Feb 23, 2007

Troubles in East Asia

Malaysian based Star Cruises report a 55% drop in profits from the previous year - a massive drop of US$156 million against last year's profit of $18 million. The loss is blamed on high running costs, especially marketting costs in Asia, and lower occupancy than expected in the new debut season in the Eastern Mediterranean and India.

Indonesian budget carrier Adam Air was forced to ground six of its Boeing 777-300's after fuselege from one of the planes cracked on landing. The Boeings represent about one-third of the fleet. The 'planes will not fly until they have fully passed a Government inspection later this month.

It was an Adam Air flight that crashed into the sea off Indonesian killing 102 people last month.

Meanwhile, western governments are warning tourists not to go to towns and cities in southern Thailand where insurgents are planting bombs indiscriminately. This has been an ongoing problem in Thailand for some time, and the government is taking all the steps it can to contain it. However, all tourist area in and around and in the Northern towns and cities like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son have increased security and visitors are perfectly safe.

And ending on a good note, the weather is fantastic, Asia is a lovely area, and I only have two more weeks here before I depart for colder climes, so I'm making the most of it.