Phuketindex.com Magazine Vol.41

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Phuket

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People Focus

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City Focus

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Chef Talk

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The Hoteliers Talk

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EDITOR’S NOTE Phuket

Dear readers,

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In this issue of Phuketindex.com we have many interesting articles for you. Firstly, a new section ‘In the Kitchen’ which features interesting and easy-to-follow recipes along with YouTube links.

We also feature Dr. Alan Wallace whose words could be an inspiration and a guide in your life. We also interview Ravi Chandran, the Managing Director of Laguna Phuket about how through the past three decades Laguna Phuket has contributed greatly towards the island’s success. The key man of Phuket’s Gibbon Rehabilitation Project Thanaphat Payakkaporn shares his opinion about the gibbons’ situation here. Bastian Ballweg, the Executive Chef at Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Naiyang Beach tells us about his six years in Thailand. Get to know about purchasing a diamond with Pimchanok Jivavisitnont, the owner of PIMM GEMS. There’s also an interview with Logan Daley the manager of a new chic hotel Cassia Phuket.

Focus P.10 People

Focus P.31 City

Talk P.52 Chef

P.64 ThTalke Hoteliers

As usual, in this issue we have fabulous things to do for kids. Our recommended activities are in three locations: Maikhao, Patong and Cherngtalay. And for ‘City Focus’ let’s have a look at some ideas from four Phuket hotels to solve the island’s waste problem.

Love yourself & listen to your heart...

Best regards,

Phuketindex.com’s Team

Publisher Guide Vision Limited Editor in Chief Jormnapa Utuchkul Phuketindex.com Team Arnat Utuchkul, Nunghatai Cholchawalit, Sirisawan Hemtanon, Paradorn Promkird Advertising Enquiries dos@guidevision.com Subscription Enquiries subscription@guidevision.com Tel. +66 (0) 99 391 4056, +66 (0) 61 749 9392 www.facebook.com/phuketindex

FOR RESERVATION PLEASE CONTACT :

CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2019 - APRIL 2019

People

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People Focus 10 - Dr. Alan Wallace : American author & expert on Tibetan Buddhism

City Focus 31 - Environmental Solutions

Precious Items 28 - Pimchanok Jivavisitnont The Owner PIMM GEMS

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Chef Talk 52 - Chef Bastian Ballweg Executive Chef Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Naiyang Beach

The Hoteliers Talk 64 - An interview with Logan Daley Hotel Manager of Cassia Phuket

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Restaurant Guide 46 - Acqua Restaurant 48 - Sway With Me Garden Restaurant & Bar 50 - Savoey Seafood

Signature Dish 56 - Wellness Salad

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In The Kitchen 58 - Black Bean Chilli ‘NON’ Carne Bowl - Baked Lobster 59 - Avocado Mango Pomegranate Salad - Andaman Prawns And Mango Salad

Lifestyle & Travel

Kids’ Activities 60 - Fabulous Things to do with kids in Phuket

Business Focus

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22 - Ravi Chandran Managing Director of Laguna Phuket

Property Guide 26 - Luxury Residences for Sale at Baba Beach Club

Charity 40 - Thanaphat Payakkaporn Secretary-General of the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand

Zenith Holidays 44 - The SIS Kata

Social 14 - Photo Albums

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Lifestyle - People Focus

Dr. AlAn WAllAce

AmericAn Author & expert on tibetAn buDDhism

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Lifestyle - People Focus

I’d rather fail at striving for the best thing I can imagine than succeed by striving for something that I know is clearly inferior

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r. Alan Wallace recently visited Phuket and Phuketindex had the opportunity to meet and chat with him one afternoon at Thanyapura Phuket to learn more about his learning and teachings as a renowned expert on Tibetan Buddhism. Dr. Alan Wallace left us some thoughts that we think can inspire you as they do us.

