PHUKET: Tourists arriving from China and Kazakhstan today (Sept 25), the first day of ‘visa-free’ travel for people visiting from the two countries, were welcomed at Phuket International Airport with much fanfare, led by a delegation of officials and leading tourism figures.

The delegation at Phuket airport were present to ensure the tourists were made to feel welcome, with Phuket just one of four airports in the country where similar events were held to welcome the visitors, including at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok and Chiang Mai International Airport.

Tourists arriving from the two countries today were treated to a welcoming ceremony, garlands and gift bags of souvenirs as well as cultural performances “to welcome and impress and show

Thailand’s readiness to be an important tourism destination”, reported the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).

The aim of the events today was “to support the government’s policy to urgently accelerate the facilitation of travelling to Thailand though the visa exemption measure for tourism [extended] to Chinese and Kazakhstan tourists from 25 September 2023 – 29 February 2024 in order to build faith [sic],” the PR Phuket report said.

Leading the welcome delegation in Phuket were:

• Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Deputy Governor for European, African, Middle Eastern and American Markets
• Emil Kuliiev, Advisor to the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Phuket Province
• Monchai Tanode, General Manager of Phuket International Airport
• Lertchai Wangtrakuldee, Director of the TAT Phuket Office Thanet Tantipiriyakit, President of the Phuket Tourist Association
• Wirintra Paphakityotphat, head of the Tourism Council of
  Thailand (TCT) Region 11 branch (which represents Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi)
  Urachat Panyawut, Air Astana Airlines Sales and Marketing Manager for Thailand,

The delegation was on hand, joined by a host of support staff, to welcome tourists arriving on Air Astana Flight KC 563 direct from Almaty, Kazakhstan, which landed at Phuket Airport at 9:25am.

PR Phuket noted that the flight’s passenger capacity was 166 seats, but omitted clarifying exactly how many tourists were on board.

One of the passengers to arrive was Chatchawan Sakornsin, the Thai Ambassador in Astana, traveling along with the group. Including media from Kazakhstan joining the trip.

The Kazakh tourist market is considered a remote market with potential and a large market in Central Asia. The number of visitors from the central Asia country already so far this year has reached 109,865 people (as of Sept 17), compared with 56,529 people throughout all of 2019.

The average stay is 14.03 days, with the average spending at B4,365.25 per person per day. Most from Kazakhstan travel in family groups, most notably during the winter months of December through March, PR Phuket noted in its report.

Air Astana is now operating four flights a week from Almaty, and will increase that to seven flights a week, starting Oct 29 and continuing through April 2024, the report added.
The goal is to attract 150,000 tourists from Kazakhstan this year. The five months of visa exemption is expected to attract 129,485 tourists from Kazakhstan, generating some B7.93 billion for the economy, the report added.

A similar welcome was rolled out for Chinese visitors arriving in Phuket under the visa-free scheme today.

Arrivals to Phuket on three flights in particular were singled out for the warm welcome: Air China flight CA717 from Hangzhou (capacity 158 passengers), which landed at Phuket airport at 3pm; Spring Airlines Flight 9C8667 from Shanghai (capacity 180 passengers), which landed at 4:15pm; and Air China Flight CA 821 (capacity 237 passengers) from Beijing, scheduled to arrive at 5:45pm.

A total of 2,341,080 visitors had arrived from China from Jan 1 to Sept 17. On average tourists from China stay 7.8 days and spend B50,766 per person per trip, PR Phuket noted.
Phuket is the second most popular tourist destination in Thailand for Chinese tourists, after Bangkok.

Extending the visa-free scheme to Chinese nationals is expected to boost revenue from Chinese tourists to B257.5bn in 2023.
The visa-free scheme is hoped to help push the number of foreign tourists to Thailand to reach the announced goal of “25 – 30 million people in 2023”, PR Phuket concluded.

Source: The Phuket News

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The president highlighted the dynamic regional cooperation and the global role of the Central Asian countries, which create new opportunities to expand cooperation

Jeddah: President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan stated that his country has adopted a visa-free entry system for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in order to ensure sustainable growth and prosperity.

The Kazakh president indicated that the tourism industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the region’s economy, expressing his readiness to develop the mutual promotion of cultural, educational, environmental, sports, and commercial tourism.

His remarks came while delivering his speech at the GCC-Central Asia Summit, which was hosted in Jeddah today.

President Tokayev expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for hosting the summit.

He also expressed his pride in participating in the summit, which highlights the strong bonds of brotherhood and friendship between the GCC and Central Asian countries through unity and mutual support.

President Tokayev praised the excellent organization of the summit, with the participation of royal and presidential highnesses, and highlighted the advancement of multi-dimensional cooperation and strong, harmonious relationships.

He commended the support of active political dialogue and the development of trade and economic cooperation.

