Two new landmark projects are coming up in Chiang Mai province. One is a monument dedicated to Thai belief in serpents while the other will be a floating night market incorporating scope for entertainment.
The Thuluthai Foundation, together with musicians, singers, actors and The Sacred Arts held a press conference in the Bueng Buakhao area, in Chiang Mai’s San Sai district on the project to build the Great Naka Hall of Fame and the launch of the San Sai Night Floating Market. The project includes a ‘Tawinaka PanPow’ grand show performed through music, dance, light, and sound on a floating stage that will be permanent stage for other artists.
The Great Naka Hall of Fame is a project about beliefs and legends about serpents that has been with Thai society for a long time. Most of the beliefs are related to Buddhism.
The Great Naka Hall of Fame will be built as a gathering place, telling the story of Chiang Mai, the Lanna [ancient Chiang Mai] way of life, stories of various streams using the serpent as a conductor, and also exhibiting various branches of art such as painting, sculpture, musical instruments as well as digital images, including 3D images showing the stories of the Naga.
The hall will be built in the floating market area in the midst of a large white lotus pond [Bueng Bue Kaw] over 200 rai. There will be beautiful landscaping and a clear view of Doi Suthep, they said.
Entrepreneurs said that the night floating market will be a centre for selling food, including raw food, ingredients and cooked food. It will be the first night floating market in Thailand.
The ceremony to worship Phaya Sri Satta Nakarata, a well-known Naga landmark in Nakhon Phanom province will be held from July 7 to 13.
The province governor will preside over the opening ceremony at Nakhon Phanom Municipality on July 7 at 2.30pm. The ceremony features religious rituals and ceremonial dance throughout the seven days.
In addition, venues in the province will offer discounts of up to 77 per cent on products to stimulate the economy.
To contain the spread of Covid-19, the province will refrain from setting up food banks and inviting celebrities.
To participate in this event, visitors’ body temperature will be screened, they must wear face mask, maintain social distancing and wash their hands regularly.
Ubon Ratchathani’s famous candle festival will be marked in line with the “new normal”, with the beautifully sculpted giant candles being put on display at public parks instead of being paraded around the city to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The display will be accessible three times a day – 10am, 2pm and 6pm – to visitors who have registered online.The not-to-be missed extravagant candle festival is held in Ubon Ratchathani every year to mark Asalha Bucha and the start of Buddhist Lent, where hordes of tourists, both local and foreign, gather to admire the extravagantly creative giant candles as well as enjoy traditional dance and music shows.
The festival this year is being held from Friday to July 7.
Tourists are flocking back to Chiang Mai’s Mon Jam mountain in Mae Rim district, as highland resorts reopen to offer cool relief from the sweltering summer temperatures.
Hotels and restaurants on the scenic mountain have started opening their doors to returning tourists after several months in Covid-19 lockdown, said Wichit Metha-Anantkul, president of Mon Jam Agricultural Tourism Entrepreneurs Club.
“Since the limit on inter-provincial travel was lifted, we have seen increasing online bookings from tourists seeking rooms from about Bt800 [per night],” he said. “Meanwhile, some are pitching their tents at camping sites to enjoy the cool mountain weather and the sea of mist in the morning.”
Best known for a beautiful mountaintop viewpoint over the Mae Rim Valley and the floral orchard of its Royal Project farms, Mon Jam is about an hour’s drive from downtown Chiang Mai.
However, while visitors are flowing back as the virus outbreak eases, restarting the tourism economy in Mon Jam is not without its obstacles.
“Some tourism operators in Mae Rim districts are facing charges of trespassing after the land on which they built hotels and resorts was later declared to be national forest,” said Wichit. “Fifteen such cases are still pending investigation, and we have submitted an appeal to the National Land Policy Committee to allow the operators to resume their businesses, which will help bring in tourists and promote other enterprises in the communities.”
Marine animals are flourishing once again in the Gulf of Thailand due to the elimination of human waste.
Through a collaboration of several sectors, tanks, trains, garbage trucks are no longer allowed to dump waste into the sea.The thriving marine life is expected to be tourist attractions in Pattani and Narathiwat provinces.Over 10 years, they have become habitats for various species of fish and other marine lives.
Between June and September is the best period to experience the beauty of the blue world in Thailand as the Covid-19 situation has now improved.
With the lockdown measures being lifted, tourism is gradually recovering.
Jun 28. 2020La Grande-Motte set up the first organized static beach in France. MUST CREDIT: Photo for The Washington Post by Sandra Mehl
By The Washington Post · Miriam Berger · WORLD, ASIA-PACIFIC, EUROPE, MIDDLE-EAST Sunscreen? Check. Towel? Check. Mask? Disinfectant? At least six feet of space? Depends on where and what beach. As tourists and travelers start to return to many of the world’s seasides, government health officials and scientists are turning their attention to every inch of sand to assess the risk of the coronavirus’s spread.