Please tell us the story of your prior successes, challenges, and major responsibilities In term of successes, from early on I became quite fluent in spoken and written Tibetan. Learning how to speak and understand Tibetan opened up many doorways for receiving the wisdom from a great number of truly marvelous Tibetan Lamas. It’s very helpful just having that avenue to a whole civilization and the richness of Buddhism.

As for challenges, I still find it challenging to encounter people, especially people in positions of influence, who should be in the role of serving the public but use it primarily for their own sake. I find it’s difficult not to be judgmental. Some people are very famous and could use their fame in a very helpful way. Instead, they just use it to gain luxury upon luxury. I really feel their behavior is very inappropriate and sometimes expressly inappropriate. But when all is said and done, they are people just like me.

I’m a Buddhist. I follow the teaching of the Buddha and in the Buddha’s discourse on loving kindness of Metta, he said, “Let no one despise anyone anywhere.”

It’s challenging but that’s the challenge I must embrace because I don’t want to be a contemptuous person no matter how other people behave.

For a number of years now, I’ve been spending a lot of time traveling in response to invitations. Rather than doing many teaching classes all over the world for a week or a weekend at a time, I’m moving more towards spending more time in one place and trying to give in-depth training so that people can go much deeper in their own practice and happen on the very deep wisdom of Buddhism and other traditions. So I’m moving more to the contemplative life and away from a very active world life.

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What is your favourite quote? Why? Probably it is a very simple one

by Dalai Lama, “My religion is kindness.” He is a Buddhist no question but has a sense of empathy, brotherhood, sisterhood with Christians, Muslims, and people who have no religion. Yes, I’m a Buddhist but deeper than that my religion is having a good heart. My religion is kindness. He means it and he embodies it. I’ve

MY RELIGION IS KINDNESS Who inspires you the most?

That’s clearly the Dalai Lama! I first met him in late 1971. We had a conversation and it’s probably the most memorable conversation I’ve ever had in my life. I posed a question to him about my own practice and he gave me the wisest answer that you could imagine and it’s stayed with me ever since. I’ve translated for him on many occasions. He has guided me personally in my practice since 1971 and I just find him an utterly extraordinary human being in terms of his complete simplicity and humility but with such tremendous wisdom. He is incredibly knowledgeable but also shares his kindness everywhere he goes. It’s just kind of like an ongoing flow of compassion. So he’s earned my deepest admiration. He’s my Lama, my Guru and he inspires me as he inspires many other people.

seen this in so many occasions that wherever he goes he brings his ongoing spontaneous and effortless kindness. I find that tremendously inspiring.

Then, moving more to the academic side and here is a short phrase from William James, a very wise and deeply philosophical thinker, a fi ne scientist and psychologist but with such an empathy for religious experience. There is one phrase I probably quote more than any other phrases of Western thinkers. He said, “For the moment, what we attend to is reality.”

I just found that to be so true psychologically that attention is always selective. And then this Benedictine monk saying the greatest gift we can give to another person is our attention. These are complimentary statements.

I really take them to heart and try to practice them. www.phuketindex.com

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Lifestyle - People Focus What drains your energy?

How can you reduce or cut this draining out?

Jetlag. Not many things do because whether my energy is drained or not is not up to other people.

It’s not how much work I have; it’s not how many interviews I have. That doesn’t drain my attention.

So if I’m drained it’s because I allow myself to get drained. At the end of the day I feel sleepy. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a whole lot of attachment.

I have some of course, but attachment means expectation. If I have a lot of expectation, I think a lot and that’s draining.

If you could say one thing to your 15-year-old self, what would it be?

I would say what Buddha said to everyone else and also Joseph Campbell, the great writer about the power of myth. What they said was, “follow your bliss”. Follow that which truly makes you happy. Find out what truly makes you happy and follow that. Wealth doesn’t make anybody truly happy. It comes and it goes.

But there are things that truly make one happy.

I kind of made that decision when I was 20. What I did was in a way very reckless because I left Western civilization, leaving all security behind, sacrificing a lot when I bought one-way ticket to India, just doing it because I felt this is what I really feel like. I found fulfillment and that turned out to be the best decision of my life.