President Tokayev emphasized the importance of strengthening cultural and human ties that align with the countries’ views on sustainable development issues and ensuring global security and peace. He noted that the historical ties, shared spiritual values, bonds of friendship, and brotherhood form a solid foundation for these relationships.

He stated that Kazakhstan places exceptional importance on today’s meeting and that the Arab Gulf countries, with their significant political influence and important economic and investment potential, are among its most important partners in many key areas.

The president highlighted the dynamic regional cooperation and the global role of the Central Asian countries, which create new opportunities to expand cooperation.

He commended the effective and active growth of trade between Central Asian countries and the GCC member states in recent years and looked forward to increasing mutual trade and activating investment cooperation.

Kazakhstan can increase its exports to the Gulf countries by approximately 100 products worth around $350 million, he said.

Source: Zawya News

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Twenty-two civil activists, bloggers, journalists, and politicians who disagreed with the government over a border issue and are currently in pretrial facilities in Kyrgyzstan should be immediately released and their due process rights upheld, Human Rights Watch said today.

The detainees were initially placed under arrest for 48 hours on October 23, 2022, accused of fomenting “mass unrest” after disagreeing with the impending transfer of jurisdiction over an important dam, Kempir-Abad, to Uzbekistan as part of a border demarcation deal. They have spent nearly five months behind bars in facilities unsuitable for long-term detention, even though international law provides that pretrial detention should only be used as an exception, and for as short a time as possible.

“These citizens, who were exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, should not have been placed in pretrial detention in the first place, far less still be there,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “They should be released immediately, and if at the end of an effective investigation there is credible evidence that they have committed a criminal offense, guaranteed a fair trial.”

In January and February 2023, three detainees among an original group of 25 were transferred to house arrest due to their deteriorated health. On February 17, the Bishkek district court extended the pretrial detention of the remaining 22 activists until April 20.

All of the detainees were charged with preparation and organization of mass unrest on the basis of “evidence obtained from a special investigation,” which appears to be a series of edited and excerpted wiretapped conversations between some of the detainees. The audio-montage was apparently constructed to show some detainees calling for a government overthrow because of the contentious border agreement. On January 18, all of their criminal cases were classified as “secret,” making independent monitoring impossible. The detainees face 5 to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

Since October, the courts, on three occasions, have extended their pretrial detention by two months – the maximum allowed for such detentions under Kyrgyzstan’s Criminal Procedural Code. The courts accepted the prosecutors’ claim that continued detention was necessary, as the expert assessment of evidence obtained during warrantless searches of the activists’ houses and seizure of their personal property, including electronic devices, had not concluded. No tangible progress has been made in the criminal investigations.

The “Kempir-Abad case,” as it has become known, is rife with procedural violations incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said. It has also shown the authorities’ lack of humanity toward detainees who had existing health conditions or have developed them due to substandard conditions in the detention facilities. The detainees are not allowed visits by their relatives, including children, who have only been able to get a glimpse of them through bars during one of the three court hearings on their detention extension.

Conditions in the pretrial detention facility are reportedly worse than in regular prisons, as the facility is not intended for long-term stay. According to a March 12 Facebook post by a daughter of a detained human rights defender, Rita Karasartova, detainees are allowed only 40 minutes a day to walk in a five-by six-meter room with metal bars for a roof. On December 14, 19 detainees, including four women, went on a hunger strike for two weeks to protest detention conditions, leaving them in a weakened and debilitated state, their lawyers said.

Several detainees’ health has sharply deteriorated during detention, including a former judge of the Constitutional Court, Klara Sooronkulova, who on February 20 was transferred to a hospital for surgery. On March 14, she was required to return to a pretrial detention facility, despite not completing rehabilitation,

On March 17, relatives of the detainees held a protest under the slogan of “For Justice and Freedom” calling for their release, among other demands. There have been several other protests by the detainees’ relatives in the months since their detention, with a protest in January resulting in detention of 27 relatives, all of whom were released the same day.

Both national and international organizations have expressed concern about a lack of tangible progress in the investigation and lack of accountability for the continued procedural violations in the case. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement on October 26 reminding the Kyrgyz authorities that the “Kempir-Abad case” detainees should be presumed innocent and that pretrial detention should be an exception, in line with international human rights norms and standards.

The UN Human Rights Committee categorizes detention as punishment for the legitimate exercise of the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Kyrgyzstan is a party, as arbitrary and impermissible.

Kyrgyzstan’s international partners should urge the Kyrgyz authorities to release the wrongfully detained activists and guarantee fair trials.

“The ‘Kempir-Abad case’ is a litmus test for the humanity and fitness of the Kyrgyz authorities to remain a respectable partner in the global community of states,” Sultanalieva said. “They should uphold their international human rights obligations and immediately release all of those detained, ensuring effective and timely completion of investigations in each of their cases, and provide redress and compensation for those wrongfully kept in detention.”

Source : Hrw

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