Bangkog 08. November 2011

The situa­ti­on in Bang­kok remains very much the same as we repor­ted yes­ter­day, despi­te some addi­tio­nal floo­ding in the north of the city.
Several hotels in the nort­hern sub­urbs have expe­ri­en­ced some floo­ding in the sur­roun­ding streets; howe­ver the­se hotels are not used by our cli­ents.

Alt­hough the­se nort­hern sub­urbs remain floo­ded, the cent­re of Bang­kok, whe­re the hotels, main tou­rist sites, shop­ping cen­tres and night­li­fe are­as are loca­ted, has not had any floo­ding. All ser­vices (such as power and water) con­ti­nue to ope­ra­te in the­se are­as and both the sky­train and the sub­way are ope­ra­ting as nor­mal.

Suvarn­ab­hu­mi air­port remains open as nor­mal.  We recom­mend cli­ents to allow addi­tio­nal time at the air­port for check in.

Don Muang air­port has clo­sed and the air­lines which nor­mal­ly ope­ra­te from this air­port, Ori­ent Thai Air­lines and Nok Air, have relo­ca­ted to Suvarn­ab­hu­mi air­port.

While the­re has been some floo­ding near the river at high tides, the main hotels loca­ted along the Chao Pra­ya River con­ti­nue to ope­ra­te as nor­mal and the hotel shut­tle boats are now allo­wed to ope­ra­te on the river as per their usu­al sche­du­les.

We are not ope­ra­ting the Klong Tour and the din­ner crui­ses, the muse­ums and Viman­mek Man­si­on are cur­r­ent­ly clo­sed. We are moni­to­ring the other tou­rist sites and will amend iti­ne­ra­ries accord­in­gly.

Überschwemmung Thailand /​ Informationen Südostasien

Thai­land
The situa­ti­on in Bang­kok has been updated on the sepa­ra­te News­flash sent out ear­lier today.

The town and his­to­ri­cal park of Ayut­ha­ya remain floo­ded and no tours are ope­ra­ting.  Train ser­vices from North Thai­land to Bang­kok have been sus­pen­ded and any cli­ents that boo­ked the train will be trans­fer­red by vehi­cle ins­tead.

The rest of Thai­land (Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Cha Am, Pat­ta­ya, Koh Samui, Phu­ket, Khao Lak, Phu­ket) has not had any floo­ding and all tours and packa­ges are ope­ra­ting as nor­mal.

Myan­mar
Last week an iso­la­ted flash flood in Pak­ko­ku to the north-east of Bagan cau­sed dama­ge to buil­dings and infra­st­ruc­tu­re. The water is rece­ding quick­ly, howe­ver due to a dama­ged bridge we have had to amend the rou­ting of some of our tours. All affec­ted cli­ents and their tour ope­ra­tors have been infor­med of the alter­na­ti­ve arran­ge­ments.

Viet­nam
Dong Thap and An Giang pro­vin­ces in sou­thern Viet­nam expe­ri­en­ced some floo­ding last week howe­ver the water is rece­ding.

All our tours in Viet­nam are ope­ra­ting as nor­mal.

Cam­bo­dia
Siem Reap is no lon­ger floo­ded. All excur­si­ons are ope­ra­ting as nor­mal with the excep­ti­on of the boat trip to Chong Kne­as, as parts of the road are dama­ged as a result of the floods. All affec­ted cli­ents are being con­tac­ted and offe­red alter­na­ti­ve tours.

Due to the floo­ding in Cam­bo­dia , the annu­al Water Fes­ti­val, which was due to take place from 9 - 11 Novem­ber, has been can­cel­led.

Laos
All tours are ope­ra­ting as nor­mal.

Quel­le: ICS

News Thailand: flooding Neueste Nachrichten über die Überschwemmungen in Thailand

 

We would like to update you on the latest situa­ti­on regar­ding the floo­ding and wea­ther con­di­ti­ons around Thai­land.

Ayutt­ha­ya is still floo­ded, and all Asia World sight­see­ing tours to Ayutt­ha­ya are sus­pen­ded until at least the end of Octo­ber. Our sight­see­ing tours to Lop­bu­ri and Uthai Tha­ni are also sus­pen­ded, but all other Asia World tours are ope­ra­ting as nor­mal, inclu­ding our sight­see­ing tours in Bang­kok.

Some sub­urbs on the far north out­s­kirts of Bang­kok have been floo­ded, but so far the city cent­re has­n’t been affec­ted. Many shops and houses are lay­ing out sand­bags to pro­tect against the floods, but so far they have not been nee­ded in cen­tral Bang­kok. The aut­ho­ri­ties are doing their best to mana­ge the flow of water so that it drains saf­ley into the sea through Bangkok’s exten­si­ve canal net­work, and during this pro­cess it is pos­si­ble that some canals may overs­pill and cau­se some floo­ding. Howe­ver, at this sta­ge it looks unli­kely that the cen­tral busi­ness district and the are­as whe­re most tou­rist attrac­tions and hotels are will beco­me serious­ly floo­ded.