But while the novel coronavirus may dislike direct sun and open air, it loves a crowd and shared spaces. That’s why officials in southern England were so shocked last week by what they classed as a “major incident” amid a heat wave: thousands of people packing beaches, all in violation of social distancing measures. In Brazil, beachgoers have similarly flocked to sandy shores while flouting face mask recommendations.
From “beach bubbles” to drones to censors and cellphone tracking, here’s how some countries are readying their beaches for a summer of social distancing.
– Greece
Greece’s picturesque sandy seasides have long been an alluring summer destination. But this year, the Mediterranean country has a new attraction: a low coronavirus count and, as a of mid-June, borders open to some foreign tourists.
Greece also wants to keep it that way, despite the risk of a resurgence posed by letting in travelers. So the government has devised a plan for mandating disinfectants and maintaining physical distances since it began to reopen beaches in mid-May, with updates since. Under current regulations, only up to 40 people will be permitted per every 1,000 square meters of beach, or about a quarter acre. A maximum of two chairs can be under each umbrella, which must be placed at least 13 feet from another. (An exemption is made for families, who are allowed to be in proximity to one other as a group.)
Beachgoers are supposed to place a towel on their chair, which staff are required to sanitize after every use. To further discourage crowds, beach-based restaurants were initially allowed to serve only takeaway meals, and no alcohol, to people waiting at least five feet apart while in line.
Beachgoers who violate these rules can face a fine from the police of up to $1,120, according to the BBC.
– Belgium
Cellphone tracking and censors will be deployed to keep Belgium’s seaside resorts and beaches less crowded this summer, Reuters reported.
Beaches are allowed to open as of Saturday, and the government has devised a tracking system aimed at rerouting residents and tourists to less-populated areas. Using cellphone data and 130 censors stationed around towns, authorities will be updating a public website sharing in real-time that areas are more or less crowded. Dark green will indicate an area is calm, while orange will denote high density, according to the Reuters news agency.
Some local governments have devised their own designs. In the town of Knokke-Heist, tourism council member Anthony Wittesaele came up with “beach bubbles” – or markings in the sand to indicate 32-square-foot boxes, or about the size of a medium-size carpet.
“We have implemented what we call ‘beach bubbles,’ where one family or friends can be together in a safe way and to visualize the distance that they should be from one another,” he told Reuters.
– Dubai
The financial center of the United Arab Emirates is beginning to reopen, months after its upscale malls and lavish hotels shut down. During scorching summer days, much of life in the Emirates happens in the air-conditioned indoors, which now poses a problem for coronavirus infection-control.
But in public, the politically restrictive city-state is trying to enforce its new beach protocol. Dubai has made mask-wearing at the beach mandatory and banned groups of more than five. Masks while in the water, though, are not required. (Masks in general are required in public, except in some instances like strenuous exercise.)
Between May 29, when beaches reopened, and June 7 the government reported that 316 people were penalized for violating the rules, according to the Abu Dhabi-based the National newspaper. On just one Friday in early June, police cited 221 offenders. The fine for violating face mask-wearing and social-distancing rules is more than $800.
Police told the National they have also made use of drones to zone in on rule breakers.
– Thailand
Thailand still remains closed to international travelers, so its beloved beaches have fewer crowds and possible pitfalls to worry about.
In the meantime, mask-clad workers at the entrance of beachside venues screen and count everyone entering to keep a low capacity. In the coastal city of Pattaya, beachgoers are required to stay around three feet apart. Residents told the South China Morning Post that they had never seen the water so clean or sand so empty.
Like many Southeast Asian countries, Thailand’s confirmed coronavirus count remains comparatively low to other European or Latin American countries. But it has still taken the virus seriously. Some beaches reopened only on June 1. And after kick-starting local tourism, the government is considering travel corridors with China and Japan, among others, Bloomberg News reported.
– Spain
Drones are also buzzing above the carefully monitored beaches of Lloret de Mar, a resort town in northeastern Spain.
Spain is readying for the return of foreign travelers after curbing its initial coronavirus outbreak, which killed more than 28,300 people. “The way we go to the beach this year has changed but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it,” urged a promotional video for one resort very popular with British tourists, AFP reported.
At Lloret de Mar, sensors are also in place to alert the municipality when an area’s capacity has been reached. Visitors can then access this information via a designated app, according to AFP.
So far, crowding hasn’t been an issue. But Lloret de Mar is prepared for all kinds of beach conditions. The local government has additionally devised plans for cordoning off sections based on age, such as designating special areas for the elderly, families with children, and groups without kids.
– France
In May, France initially reopened its beaches to short-term exercising but banned most other activities. That prompted one resort to experiment with social-distancing compliant sunbathing, The Washington Post reported. The resort town of La Grande Motte near Montpelier roped off 75 squares to keep people separated. The municipality’s website then offered beachgoers the chance to reserve a three-hour spot up to two days in advance. Openings quickly filled up.
