News
Thailand Celebrates 10 Million Tourist Arrivals for 2022

On Saturday, eight airports and two immigration checkpoints in Thailand held celebrations to welcome foreign visitors as the country recorded 10 million foreign tourist arrivals for the year.
The Tourism and Sports Ministry organized the “Amazing Thailand 10 Million Celebrations” event to highlight the industry’s steady recovery following a Covid-induced downturn that lasted more than two years.
Local dignitaries and tourism business leaders gathered at all seven international airports — Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, U-Tapao Rayong-Pataya, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Krabi, and Samui — as well as the Sadao and Nong Khai border checkpoints.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was at Suvarnabhumi airport, where two passengers from Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV 846 from Riyadh, who arrived at 3pm, were chosen for 200,000 baht in prizes to commemorate the 10-million mark.
In a speech, Gen Prayut said, “The sky is open.”
“We want to reassure people that Thailand is still one of the (top) tourist destinations in the world.”
At 11.38 a.m., an Azur Air charter flight from Moscow carrying 336 passengers touched down at U-Tapao Rayong-Pattaya international airport. Another Azur Air charter from Novosibirsk, Russia, arrived 14 minutes later.
The Russian tourists were greeted and given souvenirs by Chon Buri governor Thawatchai Srithong, Rayong deputy governor Pirun Hemarak, and senior officials from the airport and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Governor Narong Woonciew led representatives from the public and private sectors in welcoming 722 visitors from the United Kingdom, India, and South Korea to Phuket.
Thailand welcomed 40 million foreign tourists in 2019, generating approximately 2 trillion baht in revenue for the country prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The majority of visitors to the country arrived in the second half of the year, as Covid restrictions were gradually eased. The 500 billion baht spent by the 10 million visitors as of Saturday is estimated to be 500 billion baht, or 50,000 baht per person per trip.
The TAT anticipates 311,000 Russian arrivals this year, generating 24 billion baht. Total international arrivals are expected to reach around 20 million by 2023.
According to the TAT, 857,930 Indian tourists have visited the country so far this year, with an average stay of 7.43 nights per person and an average spending of 40,000 baht.
It has 385,421 visitors from the United Kingdom, with an average stay of 16-18 nights and spending of 49,000 baht per trip. Despite the positive mood this month, the TAT is cautious about the tourism outlook for next year.
It predicted a slowdown in the second quarter of next year, following the current high season, because there will be no more pent-up flight demand, which has fueled the market this year.
Meanwhile, the winter holiday season and a hard sales push in December are expected to be the final push for local tourism operators to increase average occupancy to 50% this year, which is still significantly lower than the 69.5% average posted in 2019.
According to Thapanee Kiatphaibool, deputy governor for domestic marketing at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), there were 219 million local trips, including one-day trips, between January and November, generating 800 billion baht. Overnight stays accounted for 160 million of that total, contributing to an average occupancy rate of 48%.
During a meeting with local tourism operators led by the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), Ms Thapanee stated that a large promotional fair and several holidays this month should help stimulate local demand and accelerate average occupancy to 50%, a level that could help hoteliers avoid losses.
The cabinet postponed the approval of the new phase of the local stimulus campaign called “We Travel Together” this week, pushing it to December 20.
While waiting for that scheme, she stated that the agency and tourism operators agreed to create their own hard-sell promotional event called Amazing Thailand Travel Fair 2022, which will take place from December 15 to 18 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center and will combine a consumer fair and business matching events to promote meetings and incentive travel.
Ms Thapanee stated that hotels and tour operators are planning to offer up to 70% discounts to domestic visitors during the four-day show, which is expected to attract at least 40,000 visitors and generate approximately 500 million baht.
“Based on increased domestic flights, particularly to northern destinations such as Chiang Mai, December should be the best month for local tourism this year. Each region has planned a variety of sports, cultural, and entertainment events to entice visitors during the upcoming holiday season “She stated.
Tourism in the South generated the most revenue in the first 11 months of this year, totaling 380 billion baht from 34.2 million local trips, followed by the central region, which generated 269 billion baht from 75.4 million local trips, and the eastern region, which generated 44.4 million local trips and contributed 253 billion baht.
Bangkok, Chon Buri, Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Ayutthaya were the most popular provinces.
Ms Thapanee stated that if the fair is a success, the two organizations may make it an annual event by rescheduling the organizing period to coincide with Thailand Travel Mart Plus, which focuses on inbound tourism.
Air Canada Begins Non-Stop Flights From Vancouver to Thailand
Air Canada Begins Non-Stop Flights From Vancouver to Thailand

News
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Washington — Trump Media, The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.
The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.
The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.
The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.
Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.
Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.
The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.
The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.
SOURCE | AP
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
SEE ALSO:
Could Last-Minute Surprises Derail Kamala Harris’ Campaign? “Nostradamus” Explains the US Poll.
-
News4 years ago
Let’s Know About Ultra High Net Worth Individual
-
Entertainment2 years ago
Mabelle Prior: The Voice of Hope, Resilience, and Diversity Inspiring Generations
-
News11 years ago
Enviromental Groups Tell Mekong Leaders Lao Dam Evaluation Process Flawed
-
Health4 years ago
How Much Ivermectin Should You Take?
-
Tech2 years ago
Top Forex Brokers of 2023: Reviews and Analysis for Successful Trading
-
Lifestyles3 years ago
Aries Soulmate Signs
-
Entertainment3 years ago
What Should I Do If Disney Plus Keeps Logging Me Out of TV?
-
Health3 years ago
Can I Buy Ivermectin Without A Prescription in the USA?