followed by partying (49.7 per cent), with average spending of Bt1,150; and making merit at temples (44.7 per cent) with average spending of Bt400.

The most popular gifts that grass-roots people are planning to buy during New Year are: foods/vegetables/fruits (66.1 per cent), followed by clothes (51.8 per cent) and healthy drinks (29.2 per cent).

When asked where to shop during New Year, nearly one-third of respondents picked department stores (31.2 per cent), followed by modern retail shops (31.1 per cent), and local markets (26.8 per cent).

When asked what they expect from the government as a New Year gift, the majority of grass-roots (55.1 per cent) people listed reducing the cost of living at the top, followed by lowering fuel price (54.2 per cent) and fixing the problem of agricultural product prices plummeting (24.7).

When asked about awareness of the government’s “Eat, Shop, Spend” campaign, most grass-roots people (93.5 per cent) said that they were aware of the campaign, but only 37.9 per cent were able to claim the benefits. “Most respondents said that they were aware of benefits in phase 1 and 2, which offer Bt1,000 cash giveaway, but are less interested in the last phase that focuses on stimulating people to spend their own money to get a cash-back reward,” said Chatchai.

Earlier UTCC forecast that Thais are expected to spend around Bt137.8 billion this New Year season, up 1.9 per cent.

Media reports said traffic on Mitraphap Highway has slowed down because of the great number of people travelling for the long holiday period. Many vendors are seeing this as an opportunity to sell various products, such as food, toys and souvenirs to attract tourists.

This period is also suitable for flying kites due to the strong winds in winter.

Somporn, a kite-seller, said that normally he sells kites on the roadside in Khon Kaen province, but not many people stop by to buy kites because the traffic moves quite fast.

“This area is a bypass road where people stop and take a rest from the long journey, and so we can sell them,” he said. “A small kite sells for Bt60, while a big one costs Bt350. The selling opportunity may last only two or three days, but we can earn over Bt1,000 a day,” he added.