 The hotel chain Best Western will now manage the Allamanda Condo Hotel, and this will be re-branded as the Best Western Laguna Phuket Resort. There will be a re-launch of the hotel by October 2009. Other Best Western hotels on the island are at Bang Tao Beach, Pa Khlok, Karon and there are plans for a new hotel coming up in Patong Beach. Source: More links of interest: Labels: bangtao beach, hotels Read more of this blog entry!
 Local Phuket real estate blog thephuketsinsider.com published an opinion piece on the latest outrage about an article in the Bangkok Post saying that foreigners are in control of 90% of the beachfront land of Phuket -- in an illegal and sneaky way. The numbers seem to come originally from a research report by the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, but local media has been reporting that -- besides a general concern on nominee issues -- actually no such concrete number is mentioned anywhere in this report. From the Phuket Insider article: The front page story in today’s Bangkok Post which quotes a leading research body as saying foreigners own 90% of Phuket's beach front land has certainly struck a sour note against foreign ownership of land in Thailand.
The study, which was put together by the Thailand Research Fund, quotes a professor from Sukhothai Thammathirat University who says these holdings are lodged with Thai nominees. (...)
It’s disappointing to see such a one-sided story hit page one of the Bangkok Post as it's clearly sensationalist. It appears that no facts or supporting documents have been presented; that there have been no hands-on investigations by Post journalists; and that no effort was made to obtain comments from foreigners with an interest in the Thai property industry. The story takes us back about two years, to the days when the Foreign Business Act plunged the nation's property business into a serious flattening of demand.
Examining the claims made in the report, it has to be noted that there is, in fact, little beach front land available in Phuket as a large portion of the island's coasts are rimmed by roads, such as in Patong and Karon. At Bangtao, Laguna Phuket has legal title to its large-scale land holdings through the Thai Government’s Board of Investment scheme. In Mai Khao, Anantara and Marriott are owned by the Thai-listed Minor Group.
Locally-owned hotels such as the Kata Thani, Thavorn, Sri Panwa and Sala occupy considerable areas. Even more noteworthy is the expansive Sirinath National Park which covers much of the west coast, pre-empting land ownership by anyone – Thais and foreigners alike.
The type of tabloid sensationalism in today's Post will only further hamper efforts to encourage foreign investment during the current recession and property downturn. If there is substance in the theme of the report, the Post should publish evidence to support the 90% foreign ownership claim and give a bit of background on the foreigners and their nominees. Surely, that would be far better than inflaming an issue which only damages the country's reputation amongst the investment community.  One comment in the PhuketWan Analysis pretty much sums it up what foreigners living here in Thailand think about this: Why is it that the Thais want to have their cake, eat it and expect foreigners to pay for it? It's about time things changed ... one way or another.
The Thais need to stand back and make a firm decision. Do they change the FBA and Property Laws to allow sensible ownership of what WE pay for or do they make it so that foreign ownership is forbidden under any circumstances.
The trouble is, while the Thais do not like foreigners owning anything, it is a clear fact that without foreign investment the country could simply not survive. The draconian laws and discriminatory practices needs to stop if this country is to move forward as a democracy.
I, and every other foreigner is tired of listening to the Thais moan about foreigners owning land and businesses ... who sold it to us? Who benefited from the sale? How many rich Thais are there who made their money from foreigners? ... the Thais have never had it so good and with the right passage forward they can have so much more. Sources: More information: Labels: realestate Read more of this blog entry!
 The current string of monsoon storms have rained on the holiday of many. But not only holiday-makers on Phuket have been inconvenienced, larger calamity has hit a bulk-carrier ship transporting millions of baht worth of teak from Burma; it sank just off the coast of nearby Phang Nga province. All crew was able to escape in a life raft. From local media: A Thai bulk-carrier ship transporting millions of baht worth of teak from Burma sank in the Andaman Sea just off Phang Nga province on Sunday. All crew on board the Chart 1 managed to escape on inflatable rafts.
Vice Admiral Narong Tesvisarn, Commander of The Third Naval Area Command in Phang Nga, received a distress call from the crew of Chart 1 just after 7am on August 23. The distress call said the crew were in need of urgent rescue from their sinking ship.
