by Roy -

Nikita Garia is a blogger and contributes articles for The Wall Street Journal

At first glance, members of India’s business community may not appear to be mad about fitness, but a new survey of Asian business travelers says Indians are the most likely to seek out fitness centers and spas while on the road for work.

French hotel operator Accor carried out an  online survey between the end of June and early July of business travelers from seven Asia-Pacific countries that included Australia, China, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand and India. Hong Kong, though part of China, was surveyed as a separate region. About 10, 000 people responded to the survey, which asked them about their travel habits in the first half of 2011.

Of the roughly 500 Indians who took the survey, 85 % claimed they went to the fitness centers in the hotels they stayed in and 64% said they utilized the spa facilities in those hotels. This was way above the average for the Asia Pacific region  as a whole – 76 % and 53 % respectively. Overall Asian road warriors seem to care about working out – Thai travelers were the least likely to use hotel gyms, but even 71% of them said they used the fitness centers.

The survey also found that India was second only to China when it came to the frequency of business travel. In India, executives across all levels made an average of 7.3 business trips each in the first half of the year, while in China, the average number of trips was 8.7.

Among Indian respondents, the overwhelming majority — 93% — of travelers were male. India had the lowest share of female respondents of the countries surveyed.  This was rather low considering that “one out of four business travelers in Asia were female, ” said Evan Lewis, Accor’s Asia-Pacific spokesman, while talking about the findings in New Delhi on Wednesday.

A fifth of Indian respondents belonged to the manufacturing sector, compared to 15% for the survey as a whole, followed by retail and finance. “Surprisingly, the travelers belonging to the manufacturing sector in India was more than the average in Asia, ” said Mr. Lewis.

When it came to choosing a hotel, 27% of Indians preferred to stay in those hotels where they had previously stayed, while 22% cared about the hotel’s brand name. “Indians are less brand-conscious and give more importance to their past experience, ” said Mr. Lewis.

Singapore and Thailand were the top destinations for Indian business travelers. According to the survey, 51 % of Indian travelers visited Singapore at least once in the previous six months and 38 % traveled to Thailand for work.

Nikita Garia

25 Aug 2011

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/08/25/what-the-indian-business-traveler-wants/

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 205 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Nisha, who is one of India’s leading lady backpackers with extensive travel experience

During my backpacking trip to Thailand, one day while I was chatting with a few locals, the name of Bamboo Island popped up. I was anyway exploring the possibilities of visiting some new places, so I decided to go there.

Travelling without any agenda or destination in mind, gives you freedom to choose your pace & place. There is no hurry to rush into things.

Bought a ticket from a tour agent for THB 1500 and off I went to this very small island. Koh Phai (Bamboo Island) as it is known locally, is a flat evergreen island with fine white sand and beautiful crystal clear water.

After checking into a tent by the shore, I went into the woods. It is a fairly small island and you can walk around the whole perimeter in about 45 minutes. I took more time since I wanted to soak in the place.

There was something mystical about this island which held me spellbound. The place was not very crowded. Roaming around inside the bamboo jungle actually fascinated me. Not for a single second I felt scared. I was alone yet I felt safe. Whooshing sound of sea breeze and chirping of birds made me feel at home.

I could also see some clusters of tents and roosters scrambling around with their full throated crowing.

Bamboo Island is ideal & famous for camping and snorkeling. People come here, stay for a few days and learn snorkeling. I found there was a second kind of group who stop for 1-2 hours of snorkeling and hop onto another island.

I stayed for one night. Tent was basic and the toilets were made of a mix of wood & bamboo. Tropical fruits, tea, coffee, a bar and barbecue dinner. What else do you need? :D

The locals were very friendly. Despite the language barrier, I played beach games and football (made of coconut shell) with them. This was where I learnt to say “Thank you” in Thai.

When I returned the ball to one of the players, he said “cupp” (????) meaning Thank you. I had heard this word before so I started using that word immediately.

They smiled & said something amongst themselves, I was happy at my achievement and there was no way they could communicate to let me know that I was wrong.

Later at BBQ dinner time someone who could speak a bit of English explained to me that “cupp” is used by men & women should use “cupp-un-ka” (???? ?? ??). :)

Next day when I was leaving, there was another round of “cupp”s & cupp-un-ka”s but the correct ones. :D
It was great fun staying there. I could have stayed several days but I needed to move on to my next unknown destination.

Nisha J

26 Feb 2011

When I went camping in Bamboo Island

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 297 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Tania Roy Chowdhury

My heart was full of joy when my husband Tanmoy told me that our package tour had been finalised. We were 40 members and our vacation was planned from May 10 to 24.