So if one really finds what truly makes you happy, I would tell my 15-year-old self not to settle for less and consider your ideals; what is the greatest good that you can imagine and go for that. That’s what I’m doing now. I’d rather fail at striving for the best thing I can imagine than succeed by striving for something that I know is clearly inferior. So I say go for your highest ideal, strive for the highest, find out what really makes you happy. I found with that kind of prioritization, again and again that reality has risen to meet me and the way keeps on opening up. So trust that, trust reality and follow your vision. That’s what I would say.

How does quantum physics reality fit in with Buddhist Philosophy?

Buddhism says you are not an independent entity existing all by yourself. We are not two utterly independent autonomous entities coming in bumping into each other and then, like billiard balls, bouncing off in different directions. It’s a theme of the interdependence, interrelationship between subjects, objects, the world, and the sentient beings inhabiting in the world, they’re all interrelated. This is the central theme.

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Lifestyle - People Focus

[

Non-violence is better than violence and benevolence is better than malevolence.

That’s self-evident

This is not New Age physics. This is very straight forward quantum mechanics.

But when we apply this to our lives then we see my very existence in my pursuit of happiness, my pursuit of freedom from suffering is not independent. The whole idea of existing is one of interdependence and therefore empathy, compassion and loving kindness for all those around us who are suffering. It’s simply a realitybased response. It’s taking the theme of interdependence we find in quantum mechanics and applying that in our daily lives. Then we see wisdom underlying compassion and that’s the essence of all of Buddhism wisdom supporting Dharma.

Tell me something that’s true, that almost nobody agrees with you on My wife and I make the best pizza in Santa Barbara! I say that a bit tongue-in-cheek but it’s also true. We have guests and we serve them. They like it and say it’s a good pizza. But I think we’re only two people on the planet who think our pizzas the tastiest and it is the tastiest for us.

I’m pointing out something that’s a bit goofy but it’s also to show that truths have many layers. There are things that are true for me and are not true for anybody else but they’re still true. It’s just a very local truth and then there are broader truths.

Christians have many truths that they share in common and they say this is really true. That’s fine but then a Buddhist might say that, “well we understand that’s true for you but our view is different and we can respect that.” The Dalai Lama said we should respect all religions but that doesn’t mean that we should try to follow all religions. Follow your own religion but have respect and appreciation for all the others. So there are some truths that are local and then there are other truths that are more universal.

What headline would you like to read in tomorrow’s newspaper?

I would love to read that the heads of states especially all of the very highly developed industrialized countries of the world, all got together and said, “You know we all just woke up. We will shift our vision away from more and more drawing from resources for our short-term benefits. We will make sure that human civilization is not being detrimental to all other species, to the whole ecosphere and that we’re sharing this environment for the sake of all of us. We’ll make short-term sacrifi ces to make sure that the planet we are leaving to our children and future generation is

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even better than the one we received.

We are now being responsible.

We will cherish this earth for the sake of all the sentient beings on it and not follow our present policies of shortsighted stupidity and greed. We’re going to stop that now and we’ll all work together to make it happen.”

That’d be the best headline I could imagine.

If you could share one message with the world, what would it be?

We need to envision a type of ethics that we can all embrace regardless of very different world views but there is a common ground that I think all people of real consciousness who wish to live good lives and to be responsible in this world that we can all share. That is two simple principles of ethics can we agree that we take is as highest priority ‘non-violence’.

That is one half and the other half is ‘benevolence’. It doesn’t necessarily entail religion or any particular belief system but to engage with each other in a spirit of friendliness, of respect, of courtesy and benevolence. Nonviolence is better than violence and benevolence is better than malevolence. That’s self-evident.

Now let’s work together. That would be the message. www.phuketindex.com

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

Angsana Laguna Phuket Appreciation On Saturday 10th November 2018 – Angsana Laguna Phuket held an event titled ‘Angsana Appreciation’ to thank the media, travel agencies, and their business partners. The event included a gala dinner and a ‘Beach Carnival’ at Xana Beach Club with shows, live music and a lucky draw.

