News and more

6TH KOH SAMUI REGATTA 27TH MAY-2ND JUNE 2007

With one month to go, confirmed and provisional entries, including Jelik, Hi Fi, Abraxas, FfreeFire, Foxy Lady III, Happy Endings, Mandrake, Yasooda and Panic!, have been received by the organisers. Approximately 30 yachts are expected to participate. Full information is available from www.samuiregatta.com

THAILAND TOPS POLL AS NO. 1 DESTINATION

A survey, conducted by Visa International Asia Pacific and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), found that 52 per cent of respondents were considering Asia as their next travel destination and Thailand was again rated the No-1 destination on travellers' holiday lists.
At least half of the respondents in each market surveyed chose Thailand as their most likely holiday spot despite international media attention on Thailand's civil unrest in the weeks before the survey was conducted. They emphasised the country's reputation as a relaxing place where visitors could enjoy the local culture, natural beauty and friendly people.
The survey, called "Asia Travel Intentions 2007", questioned more than 5,000 international travellers from 10 key travel markets around the world and examined their travel intentions, as well as the drivers of and barriers to their travel. Around two-thirds of those surveyed had already visited Asia, and 47 per cent had been to Thailand before.

NEW SAMUI AIRPORT TERMINAL

Designed to look and feel like a tropical resort, the new terminal is a low-rise development with thatched roofs, palm-tree pillars, and wooden and rattan walls in an open-air layout that blends with its coconut-plantation surroundings.
Opening soon, the terminal will almost triple the passenger-handling capacity of the privately owned airport to three million a year, from around 1.3 million now.

THAILAND TOURISM STATS

13,821,802 international tourists arrived in 2006, slightly over the target of 13.8 million, and a 20.01% growth over 2005.
Malaysians topped the list with 1,591,328 tourists mostly arriving by land, followed by Japanese at just over 1.3 million, Koreans with just over 1 million, Chinese with about 950,000, then British at 850,000 ahead of Americans, Singaporeans, Australians, and Germans.
All other nationalities were less than 500,000 arrivals. The nationalities with the highest growths were Saudi Arabians at 99%, Russians at 83%, East Europeans at 54% and Egyptians at 51% and the rest were less than 50%.

Announced by TAT.

NEW CHARTER FLIGHTS
Two new charter flight routes directly linking Surat Thani with Stockholm and Helsinki in the next high tourist season later this year (2007)are expected to boost Nordic tourist numbers by around 85%.
TUI Nordic will operate the services during the upcoming 2007-8 winter schedule, from October 2007 through March 2008, served by Boeing 757 aircraft.
The tour operator will also be introducing a 14-day Surat Thai leisure travel/holiday package featuring the islands of Koh Samui, Phang-ngan and Koh Tao.

FOUR SEASONS IN SAMUI

Opened on February 1st this hotel is the fourth for the Company in Thailand, only a few minutes from the villa.
Set in a hillside location with individual villas stretching right down to the beach in North West Samui, the hotel features Sea food, Thai and Italian food, served either on the beach or high above on the crest of the resort.

PROPERTY PRICES

With property prices half those of Phuket, laid-back Koh Samui is now luring investors.
Sunday Times article Jan 19th
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/overseas/article1293903.ece

KOH SAMUI MUSIC FESTIVAL 2006

The event will be held from the 29th September to the 8th October, the venue being the Coco Blues Company in Chaweng.
The first weekend will feature Blues and related music, with the second weekend aimed at the local population, featuring mainly Thai bands, with a mixed final night on the Sunday. The event is scaled down somewhat this year, with no lakeside performances. Keep an eye on the Official KSMF site for updates.

MOBILE PHONES - 10 DIGITS
All mobile phone numbers are to be 10 digit in September 2006, both new and existing connections.

The number 8 will be added after the first zero of each number. Thus an existing number of "09 1234567" will change to "089 1234567". All local mobile phone operators will launch the 10 digit numbers on a trial basis in July, to facilitate the rapidly increasing demand for new numbers. The non mobile service will remain with 9 digits as long as this remains sufficient to accomodate new users.

THREE SCREEN CINEMA
Major Cineplex Group, the country’s biggest cinema company, is opening a new 3 screen cinema on Samui this May at the LotusTesco complex.

SAMUI OVER SONGKRAN

According to reports from the Tourism Authority of Thaialnd (TAT)hotels in Koh Samui recorded occupancy rates of 80-85 per cent during the holiday and Koh Pha Ngan achieved almost full occupancy, the peak time last Thursday coinciding with the island's Full Moon Party.

SAMUI REGATTA

The 5th Samui Tropical Island Regatta is scheduled for the 21st-27th May, 2006. Entry forma are now available.

SINGAPORE FLIGHTS

Bangkok Airways have announced an increase in flights on the Singapore/Samui route to 7 times per week, one each day, effective 18th April 2006. The Company operate Boeing 717-200's on this route.

NEW CINEMA COMPLEX

At last, a cinema complex is said to be opening in a shopping mall near to Tesco Lotus, between Chaweng and Bo Phut. Reputedly the shopping complex will also contain a bowling alley and restaurants.

BANGKOK AIRWAYS OPEN 2005

The Bangkok Airways Open 2005, 13th – 16th October 2005, at The Santiburi Samui Country Club, is building on the success of the inaugural Tournament in 2004 joining The Asian Tour alongside other major tournaments such as: The Japanese Okinawa Open; The Caltex Masters in Singapore; The Carlsberg Malaysian Open; The Asian Open; The Hong Kong Open; and the Volvo Masters Of Asia. There will be 144 golf professionals from all over the Pacific area including players from the Asian PGA Tour, the Japanese Tour, as well as top Thai golfers.

www.bangkokair.com


KOH SAMUI SAILING CLUB - Oct 29-30 2005

Local and visiting sailing enthusiasts are gathering for the third Club Weekend Sailing on 29th and 30th October. Club Sailing events are planned for the last weekend of each month.
www.samuiregatta.com



Samui Sunset Pavilions On Line Luxury Villa Rental