Phuket News November 2008

by Rungtip Hongjakpet Izmen

Miss France Contestants Coming to Phuket

Miss France contestants 2008

Between November 13 and 21, 2008, Phuket people and tourists will have chance to meet this year’s Miss France contestants before anyone else in the world. The 38 contestants will visit some of the island’s landmarks, including Phrom Thep Cape, Patong and Kata Beach to make a TV show.

This is the first time the island has welcomed Miss France contestants. For more information contact the Tourism Authority of Thailand office at Tel: 076-212213.

Informa Yacht Group Acquire Pimex

The Informa Yacht Group (IYG) has acquired The Phuket International Marine Expo (Pimex), it was recently announced by Will Morris, Managing Director of IYG and Andy Dowden, MD of Andaman Marine Consultants (AMC). Since its launch in 2003, Pimex has established itself as the largest boat show in Southeast Asia, helping to earn Phuket international recognition as the top cruising and boating destination in Asia. AMC, which founded Pimex, will continue to manage the event. IYG is part of Informa PLC, the leading international provider of specialist information and services for the academic, scientific, professional and business communities.

Informa organizes more than 10,000 events every year, has over 150 offices in more than 40 countries and employs 7,500 staff around the world. It owns a number of leading marine events including the Monaco Yacht Show, the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show and the Mediterranean Workboat Show. Mr Morris, said, “We are really excited about the future of the marine industry in the region, and we hope that our experience and considerable network will propel Pimex to new heights and ensure that it is positioned to serve all aspects of this rapidly growing market.”

Phuket To Have Two Convention Centres

Marquee

For something like 20 years there has been discussion about establishing an international conference centre in Phuket to attract meeting, incentives, conference and exhibition (Mice) business to the island. Despite a great deal of talk by the government, there has been no action to speak of, so two major Phuket companies have now decided that they have waited long enough and will go ahead without government involvement.

Royal Phuket Marina developer Gulu Lalvani announced in August that his company, together with Informa will create a 2,500-square-metre convention centre in the marina, to be called the Royal Phuket Marina Exhibition & Conference Centre. Noting that the centre will be three times larger than any existing exhibition facility on the island, Mr Lavlani said that he expects it to host one or two high-profile events every month.

The centre is scheduled to open in December 2008 with the Phuket International Marine Expo as its first customer. Meanwhile, in early October, Laguna Phuket announced plans to erect “Latitude”, a 1,500-square-metre marquee for the staging of events. Built on a concrete base and designed to offer an air-conditioned all-weather venue, it will have the capacity to seat 1,500 people. Latitude’s modular design will allow the internal space to be configured to suit the needs of any Mice group, whether large or small.

Latitude will be erected in Laguna Phuket, in the park opposite Canal Shopping Village, next to the lagoon that separates the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket and the Laguna Beach Resort. The marquee is expected to be fully operational in the second quarter of 2009.

Tiger Airways Doubles Flights To Phuket

Just two days after the fourth anniversary of Tiger Airways’ maiden flight to Bangkok, the airline announced that it would increase flights between Singapore and Bangkok to three times a day and between Singapore and Phuket to two flights a day from October 26. The additional 28 flights raise Tiger’s service between the two countries to 70 flights a week. Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore, said, “Tiger Airways continues to ramp up flight frequencies to popular travel destinations to provide more flexibility in passengers’ choice of flight schedules.”

Flights to Thailand with Tiger sell for as little as S$19.99 (excluding taxes and fees). The increased service to Phuket means that travellers have more choice and flexibility for a “fly and flop” holiday. Travellers can fly in the morning or evening to make the most of their holiday with the minimum of fuss.

Hong Kong Express Launches Phuket Service

Hong Kong Express Airways continues to expand its line-up of routes across Asia with the addition of four new popular destinations, launched in September and October. The destinations are Phuket in Thailand, Denpasar in Indonesia, Osaka in Japan and Manila in the Philippines. The service to Phuket was launched on September 10, with flights every Wednesday and Sunday. Monday and Tuesday flights were added from October 13.

The twice-weekly service to Denpasar was launched on September 11, expanded to four flights a week from mid-October. Manila and Osaka are served by daily flights. The airline noted that it planned to review flight timetables at the end of October.

Military Aircraft To Form Artificial Reef

Douglas C-47 Skytrain ready to dive

November 29 has been set as the date to sink ten decommissioned Thai military aircraft into Bangtao Bay. The four Douglas C-47 Skytrain military transport aircraft and six Sikorsky S-58T helicopters arrived in Phuket from Lopburi military base in early 2008.

The idea is to arrange them on the seabed to create an artificial reef, the largest in Thailand, acting as an underwater attraction for recreational divers. All the aircraft are made primarily from aluminum, which rots more slowly in sea water than other metals, making them suitable for this propose, one of the organizers explained.

