Bangkok Post • 29th September 2022

Little impact from weak forex on inbound tourism

The global decline in currencies has not had a significant impact on Thailand's inbound market as the rates were comparable with a weakened baht, while those ready to travel are mostly high-income earners.

Bangkok Post • 28th September 2022

Phuket hotels upbeat on prospects for festive season

The festive season in the final quarter is expected to bring hotel bookings in Phuket that match pre-Covid levels, but not every hospitality segment will reap benefits, according to the Phuket Hotels Association.

Bjorn Courage, president of the association, said the average occupancy rate is picking up for November and December as well as the first quarter next year, driven by individual travellers, group meetings and Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions).

Bangkok Post • 26th September 2022

Tourism prospects hang in the balance

The weak baht could benefit the tourism industry as foreign purchasing power gains value, though it might not be enough to offset high airfares, according to the Thai Hotels Association (THA).

Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of THA, said currency depreciation is just one of many factors helping to make the Thai tourism industry more attractive in the post-pandemic period.

Bangkok Post • 22nd September 2022

Governor backs 4am closing times

The governor of Bangkok supports entertainment venues staying open until 4am in order to promote night-time tourism.

Chadchart Sittipunt said tourism, including the hotel segment, is at the heart of the city's economy as the sector creates jobs and pay taxes for the city.

"My main duty is to remove all obstacles for you," Mr Chadchart told attendees at Wednesday's monthly meeting of the Thai Hotels Association.

Bangkok Post • 21st September 2022

Agoda: Thai tourism makes cautious revival

Thailand is one of the first countries in Asia to see tourism rebound from the pandemic, driven by positive signals from both foreign and domestic travellers, according to Agoda.

"Thailand is leading Asia in terms of inbound tourists, but it has not yet reached 2019 levels," said Omri Morgenshtern, chief executive of Agoda, an Asia-focused online travel platform.

NBC News • 25th August 2022

Receding waters reveal historical marvels during summer's droughts: See the most notable finds from around the world

Heat waves and drought are hitting communities across the world, threatening supplies of energy and food while causing rivers from Europe’s Danube to China’s Yangtze to dry up.

In the United States, these receding water levels have exposed human remains and dinosaur tracks. Elsewhere, they have revealed relics that include ancient Buddhist statues, lost villages and sunk Nazi warships.

It’s a phenomenon that experts say should ring alarm bells about climate change.

NBC News • 29th July 2022

(Contributed) Falling video screen injures 2 dancers on stage at Hong Kong concert

HONG KONG — Two dancers have been injured after a huge video screen crashed onto the stage during a concert by popular Hong Kong boy band Mirror.

More than a dozen performers were on stage at the Hong Kong Coliseum late Thursday night when the screen appeared to come loose from one of the two metal cords from which it was suspended. It landed directly on one dancer before falling backward onto another, eliciting screams from a crowd of thousands.

NBC News • 28th July 2022

(Contributed) Meet Freya, the walrus who rose to fame while sinking boats in Norway

Freya is choosing empty boats on which to sleep and digest her food because they remind her of Arctic ice floes, Kathrine Ryeng, a veterinary medicine scientist at Norway's Institute of Marine Research, told NBC News.

NBC News • 4th July 2022

Young Rohingya photographers capture life in world’s largest refugee camp

A new virtual exhibition explores the identity of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar living in the world’s largest refugee camp, through the lens of Rohingya photographers.

NBC News • 1st July 2022

Hong Kong's timeline since the 1997 British handover to China

Hong Kong had been a British colony since 1841, when it was occupied by British forces during the first Opium War. China’s Qing Dynasty signed it over to the British the following year in the Treaty of Nanjing, the first in a series of what China now calls the “unequal treaties.”

Under the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984, Hong Kong was to return to Chinese sovereignty as a special administrative region governed by a principle known as “one country, two systems.” The f

NBC News • 1st July 2022

Xi Jinping visits a Hong Kong changed by Covid, protests to swear in new leaderniversary visit

(contributed) HONG KONG — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday defended the “one country, two systems” form of governance in Hong Kong in a rare visit to the Chinese territory amid a deepening authoritarian crackdown by Beijing.

NBC News • 24th June 2022

Japanese worker loses USB with entire city’s data after night out with colleagues

It’s unlikely that one Japanese man will join his colleagues for after-work drinks again following their last night out, when officials said he lost a USB stick containing the personal data of nearly a half-million people.

The man, who has not been named, transferred the data Tuesday and then went to a restaurant with three of his colleagues at Biprogy Inc., Yuji Takeuchi, the president of the company’s Kansai branch, told a news conference Friday.

The USB contained the home addresses and bank

NBC News • 27th June 2022

U.S. destroyer that took on Japanese fleet in WWII becomes the deepest shipwreck ever discovered

The remains of a U.S. Navy destroyer escort that sank in a World War II battle against Japan have been found in what is believed to be the deepest wreck ever discovered.

NBC News • 15th June 2022

Japan makes online insults punishable by 1 year in jail in wake of reality star's death

Japan has made online insults punishable by up to a year in prison in an effort to reduce cyberbullying after the death of a reality television star who had faced a wave of online abuse.