During the pre-trip preparation, for passport verification etc the authority had taken fingerprints of my three-year old daughter Pori on the relevant papers.

My daughter was surprised with this and used a nail polish remover to remove the finger spot. Seeing her innocence we all had a good laugh.

Our tour programme was divided into three days at Thailand, four days at Malaysia, four days at Singapore and one day at Port Blair on the way back to India. I want to share some colourful memories of the holiday from my diary.

Pattaya Coastline

On May 10, from Delhi our journey began for Bangkok- Pattaya. From Bangkok airport a luxury coach took us to Pattaya.

At Pattaya, Non Chung village, dolphin lagoon and elephant mela were the main attractions and children enjoyed thoroughly. Decorated elephants played football, drew, took banana from the kids and made a bow.

The dolphin lagoon was also a funny circus for the kids.

We also visited Corolla Island, a tourist spot. We enjoyed the famous Thai body massage, which is done in a scientific manner.

The KL twin tower, Malaysia

In Malaysia, we visited the KL twin tower, which is 250 ft high. The KL city was like a dreamland. In the evening we went to the shopping mall and bought many gifts and mementos including a typical Malaysian umbrella.

In Singapore, Universal Studio under the sea was a remarkable spot.

The historic Cellular Jail, Port Blair

On our way back we arrived at Port Blair and saw the historic Cellular Jail.

We enjoyed a lot everywhere because we had good hotel accommodations and everything was well planned by our tour operator. We came back with memories to cherish.

Tania Roy Chowdhury

18 Oct 2010

http://travel.hindustantimes.com/travelogues/memorable-trip-to-southeast-asia.php

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 220 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Mukesh Gupta

We are very fond of holidaying like any other Indian family. Last year in April, we planned a visit to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It was our first overseas trip and we were very excited. As my son Nitesh was pursuing his MBA programme in Singapore, he gave me a lot of feedback on Singapore. We were received by our son in Singapore at the airport.

We had with us the complete itinerary with all air and hotel bookings. As the taxi headed towards our hotel on the Orchard Road, we were stunned to see the neat and clean roads. There was no littering anywhere. Traffic chaos was missing and I was told that one should blow the horn only in an emergency. Honking otherwise is considered a crime in the city.

After taking rest, we visited Orchard Road and were taken in by its beauty. We also went to Sentosa Island and enjoyed a night safari in a well known park. We enjoyed Indian food at a place called mini India. Another high point of the trip was visit to the Mustafa Mall. Singapore sets high standards of discipline.

Kuala Lumpur was our next destination. We had seen Petronas Towers in movies but watching it in reality was a dream come true.

We also visited the Genting Highlands, it has Asia’s longest ropeway and traveling by the cable car was an amazing experience.

Thereafter, we headed for Bangkok. At Pattaya beach we enjoyed water sports. It was a thrilling 10-day holiday filled with fun and adventure.

Mukesh Gupta

2 Aug 2011

http://travel.hindustantimes.com/travelogues/a-dream-destination.php

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 220 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Capt Anup Murthy, an aviator, traveler and a noted travel writer, based in Singapore

I’d like to take some time off, maybe I’ll do that during the Holidays, to write about Thailand and Bangkok in particular. I know many things comes to one’s mind when one hears the word Bangkok. For some it is a place for fabulous and cheap (if you know where to go) shopping, for some it conjures up images of hundreds of Buddha temples and there are those who use Bangkok as a short stop, a transit point to go further to their favorite resorts of Thailand.

There’s a lot more to Bangkok than just the many number of notable temples, great shopping and night life. That surely deserves another blog where I can flog lots of photos that I have taken. There are trips that I have made as an extension to Bangkok, going by road to Ayutthaya in the North, the erstwhile capital of the Kingdom of Thailand to visit the archaeological sites there and then coming back to Bangkok on a long leisurely lunch cruise, in a large river boat, observing life along the river. I am of course talking of the famous Chao Phraya river. Chao Phraya river deserves a blog by itself, being the lifeline of Bangkok and forming an important transportation link as well. I’ll do justice to this later.

A view of the Chao Phraya River taken from top of Hilton

This blog shows a bit of this river, as seen from the top of Hilton Millennium Hotel, where I went for a meeting a few days back. The pictures show parts of Bangkok, a small part of it actually, because Bangkok is quite a large city and sprawled out. While I wait to blog about the details of Bangkok, I do suggest travelers to Thailand to take a couple of days off to visit this vibrant city and enjoy the myriad delights it has on offer. These photos are from my phone and not the greatest, hope you like them.