We are moni­to­ring the situa­ti­on very clo­se­ly and, as always, the safe­ty of our cli­ents is our num­ber one prio­ri­ty. If the situa­ti­on chan­ges in Bang­kok or any other part of Thai­land we will update you as soon as pos­si­ble, and we have very care­ful con­tin­gen­cy plans in place in case the floo­ding is wor­se than expec­ted.

The floo­ded high­ways in Cen­tral Thai­land are star­ting to clear, with some sec­tions that were pre­vious­ly floo­ded beco­m­ing acces­si­ble. Howe­ver, as a safe­ty pre­cau­ti­on our clas­sic Bang­kok to the North over­land tour is still being re-rou­t­ed along high­way 340 ins­tead of Asia High­way No. 1, which results in an extra 2.5 hours jour­ney time for this tour.

All trains from Bang­kok to the north of Thai­land are can­cel­led until fur­ther noti­ce.

The­re is no dis­rup­ti­on to any air­ports in Thai­land, inclu­ding Bangkok’s main inter­na­tio­nal air­port which has for­ti­fied its flood walls as an extra precua­ti­on.

Quel­le Asia World

Ultimate Underwater Expedition in Indonesia

Ulti­ma­te Under­wa­ter Expe­di­ti­on

The roaring engi­nes fixed to a lar­ge woo­den boat are final­ly quiet. Not­hing can be heard but the rif­ting litt­le waves, lap­ping against the vibrant paint on the sides of the ves­sel that grace­ful­ly slows down. Nati­ve birds hop on the tip of a small tree in one of the deser­ted islands in the distan­ce.

Raja Ampat or ‘Four Kings’, is the name given to the­se islands and comes from a local myth. The four major islands found here are Wai­geo, Miso­ol (which is home to anci­ent rock pain­tings), Sala­wati, and Batan­ta.

Under­wa­ter enthu­si­asts flock to this regi­on becau­se it offers the world’s best mari­ne sights. Two days ear­lier, some of the­se tra­velers had been at a dea­fe­ning cor­ner of a tou­rist trap in Bali. Once they took their flight to the bird head of the island of Papua ever­ything chan­ged as they embar­ked on a diving tour of a life­time. In the Raja Ampat islands, divers can explo­re ver­ti­cal under­wa­ter walls. The thrill of drift diving is ano­t­her gre­at chal­len­ge. The­se are the awe­so­me expe­ri­en­ces you will find in Raja Ampat.

Mean­while, on this tour several divers were well equip­ped and loo­ked advan­ced. The ter­rito­ry wit­hin the islands of the Four Kings is enor­mous, covering 9.8 mil­li­on acres of land and sea, home to 540 types of corals, more than 1,000 types of coral fish and 700 types of mol­lusks. This makes it the most diver­se living libra­ry for world’s coral reef and under­wa­ter bio­ta. Accord­ing to a report deve­lo­ped by The Natu­re Con­ser­van­cy and Con­ser­va­ti­on Inter­na­tio­nal, around 75% of the world’s spe­ci­es live here. When divers first arri­ve here their exci­te­ment is pal­p­a­ble. It’s com­mon to hear peop­le prai­se God as they take in the remar­kab­le sce­ne­ry. Others pre­fer to remain in silence taking in the over­whel­ming sight of so many islands with crys­tal clear water that soft­ly brushes over the white san­dy beaches.

Disi­ni bagus!”, says the fri­end­ly local gui­de who had been appoin­ted by the tour ope­ra­tor who runs an eco-lodge in Raja Ampat, indi­ca­ting that they have arri­ved at one of the most fan­tastic diving sites. On other days, this gui­de is just a simp­le fisher­man. The local fisher­men here are accusto­med to for­eig­ners and are fri­end­ly, espe­ci­al­ly when offe­red pinang (betel nuts) or some sweet can­dies. The­se are very popu­lar and offe­ring the­se sweets is con­si­de­red poli­te and a good way to win an instant smi­le. The fisher­men usual­ly eat this snack during Para-para Pinang, or soci­al chat­ting and exch­an­ging fun­ny sto­ries while chewing Pinang. In many respec­ts, like natu­re, cul­tu­re, and histo­ry, the­se fisher­men are clo­ser to the Moluc­cas.

No doubt about it, Raja Ampat is defi­ni­te­ly the richest place for fish that I have ever been.” --Dr G.R. Allen

I was like a five-year-old, see­ing a reef for the very first time. I was awest­ruck, held by the incredi­ble power of this richest reef. We must, with all avail­ab­le resour­ces, pre­ser­ve the beau­ty of Raja Ampat. This may be the last frontier.”--Michael Aw

I love the peop­le, I love the diving, it’s super! I’ve never been for a second time to the same dive desti­na­ti­on but now I’m thin­king about going back for the third time! Should I say more?” --Peter van Dalen

(The­se tes­ti­mo­ni­als are taken from www​.iri​an​di​ving​.com)

While the land­s­cape may look like a dream, this is not an illu­si­on. As you embark on your dive, the phra­se ‘Atten­ti­on to detail’ takes on new mea­ning as pig­my seahor­ses swim around your fin­gers. Man­ta Rays and wob­be­gongs will gli­de right by you. Tuna fish, giant tre­val­lies, snap­pers, and even bar­ra­cu­das are the­re to com­ple­te your under­wa­ter ‘mee­ting list’. Not to men­ti­on the fri­end­ly assi­stant of the dugong, and a busy col­league, the turt­le. Natu­ral and untouched beau­ty is the main attrac­tion here. With no unne­cessa­ry ada­ges, the sky, the lush islands, the sea, and ever­ything above and under it is genui­ne­ly say­ing ‘Wel­co­me to Raja Ampat Islands; your per­so­nal Dis­ney­land of diving sites’.

