Business
PIMEX boosts marine-triangle tourism

PHUKET: At the forefront of Asia’s growing marine leisure industry, Phuket island is one of the top five cruising destinations in the world, and lies in the heart of the emerging ‘Andaman Marine Triangle’.
Consisting of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi provinces, the Andaman Marine Triangle is home to some of the most stunning sailing grounds in the world.
Indeed, the natural attractions and associated marine leisure industry, is the single largest asset for the area’s tourism industry.
Highlighting the industry’s rich offerings is Asia’s largest in-water boat show, the Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) – this year’s event be held from March 29 to April 1 at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina on the island’s east coast.
PIMEX plays an integral role in creating and stimulating demand for marine products and services in Asia. Over 5,500 visitors attended the 2011 show to view the US$ 100 million of boats on display, as well as a magnitude of other marine and lifestyle offerings.
PIMEX connects buyers with sellers in the marine and luxury lifestyle space, and with the largest in-water display in the region, allows potential buyers to view boats first hand. International buyers often choose to leave their boats in Phuket’s marinas, so they can enjoy the facilities and surrounding cruising grounds at their leisure.
The trend of marina growth can be seen expanding from Phuket to other parts in the Andaman Marine Triangle. Namely, there are two new marinas in Krabi including the Krabi Boat Lagoon and Krabi River View, in addition to one more, the Port Takola Marina in the pipeline, adding almost 400 berths to the triangle, upon completion.
Over one billion baht of marina infrastructure development spending is expected in the Andaman Marine Triangle over the next five years.
As marinas in the Asian region are filling up. PIMEX is positioned as a key marketing and promotional tool for Phuket and beyond, helping to position the Andaman Marine Triangle as the marine leisure playground of Asia.
Both international and domestic markets are proving significant.
“We welcomed over 15 visitor nationalities last year, and of particular interest was the growing numbers of Russians and Chinese. A number of exhibitors noted a growing trend of Thais showing interest in buying into the marine leisure lifestyle,” commented Show Director, Andy Dowden.
“We are seeing more interest in exhibitors from China, Australia and New Zealand in particular this year. PIMEX has become the boat show in Asia to showcase boats, marine and lifestyle products to a large international audience,” added Dowden.
Targeting high net worth individuals and marine leisure enthusiasts, top international boat brands will be on display as well as leading marine brands and lifestyle products including luxury real estate and marina developments.
Phuket is the gateway to the Andaman Marine Triangle with more than 200 direct international flights weekly from major tourist markets in Asia and Europe. The three provinces share the same coastline and marine environment.Together they have become the marine playground for the rich and famous, wealthy, celebrities, and tourists from around the world.
With its long established and well developed infrastructure, Phuket holds a pivotal position in the Andaman Marine Triangle, and is home to four world-class marinas with a capacity of over 750 boats.
As reported by Channel News Asia: “The amount of private wealth in Asia is estimated to triple to US$16 trillion by 2015, according to Swiss private bank Julius Baer’s annual wealth report done jointly with CLSA.”
It is this growth in regional wealth, combined with the desire of boat owners wanting to relocate from traditional cruising grounds, that continues to fuel the growth of the marine leisure industry in the region.
In line with this growth, large-scale marine infrastructure in Phuket continues to develop. Further investment by established Phuket marinas is expected to be over 500 million baht, and a likely expansion of berth capacity by more than 20% over the next five years.
For more information, visit www.phuketboatshow.com.
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Business
Governments & old media versus social media – who will win? | VIDEO

We look at the recent changes made by the Australian and Indian governments to except control over the world’s biggest social media platforms. India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social. There is now an open battle between the rise of social media platforms and the governments and ‘old’ media that have been able to maintain a certain level of control over the ‘message’ for the last century. Who will win?
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told. The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Business
The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO

“The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.”
India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social.
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The companies are also being made to publish a compliance report each month with details about how many complaints they’ve received and the action they took.
They’ll also be required to remove ‘some’ types of content including “full or partial nudity,” any “sexual act” or “impersonations including morphed images”
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told.
The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Business
Turbulence ahead for Thailand’s aviation industry | VIDEO

When the airlines, in particular, were asking the government to put their hands in their pockets for some relief funding in August last year, it was genuinely thought that international tourists would be coming back for the high season in December and January. At the very least local tourists and expats would head back to the skies over the traditional holiday break. And surely the Chinese would be back for Chinese New Year?
As we know now, none of that happened. A resurge in cases started just south of Bangkok on December 20 last year, just before Christmas, kicking off another round of restrictions, pretty much killing off any possibility of a high season ‘bump’ for the tourist industry. Airlines slashed flights from their schedule, and hotels, which had dusted off their reception desks for the surge of tourists, shut their doors again.
Domestically, the hotel business saw 6 million room nights in the government’s latest stimulus campaign fully redeemed. But the air ticket quota of 2 million seats still has over 1.3 million seats unused. Local tourists mostly skipped flights and opted for destinations within driving distance of their homes.
As for international tourism… well that still seems months or years away, even now.
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