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Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific is set to close its subsidiary, Cathay Dragon, with the loss of up to 5,900 jobs. The carrier has become yet another casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic that has decimated the aviation business and the global economy as a whole. The Bangkok Post reports that 5,300 jobs are expected to go in Hong Kong, with a further 600 axed overseas, accounting for 17% of Cathay’s employees. Cathay Dragon, previously known as Dragonair, primarily operated short-haul routes within Asia, including direct flights from Hong Kong to Bangkok and Phuket.

Cathay Pacific bosses have hammered out a HK$2.2 billion restructuring plan that involves thousands of job cuts, pilots and cabin crew having to sign cheaper contracts, and total closure of its subsidiary carrier. The South China Morning Post describes the plan as, “life or death”, reporting cuts to a total of 8,500 jobs across the group. The parent airline is understood to be applying for approval to incorporate Cathay Dragon’s routes into the Cathay Pacific network, as well as that of its low-cost carrier, HK Express.

Cathay Pacific CEO, Augustus Tang, says the restructuring plan is essential to Cathay’s future survival as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic show no sign of abating.

“The global pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on aviation and the hard truth is we must fundamentally restructure the Group to survive. We have to do this to protect as many jobs as possible and meet our responsibilities to the Hong Kong aviation hub and our customers.”

SOURCE: Bangkok Post| South China Morning Post

A spokesman for the Thai police says the Digital Economy and Society Ministry has asked for action to be taken against 58 social media accounts accused of encouraging looting at anti-government protests. Siriwat Deepor says the anonymous Twitter accounts are pointing to political demonstrations in other countries where looting occurs and property is destroyed.

“Chats in Twitter are claiming this kind of action (looting) occurs during rallies abroad. They are persuading participants to destroy government and private property at rally sites to raise the level of protest. We are concerned over this behaviour and would like to warn people who attend rallies not to become a tool of the bad guys who are trying to provoke these actions. Besides violating the emergency decree, such offences constitute theft, robbery, or causing loss of property under the Criminal Code.”

He adds that some responsible social media users warn against such actions and continue to advocate for peaceful protest as a way to achieve their objectives.

“We would like to thank you for your mindfulness in warning each other as a precautionary measure against third-party or malicious intervention.”

Siriwat adds that anyone caught using social media to incite violence at political rallies will be prosecuted for violation of the Computer Crimes Act and the emergency decree. His warning comes after police denied there were plans to block access to online platforms or media outlets.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

To stimulate domestic tourism and help revive the economy after the pandemic, hotels plan to offer expats a 1,000 baht discount on rooms until the end of the year. A debt moratorium, put in place to help businesses hurt by the pandemic, is ending this month and hotels need a boost.

The Thai Hotels Association, or THA, says they will offer the discount on 5,000 room nights. Expats will need to show their passport. The discount is valid until December 31. THA president Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi says the new campaign supports the hotel industry during the tough economic situation. With a ban on international tourists over the past 7 months, many hotel rooms have been empty.

Even though Thailand is reopening borders to foreign visitors on the new Special Tourist Visa, the amount of international tourists expected to come in over the next month or so is a tiny fraction of the number of tourists arriving this time last year.

To reach out to foreigners who are already in the country, Thai hotels partnered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand for the Expat Travel Bonus program, offering travel, accommodation and other deals at events in Bangkok.

With the debt moratorium ending this month, Marisa says most hotels have restructured their debt with creditors. She says banks are trying to avoid nonperforming loans, which are loans more than 90 days overdue.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, occupancy rates have fallen drastically and many hotels temporarily closed. Marisa says it’s still necessary to continue with the stimulus campaign. She adds that the association is urging hotels not to raise the room rates or quote unfair prices to expats.

Thaiger Tip: Check whatever room rate you’re being offered under this new program with one of the online travel websites – bookings.com, aged.co, hotels.com, etc. Many of the hotels are already offering big discounts through the online booking portals.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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