The Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta) is helping local communities launch 3D street art in Sukhothai province.
The graffiti reflects the local way of life, according to Dasta, and provides an alternative activity for visitors apart from the famed Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai historical parks.
Street art can be found near Talat Rim Yom 2437BC, or the Rim Yom Market, founded in 1894 on the banks of the Yom River in Kong Krailat district. The market is open on every first Saturday of each month from 4-9pm. Visitors can try popular local snacks such as khanom phing (northern-style cookies made of tapioca flour and coconut milk) and thong muan (crispy coconut rolls).
Other street art can be found at the Tha Chai walking street located along the Yom River in Si Satchanalai district and the Sawan Ruean Phae community in Sawankhalok district.
Visit Dasta's Sukhothai Office Facebook page at facebook.com/dastahistoricalpark or call 055-610-481/2.
SRT automates ticket sales
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has launched ticket vending machines.
It initially implemented 10 machines in nine stations including two machines in Hua Lamphong Terminal and one each in Samsen, Bang Sue, Don Muang, Rangsit, Wongwian Yai, Talat Phlu Chachoengsao and Mahachai stations.
The machines offer limited routes -- from Bangkok to Kaeng Khoi district in Sara Buri, Lop Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Suphan Buri and Aranyaprathet.
To purchase a ticket, passengers need to select their destination on the machine's touch screen and insert their ID cards. Although the machines support Thai and English languages, the vending machines do not have a function to read passports.
Passengers can pay for their tickets with coins or banknotes. Credit card or mobile payment are not yet accepted. The SRT plans to install more machines in other stations including the Bang Sue Central Station in the future.
For more details, call SRT's call centre at 1690. The service is available 24 hours.
Phuket, Koh Tao top tourist list
Thai cooking classes in Phuket and snorkelling around Koh Tao in Surat Thani are among the 10 Best Things to do in Asia, according to TripAdvisor's 2021 Travellers' Choice Best of Things to Do Awards, previously called the Travellers' Choice Awards for Experiences.
According to the website, the information is based on traveller reviews and ratings for experiences, tours, attractions, and activities on TripAdvisor from Jan 1 last year to the end of April this year.
The top 10 experiences in Asia include a motorcycle tour from Hue to Hoi An in Vietnam; a private street food tour by motorbike with local students in Ho Chi Minh; a private Jodhpur city tour; a three-hour Thai cooking class in Phuket; Bagan sightseeing tours in Myanmar; Tokyo walking tour in Shinjuku with licensed guide; a full day snorkelling around Koh Tao; and a Bali quad bike tour.
Visit tripadvisor.com.
AIRLINES UPDATE
- Bangkok Airways will resume service between Bangkok and Trat today. It will add the Koh Samui-Phuket route on July 16.
The service to Trat will be available on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday in July before expanding to a daily service from August to October. The flights will depart from Suvarnabhumi airport at 11.40am; return flights will depart from Trat airport at 1.10pm. Travel time is one hour.
The service from Koh Samui-Phuket will be initially available four days a week before increasing to a daily flight at the beginning of August.
The flight will depart Samui airport at 11.25am; the return flight will depart Phuket airport at 1pm. Travel time is one hour.
Visit bangkokair.com.
HOTEL DEALS & UPDATE
- Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket offers "Back To Paradise" packages.
Prices start from 3,595++ baht a night in a Deluxe room when booking at least three nights. The rates include daily breakfast for two, daily 1,000 baht credit for food and non-alcoholic beverages, complimentary wellness and watersport activities and air miles accumulation with participating airlines.
Visit dusit.com/dusitthani-lagunaphuket.
- Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group extends its goal to reduce single-use plastic bags in all of its properties to another year.
The previous plan was to eliminate the use of plastics by March, which achieved 70% fulfilment. There was a delay in eliminating existing supplies due to the business closures and low occupancies during the pandemic. The group aims to eliminate 930 tonnes of plastic waste by next March.
Visit mandarinoriental.com.
