Naim 6 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 And catch this plane at KUL? That's cool. CNX, 221107 January 23, 2008 19:11 PM Two Thai Airlines Want To Fly To Malaysia By D. Arul Rajoo BANGKOK, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- Bangkok Airways and Orient Thai Airlines have shown interest to fly to Malaysia as Tourism Malaysia tries to lure long-haul visitors, especially the six million Scandinavians who flock to Thailand annually. Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that as more than 75 per cent of the 20.88 million tourists to Malaysia last year were from Asean countries, he was hoping to tap the long-haul travellers who tend to stay longer and spend more. "We received RM46.7 billion in tourism receipt last year and hope to increase it to RM50.3 billion from our target of 22.5 million visitors. For that, we need to have at least 30 per cent visitors from outside the region," he said after making separate visits to the two airlines here today. During his meeting with Bangkok Airways chief executive officer Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, Tengku Adnan was told that the 40-year-old boutique airline would be sending a team to Malaysia soon to study the market there. "Malaysia is certainly in our plan, especially Kuala Lumpur and other routes but I prefer to let my experts study it first before announcing the routes," Prasert said. "We were supposed to start a very long time ago. The competition is very tough but I think it will be good to start on smaller routes, especially from our Koh Samui base," he said. Orient chairman and founder Udom Tantiprasongchai said that there were tour operators willing to bring European tourists to Langkawi and there was potential to fill in at least 40,000 room nights. He said that with about six million Scandinavian tourists coming during the annual high season from November to April, mostly to Phuket, there was big potential to be tapped. "But my target is not the high-end market but the middle and low levels. During the low season from May, we can also tap the Chinese market," he said. Tengku Adnan said he would discuss with industry players in Langkawi and other destinations to assist the two airlines, including providing discounted room fares and other promotion packages. -- BERNAMA Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC Tam 2 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 Ever the pessimist, I now fear for MH's ARN route ! Can't help it, but when our own Tourism Malaysia seeks help from Thai airlines to bring in the Scandinavians .......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Azizul Ramli 2 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 And you know what, I have a feeling that MH (through FY) will subsequenty start SZB-USM (Koh Samui), to continue their tradition as 'market follower', should Bangkok Airways' USM-KUL flight materialised (and also provided Bangkok Airways grant it since USM is belong to them). As for ARN, this is indeed another 'pelik bin ajaib' case, where MH only fly there 3 weekly on B772ER with losses since ARN survived the axe in late 2006 due to its tag on to EWR. TG operates daily B744 to ARN and is planning to increase capacity there. It is actually the same case as ZRH, where MH only operated 3 weekly flights which terminated yesterday due to losses, while SQ operates 2 daily flights there. Pecah kepala dok pikiaq what's wrong with MH. Kenapa others boleh tapi MH tak boleh? Speaking of TG, check out their spanking new website at http://www.thaiair.com/index.html Takde kepoh-kepoh pun like certain airline. E-Ticket implementation pun sampai 18 kali postpone. Sampai sekarang tak sudah. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keno Omar 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 Apparently the only thing that is saving ARN now is the extension of VMY2007 until this Aug. With some "luck" the gahmen will try to interfere yet again with some new excuse. For the survival of MH, both ARN and EWR must go! TG & SK are able to offer daily widebodies between their respective hubs due to the large number of Scandinavian tourists and excellent feed since both are Star Alliance partners. However, I salute TG for being able to sustain BKK-ARN despite this being a largely low-yield leisure route. I assume that the front end of the plane must be doing well too? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sing Yew 1 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 Speaking of TG, check out their spanking new website at http://www.thaiair.com/index.html Takde kepoh-kepoh pun like certain airline. E-Ticket implementation pun sampai 18 kali postpone. Sampai sekarang tak sudah. Are you serious about it having been postponed 18 times ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Azizul Ramli 2 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 Whateverlah berapa kalipun. All I know is that until this very second, I still CANNOT purchase an e-ticket for any international sector from MH's website. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Izanee 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 this is what i don't understand. the gahmen spends millions on tourism promotion but can only attract the singaporeans. How come Thailand gets SO MANY european tourists? Why don't they come here? We have great beaches, vibrant culture, good shopping too. Less prostitution but still.. there must be families that want to travel to asia as well. Scandinavia, germany, france, russia and UK are provide millions of tourists for thailand - i dont get how malaysia can miss out on them when they are SO nearby. Who are the gahmen promoting Malaysia to...using OUR money??? There's something not right.... They have got their priorities wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Fuad Bin Rosli 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 aiya.. MH ticket among the most expensive.. every time i go to a travel agent to pretend to buy tickets to europe and us, MH is the least chosen one.. 'encik nak g london? sy check dlu emirates,encik nak naik MAS kah?' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rozhan 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2008 (edited) Noted that there were many casualties in the Tsunami tragedy in Thailand involving tourists from Scandinavian countries. Just what is so appealing there? Is it the liberal-ness of the Thais, or that the beaches are so exquisitely beautiful? On another note, some authorities here are alleged to be too 'gila kuasa'. There was a news report some time ago that the 'authorities' here were busy knocking on hotel doors to check if guests are 'up to no good' in terms of behaviour and morality. And nightspots are regularly raided. Wonder if these things drive people away from visiting Malaysia. Edited January 23, 2008 by Rozhan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Izanee 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2008 i remember the american couple who were 'raided' by the authorities - they were unable to provide a marriage certificate and therefore received a lot of grief. Why? What a load of rubbish. 'Gila kuasa' sounds about right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mushrif A 3 Report post Posted January 24, 2008 Whateverlah berapa kalipun. All I know is that until this very second, I still CANNOT purchase an e-ticket for any international sector from MH's website. Try booking a flight to S'pore...you may just be pleasantly surprised. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Azizul Ramli 2 Report post Posted January 24, 2008 WOW! E-ticket to Singapore. Finally.................... (extra dots to exhibit the lenght of time waiting for this moment). But why only for Singapore? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC Tam 2 Report post Posted January 24, 2008 Are Malaysia - Singapore flights now classified as 'international' ? I remember being told before that all such flights, be they to/from KUL, PEN, BKI etc are considered 'domestic' - strange, but that was years ago Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rozhan 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2008 i remember the american couple who were 'raided' by the authorities - they were unable to provide a marriage certificate and therefore received a lot of grief. Why? What a load of rubbish. 'Gila kuasa' sounds about right. Yeah... the couple who were holidaying in Langkawi. Pity them to having gone through such 'harrasment'. Then there was an American who was bundled to the police station for being somewhere near Petaling Street. The 'authorities' were busy rounding up Africans who were perceived to be 'up to no good' and the American was at a wrong place at a wrong time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Izanee 0 Report post Posted January 26, 2008 was he an african american? they want more tourists to come here but piss them off by treating them like crap. the gahmen knows better... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rozhan 0 Report post Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) was he an african american? they want more tourists to come here but piss them off by treating them like crap. the gahmen knows better... Yes. US Navy lawyer some more! See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6228125.stm Correction: Bundled to immigration detention centre. By 'scruffy clothes' mentioned in the article, I can only imagine the folks in yellow berret! Edited January 26, 2008 by Rozhan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Izanee 0 Report post Posted January 26, 2008 silap la these people. chose the wrong guy to mess around with. are they seriously stupid or something? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