Event

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

Press Conference for the 25th Laguna Phuket Triathlon On Saturday 17th November 2018 – Laguna Phuket hosted a pre-race press conference for the 25th Laguna Phuket Triathlon. The press conference was paneled by Prakob Wongmaneerung – Vice Governor of Phuket; Kanokkritika Kritwuttikorn – Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket Office; Kittiphong Sansomboon – Director Brand and Marketing Communication Department, Thai Airways PLC; Ravi Chandran – Managing Director of Laguna Phuket; Rachwin (Koy) Wongviriya – LPT ‘Run for Fun, Run for Kids’ Charity Ambassador, and was also paneled by elite pro athletes; Bart Aernouts (Belgium), Annabel Luxford (Australia), Emma Pallent (United Kingdom) – all competing for US$ 20,000 prize purse – as well as triathlon legend, Belinda Granger (Australia). It also included a donation presentation from LPT Charity Fun Run to the Children First Fund.

Event

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

Michelin Chef Stefano Baiocco Pop-Up @Baba Soul Food Phuket On Friday 7th December 2018 – the Phuketindex. com team attended an eight-course dinner at Baba Soul Food Phuket. Michelin Chef Stefano Baiocco of the legendary Grand Hotel A Villa Feltrinelli in Gargnano, Italy, was there for an exclusive twoweek collaboration with the resort. The concept menu featured dishes prepared with simple, yet high-quality ingredients to be found in any household, kitchen or farm.

Event

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

Shark Release Event with IUCN and Phuket Marriott Merlin Beach On Tuesday 6th December 2018 - Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa, Merlin Beach and IUCN held an event titled Bamboo Shark Release and Reef Clean-Up. The resort teamed up with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, and the Phuket Marine Biological Centre to help restore the wild population of bamboo sharks around Phuket. (FYI: brown-banded bamboo sharks feed on crabs, worms and small fish on the reef. They pose NO threats to humans as they are shy bottom feeders.)

Event

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket On Tuesday 11th December 2018 - Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket held a Christmas Tree Lighting event in the hotel lobby Horizon Lounge.

This year’s performance included songs and a show from the hotel staff.

Event

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

5th Anniversary SLEEP WITH ME HOTEL On Saturday 15th December 2018 – SLEEP WITH ME HOTEL design hotel @ Patong celebrated its 5th anniversary with a Buddhist ceremony in the morning at the hotel and in the afternoon it held a CSR event by donating dog and cat food and offers to clean the Phuket Stray Dog Shelter, Bang Kanoon forest, Thalang (along with Jungceylon Phuket, PKCD, Andafocus, King art advertising and Phuket PRD).

Event

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

Relaunching Party of Ocean Best Restaurant Phuket On Tuesday 18th December the Relaunching Party of Ocean Best Restaurant took place at Patong Beach. Ocean Best Restaurant has recently had a major three-month renovation and is now spankingfresh. The restaurant provides a variety of cuisines – from Thai food to fresh seafood to western dishes, including a chic coffee corner. Ocean Best is open daily from 11.00-24.00.

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Lifestyle - Photo Albums

Igor-Irish and AlexeyRatchathamol’s wedding ceremony Over 100 guests attended the marriage of Igor-Irish and Alexey-Rachathamol, including their parents and friends which took place on Thursday 14th February at Phuket Royal City. It was a memorable Valentine’s Day for the two brothers.

Event

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Lifestyle - Business Focus

Ravi

ChandRan Managing Director of Laguna Phuket

In this issue of Phuketindex.com we are pleased to have the opportunity to interview Khun Ravi Chandran, Managing Director of Laguna Phuket, Asia’s premier destination resort. Laguna Phuket, part of the Banyan Tree Group, has had a long history as an extremely influential resort group in Phuket and recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. During the past three decades Laguna Phuket has contributed greatly towards the island’s success, both economically and in its social development with an active role as a pioneer in sustainability and community development including charity events and organised fundraisers.