An important update about Visa On Arrival facilities in Thailand. Indians and citizens of various countries that are eligible for Visa on arrival facility can now apply for visa on arrival for free. There was a Thai Baht 1, 000 fee earlier and one needed to carry this amount in Thai Baht. That fee has been waived for all till March 2010 with the aim of encouraging tourism in Thailand. Other conditions of the visa on arrival still remain. One must fill up a simple form on arrival, have a valid/paid for return ticket, stick a pp size photograph and also demonstrate (in cash) that you have at least 10, 000 Baht for your stay or 20, 000 baht if you are traveling as family. equivalent amount in other convertible currencies is fine. Producing your Credit/Debit card will not help.  I took 1, 000 Baht with me this time without knowing that there was a waiver and they have put up bold signs at the visa on arrival counter that clearly mentions this fact.

To add: This info is for visa on arrival nationalities only. If you are from the USA, EU and other Visa waiver countries, you do not need to go through this process.

Once you come out of the Aircraft, you will find signs that say “Visa on Arrival” as you proceed towards immigration. First go to these counters and get the visa on arrival stamp on your passport (as mentioned above) and then go to immigration counters with this stamp on your passport along with the arrival/departure card (that the Airline gives you on board before arrival in Bangkok). After you clear immigration and get an entry stamp, you may proceed to baggage claim at the same level to get your baggage. Note that Visa on arrival takes time, especially if there are many applicants waiting. If there are any questions related to this, please ask me on this blog and I will try and address those based on what I know and experienced.

Capt Anup Murthy

4 Dec 2009

http://mymysore72.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-06-19T01%3A58%3A00-07%3A00

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 222 user reviews.

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by Roy -

Firdaus in Thailand

“We haven’t even started packing yet”, I screamed on June 14th 2009. You see it was like this – my family and I were leaving for Thailand at midnight on the 15th of June 2009. Here we were on the 14th, and not a thing was packed. There was a note of extreme panic and urgency in my voice. My parents just replied, “None of our holidays have gone wrong till now, have they?”

Till now?

Huh?

We Managed Finally

15th June 2009 11:31 – Tension, tension and more tension. I had been sick the whole day and had got a cavity and been taken to the dentist and had lost a tooth. I was shoving in stuffed toys and books into my bag busily. My mother was shoving in clothes, her own books and trying to lock the doors (unsuccessfully). My father was locking our bags, helping my mother to lose the house keys, putting all our bookings and tickets in a gray and black pouch, while I kept pestering him to unlock the bags so I could put in more books in it. (He refused once or twice then let me put in three books).

On the Plane

Finally, when the taxi reached the airport we all heaved a sigh of relief. The whole way the cab’s speedometer hadnt dipped below 105. We got a luggage trolley and put stuff on it and disaster! I was wheeling the trolley, and to my credit I bumped into people only seven or eight times. We got into the airport and checked in our luggage and then we went to the airport stores which were open at past midnight. Some night bazaar, huh, totally bizarre. I bought nothing but smarties and chocolates. Finally at 3:00 a.m. our plane arrived – Cathay Pacific. It left at 3:30. Our seats were A38, A39, and A40. There were three families with loads of children, who kept on yelling and crying. Whenever they would start howling my parents and I wished. (Well, never mind what we wished.) When I put on the T.V, after searching I managed to find Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Finally, when we reached Bangkok we were surprised to see the colour of the taxis. They were red, yellow, blue, pink, blue+pink, green, green+red, orange and orange+yellow. For the first time in my life I saw Tuk-Tuks. They were like Indian autos but much bigger and very colourful and extremely clean and tidy.

In Bangkok

We took a blue+pink taxi from the airport to our hotel Sawasdee Langsuan Inn. It was an extremely cold day in Bangkok with chances of a light shower later in the day. After about three hours of being in the hotel we went to a shopping mall called MBK. It was an indoor mall but it was humongous and there was almost everything you could think of. It was there that I got my camera. After leaving MBK we went back to our hotel. After playing some games and reading a bit, we went out and had dinner. It was a carnivore’s delight. Soon after dinner I popped off to sleep.

Phew!

