BKK Post / 2 July 1998  
Travellers Tales  
Air traffic slows as Laos suffers  

Don Ross
   Travelling to Laos is just that little bit more 
difficult. Not impossible, but with four airlines 
suspending services, seats on the few left to serve 
Vientiane are in big demand. Thai Airways International 
continues with daily services to the Lao capital with cabin 
factors as high as 80%.
   Even Lao Aviation has bowed out on all international 
routes until it sorts out its financial backing. Silk Air 
dropped its twice-weekly service from Singapore, and so did 
Malaysia Airlines out of Kuala Lumpur.
   That left China Yunnan Airlines to call it quits for a 
few months, possibly until it sorts out its financial stake 
in ailing Lao Aviation.
   Reasons for the sudden decision were flying as fast as 
the airlines retreated to home base. One that didn't hold 
much water was the claim the airlines had to stop until a 
new terminal was completed in October. Built with an 
overseas grant, the new building will be dedicated to 
international flights while the current terminal will 
handle domestic flights only.
   Vietnam Airlines flying out of Hanoi, Royal Air Cambodge 
from Phnom Penh and THAI continue their services regardless 
of what happens to the terminals. They apparently are happy 
with the runway.
   That leaves us with financial woes. Hit by the regional 
crisis, both business and leisure traffic has declined to 
Vientiane.
   Reports say the more well-known Lao Plaza Hotel 
continues to pack in business travellers during the low 
season, but the rest of the city's hotels are feeling the 
pinch.
   Come November when European tourists return in force, 
Laos will pick up enough to justify flights from Singapore, 
Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. Until then the only way into Laos 
from this neck of the woods is on a THAI flight or by road 
over the Friendship Bridge at Nong Khai.


    Independent travellers might get the feeling they are 
not wanted in Burma. Of course, the authorities deny it, 
claiming their dollars are as good as any found on the 
traditional group tourist. But group tourists can be 
controlled - essentially that means the flow of US dollars 
from tourists' pockets to the folk who run Burma.
   That's why independent travellers are told to cough up 
US$300 for Foreign Exchange Certificates when they arrive 
at Rangoon Airport, just to be sure no one stays for 
nothing.
   Group tourists avoid this hassle by booking a pre-paid 
tour including airfare, rooms, tours and sometimes meals. 
They travel around the country for two weeks for $2,000.
   All other travellers are a nuisance in the government's 
book.
   Officials still remember the good old days when 
travellers sneaked in a bottle of whisky, sold it on the 
black market, and lived like kings for a week.
   Parting with $300 for a wad of notes that look very much 
like Monopoly money, is a very outdated system of securing 
foreign exchange. It was borrowed from the Chinese who long 
ago discarded it.
   At the airport it gives visitors a feeling of being 
taken to the cleaners.
   I try to avoid the FEC queue but without success.
   A bright-eyed lady challenges me to give her $600. I 
point out that the regulation calls for $300.
   "I'm only staying one night anyway. How about $100." I 
showed her my credit cards.
   "Okay you pay $150," she replied as if she was giving 
the key to paradise.
   The man next to me was parting with six $100 notes, so I 
paid up fast and advanced to customs.
   Three officials scrutinised my passport, probably 
looking for a fault in the 400-baht visa issued by the 
Burmese embassy in Bangkok.
   Whatever happened to the spirit of Asean, where citizens 
from one member country are given the fast channel when 
visiting their neighbours? Burmese tourists don't need to 
exchange $300 on arrival in Bangkok. It might be a good 
idea though - we need the cash.
   Nor do they need a visa. But every Asean national, 
regardless of how long they wish to stay in Burma, must go 
through this swap of hard currency for food tokens.
   It is taking Burma a long time indeed to come to grips 
with its membership in Asean. A token gesture to Asean 
nationals to allow them visa-free entry or a fast-track 
visa on arrival would be a step in the right direction.
   There should also be a level of confidence that tourists 
will spend more than $300 in the country, without taking it 
off them at the airport for coupons that can't even be 
refunded.


    The Thai Hotels Association landed a plum job when the 
Asian Games organisers gave it control over 2,500 room 
bookings expected from the international media. Sports 
journalists will be staying in Bangkok for up to 14 nights.
   Initially, Bangkok Land was supposed to build media 
accommodation at its Chaeng Wattana housing estate. It 
opted out after the financial collapse last July, dumping 
the thorny issue of what to do with the media with the 
organising committee.
   THA member hotels selected for their generous baht rates 
will provide accommodation in three categories. A 
reservations centre to be set up by the THA should earn the 
association 40 baht for every room night booked. It will 
require eight temporary staff who will be hired from next 
month to January 1999.
   By my reckoning, based on the nightly reservations fee 
and the estimated attendance, the booking service should 
add 1.4 million baht to the association's coffers.
   Hotels offering room allotments for journalists are: 
Ambassador, Imperial, Impala, Tara, First Hotel, Regina, SC 
Park, Dynasty, Baiyoke, Asia and Siam City.
   The author is editor of Travel Trade Report