#Russia suspends visa-free tourist travel to and from China over virus

Russia said on Saturday it was suspending visa-free travel for tourists to and from China to help contain the outbreak of a new coronavirus that emerged in China.

A bilateral visa-free regime for tourist groups agreed on in 2000 will suspended from Feb. 2, a government decree said.

Russia will also temporarily stop accepting and issuing documents for work visas to Chinese nationals.

Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus on Friday and restricted direct flights to China, its biggest trade partner.

The Russian military is to start evacuating Russian citizens from China due to the outbreak. 

Source - TheJakartaPost

#Philippines - Bangalore and Manila world's worst cities for traffic

As everyone knows, driving would be much more fun if there weren't so many cars on the road. Urban areas are bad for traffic but have you ever wondered where the worst ones are?

The 2019 edition of TomTom's Traffic Index, which ranks the world's most congested cities, has all of the answers. Asia has most of the biggest scores.

At the top of the list, Bangalore, India has the most distressing conditions for motorists, who spend up to 71 percent more time in their cars than they might on a normal journey. Manila in the Philippines is just as bad.

The Colombian capital Bogota, which had the dubious privilege of finishing first in the 2018 table, comes in third in the latest ranking. It should be noted that India has four of the 10 most congested cities in the world. TomTom also reports that the average level of congestion around the globe in 2019 was 29 percent.

The top 10 most traffic-choked cities in the world:

1. Bangalore (India), 71%
2. Manila (Philippines), 71%
3. Bogota (Colombia), 68%
4. Bombay (India), 65%
5. Pune (India), 59%
6. Moscow (Russia), 59%
7. Lima (Peru), 57%
8. New Delhi (India), 56%
9. Istanbul (Turkey), 55%
10. Jakarta (Indonesia), 53%

In the US, the worst city was Los Angeles, with 42 percent, followed by New York at 37 percent.

The TomTom Traffic Index covered 416 cities in 57 countries. The percentages correspond to the level of congestion, i.e., the additional travel time measured for each driver on the entire network, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Source - TheJakartaPost

You Can Now Stop #Facebook Tracking with “Off-Facebook Activity” Tracker

Facebook just released a new tool that lets people see how it tracks their “off-Facebook activity.”

We all know Facebook has watching us and always has but what we now know is even creepier. Even with Facebook closed on your phone Facebook gets notified by other apps of what your doing.

Now Facebook is giving us a new way to glimpse just how much it knows about us. On Tuesday, the social network made a long-delayed “Off-Facebook Activity” tracker. It’s allows you to keep tabs on how Facebook is tracking your activity.

Facebook rolled out its new “Off-Facebook Activity” tracker on Tuesday. The tool gives users an itemized list of the websites, apps, and real-life stores Facebook knows that they visited. It also lets you turn off that tracking.

The feature fulfills a longstanding promise from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Who vowed in 2018 to build a “clear history” tool for Facebook users. At that time, Facebook was also in the midst of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Wherein several apps were accused of improperly accessing the personal information of 50 million people.

After Zuckerberg promised the “clear history” tool, Facebook slightly changed course and renamed the tool “Off-Facebook Activity.” Stating that it wouldn’t be possible for users to delete all their data from Facebook.

The tracker shows information that Facebook has gathered about your activity off the app in the past 180 days.

Facebook learns that information from its advertising partnerships with third-party apps and websites. Which also voluntarily tell Facebook the identities of people who visit them. Many physical stores do the same thing.

Off-Facebook Activity tracker

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Facebook’s new tool isn’t nearly as useful as your web browser’s clear-history button. It doesn’t let you reset your entire relationship with Facebook. But along with the transparency, it does give you a way to unlink some of its surveillance from your Facebook account. Here is a direct link to the Off-Facebook Activity settings page.

You can do a few things to fight back against Facebook’s surveillance, some of which haven’t been available before.

The new “Off-Facebook Activity” page includes ways to ask Facebook to cut it out. From that page, click on “Clear History” to tell Facebook remove that data from your account.