The next day at about 7:00 we took a tuk-tuk to a car rental store from where we had booked a Toyota Vios. We paid the money, got into the car, drove back to the hotel, checked out, got our luggage and away we drove. You wouldn’t believe the amount of wrong turns we took in Bangkok. We were sent to almost every street there was to go to. At 12:15 am we were still driving. Around us was complete wilderness, absolute darkness, no streets lights or (gulp) people, very heavy rain on all sides. We had no hope. We had almost given up. We seriously thought of spending the night in the car, at least I did. Then, all of a sudden, we saw a large pretty building which was a hotel. We went in and asked if they had any empty rooms. They did. In fact, they had only empty rooms. As you can imagine, the very minute I lay on the bed my eyes closed and I was asleep.

Another Day


In the morning when we looked around the hotel it was absolutely beautiful and scenic. It had a lovely private beach and as soon as I stepped on to the soft sand, it sank under my feet. I went absolutely crazy because I hadn’t been to a beach for ages. Then we went and had breakfast at the restaurant and I happily tucked in to the food because I was really starving. The truth is, I threw a most beastly tantrum and had to be coaxed into eating my egg. After that we got into the car and hit the road. The drive was really great, partly because of the view and partly because of the weather. We reached Phuket at around 2:00 (an earthly hour, thankfully.) We found a hotel at 6:00 (oops). It was a nice hotel, not located right on the beach but on a road going straight to it.

From Phuket to Phi-Phi

We had a great time at the beach. I kept jumping waves and swimming with them. My parents swam with the waves. At night we went to a nice open air restaurant (all the restaurants were) and had an exotic dinner (pizza for me, as usual). The next day when we woke up in the morning, we started packing our things because we were going on a ferry to Phi-Phi Islands. It was past ferry time and we were still on the road. We decided that we would catch the 3:00 p.m. ferry instead of the 9:00 a.m. one. We went to the Rasada Pier anyway to wait for the next one, and found that our ferry hadn’t reached yet.

When we clambered on to the ferry with everyone else, I noticed that the ferry had three levels. First we went and sat in the lounge, chose our seats and kept our luggage. We then went and sat on the deck admiring the spectacular view. There were many rocks with green seaweed on them. They were growing right in the middle of the Andaman Sea. When we first saw Phi-Phi we wondered how there could be any hotels on it because it was just one big rock. Then, when we got closer we noticed that Phi-Phi was like a ‘U’ with a lovely row of beaches inside it. Our ferry stopped at the port and we got off and did not know what to do. Suddenly we noticed that there were all these guys waving signs for various hotels.

We found one who was waving a sign for our hotel. When we went up to him he told us that his boat was coming since Bay View was on the other side of the island. So after waiting for some time, the boat came and away we went. The sea was very calm and the water was a perfect temperature. Just by looking into the water you could see lots of coral reefs. When we reached Bay View it was impossible for the boat to go right to the land. So, our boat guy lifted me up and when he was putting me on the land I tumbled out of his grasp and fell straight on the soft sand. It didn’t hurt at all. Then we went into the hotel and drank some orange juice. Then we went up the little island and got into our cottage.

Phi-Phi was amazing. It had lovely calm blue waters which looked as if they stretched for miles. The water rippled gently about with big rocks jutting out of unexpected places, as the never ending sea shone in the sunlight. Suddenly a happy feeling came over me and I started jumping around in pure delight. The wooden floor creaked as I jumped on it.

Phi-Phi and Phi-Phi Town

We didn’t do much that day. We just lazed around the beach and explored the hotel. We didn’t do any swimming. It was a calm, peaceful day for us to get our senses back after a couple of rushing and manic days and we were thoroughly relaxed. When it was time for dinner we went down to the beach and ate some really good Thai seafood (Pizza for me as usual).Then we went for a walk around the beach and found that it was a very lively little place at night. There were fireflies roaming around and the sea was gently swaying in the night breeze. We started to feel sleepy, so we went to the hotel and to bed.

The next day we woke up and went down to the breakfast hall and helped ourselves to a buffet breakfast. After that we went down to the beach and rested and I took some photographs of the sea. Then we went and had a good look at Phi-Phi town. It was a magical little place. There were little restaurants everywhere and it was very merry. After having a good look at the town, we went back to Bay View and just lazed around till lunch when we went back to town. We found this little place which had super seafood. I had a meal which consisted of only prawns. After lunch we went to the beach and swam.

