With 60 weekly flights connecting Vietnam’s third largest city with major Thai destinations, the number of Thai arrivals to Da Nang quadrupled year-on-year in the first seven months of this year to almost 107,000. Thais accounted for 6 percent of Da Nang's total foreign arrivals, becoming the third largest group after South Koreans (1 million, making up 57 percent) and Chinese (500,000 or 26 percent), according to the city’s tourism department. Domestic and foreign carriers, betting on this trend, have been racing to launch more flights. Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet Air last year launched flights from Da Nang to Bangkok. In April Malaysian-owned budget airline Thai AirAsia began a daily service from Chiang Mai to Da Nang. Da Nang is a major economy-tourism hub that attracts many foreign visitors, including Thai tourists, all year round, Santisuk Khlongchaiya, head of Thai AirAsia’s commercial operations, said. From Da Nang, tourists can easily travel to … [Read more...] about Surge of Thai visitors lifts Da Nang hopes for tourism market diversity
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All work, no play plus smart devices: kids turn couch potatoes
All of 12 years old, Bao Minh’s worst fear is not of ghosts. He’s also not afraid of heights. But he looks at stairs with some dread. Climbing the stairs is among the least favorite activities for this boy who lives in a premium apartment in Hanoi, alongside running or even walking for more than five minutes. Any body movement that gets him sweating is looked upon with disfavor by Minh. "I do not work out or play sports. Why make your body suffer when you can enjoy the air-conditioning with a snack?" he said, sitting on a couch with eyes glued to his favorite TV show. Each week, Minh gets reluctantly active for about 15 minutes during his physical education (PE) sessions, and he hates this school subject the most. He passes with a minimum score in every test. Minh’s story can be told of more and more young boys and girls across the country, especially in major cities. While the country gets kudos for the sight of the elderly up and about, exercising and … [Read more...] about All work, no play plus smart devices: kids turn couch potatoes
Agriculture driving economic growth
The agro-forestry-aquatic sector boasts great potential to attract more investment, while also contributing to the country’s export turnover (Photo: Le Toan) Over the past few months, TH Group has spent millions of US dollars on beefing up production of fresh milk products. Not only being locally consumed, these products are also exported to China, where TH has become the first Vietnamese enterprise to be allowed by China’s authorised agencies to export fresh milk products into this gigantic market with a population of 1.4 billion people. Under a protocol signed in April between Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and China’s General Administration of Customs on veterinary and health requirements for dairy products to be exported, TH Group has met all strict requirements and conditions set by China. Also, in April, TH Group inked an MoU for a strategic partnership on market development and consumption of foodstuffs, farm produce, … [Read more...] about Agriculture driving economic growth
We’re in denial mode as the Mekong Delta goes under
Nguyen Dang Anh Thi Tu woke up early as usual to open up her shop. As she reached it, something caught her attention and she stopped. A crack, long and winding like a resting boa, sundered the National Highway 91 in two. On the other side was her little shop, her family’s lifeline for several decades. Her instincts immediately told her the shop could no longer be saved. It was barely clinging on to an asphalt patch that could collapse into the nearby Hau Giang River at any time. She was right. A few days later, that road section cracked and fell into the river, patch by patch, along with Tu’s shop. This was late July. Tu’s shop was a place that my friend and I frequented every time I visited An Giang Province on business. We met again recently as he was about to take his child to Vancouver in Canada for the latter’s studies. In fact, he recently took the decision to relocate his entire family to Canada. As someone whose ancestors have lived in the Mekong Delta … [Read more...] about We’re in denial mode as the Mekong Delta goes under
China’s consumer inflation hits nearly 8-year high
China's consumer-price index rose 3.8% in October from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday -- higher than a median forecast of 3.5% by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, and far outpacing September's 3.0% reading. As it has all year, October's jump in consumer inflation was fueled by a rise in hog prices, the fastest on record, amid an outbreak of the deadly African swine fever. Soaring pork prices lifted overall food-price inflation to a more-than-11 year high, as consumer demand drove up prices for pork alternatives including eggs and other meat products. Even as the surge in food prices limits Chinese policy makers' stimulus options, prices of nonfood items and factory-gate prices continued to show signs of softness, pointing to weakening demand in the world's second-largest economy. Nonfood price inflation moderated further to 0.9% in October, from 1.0% in September. China's producer-price index dropped deeper into deflationary territory in … [Read more...] about China’s consumer inflation hits nearly 8-year high