As of June, restrictions at beaches are more loose, though people are still recommended to keep wearing face masks, wash hands and stay at a distance from others.
Hua Hin’s iconic Railway Hotel to reopen doors on July 1
Jun 25. 2020
By The Nation
Guests will return to Hua Hin’s oldest and grandest beachside hotel next week as the Centara Grand emerges from three months of lockdown. Also known as the Railway Hotel, the century-old wooden edifice in opulent gardens will reopen its doors on July 1, with a safety guarantee provided by the Tourist Authority of Thailand’s “Amazing Thailand Safety and Health” certificate.
The hotel has reinforced that guarantee with its own Centara Complete Care scheme, developed in collaboration with water and hygiene tech leader Ecolab, and SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.
The iconic beach resort will reopen under a12-point action plan covering social distancing, health, hygiene, and enhanced sanitisation across the entire guest journey, as well as extensive training, and accreditation & monitoring. Among the rigorous changes is the elimination of self-service buffets at its restaurants, with live stations screened off from guest touch access, social distancing of 1.5 metres between tables, chairs, fitness equipment, function space and sun loungers (which are sanitised after each usage), and increased frequency of sanitisation of all public areas such as lifts and kids’ clubs. There will be no in-room delivery of luggage or meals with all items instead left at the guestroom door.
Spa and wellness facilities will allow single treatments only with no use of steam, saunas or Hammams for the time being. All treatment rooms will be sanitised in between guest usage. Sanitising gel and disposable face masks will be placed in guest rooms Other key changes include free health check-ups from on-site medical staff, a dedicated system of contactless measures for check-in and payment, as well as upgrading of teleconferencing capabilities for the meeting sector as businesses get back to work. Staff, all of whom have undergone special training, will wear accredited face masks at all times, while temperature readings and hand sanitisation will be mandatory for all guests and employees.
Having first opening its doors in the early 1920s, Hua Hin’s Centara Grand is regarded as one of the grandest hotels of the East, with expansive of gardens overlooking the sea.
By The Nation In a move to bring back tourists to Thailand’s world-famous Damnoen Saduak floating market, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Ratchaburi Office has launched a special campaign, which runs from July 1 to September 15.
“Since the Covid-19 outbreak has been curbed and people are being allowed to travel across the nation, we have decided to organise an activity to stimulate tourism and generate income for the province,” Sareeya Boonmak, director of TAT Ratchaburi Office, said.
“Tourists can use receipts from hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops or tickets of tourist attractions in Ratchaburi worth a total of Bt900 or more to redeem for an hour’s boat ride. The receipts can be redeemed at piers in Damnoen Saduak and Lak Ha floating markets, or at the TAT Ratchaburi Office,” she added.
One boat can accommodate up to four people in line with social-distancing measures, she said, adding that there are about three such trips daily. The boats offer people a close-up view of the market as well as communities near the river.
“Tourists can pay an extra Bt600 to visit the Mae Thong Yip farm to taste young coconuts, stop off at Wat Chotitayakaram, the Low Hourd Seng old house and the Lao Tuk Luk floating market,” she said.
Also, she said, visitors must not miss out on tasting the delicacies that the floating market is so famous for, like hot coconut-rice cakes, satay and boat noodles.
Call (032) 919 176-8, visit the TAT Ratchaburi Office Facebook page or the official Line account @TATratchaburi for more information.
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden & Cultural Village, the largest floral garden in Southeast Asia located near Pattaya, in Chonburi will offer free admission to people from six provinces and 10 districts of Bangkok in July.
The 10 Bangkok districts are: Bangkhen, Saimai, Don Muang, Lak Si, Chatuchak, Buengkum, Bangkapi, Lat Phrao, Wangthonglang and Huai Khwang, while the five provinces are Ayutthaya, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Chai Nat, Samut Prakarn and Chachoengsao.
People residing in these areas need to produce only an ID card for unlimited free admission throughout the month of July.
Director Kampol Tansajja said the free admission campaign has been launched to “create happiness for Thais” and in response to the government’s policy to boost domestic tourism after the Covid-19 lockdown measures have been lifted.
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden offers a variety of attractions and activities such as dinosaur exhibition, cactus garden, palm forest, cultural dance and elephant show twice a day during weekends and holidays.
The display will be accessible three times a day – 10am, 2pm and 6pm – to visitors who have registered online.
The not-to-be missed extravagant candle festival is held in Ubon Ratchathani every year to mark Asalha Bucha and the start of Buddhist Lent, where hordes of tourists, both local and foreign, gather to admire the extravagantly creative giant candles as well as enjoy traditional dance and music shows.
The festival this year is being held from Friday to July 7.
The thriving marine life is expected to be tourist attractions in Pattani and Narathiwat provinces.
Over 10 years, they have become habitats for various species of fish and other marine lives.
La Grande-Motte set up the first organized static beach in France. MUST CREDIT: Photo for The Washington Post by Sandra Mehl
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Photo Credit: TAT Ratchaburi Office
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