Well, we didn’t do much swimming, because the water was so shallow. But we did wade out quite far into the sea. We saw a gigantic coral reef deep out in the water. Of course, after all that swimming we were really tired, so we went and slept till about tea time. At tea time we went into town and had cakes beside the beach. After that we went shopping. The shops were not like the shops in MBK where it was completely modern and air-conditioned. It had a very nice, quaint feel about it. The shops were open-air and the weather was simply superb. We bought lots of clothes and after reaching the hotel we went and looked at the other hotels on the island. Then we went and played beach volleyball and I kept falling on the sand. Once when I smashed the ball, I fell over the net. The amount of sand that fell on me was really unbelievable. For the next two minutes I did nothing but cough out sand. We went and lazed around watched a movie, played a game and stuff like that, till dinner. Dinner consisted of sour curry and a fish with a long name. (Pizza…you guessed it) After dinner it was bed. Oh man! Straight away.

Calm Wind, Blue Waters…Quicksand and Sharks

The next day after a huge breakfast we took a motorboat to our hotel, Zeavola. It was a very nice hotel because it was in a tropical forest. When you went out you were on the beach. The only problem was the mosquitoes. But it was not much of a problem anyway. Zeavola was not on Phi-Phi Don, unlike most hotels, but on Phi-Phi Leh. On a small island quite far away from Phi-Phi Leh there was another island which had a beach called Long Beach where there was quicksand and sharks. (Oops, I’m scared) But the sharks couldn’t go to far from Long Beach because there was some kind of underwater netting which the sharks could not cross. (Thank goodness) We spent the day at Zeavola in a very relaxed fashion. No tension, no boats to catch and lots of time on our hands. We found a nice little restaurant on the beach, ate, went back to the room and played a game and went to sleep.

Lost!

The next day after breakfast we went and saw normal fish, jellyfish and anonymous fish. At least anonymous to me, that is. At about 1:00 p.m. we left Phi-Phi hoping that Chaing-Mai would also be nice. The ferry took us to Phuket Rasada Pier from where we took our car and drove off. We spent the night at Phang-Na.

It was 12:30 p.m. We were goodness knows where. (Are we in trouble, or what??) We had been asking people the way to Ayuthaya, which was our destination and getting a volley of different directions from each person. Finally we ended up on a highway to Myanmar, (What next?) when my father said “I think we are going wrong”. He stopped the car and asked a man who informed us that we were on target for Myanmar and even drove us to the right highway. (Nice guy) Then we kept going and finally reached Ayuthaya. Well, you might think that after all that driving we deserved a good rest. But you thought wrong. For miles we found nothing but empty roads. Finally there was a hotel in sight. We spent the night there. Ayuthaya turned out to be a rather old, forgotten town, but lively at the same time. And as soon as I touched the bed I was asleep.

Chiang Mai

The Golden Buddhist Monastery Chiang Mai

After reaching our hotel, Holiday Inn at a reasonable time, we had a normal day. The next day we drove of for Shangri-La and reached in 20 minutes. It was a combination of old fashioned style and modern material, which was quite nice. The days at Shangri-La went peacefully, playing golf and tennis and swimming and having a good time. The staff was rather pleasant as well. Then suddenly I realized that the holiday was almost over and in 5 days it was back to Delhi. The night malls at Chiang Mai were quite interesting. You would ask a ‘took-took’ to take you there and then you could shop to your hearts content. After two days at Shangri-La we drove off for Bangkok. Goodness, how time flies.

The End of the Holidays

We reached Bangkok at 12. I said Bangkok, not our hotel Amari, so don’t think that we are on time. When we looked at the map we realized that Amari was on a 10 km road. (When will this ever stop?) The road went on for about half an hour, (Well, not so bad) and when Amari finally came in sight we were so hungry, that includes everyone except me, that we couldn’t wait to eat. So we stopped at a mini soup place on the road. My parents ate, but I only grumbled. (Bad boy, Dausi) So we went into Amari, soaking wet. Oh, I forgot it was raining outside. Now, where was I? Oh, right. We entered Amari, soaking wet, checked in and found that we didn’t know how to control the lift. Then we saw people were putting their keys into a slit and felt rather sheepish. Amari was quite a decent hotel. We spent two days there rather peacefully. A small restaurant opposite Amari had an amazing variety of foods. Finally, the leaving day came. We were all rather sober. The flight went quite comfortably all the way. When we reached Delhi, there was a large valley of clouds and mist below us. Staring at the clouds and mist I thought to myself – What a holiday, explored half of Thailand, seen such gorgeous places. Hmm, I wonder what we would do next holiday. Maybe we would have a look at the other half of Thailand.

But, that’s another story!

June 2009

Firdaus Mohandas is a nine years old, he shares his travel experiences of Thailand with candour and ready wit and provides a refreshing glimpse of Thailand.

http://www.indiatravelogue.com/trav/thailand.html

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 271 user reviews.

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