After you’ve done that, you still need to inform Facebook you want them to stop adding this data to your profile in the future. On the same “Off-Facebook Activity” page, look for another option to “Manage Future Activity.” (To find it, you may first have to click “More Options.” – Click that, and then click the additional button labeled “Manage Future Activity,” and then toggle off the button next to “Future Off-Facebook Activity.”

An important caveat: Turning off your off-Facebook activity will mean losing access to apps and websites you’ve used Facebook to login to in the past.

Changing these settings doesn’t actually stop Facebook from collecting data about you from other businesses. Facebook will just “disconnect” it from your profile, to use the social network’s carefully chosen word.

Mostly they’re just promising they’ll no longer use it to target you with ads on Facebook and Instagram – which means you’ll be less likely to be manipulated based on your data.

Source: Chiang Rai Times, Facebook, Business Insider

#China virus sends shockwaves through Asia tourist industry

A deadly virus that has prompted travel restrictions in China is sending shockwaves through Asia's tourism industry, which has become increasingly reliant on growing numbers of Chinese visitors.

At least 81 people have died since the new strain of coronavirus emerged in China's Wuhan, and millions are now under an effective quarantine, with all flights in and out of the city grounded and a ban on Chinese tour groups domestically and abroad.

The measures come amid a boom in Chinese foreign travel, with the number of tourists from the country increasing nearly tenfold since 2003, according to a report by research firm Capital Economics.

But businesses in destinations that rely on the huge numbers of Chinese tourists are already feeling the heat, with complaints of "deserted" beaches and shops, and concerns about the future.

There will be a less immediate impact in Europe, which is currently off peak season for visitors from China.

The outbreak carries echoes of the SARS crisis, which paralyzed regional travel and battered local economies from late 2002. Chinese tourist numbers then fell by around a third.

"If they fell by a similar amount again, it would knock around 1.5-2.0 percentage points from (gross domestic product) in the most vulnerable countries," Capital Economics said.

In Japan, the fall in Chinese visitors was already being felt in Asakusa, a popular tourist destination near the Sensoji temple.

"We've definitely been seeing less people this year," said Yoshie Yoneyama, 31, manager of a shop selling traditional Japanese sweets and a rice-based drink called amazake.

Beaches 'deserted'

"I think there are less than half the numbers of last year or the year before," she told AFP.

The number of Chinese holidaying in Japan has exploded from around 450,000 in 2003 to 8.4 million in 2018, accounting for 27 percent of all inbound tourists as Tokyo works to expand the sector.

But it will now be "very difficult" for Japan to achieve its target of 40 million tourists in 2020, Yuki Takashima, an economist at Nomura Securities, told AFP.

And the effects will be felt beyond hotels, restaurants and tourist sites, because many Chinese tourists visit Japan specifically to shop.

The crisis has already sent Japan's key Nikkei index plunging, with stock in Shiseido -- a cosmetics brand popular with Chinese tourists -- falling more than five percent on Monday.

"We can expect those stocks to continue to fall like dominoes," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp.

But he said Japan would be better placed to weather the storm than another top destination for Chinese tourists: Thailand.

Tourism accounts for 18 percent of the nation's GDP, with Chinese holidaymakers making up more than a quarter of total arrivals.

The country's tourism minister has already warned a crisis on the scale of SARS could cost an estimated $1.6 billion, and the effects are already clear in Phuket.

'Really serious'

"For two days, the streets, the shops and the beaches have been deserted," said Claude de Crissey, who owns a 40-room hotel and a restaurant on the island.

"Phuket has focused almost exclusively on Chinese tourism... if the situation continues, we will all be impacted," he told AFP.

Australia too, already reeling from the effects of the bushfire crisis, is likely to feel the impact.

Chinese visitor numbers doubled in the six years to June 2019, with mainlanders now accounting for 15 percent of Australia's inbound tourists.

Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association said it was hard to gauge how long the crisis would last.

"I would suspect the impact would be between three to six months, but it will really depend on how the situation evolves in the coming few weeks," he told AFP.

