New Year tourists get thrills from chills: Thailand

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New Year tourists get thrills from chills
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- As chilly temperatures linger in the North and Northeast, New Year holidaymakers are visiting high altitude attractions for the chills and views.

Buri Ram's Phanom Rung castle ruins which daily receive 10,000 visitors, expect to bring

in millions of baht income this five-day holiday period, while Chiang Mai's Doi Inthanon National Park - with temperatures of -4 to 4 degrees Celsius - reported daily visitor figures of around 20,000.

Phitsanulok's Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park at 7 degrees, saw 2,000 tourists daily camping amid frost and red-leafed maple trees.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department yesterday reported that a total of 37 provinces (13 in the North, 20 in the Northeast and four in the Central) had declared their 444 districts as cold spell disaster zones from December 2 until the present and there were 21,853,603 people affected. The department has sent 293,415 winter clothing sets to assist the affected persons.

In Phitsanulok, visitors have crowded key tourist attractions including camping on Phu Hin Rong Kla hill to experience minus 10 degree Celsius temperature while seeing frozen dew drops on leaves. An estimated 2,000 visitors entered this national park and are expected to continue visiting throughout the New Year holiday break, which ends tomorrow.

Temple a draw

A large number of visitors also flocked to Wat Phra Sri Maha That to pay respects to the Buddha image Phra Phuttha Chinnaraj, causing traffic congestion at the temple and the entire Muang district where the temple is located.

Around 10,000 Thai and foreign tourists visited three major national parks and several locations in Loei's Chiang Khan district. A 4-km-long row of vehicles queuing up to reach the peak of Phu Rua national park was reported, before forest rangers pleaded with drivers to park their cars at the foot of the hill and take passenger trucks to the summit.

In Surat Thani province in the South, the area tourism office estimated there could be around Bt1 billion spent by Thai and foreign tourists, judging from high room reservations since Christmas and entering the New Year break. The tourists, mostly Russian, European and Chinese among foreigners, are expected to visit three key attractions - Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Ratcha Prapha dam.

Traffic congestion has been reported in Chiang Rai province following the return of tourists and locals from the five-day break starting from last Friday. The inbound Phaholyothin lanes into the province are clogged with public transport vehicles and sedans while traffic in and out of the Mae Fa Luang airport has also been congested.


-- The Nation 2013-12-31

[JRSoul]

Thai tourists might get a thrill from mildly cool weather, I doubt any farangs travel to Thailand for such.

I was thinking the lass in the off-the-shoulder shirt might show a bit more visible evidence of being cold, until I remembered the 1/2 inch of foam rubber essential in Thai bras.

[EricBerg]

Nothing wrong with experiencing different temperatures. I'll never forget my first day in asia. Or the look on our son's face when he arrived in BKK 9 months old and walked into a mattrass of heath and high humidity.

[noitom]

This cool weather in Thailand is so exciting.

[nottocus]

Young ladies in the picture look a bit cold. Wish I was there to warm them up.

[jaltsc]

"The tourists, mostly Russian, European and Chinese among foreigners..."

UHHHH..Last time I looked, Russia was part of Europe.

[crazygreg44]

camping on Phu Hin Rong Kla hill to experience minus 10 degree Celsius

. . . . . are they sure they measured MINUS 10 ???????? Hard to believe !!!! Or is plus 10 degrees Celsius already deep in the minus for Thai people ?

[ratcatcher]

"The tourists, mostly Russian, European and Chinese among foreigners..."

UHHHH..Last time I looked, Russia was part of Europe.

That would be European Russia.

You forgot to look at that other large area of Asian Russia east of the Urals all the way to the Bering Strait, where you can see Alaska on a clear day..

[Hawk]

I only gets chills when driving on the thrilling Thai roads.

[WhizBang]

Who writes this drivel? Slow news day?

I would have thought the antics of the rainbow shirts would keep them well supplied with useable stories to write about.

Oh right, new years. All the rainbow shirts are taking a holiday. Can't allow an uprising to get in the way of a good holiday.

[LuckyLew]

The the one on the right has the whitest teeth I ever came across

[sunshine51]

Young ladies in the picture look a bit cold. Wish I was there to warm them up.

You beat me to it!

[bigbamboo]

Young ladies in the picture look a bit cold. Wish I was there to warm them up.

You'd probably only get the cold shoulder.

[Lammbock]

Jesus! Y is everybody making such a big deal about the (not-so) cold weather? Haven't people never been to Europe???

[Thaddeus]

The the one on the right has the whitest teeth I ever came across

You lucky boy.

[Bluespunk]

Jesus! Y is everybody making such a big deal about the (not-so) cold weather? Haven't people never been to Europe???

I suspect most Thais haven't to be honest. Has to be said, I've been here 12 years and am finding the mornings a bit more chilly this year. Loving it.

[WitawatWatawit]

The the one on the right has the whitest teeth I ever came across

You lucky boy.

Yous a bad man, yous is.