Tag: Suvarnabhumi airport

  • Thailand tightens disease control measures at Suvarnabhumi Airport

    Thailand tightens disease control measures at Suvarnabhumi Airport

    The Department of Disease Control (DDC) under Thailand’s Ministry of Heath has tightened disease control measures at Suvarnabhumi International Airport regarding an outbreak of an unknown illness in Congo, its Director General Doctor Panumas Yanwetsakul has said.

    Currently, no suspected cases of this disease have been identified in Thailand. Nevertheless, the DDC has enhanced surveillance, prevention, and control measures, including stricter screening protocols at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

    Travelers arriving from Congo are required to undergo temperature checks and provide their addresses and contact numbers in Thailand, along with details of their departure from Congo.

    Additionally, those who have traveled from Congo within the last 21 days must complete a health reporting form and adhere to the guidelines on the Health Beware Card issued by health officials.

    People who have been in Congo within the past 21 days should monitor for initial symptoms such as fever exceeding 38 degrees Celsius, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, fatigue, or exhaustion. If these symptoms worsen, they must seek medical attention immediately and inform doctors of their travel history for diagnosis and treatment to prevent disease transmission, Dr. Panumas advised.

    As of Feb. 19, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s data indicated that the outbreak in Boloko and Bomate villages in Equateur province of Congo had resulted in 955 cases and 60 fatalities, reflecting a 6.3% fatality rate.

    Laboratory tests confirmed that the illness was not caused by the Ebola or Marburg viruses.

  • Ten airports introducing Alipay for travellers

    Ten airports introducing Alipay for travellers

    Ten international airports will be offering Alipay for travellers by the end of next month.

    First up in Alipay’s new “Future Airport” program are Munich Airport, Singapore Changi Airport, Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Seoul Incheon International Airport, Auckland Airport in New Zealand, Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Hong Kong International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei and Macau International Airport.

    “We see more Chinese tourists passing through our airport every year as they visit Japan, so becoming part of Alipay is a critical tool for our merchants,” says Kansai Airport executive officer Akihisa Tabe.

  • King Power duty free sales +47% in Thailand

    King Power duty free sales +47% in Thailand

    Forward bookings from airlines and indicators from leading travel agents suggest that Chinese arrivals to Thailand will reach record levels in 2015, as the King Power International Group reports sales up by 47% this year.

    Speaking to TRBusiness in a detailed interview this month, she said: “With the exception of the tragic bombing in August, 2015 to date has been a very good year for the group. Traffic to Bangkok particularly has increased very significantly.

    “Overall traffic at Suvarnabhumi is up 19.16%, to the end of August, and traffic at Don Muang is up 65%. Within those overall traffic numbers there are specific nationality changes that have generally had a very positive impact on sales.

    “Total Chinese traffic at Suvarnabhumi is up 151% to 5,651,591 passengers. Indian passengers are another very important customer group for us and the traffic with them is up by 20% – and of the other key customer groups, Korean and Japanese traffic levels are up 38% and 13.3% respectively.”

    She added that these positive increases have offset the decrease in Russian passengers (-49.8%) and Thai nationals, who are down by 14.73%. more happily she said: “Overall group sales are up 47%, versus the same period last year.”

    Whelan pointed to an outstanding +72% sales performance by the cosmetics and skincare category, followed by watches (+76.68%), Jewellery (77.05%), tobacco (+ 30.08%) and leather goods(+ 30.94%).

    She says this impressive growth has been driven by a combination of factors, including organic passenger growth and aforementioned rises in high spending overseas visitors.

    An interview with Susan Whelan appears on page 30 of the October Cannes exhibition issue of TRBusiness and also on pages 81-85 in the bonus retail section of the Top 10 International Retailers 2015.