To make sure that tides and currents will not move the new reef, each C-47 will be anchored by five concrete blocks, with four blocks each holding the helicopters in place. The project was initiated about four years ago with a budget of 4 million baht. There will be a grand opening ceremony on November 29 in the Bangtao Beach area with activities including a live concert sponsored by Sony Music and an exhibition about the history of the aircraft. See also our story...

Phuket Gets Waves Of English Radio

Traditionally, Phuket’s radio stations have been aimed squarely at local people, but not so long ago the government relaxed broadcasting laws, ushering in a wave of new stations for a variety of tastes. One of the first to put new stations on the air was The Bulletin Company, which owns two radio stations – FM 90.5 and FM 95.0, both broadcasting primarily in English but without neglecting the large Thai audience.

Blue Wave 90.5 broadcasts easy-listening and relaxing music and is a good source of local information as well as relaying news from consulates and embassies. B 95 aims for a younger crowd and features a Saturday afternoon chart countdown along with shows such as 'Strawberry Sunday' and the early evening 'Drivetime'. It's the station to tune into if you need a dose of Hip-Hop, Rap and UK and US chart hits along with celebrity gossip.

“We intend to bring a constructive difference to our target audiences in Phuket and the Andaman Region as well as the opportunity for business operators to reach out and advertise via our communication channels. Our music concept and information is the core difference from others in this market.” Sasithorn Chantarklum, the Bulletin Company's General Manager reveals. For more information, please contact Tel: +66 (0) 81 612 7767.

Another new English station, rather smaller in scale, is a community radio station in Patong called PCN FM 102 MHz. It is run by Bangkok-based Real Time Co. The station, broadcasting non-stop, is aimed at expats aged between 45 and 60 living in the Patong area. Its staples are ’60s to ’80s music, along with relaxing contemporary numbers.

“We don’t have a full-time DJ at the station because we use a computer program that allows us to produce the show in Bangkok and also allows friends from other parts of the world to contribute as well,” explained Apichaat Plubruekan of Real Time. For more information, please call Tel: +66 (0) 81 575 7101 or send email to: pcnfm102@gmail.com

Finally there’s the new Phuket Island Radio at 91.5 FM, which caters for tourists but has also, according to station boss Byron Jones, picked up quite a following among local Thais. Different days see different tastes addressed. On Mondays from 7 to 9 pm, it’s solid Motown; on Wednesdays at the same time it’s heavy rock music; Friday evenings are for funk and on Saturdays, starting at midday, the station plans to introduce three hours of sports reporting and analysis interspersed with music.

The stalwart of the station is “DJ Doris” who, oddly, sounds like a feller from Glasgow and who is on air every day from midday to 3 pm with “everything from Sinatra to the Scissor Sisters”. You can hear 91.5 mainly in Patong. For enquiries or to ask for requests, call Tel: +66 (0) 8 9000 4040.

Hotel School & Monkey Islands Proposed For Phuket

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit recently received proposals for two new ideas for the island: an international hotel school and a sanctuary for monkeys from around the world. The hotel school idea was presented by Lothar Schudt, a Swiss national and long-term Phuket resident, representing Orion Hotel Schools, which already has one school in Switzerland, one in New Zealand, two in Australia and two in China.

The schools offer hospitality and tourism industry education to diploma, postgraduate and master’s degree levels. Thailand has no international hotel schools, Mr Schudt pointed out, and with the number of tourist increasing, it is the time to consider setting one up. The Governor said he was in favour of the idea and would support it in any way he could. The idea is still in its infancy; Mr Schudt is looking for strong Thai partners and needs to discuss the proposal in detail with the directors of Orion Hotel Schools in Australia before moving ahead.

The second proposal was submitted to Governor Niran by Tony Blignaut and Ronald Derek Taurog from South Africa. The pair propose to use Koh Aew and Koh Tanan, to the southeast of Phuket, as centres for conservation of primate species and other wildlife, to increase environmental awareness and to support Phuket’s tourism industry. Mr Blignaut and his partner already operate the highly successful Monkeyland and Birds on Eden sanctuaries in South Africa’s Plettenberg Bay, which opened in 1998 and have since become major tourist attractions. The Governor said he welcomed the idea but advised the pair to consult with local government bodies responsible for the islands.

Thailand Travel Fair

The Thai International Travel Fair 2009 is scheduled to take place from February 26 to March 1, 2009, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok. Regarded as one of the country’s biggest international travel shows, it is expected to attract more than 1,000 exhibitors. The fair will feature special offers such as tour and hotel packages, air tickets and car rentals at special prices.

There will also be a children’s zone created by the world famous Hong Kong Disneyland theme park. This event is being organized by the Krungthai Card Public Co, the Thai Travel Agents Association, the Association of Domestic Travel and Thai Amadeus. The fair is expected to attract around 700,000 visitors, spending collectively more than 800 million Baht. For more information, send e-mail to ktc_pr@ktc.co.th

By Rungtip Hongjakpet Izmen

Hotel Quick Finder

Location :
Hotel :
Check In :

for night(s)
Check Out :

Rooms : Adults : Children :

Hotel Quick Finder

Area
From

options

Home