Source - TheJakartaPost

China is Now Thailand’s Top Source of Foreign Investment

For more than five decades, Japan was the largest investor in the southeast Asian nation, but a number of factors conspired to knock it off the top spot

China topped the list of economies looking to invest in Thailand for the first time last year. Overtaking Japan as the southeast Asian nation’s main source of foreign direct investment. Above all thanks to belt and road-linked projects, over spill from the US-China trade war and Thai government incentives.

Applications from China – valued at 262 billion baht (US$8.5 billion).  They accounted for more than half of all foreign direct investment applications, according to Thailand’s Board of Investment. Japan’s applications, meanwhile, were valued at 73.1 billion baht. Followed by 36.3 billion baht of applications from Hong Kong.

High-Speed Rail Project in Thailand

However, the vast majority of Chinese investment agreed upon last year was linked to a 224 billion baht high-speed rail project. It will connect the airports at Suvarnabhumi, Don Muang and U-tapao. Contracts for the project were signed in October, between the Thai government and a consortium. Whose members also include the Chinese state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation.

Siwat Luangsomboon, an analyst at Kasikorn Research Centre, noted that such major infrastructure projects would “not happen every year” and that before the deal was signed, Japanese investment had actually exceeded that from China in the first nine months of 2019.

Japan has been the largest investor in Thailand for more than five decades. Its investments have subsequently “matured”, according to Pavida Pananond, a lecturer at Thammasat Business School in Bangkok. Chinese investment, meanwhile, is at a relatively “early stage of development.” So there “likely to record a faster growth rate and larger initial flows”, she said.

“While annual flows of Chinese investment may exceed that of Japan this year. Thanks partly to the relocation of Chinese firms hit by the trade war with the US.  Also incoming Chinese investment related to the high-speed train projects. It will take a while for accumulated Chinese investment to exceed that from Japan,” she added.

Thailand handing out big tax incentives

China has sought to invest in a number of sectors promoted by the Thai government. Such as cars, smart electronics, biotechnology, logistics and aviation. Attracted by tax rebates and deductions, preferential visa policies and “a lot of deregulation”, Kobsak Pootrakul, secretary to Thailand’s Council of Economic Ministers, told a press briefing earlier this month.

These revised investment incentives were rolled out following a year of currency appreciation, weaker exports, fewer tourist arrivals and lower agricultural prices, which have conspired to send Thailand’s growth forecasts tumbling to among the lowest in the region, at less than 3 per cent.

Thailand also struggles to stay competitive when compared to other regional players such as Vietnam
, despite its “better infrastructure, ecosystem for foreign investment, and depth of supply chain networks in key industries like electronics and automotive”, Pavida, the business professor, said.

Kriangkrai Tiannukul, vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, predicted a slow recovery for Thailand’s economy given the current global economic slowdown, ongoing geopolitical and trade tensions and a recent severe drought that has affected agricultural productivity and farmers’ incomes.

Increased China investment in the years ahead

“I think we will see the Chinese coming ahead as Thailand’s biggest investors in the future,” he said. “Ultimately the value of their investments will surpass that of the Japanese.”

In addition to the high-speed railway linking three airports, infrastructure projects being rolled out by the Thai government that could attract further Chinese investment include some 2,000km of single-track railway that is set to be doubled, planned increases to airport capacity and an expansion of Bangkok’s mass transit network.

The so-called Eastern Economic Corridor, a 1.7-trillion baht mega project heavily reliant on Chinese backing that seeks to replicate a similarly name investment programme from the 1980s, is also expected to continue attracting investment.

These opportunities, when combined with the policies being implemented to strengthen the country’s economy. Small and medium-sized enterprise segment, agricultural sector, export competitiveness and tourism industry. Will make “this is the best time for companies to invest in Thailand,” said Kobsak, the government secretary.

Source: SCMP

#China - Beijing to close section of Great Wall, other tourist sites

China announced Friday it will close a section of the Great Wall and other famous Beijing landmarks to control the spread of a deadly virus that has infected hundreds of people across the country.