Previously, the maximum penalty for the crime of “insultation” was less than 30 days’ detention or a fine of less than 10,000 yen ($75). The amendment to Japan’s penal code, which lawmakers passed Monday and is set to take effect this summer, introduces the prison term and increases the maximum fine to 300,000

JMSC6110A • 31st May 2022

Through the Eyes of an Elderly Transwoman

(password* = Hkuj22@) HKU Journalism Capstone Project 2022 - Despite being an international Asian city, Hong Kong might not be developed enough in terms of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. A lack of same-sex marriages, gender recognition law or related legislation adds to the burden for queer people, as they often describe themselves.

annie lab • 25th May 2022

Investigation: Misleading claims about masks and vaccines in Hong Kong’s 5th wave

Annie Lab looks into an article about Hong Kong’s COVID-19 fifth wave published by a known anti-vaccine website in the United States.

An article published by the U.S.-based, self-proclaimed research organization Brownstone Institute has made a few misleading claims about Hong Kong’s fifth wave of COVID-19, questioning the effectiveness of masks and vaccines using the city’s outbreak data as evidence.

The piece titled “Anatomy of the Hong Kong Disaster” was shared not only by the Institute’s so

annie lab • 27th April 2022

Misleading: Pope Francis was not holding a Ukrainian flag with Nazi symbol

Earlier this month a Twitter user posted two photos side by side. One showed Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church at Vatican City, holding a flag featuring the Ukrainian colors of blue and yellow and a cross-like icon with intersecting pointed weapons behind it. The other image featured a similar-looking symbol that bore a swastika.

The account with 24,500 followers commented, “Well done Pope Francis!! What a humiliation and shame for the church.” The tweet has more than 1,035 retweets

annie lab • 1st April 2022

False: Woman protesting against Zelenskyy on Ukrainian TV is a digital mashup

A tweet on March 17 claims to show a Ukrainian woman interrupting a live news broadcast calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to resign and return to his former career as an entertainer.

This Twitter account has over 5,000 followers and self-claims to be a news agency from Syria. The post, which attracted over 200 likes, says the video shows opinions of Ukrainian citizens are being overlooked by the Western media.

Another user tweeted the same video to 176 followers with similar c

annie lab • 25th March 2022

Misleading: ‘Shirtless Putin on a panda’ image was not used by the Economist

A tweet on March 20 claimed that the cover of The Economist’s March 19 issue features a shirtless picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin riding on a panda, presumably referring to the country’s relationship with China amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

The account that posted the tweet has over 5,000 followers. Another Twitter account with more than 29,000 followers also posted the same magazine cover and implied the image is authentic.

However, the image is not an actual cover of The Economist

annie lab • 4th March 2022

False: Putin was not holding a picture of the late King Bhumibol of Thailand

The image is manipulated. The original shows Russian President Vladimir Putin holding his father’s portrait during the Immortal Regiment march in 2015.

An image posted on Facebook on Feb. 27 showed Russian President Vladimir Putin holding a photo of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or King Rama IX, the late King of Thailand.

The Thai text in the image claimed, when translated in English, “Russia can withstand due to the merit of King Rama IX” (รัสเซียยืนหยัดได้เพราะบุญคุณของในหลวงรัชกาลที่ 9).

The po

annie lab • 2nd March 2022

Misleading: Photo of dog disposal not related to Beijing Olympics

The photo shows a dog cull in Yunnan Province in April 2006.

A tweet on Jan.18 showed a photo of a man in black throwing what appears to be a carcass of a dog into a truck. The post said “Wonder what China is doing to homeless pets before #Beijing Olympics?” implying that this was done in preparation for the Winter Olympics in February in Beijing.

The tweet has at least 175 retweets, 30 quote tweets and 145 likes since it was posted in January.

However, the claim is misleading. The photo actu

annie lab • 22nd February 2022

Misleading: Video shows missile drill in China; not Russian attack on Ukraine

The GIF is a clip from a 2017 CCTV video about China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force.

A tweet on Feb. 7 claimed that an animated GIF showing what appears to be a large-scale missile attack depicts a scene of Russia using “decisive fires and then exploits with manoeuvre,” a tactic allegedly employed during the 2014 hostilities in Ukraine.

The tweet has more than 110 likes and 27 retweets. It has also been shared in Dutch.

However, the claim is misleading. The GIF actually shows a milit

South China Morning Post • 15th February 2022

Why is there a global shipping container crisis?

“Supply chain crisis” became an often-used phrase during the coronavirus pandemic as Covid-19 caused vast economic disruption across the world. It has been used to explain bare supermarket shelves and why goods are taking much longer to reach businesses and consumers. The pandemic has laid bare vulnerabilities in the global shipping industry, which remains affected by a shortage of crew, available containers in Asia and capacity at major ports in the United States and Europe.

JMSC6110B • 1st December 2021

Sham Shui Po - How a changing community of diversity gets connected

Having worked in Sham Shui Po for six years, Tiffany Fung noticed an influx of diverse shops in the area. Coffee, art, and books — the cultural elements that seem to mainly belong to young people, or to say, hipsters, invaded the area which was for long considered as Hong Kong’s poorest district. South Asian vendors, the homeless, subdivided units residents, together with the hipsters and artists — Sham Shui Po epitomizes the unique diversity of the city of Hong Kong. From Tai Nan Street to Ki L