Travel News

As mentioned in a previous post, Malaysia Airlines has launched a new budget carrier - Firefly. The new airline - which they bill as Malaysia’s first “community” airline - is based in Penang and flies from there to Langkawi, Terengganu and Kuantan, as well as Phuket and Samui in Thailand. Introductory fares are very low, but the usual exclusions and fine print applies.

In case you missed it, the old Bangkok International Airport re-opens as Don Muang Airport this Saturday/Sunday (25 March). Low cost carriers Nok Air and 1-2-Go will move all their flights there. Thai will move about a dozen ‘non-connecting’ domestic flights to the old airport, which will now be known by the code ‘DMK’. Be sure to check your tickets!

For those traveling light, there’s a new ‘city check-in’ at the Ladprao subway station. You can check in for your flight there and then board a (free?) bus to DMK.

On-line travel guide AsiaForVisitors.com today announced new features and services in celebration of its fifth anniversary. The look and feel of the site has been updated with new graphics and other modifications to give it a crisper image. More importantly, all changes have been implemented in such a way as to ensure that even those with impaired vision can use the site. The size of text for the content of the site can be adjusted in the user’s browser to be larger or smaller, as desired.

To provide even more value to users, AsiaForVisitors.com has also added a new on-line travel store. The Asia for Visitors Travel Store selects the best travel-related products from one of the world’s largest on-line retailers, Amazon.com. The store is divided into three ‘departments’ – Cameras, Guidebooks and Luggage. Customers can browse through each department by category of goods, such as ‘Digital SLRs’ or ‘Thailand Guidebooks’, or they can go right to their favorite brands and see the top products available.

By focusing on just travel-related merchandise, the Asia for Visitors Travel Store makes it quick and easy for visitors planning travel to find all their needs in one location, yet with the safety and reliability of Amazon.com. The Travel Store is powered by Amazon Web Services, which provides web developers with direct access to Amazon’s catalog of product data and robust technology platform. “Using Amazon Web Services makes it easy for me to get the most up-to-date information on travel related products, and put it in a context that makes it easy for people to find the things they need to make the most of their trip.” Said Michael Holland, author and developer of AsiaForVisitors.com.

To commemorate its fifth anniversary, AsiaForVisitors.com is conducting its first user survey. The survey aims to find out which destinations around Southeast Asia are the most popular, and where travelers are planning to go. “We felt it was a good time to step back and get some feedback from the 60,000 visitors we get every month.” says Holland, “Even though I’ve covered hundreds of destinations around Southeast Asia, there’s still a lot more places to go and things to see. I want to hear from my readers about where they want to be going next.” To celebrate the opening of the Asia for Visitors Travel Store, one lucky respondent to the survey will receive a US$25 Amazon.com gift certificate. Any visitor to the site is eligible to take part in the survey.

Just in case it escaped your notice - it hasn’t been publicized a lot - as of today you no longer have to purchase a 500 Baht departure tax coupon for international passengers at all Thai airports.

Actually, that’s the ‘good news’ way of putting it. You actually still have to pay a departure tax, which is now 700 Baht, but it has been included in the cost of your ticket. At least it should have been. Tickets issued more than a couple months ago may not have had the tax included, so expect some check-in delays for the first few weeks as people are unexpectedly asked to fork over an extra 700 Baht when they check in for their flights.

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Starting in February, you’ll be able to fly from Phuket to the Phi-Phi Islands, plus Krabi, Koh Lanta and other nearby destinations. All this is thanks to a new seaplane shuttle air service called Destination Air, which will be based at Phuket’s international airport. They plan to have 12 flights a day, with departures every two hours. Since they use seaplanes, they can take you right up to the beach at the major resorts all around Phuket.

The Destination Air fleet “includes Cessna 208 and 206 aircraft, which are rated as the safest aircraft in the world and flown by experienced international pilots individually selected for their many years of safe flight experience and friendly customer service capabilities.” According to a press release I received today. This new service now makes it possible to make a day trip from Phuket to Phi-Phi, something that wasn’t really possible before due to the length of the boat trip. Destination Air’s web site in fact offers a couple of day trip package options already.

Airfares have yet to be published on their web site, so I can’t tell you what this service will cost, but for those wishing to maximize their time in the sun, it will probably be worth it.