Green Travel Thailand

Green Travel Thailand is a website created to provide information on green hotels and accommodations in Thailand together with highlights of Thailand, green travel tips and other useful information. The website is in both Thai and English.

If you are planning to visit Thailand, try finding a green place to stay! Visit http://www.greentravelthailand.com/ to find out more.

EU-ASEAN Cooperation in Sustainable Tourism

Speaker: Mr Richard Werly, European Bureau Chief for Swiss Daily “Le Temps”

Venue:ASEF Conference Room

The European Union is ASEAN’s first overall trading partner and biggest source of foreign direct investments. In 2008, the total trade between EU and ASEAN amounted to € 134.6 billion, and investments from EU to ASEAN have also seen strong growth. With the growing economic partnership, EU and ASEAN have entered into negotiations for an FTA in 2007.Eco-tourism, as a niche sector of Tourism, has been identified as one of the key areas for deeper cooperation.

Thailand, who is eyeing the conclusion of an EU-Thailand FTA, has been sold on the beneficial spillover effects of the FTA on tourism. She is gearing up to explore ways and opportunities for developing sustainable and community-based tourism. As one of the efforts towards developing sustainable eco-tourism, the Thai authorities with the support of UNEP and Greenpeace have commissioned the production of the first guidebook on Ecotourism entitled “Travel Green Thailand”. Besides giving foreign visitors plenty of useful travel advice and tips, the guidebook also highlights the benefits of a stronger EU-ASEAN cooperation in this field of sustainable tourism, importing some of the standards, norms and good practices developed within the European Union. Examples range from “Homestay” accommodation to national parks management.

“Travel Green Thailand” is viewed as a first step of a future Southeast Asian collection of Eco-tourism guidebooks and manuals, making itself a platform for future cooperation between the various stakeholders in the development of a more sustainable, low carbon emissions Tourism. Mr Richard Werly, the main author of “Travel Green Thailand”, will be sharing his insights and perspectives on an area of cooperation that the EU and ASEAN could potentially develop and deepen for sustainable development of the Southeast Asian region.

For registration, visit http://www.eucentre.sg/events.php.

Source: EU Centre

Green Travel Guide to Singapore

The first green travel guide to Singapore is published at Jamble Magazine, a leading green travel site for backpackers. The Green City Guide: Singapore shows eco-friendly attractions, organic food and green accomodation that can be found in Singapore. Some green mentions include:

• Garden tours at the National Library
• Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
• Singapore Botanic Gardens
• Bollywood Veggies
• Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
• Pulau Ubin
• Hostel One 66
• Green roof at NTU’s School of Art, Media and Design

Check out the guide for an excellent introduction to green travel in Singapore. We also recommend interested visitors to check out nature areas and marine biodiversity at the wildsingapore website.