A range of Lunar New Year festivities have been cancelled to try to contain the virus, and Beijing's Forbidden City and Shanghai's Disneyland have also been closed temporarily.

The Ming Tombs and Yinshan Pagoda will also be closed from Saturday, the authority that oversees the sites said, while the Bird's Nest stadium -- the site of the 2008 Olympic Games -- was shuttered from Friday.

The Great Wall attracts around 10 million tourists a year and is a popular destination for visitors during the New Year holiday.

The Juyongguan section will close, while the Great Wall temple fair was cancelled at the Simatai section of the famous landmark.

Tourists at the Gubei water town by the Simatai section will have their temperature tested, the authority said in a statement on the WeChat social media app.

The Bird's Nest will be closed until January 30 in order to "prevent and control" the spread of the virus, authorities said. An ice and snow show taking place on the pitch will be closed.

The measures in the capital are the latest to try and control the outbreak of the new coronavirus, after authorities rapidly expanded a mammoth quarantine effort that affected 41 million people in central Hubei province.

The previously unknown virus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

Although there have only been 29 confirmed cases in Beijing, city authorities have cancelled large-scaled Lunar New Year events this week.

The city government said it would call off events including two popular temple fairs, which have attracted massive crowds of tourists in past years.

Beijing's Forbidden City -- which saw 19 million visitors last year -- is usually packed with tourists during the Lunar New Year festival, when hundreds of millions of people travel across China.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Deputy National Thai Police Chief Transferred to Inactive Post

Deputy National police chief Pol Gen Wirachai Songmetta has been transferred effective immediately to the Prime Minister’s Office. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha issued the transfer order on Thursday afternoon.

His transfer came for apparently for defying a direct order by national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda.

Despite his inactive role at the PM’s office, Pol Gen Wirachai will continue to receive the same remuneration and privileges from the Royal Thai Police Office.

The transfer follows a report from the RTPO saying that Pol Gen Wirachai’s behavior and actions had affected public confidence in the national police chief, and the image of the police force.

The RTPO formed a committee on Tuesday to investigate the matter. Pol Gen Wirachai was quickly  transferred to ensure a transparent probe.

Also on Thursday, Police Gen Chakthip issued instructions cancelling order assigning Police Gen Wirachai to act on his behalf in several areas. Including intellectual property violations.

On Jan 9 Pol Gen Wirachai allegedly defied Pol Gen Chakthip’s instruction to stay out of the investigation. The investigation into shots fired into vehicle of Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn.  Gen. Surachate was the former immigration chief and now special civilian adviser to the PM’s Office.

On that day Pol Gen Wirachai met reporters at the Office of Police Forensic Science and supervised the examination of the vehicle. Apparently ignoring an order by Police Chief not to meet reporters over the case. He was ordered to wait for the investigation report from the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

The instruction was heard in an audio clip of a phone conversation leaked on the morning of Jan 9.  In the recording a senior police officer was also heard warning a subordinate. The clip also mentioned a person named “Joke”.

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Deputy police spokesman later confirmed it was a conversation between the national police chief and Pol Gen Wirachai.

Police Gen Wirachai interrogated Pol Lt Gen Surachate at Bang Rak police station about the shooting on Jan 6.

In the audio clip, Pol Gen Chakthip was also heard saying that a police general should not take orders from a police lieutenant general. Also that Pol Gen Wirachai should not do anything that would lose his trust.

Earlier, Pol. Lt Gen Surachate linked the shooting of his car to his opposition to a 2-billion-baht biometric identification system. The RTPO purchased the system through the Immigration Bureau.

He also demanded Police Gen Chakthip take responsibility if those responsible for the attack on his car were not arrested.

Prominent lawyer Sittra Biabangkerd has asked to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to question Pol Gen Chakthip about the procurement of the biometric identification system. Also about plug-in hybrid patrol vehicles bought for the Immigration Bureau.

He alleged that Pol Gen Chakthip approved the procurement. Also that the biometric identification system was inefficient in some areas and that its delivery was long delayed.

Source: The Bangkok Post