The Thai Navy vessel Tor.214 responded and located the vessel in rough seas still afloat, approximately 5.3 nautical miles from the Phang Nga Naval Base, roughly 55km north of Phuket.
Chart 1 was in the process of transporting 1,200 teak logs in its 3,200-tonne hold from Burma to its final destination in Vietnam.
The old ship was supposed to take a well-known nautical route from Burma, heading across the Andaman Sea, down through the Straits of Malacca and then on to Vietnam. However, the bulk-carrier encountered problems not far from Thailand’s coast, where rough seas and severe weather battered the ship, causing multiple leaks in its hull.
Water also leaked into the engine room and began to sink the vessel. Fearing the ship would sink, the captain alerted the navy, who arrived on the scene within the hour.
By 9.30am, all crew members were safely transported via life rafts from their stricken vessel onto the Thai Navy rescue boat.
The crew comprised seven Thai nationals, including the captain, four Indonesians, and five Burmese, who looked weary and soaked as they watched their vessel sink from the safety of the navy boat.
All crew members were taken to Phang Nga Naval Hospital, most suffering from mild shock and early signs of hypothermia.
On the morning of August 23, the Southern Meteorological Center issued a weather warning for Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Trang and Satun as they were expecting 35 kph winds and two-meter waves. Chart 1 may not have received the weather report.
Following the incident, the Third Naval Area Command marked the site where the boat sank and navy divers visited the site yesterday.
Vice Admiral Narong said recovery of the vessel would have to wait for confirmation of an insurance payout for salvaging the ship. “We are worried about the environmental implications of the sunken ship and the prospect of oil and cargo being released from it, causing problems for the environment,” he said. Source: Labels: august, weather Read more of this blog entry!
These are some shots of Phi Phi Don during high season going along from Phi Phi Long Beach round the south east corner of the island before Loh Modee. Phi Phi can be reached by ferry in only 45 minutes form Phuket Island and is one of the most popular daytrip destinations from there.   Twitter on Phi Phi Island and related issues: Labels: phi phi island Read more of this blog entry!
 Just a few days ago, we reported that Thai AirAsia will start new direct flight routes to Phuket from various cities of the region by end of the year. Now The Nation posts, that Jetstar Asia also announced the expansion of their Thailand services with a new double daily Singapore to Phuket flight at the end of September, in addition to Jetstar Asia's existing twice daily A320 operations between Singapore and Bangkok and Jetstar Australia's services between Sydney and Phuket. Jetstar Asia and Valuair Chief Executive Officer Ms Chong Phit Lian said the new services were part of the carrier's next strategic stage to build its low fares services across Southeast Asia under the Jetstar brand. Phuket will become our 18th destination from Singapore and provides not only Singaporeans low fares access to this popular Thai destination but will work well for passengers traveling through Singapore from Australia or other parts of the Jetstar network and for Qantas interline passengers traveling from Europe. Jetstar's third daily Singapore-Bangkok service will operate as a middle of the day service, complimenting Jetstar's existing early morning and evening schedule. Labels: flights, transport Read more of this blog entry!
 As local media reported, Thai AirAsia will begin direct flight services to Phuket from several new major cities in the region starting by the end of the year. AirAsia will base five aircraft at Phuket International Airport as part of its plan to establish Phuket as an aviation hub, Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld told a press conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel last week.
The cities include Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City and Chiang Mai. The first of the new flights will begin in November. In related news, the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) is pushing Thai Airways International (THAI) to launch a direct flight to Singapore and a twice-weekly Frankfurt to Phuket route, either directly or via Bangkok. Thai Airways currently offers direct service to Phuket only from Hong Kong, Narita Airport in Japan, and Perth, Australia. More information: Labels: flights, transport Read more of this blog entry!
The One Day Tour to Phi Phi Island is a classic trip from Phuket and very popular. It can be seen promoted all over the beach resorts in Phuket and Krabi, but it is from Phuket where you see this the most.   phi-phi.com has some great image galleries of this one day tour to Phi Phi trip and care should be taken to choose the right boat and package as they can vary wildly. There are so many options here I will not mention them yet and see what reponse the general public gives but there is a lot of useful information at the Phi Phi transfer page. See more galleries here: Labels: phi phi island Read more of this blog entry!
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