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Lifestyle - Business Focus This year, Laguna Phuket will celebrate 25 years o� its pa�ent company, Banyan T�ee G�oup whose journey began with its flagship �eso�t, Banyan T�ee Phuket.

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

What is happening this year at Laguna?

As Asia’s premier destination resort, Laguna Phuket now has 1,500 guest rooms and 30 restaurants spreading across the 7 deluxe hotels comprising Angsana Laguna Phuket, Angsana Villas Resort Phuket, Banyan Tree Phuket, Cassia Phuket, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, Laguna Holiday Club Phuket Resort and Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort, an award-winning 18-hole Laguna Golf Phuket, a XANA Beach Club, worldrenowned Banyan Tree and Angsana spas, a shopping centre, onsite tours operator, large-scale event and meeting venues, luxury villas and residential properties – all spanning 1,000 acres of tropical parkland along a three-kilometre stretch of pristine beach at Bangtao Bay on Phuket’s west coast, in Thailand.

In 2017, we celebrated Laguna Phuket’s 30th anniversary as Asia’s first integrated resort and last year the 25th Laguna Phuket Triathlon.

This year, Banyan Tree Holdings will

mark its 25th anniversary and that of Banyan Tree Phuket, our Group’s first namesake resort, which is opened in the heart of Laguna Phuket in 1994.

Chinese and Russia remained the key tourist arrivals, and these two markets made up a major part of Banyan Tree Phuket and Angsana Laguna Phuket’s room revenue in 2018. The Government’s waiver of visa fees for 21 countries such as India, Eastern European and China assisted greatly to attract more travellers. Our two key hotels benefitted not only from higher occupancies, but also from our guests’ preference of higher room categories resulting in a combined revenue and profit improvement of 3 percent and 8 percent respectively.

On the property sales front, we successfully launched the third phase of our popular and affordable lifestyle apartment product - Cassia Phuket as well as our luxury residences products - Banyan Tree Pool Villas and Angsana Ocean View Residences.

Other segments of our real estate developments such as Laguna Park townhouses continued to sell well.

Our events attract hundreds of thousands of visitors yearly. 2018 saw Laguna Phuket’s National Children’s Day Celebration in January, Laguna Phuket Food & Music Festival in April, Singha Laguna Phuket Open in May, Laguna Phuket Marathon in June, Loy Krathong Festival, Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) and LPT Charity Fun Run in November.

Laguna Phuket has garnered top industry recognitions as Best Sports Event Venue in Thailand (Gold Winner) at the prestigious Sports Industry Awards Asia 2018 (SPIA Asia) and LPT won AsiaTri’s 2018 Best Races in Asia Awards for 3 categories - Best Overall, Best Destination & Most Challenging Triathlon Race: Short Course, last year which highlighted our success in the global sports arena.

These large-scale events also demonstrate Laguna Phuket’s ability to cater for large groups in the MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) segment. We welcomed the biggest corporate groups from overseas in 2012, and have become a preferred MICE venue in the Asia Pacific region ever since. In 2018, we were in conversation with many potential overseas MICE clients and, hope to welcome another major MICE group soon.

Sustainability is one of the key pillars of our business philosophy.

Aimed at creating social benefits in our communities whilst working to

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Lifestyle - Business Focus

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

achieve our business goals, many longterm CSR and community development initiatives have been continuously running such as Laguna Phuket Kindergarten, Mobile Learning Centre, Community Learning Centre, Laguna Phuket Scholarship, Associates Saving Cooperative and Seedlings Phuket.

Laguna Phuket is known as Asia’s premier integrated resort. What do you think are the advantages of this integration?

Our business began more than 30 years ago on a large parcel of polluted abandoned tin mine where large-scale rehabilitation was required before

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Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

any development could start. It required exceptional vision to see what was possible here, and unusual confidence, then, to commit the resources needed to realise the dream to create Laguna Phuket as an integrated destination resort by our three founders – Banyan Tree Holdings Executive Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Banyan Tree Holdings Senior Vice President & Banyan Tree Global Foundation Chairperson Ms Claire Chiang and Senior Vice President Group Chief Designer Mr Ho Kwon Cjan.

