Hong Thai Travel Services
Encyclopedia
Hong Thai Travel Services is one of the largest travel agencies in Hong Kong
. It was founded in 1966 and today has employees in more than 30 sales
offices, located in Hong Kong, Macao
, China
(Guangdong Province), United States
, Canada
, Thailand
and Taiwan
.
tickets
and offering services for inbound tourism.
, Hong Kong Island
, Hong Kong.
on one of the company's buses in Manila
, the Philippines, occurred. Twenty-five people, part of a tour group from Hong Kong, were taken hostage on a bus by the gunman, Rolando Mendoza, a former police officer. Eight of them were killed, seven injured while six left the scene unharmed. Mendoza was in the end killed by the police
with a bullet to his head.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. It was founded in 1966 and today has employees in more than 30 sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
offices, located in Hong Kong, Macao
Mação
Mação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(Guangdong Province), United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
History
Hong Thai Travel Services was founded in Hong Kong by Jackie Wong See Sum in 1966. Its primary business was booking of airline tickets, ferryFerry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
tickets
Ticket (admission)
A ticket is a voucher that indicates that one has paid for admission to an event or establishment such as a theatre, movie theater, amusement park, zoo, museum, concert, or other attraction, or permission to travel on a vehicle such as an airliner, train, bus, or boat, typically because one has...
and offering services for inbound tourism.
Headquarters
Since 2002 the company has operated out of its headquarters in 95 QueenswayQueensway, Hong Kong
Queensway is a major road in the Admiralty of Central, Hong Kong. It was originally a section of Queen's Road East to its westmost before the Hong Kong Government separated and renamed it as its present name in 1967...
, Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...
, Hong Kong.
Incidents
On August 23, 2010, a twelve hour long hostage incidentManila hostage crisis
As the Hong Thai Travel Services tour bus was taking on the 25 Hong Kong tourists in front of Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Rolando Mendoza attempted to follow the tourists onto the tour bus, requesting a free ride. When his request was declined by the driver, Mendoza brandished a weapon,...
on one of the company's buses in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, the Philippines, occurred. Twenty-five people, part of a tour group from Hong Kong, were taken hostage on a bus by the gunman, Rolando Mendoza, a former police officer. Eight of them were killed, seven injured while six left the scene unharmed. Mendoza was in the end killed by the police
Philippine National Police
The Philippine National Police is the national police force of the Republic of the Philippines. It is both a national and a local police force in that it does provides all law enforcement services throughout the Philippines...
with a bullet to his head.