PHOTOS: Phuket Lifeguard Service

A commemoration ceremony has been held for Prathaiyuth Chuayuan, a local Phuketian who helped drive Phuket’s first beach lifeguard services. He passed away on Friday morning after a heart attack.

He first experienced chest pains whilst delivering his daughter to school in Phuket Town on Friday morning, drove himself immediately to the Vachira Hospital nearby but succumbed to cardiac arrest around 9am.

The world’s top five flying routes are all in the Asia Pacific region, according to an International Air Transport Association (IATA) report. Aviation writers say the growth can be attributed to the addition of flights operated by low-cost carriers in the region.

Passenger traffic between Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) and Hong Kong airport is Number Two on the list of the airports with the world’s busiest air traffic. The trip between Hong Kong and Taipei Taoyuan, Taiwan, is the most popular route in the world carrying 5.4 million passengers per year.

Passenger traffic between Suvarnabhumi and Hong Kong reached 3.4 million in 2018, up 9% from 2017.

The report of IATA world airline traffic for 2018 also shows that airlines in the Asia Pacific carried the largest number of passengers in the world.

Global passenger traffic results for 2018 showed that demand rose by a healthy 6.5% compared to full-year 2017. Although this represented a slowdown compared to the 2017 annual growth of 8.0%, it was another year of above-trend growth. Full year 2018 capacity climbed 6.1%, and load factor edged up 0.3 percentage point to a record 81.9%, exceeding the previous high set in 2017.

“Airlines are connecting more people and places than ever before. The freedom to fly is more accessible than ever. And our world is a more prosperous place as a result,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director-general and CEO.

In terms of pure numbers of flights for 2018, here are the results. Eight out of ten of the routes are all in the Asia-Pacific.

1. Kuala Lumpur – Singapore: 30,187 flights
2. Hong Kong – Taipei: 28,447 flights
3. Jakarta – Singapore: 27,046 flights
4. Hong Kong – Shanghai: 20,678 flights
5. Jakarta – Kuala Lumpur: 19,741 flights
6. Seoul Incheon – Osaka: 19,711 flights
7. New York LaGuardia – Toronto: 17,038 flights
8. Hong Kong – Seoul Incheon: 15,770 flights
9. Bangkok – Singapore: 14,698 flights
10. Dubai – Kuwait: 14,581 flights
11. Bangkok – Hong Kong: 14,556 flights
12. Hong Kong – Beijing: 14,537 flights
13. New York JFK – London Heathrow: 14,195 flights
14. Tokyo Narita – Taipei: 13,902 flights
15. Dublin – London Heathrow: 13,855 flights
16. Osaka – Shanghai: 13,708 flights
17. Hong Kong – Singapore: 13,654 flights
18. Chicago O’Hare – Toronto: 13,503 flights
19. Seoul Incheon – Tokyo Narita: 13,517 flights
20. Osaka – Taipei: 13,325 flights

Details on the proposed mandatory health insurance requirements for Non-Immigrant O-A visas will be made next week, according to ThaiVisa.

A senior executive from one of the insurance companies involved in the scheme told ThaiVisa that the Office of Insurance Commission, Ministry of Public Health, Foreign Ministry and Immigration Bureau will announce the insurance requirements for Non-Immigrant O-A visas on August 22.

Last May it was proposed that foreigners applying for Non-Immigrant O-A visas would be required to have health insurance that offers 40,000 baht outpatient coverage and 400,000 baht inpatient coverage. The details, along with other information, is expected to be confirmed this week.

Officials say the mandatory health insurance requirement was proposed to help Thailand cope with the large number of unpaid medical bills from foreigners who use Thai hospitals.

The mandatory health insurance requirement has only been proposed for Non-Immigrant O-A visas and not for other visas or extensions of stay.

SOURCE: ThaiVisa