House and home expo opens in Phuket

PHUKET: More than 50 exhibitors from across Thailand today unveiled their products for the first time in Phuket at the opening of the Architect & Engineering Exhibition 2011.

Products on show at the expo, now in its 11th year, run the gamut from construction materials through to custom-made home decor items.

The theme of this year’s A&E expo is “New Phuket Through Visionary Planning”.

“We have brought new-technology construction materials, decoration materials and building maintenance materials to the exhibition because exhibition visitors in Phuket and other provinces in the South do not have time to visit A&E expo in Bangkok,” explained Thanet Triwut, Managing Director of expo organizer Delice Thai.

“We have selected only brand-new technology exhibitors to join the show in Phuket this year,” he added.

Among the new tech products are cooling and heating systems, integrated communications systems for the home, fiber-optic installations, outdoor and indoor furniture, pools and spa systems, as well as pump, valve and water treatment and kitchen systems for hotel and restaurants and high-tech CCTV security systems.

However, securing sales is not the top priority for all exhibitors at the show.

Rati Phandcharuneedhi, Sales Manager for Bangkok-based Ceramica Image, told the Phuket Gazette he was aiming primarily for exposure.

Ceramica Image is a Bangkok-based company that creates custom ceramic art works made to order.

“We are not expecting a lot of sales. We are here because our product uses brand-new technology. We are the first agent in Thailand using this technology from Japan,” said Mr Rati.

“Out target is to just show our products. We will focus sales later when our customer base know us,” he added.

Udom Khamsaongsee, Regional Sales Manager for Philips LED lighting products, is also aiming for exposure over sales.

“We have offices in Bangkok, Haad Yai and Phuket. Our target is not specifically sales. We simply want to show what LED products we offer,” he said.

“This is the first year Philips has joined the A&E expo because the previous venue was not very comfortable for such a big event,” added Mr Udom.

Mr Thanet explained in his opening speech that the new venue was largely due to space constraints at the previous expo site.

“This year the show is at the convention center at Phuket Rajabhat University because the convention center here is larger, in a more convenient location and has more car parking spaces than the previous venue, ” said Mr Thanet.

The show is open from 11am to 8pm daily until July 31.

The Architect & Engineering Exhibition 2011 is sponsored by the Phuket Gazette.

— Chutharat Plerin