Thung Buatong - Wild Sunflower field

Thung Buatong (Wild Sunflower Field) is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Mae Hong Son Province. Its significant character is the area is largely decorated of yellowish wild sunflowers, located on high mountain where you can see scenery of vivid wild sunflower mountain range. The weather is cool throughout the year and there’s fog covered in the morning.

Topography
Thung Buatong Forest Park located on the mountain where is 1,600 metres above the average sea level. There’s beautiful scenery that is like complex ocean waves. In this forest park area, natural forest is grown mixed with planted pine forest.

Climate
Cool throughout the year. It is very cold in the winter. There are heavy fogs in the morning and cold during the day because of the wind blows all day long.
Flora and FaunaIt’s Hill Evergreen Forest and Pine Evergreen Forest. Most of Hill Evergreen Forest has been found in the north and west of Thung Buatong. Flora species grown around the hill slope and valley consist of Castanopsis species and so on.
In the eastern and southern part of Thung Buatong, Pine Evergreen Forest has been found. It’s planted by the Forest Industry Organisation based on its concession condition. Flora species found are Pinus merkusii and Pinus kesiya.

National Park Entry Fees
Adult : Baht 200.-/person
Children (0 - 14 years old) : Baht 100.-/person
Bicycle : Baht 10.-/bicycle:
Motorcycle : Baht 20.-/motorcycle
4 wheel car : Baht 30.-/car
6 wheel car : Baht 100.-/car

Contact Address:
Thung Buatong Forest Park
Amphur Khun Yuam, Mae Hong Son
Thailand
+66 0 5361 2078

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Things to do in Pattaya

Pattaya is a popular tourist resort in Thailand located about 150 km south of the capital Bangkok. Although Pattaya has become notorious as an adult playground for men, there are a few interesting attractions that can be enjoyed by couples and families.

Pattaya Elephant Village
Pattaya Elephant village is home to a few dozen elephants that are trained to do all sorts of tricks including playing football. There are daily shows held for the tourists at the village every day at 2.30pm. There is also the opportunity to do a spot of jungle trekking on elephant back which costs 500 Baht for 30 minutes for adults, 200 Baht for children.

Pattaya Mini Siam
Mini Siam is an interesting place to come to if you want to know about all the major sites and landmarks in Thailand without actually having to go to them. Mini Siam has scale replica models of all the most important features in Thailand, both natural and man made. Mini Siam is open to receive visitors from 7am until 8pm daily. Entrance costs 200 Baht for adults and 100 for kids. Mini Siam is best reached by car as it is a short drive north of Pattaya city.

Pattaya Go Kart
Pattay has a good Go karting track which is about 400 metres long and available for use by adults and kids alike. The cost for hiring a go kart to go round the track is 100 Baht for ten minutes.

Nong Nooch Garden
Nong Nooch is a giant botanical garden situated about 18km outside Pattaya city. Aside from the vast array of plant life there are also some elephants that are resident here and daily shows are put on for the benefit of tourists. The show is a real crowd drawer as in addition to the elephants there are dancers, acrobats and even Thai boxing demonstrations.

Wat Khao Prayai in Pattaya
This is a Buddhist temple located high on the hills to the south of Pattaya. In addition to the great views of Pattaya and the sea that can be had from here, there is also a 10 metre statue of Buddha facing the sea that makes for a good photo opportunity.

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Top 5 Thailand hidden paradise

Thailand is considered a tourist spot that everyone would like to experience. Large amount of tourists all over the world know about prominent tourist spots i.e. Phuket, Koh Samui and Koh Phi Phi (PP Island) but in actuality, Thailand still has many hidden paradise waiting to be explored as follow.

1. Pattaya – The true nature can be found at Koh Lan, which is 7.5 kilometer from Pattaya. You can get there in 45 minutes by regular boat and 15 minutes by speedboat. North Pattaya beach and Central Pattaya beach have many facilities. South Pattaya , however, is colored with the night life's activity.

