Phuket named best Asian yachting capital

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PHUKET: Phuket, voted as the Best Asian Maritime Capital 2010 in May, will bring in US$306 million in revenue from boating tourists this year, and the number will continue to rise, according to Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, head of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

He said Phuket is also deemed Asia’s best centre for ocean travel, surpassing rivals Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy, according to the Thai News Agency on Friday.

And Bernama reports that statistics from the TAT show growing numbers of affluent maritime travelers with personal yachts visiting the resort province dubbed as the ‘Pearl of the Andaman’.

PR.com
Players and spectators from all over the world are expected to show up for Phuket Amateur Golf Week later this month.

The seven day tournament takes place July 24-30 on four of Thailand’s best championship courses: Blue Canyon Country Club, Loch Palm Golf Club, Phuket Country Club, and the stunning Red Mountain Golf Club.

Both groups and single golfers are welcome to register, and handicap divisions will be determined in the days leading up to the tournament.

Competitors will enjoy private airport transportation as well as private transfers to and from tournament sites.

Caddies and carts will be provided at most tournament venues. Also included is an English speaking hostess for all groups.

Daily prizes will be given, as well as an overall winner announced and awards presented in various categories at the close of the event.

Tournament organizers have also announced a full slate of entertainment throughout the week for golfers and spectators.

Further details available here.

Travel News Gazette
The Pavilions in Phuket is reported to be setting new standards in luxury resort living with its latest expansion.

Opening November 2010, the all-new development comprises 24 pool villas, each one with its own private, fully-equipped spa.

Measuring a spacious 60m², the private spa is an extension of the villa and overlooks an oriental-themed courtyard, complete with a water feature and lush, densely-packed bamboo plants.
The in-villa spa also includes a separate steam shower room.

This latest expansion adds to the existing 25 private retreats now available at The Pavilions Phuket. Built on a former rubber plantation, the 24 new villas comprise six Plantation Pool Penthouses and 18 Plantation Pool Pavilions.

Access to the villas will be by a cable-driven funicular with panoramic views over Phuket.

PRlog.org
The Phuket International Academy (PIA) Day School has recently appointed Kanittha Suksawaschon as the Director of School Operations.

Ms Kanittha holds a Bachelors Degree in Education and a Masters in Educational Administration.

Prior to her current appointment, Ms Kanittha was a Thai teacher for bi-lingual and foreign students for two years.

During her 13 years of experience in four international schools, she has held the position of Executive Secretary to the Headmaster, Thai Principal, Deputy Head, and Head of Academic Administration.

She also was an exchange teacher with AFS in North Carolina, USA for 1 year.

She is certified by ISAT and approved by the Teachers Council of Thailand to be an instructor in the Thai Culture and Professional Ethics Course for International School Teachers.

The Nation
The government should play little or no role in reform of the mass media, but should support self- and co-regulation, a symposium was told yesterday.

“Is [media reform] a role supposed to be played by the state? How about allowing society to help out instead? It’s very dangerous [to allow the government to join in the process] because the government has a stake in it and is a party to the conflicts,” said Vicharn Uen-ok, a representative from the National Federation of Community Radio.

Over the past months under the emergency decree, the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation had gathered a bumper crop of broadcasting equipment from community radio stations after falsely claiming that some of them relayed audio from red-shirt or yellow-shirt television stations, he said.

Vicharn said he was neither a red nor a yellow shirt, but that after listening to some red-shirt broadcasts from Rajdamnoen Avenue and the Rajprasong intersection, he now understood the plight of the red shirts and poor people better.

Thepchai Yong, director of TPBS and former group editor at The Nation, said he thought the red-shirt media were not genuine mass media because they incite violence and hatred.

Nevertheless, Thepchai agreed with Vicharn that the government should stay as far away as possible from trying to reform the media.

Media co-regulation, involving consumers and independent organisations, could help restore the trust that the mainstream media had lostm he said.

“The mass media always says ‘we speak for society’, so we must allow society to play a part in regulating us,” Thepchai said.

Media reformist Supinya Klangnarong expressed concern at the growing number of websites blocked by the government and asked whether Thailand was following the Chinese model of Internet censorship.

With more and more Thais gaining access to the Internet every day, it would become impossible to put tens of thousands of people behind bars for allegedly posting something online that is a ‘threat to national security’, the usual excuse invoked by successive Thai governments for blocking websites whose content might pose a potential threat to the government itself.

— Gazette Editors