The rigorous and dedicated eff ort that was put into rehabilitation of the land where Laguna Phuket is today gives visitors the sense of having stepped into a sanctuary, an exotic hideaway within the tropical island

retreat of Phuket itself. In 1992, LRH received the prestigious International Hotel Association and American Express Environmental Award for its achievement in remediating a toxic site into an international resort and hotel development project, which has now a strong proven record of environmental conservation.

From the outset, the integratedresort concept opens doors to many opportunities. With its total of six lagoons, their connecting canals and three kilometres of amazing beach frontage along the sea, the resorts share an extraordinary amount of waterfront – about 13 kilometres in all. And the lagoons are more than just a scenic extra. What had once been unsightly and polluted craters now serve as the heart of a unique collaboration – as unique

Lifestyle - Business Focus

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

Image Copyright Laguna Phuket

transport routes for the inter-hotel ferries and as an all-season, all-weather venue for dinner cruises, dinghy sailing and canoeing.

Another perk of being an integrated r esort is the r ange o f choice s on offer. Some people want variety and excitement; others want tranquillity.

Laguna Phuket can offer both. And each member hotel, a distinctive world within a world, presents its own special character, so Laguna Phuket as an attractive integrated destination appeals to singles, young couples, families, second honeymooners and seniors alike.

Integration also generates convenience.

Check into any of the seven deluxe resort hotels, and guests can sign for meals or drinks at all of our 30 restaurants and bars. They can use any of the beach facilities, health and fitness centres,

childcare centres or the awardwinning 18-hole Laguna Golf Phuket and Banyan Tree and Angsana Spas.

Transportation between the hotels and facilities is made convenient by shuttle bus or ferryboat throughout the system of scenic lagoons and canals.

What is coming up next at Laguna Phuket?

2019 will be an exciting year for us as we’re looking forward to welcoming more sporting events to elevate our Gold Winner status as Best Sports Event Venue in Thailand.

In February, we hosted the inaugural Thai Fight Phuket at Laguna Grove, our outdoor event venue by the lagoons. We will once again host All Thailand Golf Tour’s Singha

Laguna Phuket Open for the third consecutive year at Laguna Golf Phuket in May, the same month our Greening Community activity will take place. More exciting sporting event opportunities have been knocking on our door recently.

Discussions are underway, and we might be welcoming the obstacle races, water sports and beach volleyball tournaments to our destination resort in the near future.

The rest of the year will unfold with many activities that guests can enjoy and from which Phuket community will benefit.

We will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Banyan Tree Group and Banyan Tree Phuket this year.

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Lifestyle - Property Guide

Luxury Residences for Sale at Baba Beach Club

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ith a prime location on an outstanding stretch of unspoiled beach in the up and coming ‘Greater Phuket’ area, Baba Beach Club is the latest luxury development from the team behind the luxurious Sri Panwa development. Baba Beach Club features 16 hotel suites & villas as well as 24 residential villas. Spread out on a pristine parcel of land, Baba Beach Club encompasses a tropical luxury lifestyle overfl owing with a wide variety of 5-star services.

Baba Beach Club is an ideal luxury resort residence and getaway. The property itself is absolutely stunning, surrounded by lush nature and affording sweeping views across the Andaman Sea. The luxury residences have been designed with fine attention to detail and feature comfortable amenities as well as high value facilities and services.

Baba Beach Club is located on Natai Beach, a short 20 minute drive north of Phuket. Natai Beach is an untouched paradise of white sand beach and verdant natural beauty.

Serene and tropical, the neighborhood is truly perfection.