More fac­ts about the Raja Ampat Con­ser­va­ti­on Area:*

  • This area is home to 1,511 spe­ci­es of reef fish in the Bird’s Head Seas­cape;
  • 1,320 spe­ci­es of reef fish in Raja Ampat;
  • 75% of all known coral spe­ci­es in the world;
  • 10 times the num­ber of hard coral spe­ci­es found in the ent­i­re Carib­be­an;
  • In the Birds Head Seas­cape the­re 600 spe­ci­es of hard coral recor­ded;
  • 5 spe­ci­es of end­an­ge­red sea turt­les;
  • 57 spe­ci­es of Man­tis Shrimp;
  • 13 spe­ci­es of Mari­ne Mam­m­als;
  • And 27 spe­ci­es of ende­mic reef fish found only in that area

*accord­ing to a tour ope­ra­tor

 

Wettersituation Koh Samui Phuket Stand 01.04.11

The wea­ther in sou­thern Thai­land is sho­wing signs of impro­ve­ment, and things are star­ting to return to nor­mal. Howe­ver, the­re is still some dis­rup­ti­on.

The cur­rent situa­ti­on is as fol­lows:

Phu­ket:

The air­port and all major roads remain open.

The rough sea con­di­ti­ons are pre­ven­ting smal­ler boats from ope­ra­ting, so all of our island tours and speed boat trips are can­cel­led until fur­ther noti­ce.

Lar­ge fer­ries from Phu­ket to Koh Phi Phi are still ope­ra­ting as nor­mal.

Koh Samui:

The floods in Cha­weng, Lamai, Maenam and Bophut are star­ting to rece­de, alt­hough water levels are still qui­te high. Vehi­cles can now dri­ve around most of the island, albeit with cau­ti­on, hence jour­ney times are lon­ger than expec­ted.

Samui air­port is back to almost full capa­ci­ty, and most stran­ded pas­sen­gers have been trans­fer­red off the island. Any peop­le who are left should be able to lea­ve very soon.

Fer­ries to /​ from the main­land and Koh Samui are now ope­ra­ting again.

Fer­ries from the main­land to /​ from Koh Pha Ngan are now ope­ra­ting again.

Only fer­ries to /​ from Koh Tao, and bet­ween Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan are sus­pen­ded – but the­se are expec­ted to resu­me ope­ra­ti­ons tomor­row.

As the sea is still too rough for small boats to ope­ra­te safe­ly, all of our boat trips and sea excur­si­ons around Samui are can­cel­led until fur­ther noti­ce.

Kra­bi:

All fer­ries were ope­ra­ting as usu­al this morning, but were forced to stop their ser­vices this after­noon due to bad wea­ther.  We expect that they should be ope­ra­ting as nor­mal tomor­row unless the wea­ther wor­sens signi­fi­cant­ly over­night.

All of our sea excur­si­ons around Kra­bi are sus­pen­ded until fur­ther noti­ce.

Kra­bi and Trang air­ports are still open and ope­ra­ting as nor­mal.

Sou­thern Thai­land

Nak­horn Si Thamma­rat air­port is still floo­ded and the­re­fo­re remains clo­sed as of today.

Ori­ent Thai Air­lines, who flies to Nak­horn Si Thamma­rat air­port in sou­thern Thai­land, has can­cel­led all flights and is re-rou­ting pas­sen­gers to Phu­ket, Trang and Hat Yai, or allo­wing a chan­ge of tra­vel dates or a full refund.

Thai Air Asia has also can­cel­led all Nak­horn Si Thamma­rat flights, rerou­ting pas­sen­gers to near­by air­ports or allo­wing chan­ge of tra­vel dates wit­hin 92 days of ori­gi­nal tra­vel dates. Refunds are offe­red depen­ding on ticket con­di­ti­ons. The nea­rest alter­na­ti­ve air­port is Surat Tha­ni, and the air­line is pro­vi­ding a free shut­tle ser­vice from the­re to Nak­horn Si Thamma­rat.

Nok Air has also stop­ped all Nak­horn Si Thamma­rat flights until 4th April and is offe­ring refunds and alter­na­ti­ve tra­vel opti­ons simi­lar to the other air­lines.

No trains are ope­ra­ting to or bey­ond Nak­horn Si Thamma­rat, the most sou­ther­ly pro­vin­ce that trains are ser­vicing is Surat Tha­ni.