2. Koh Samui – The best way to travel to Koh Samui is by speed boat from Lomprayah Catamaran Company. Lomprayah offers less expensive service than taxi for hire and service provided by the hotel directly. Nevertheless, if you have no problem with fund, you should hire a taxi because this would create job for the locals.

3. Krabi – Although Railay beach in on the mainland, you still have to travel by boat from Ao Nang beach because it is surrounded by mountain and cannot get to by land transportation.

4. Phuket – Don't pay too much for sea-view rooms. The sea could not be seen directly from rooms in most hotels. The tourist should pay more attention to the standard of the hotel and the distance from the beach.

5. Koh Chang – Its surrounded islands such as Koh Mak and Koh Kood, have more beautiful beaches and water. So, think about stopping at only Koh Chang again. You may miss the true nature.

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Beware of passenger bag theft

Travelling with valuables is never a good idea, especially if you fly through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. Police have just busted a ring of baggage handlers who were expert at stealing from people’s baggage in their care. Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.

Arrests made in theft of plane passenger bags

TANGERANG, Banten (JP): Security officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have busted a ring of thieves responsible for stealing valuables from passenger luggage.

“So far, we have arrested a total of 25 suspects comprising 21 baggage handlers who work for Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia and Batavia Air. We also arrested four people suspected to be buyers of the stolen goods,” airport police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Setyanto said Thursday.

Guntur said police were looking for seven more suspects.

Police also seized 160 stolen items, including cellular phones, multimedia players, watches, cameras, video cameras, sunglasses, perfume and jewelry.

Guntur said the suspects opened passengers’ bags in the belly of the planes. For international flights, the thieves riffled through bags as they were being transported from the plane to the carousel.

The airport executive manager Edi Haryanto explained that on Oct. 25 security officers caught three airport workers stealing a necklace and a bracelet from passenger bags on an Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur.

They were transferred to police for further investigation, which led to the arrests of the 25 others suspects.

“The perpetrators will be charged with violating Article 363 of the Criminal Code and if proven guilty they face a maximum punishment of five years,” Guntur said. (Multa Fidrus/**)

Some of the good rules I try to follow are:
1) Take are of your ‘Crown Jewels’ (money, passport, ticket) and don’t worry about the rest. If these 3 are safe in your money belt, your trip can continue without the rest.
2) When in doubt, simplify - if you can’t decide what gear to bring, leave it at home.
3) Don’t bring anything you can’t afford to loose. (I don’t want to hear sob stories about how a taxi driver stole your $5,000 camera).
4) If you are not going to use a piece of gear at least every other day, don’t bring it.
5) Whatever gear you do bring has to do its job - Shoes, boots have to be comfortable, rain-gear has to be waterproof, sleeping gear has to be warm enough.

Back to the Jakarta airport crew. This kind of stuff goes on all over the world and is a reminder to travelers that flashy gear attracts thieves.

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Sampan is one of our mode ot transportation

Sampan is one of traditional boat, it’s made from wood.

Some sampans include a small shelter on board, and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters.

Sampans are generally used for fishing or transportation, in coastal areas or rivers. It is unusual for a sampan to sail far from land as they do not have the means to survive rough weather.

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2011 is Visit Indonesia Year

Introducing 5 new tourist destinations :
PADANG, LOMBOK, KUPANG, MANADO, MAKASSAR

Gateway to Business & Investment in Indonesia
Products and Services Profile

• Investment Opportunities
• Tourism Destinations
• Furniture & Handicraft
• Garment, Batik & Embroidery
• Fashion & Accessories
• Herbal & Spa
• Printing & Packaging
• Etc

Agenda

• Seminar by Hermawan Kartajaya (World Marketing Guru)
• B2B & B2C Tradeshow
• Indonesian Cultural Night (Jembatan Budaya Indonesia Malaysia 2007)

Visit the Indonesia Booth: Hall 5, Booth No: 23 -28
Trend Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
10 - 13 November 2007 (10am - 6pm)

Contact the following for more information:
INDONESIA TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICE - MALAYSIA
No.328, Level 3 Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-2161 8134

Please visit Indonesia Tourism Website for more information.

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