Baba Beach Club offers up access to a range of key amenities including luxury resorts in Natai such as Aleenta and Akyra Beach Club, the iconic Iniala Beach Club and nearby luxury resorts in Mai Khao Beach such as Sala Resort & Spa, Anantara and JW Marriott Resort & Spa. An array of marinas, golf courses and national parks are also nearby and easily accessible.

Image Copyright Baba Beach Club

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Image Copyright Baba Beach Club

2-Bedroom Baba Pool Villa A spacious, well-designed villa featuring a private swimming pool which wraps around the master bedroom, the 2-Bedroom Baba Pool Villa is a stylish, yet intimate, luxury residence which is both comfortable and serene. Imagine a luxurious private residence with the exquisite hospitality of a boutique resort as this is standard of the 2-Bedroom Baba Pool Villa.

Overlooking the tranquil water garden, the 2-bedroom villa is situated on a land area of approxi-mately 335 Sq.m. and features a spacious living & dining area, a luxurious master bedroom, a gorgeous pool deck and private swimming pool. The price for the 2-Bedroom Baba Pool Villa starts at 29.9 MB and offers an attractive 15% guaranteed yield for 3 years.

Image Copyright Baba Beach Club

Lifestyle

- Property Guide

Image Copyright Baba Beach Club

About Baba Beach Club Image Copyright Baba Beach Club

5-Bedroom Beachfront Villa Comprising a sleek design and stunning architecture, the 5-bedroom Baba Beachfront Villa oozes luxury. Truly a private paradise, the villa is surrounded by lush gardens and verdant tropical plants. Just a few steps away from the soft sands and clear waters of Natai Beach, the villa presents an exceptional investment opportunity.

The massive tropical residence features a modern, contemporary design. The layout of the villa is comfortable and filled with gorgeous open spaces allowing for natural light to flood the villa. Interiors include a spacious kitchen, a large living and dining area, a variety of bathrooms, a maid’s quarters with a private bathroom, a powder room, a luxurious master bedroom and much more.

Choose to relax in the Baba Beachfront Villa’s pool while listening to the waves from the beach rolling in and out as they hit the sand, or take advantage of the sunbathing deck.

The options are endless at this outstanding property, which is an affordable 150 MB.

the swimming pool, and for those with families, there’s even a kid’s swimming pool. Housekeeping and maintenance are readily available, and there is a 24-hour reception and security service at the property.

Space to park a car is also provided, which is highly convenient for those who wish to explore the surrounding area on their own at a leisurely pace.

A chic beach club in a gorgeous location, Baba Beach Club combines Phuket’s iconic Chino Portuguese style and Shanghai Tang’s colorful theme for a modern, energetic atmosphere in a laidback setting. Hip and fun, Baba Beach Club raises the standard for beachfront luxury lifestyle in southern Thailand.

Baba Beach Club features an onsite restaurant & bar as well as a beachfront swimming pool. A wide array of facilities & services are available including a spa and Baba Bike Concierge Service. For those wishing to explore more of the surrounding area, activities such as hiking, yachting, snorkeling and scuba are also available.

For more information about this luxury lifestyle development, please visit: Junfa Real Estate: www.ynjunfa.cn/en Charn Issara: charnissara.com Sri Panwa: www.sripanwa.com

Every villa at Baba Beach Club is fully furnished in a signature tropical contemporary style, and all of the furniture is custom-made. The villas include everything from cutlery to tableware and linens, and the furniture package is part of the selling price.

Facilities and services of the luxury residences include access to the beach club and on-site restaurant & bar, use of the spa & fi tness facilities, Baba Boutique for shopping, and a tropical lagoon garden. Feel free to use

Image Copyright Baba Beach Club

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Lifestyle - Precious Items

PJivavisitnont imchanok The Owner PIMM GEMS

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Lifestyle - Precious Items

My family has been involved in the gold business for many generations; you could go so far as to say they opened the first gold shops in Phuket

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iamonds are valuable possessions, and attractive everybody but let’s face it – they’re expensive! So you should learn a bit about them before making a purchase such as recognising the 4Cs - meaning cut, colour, clarity, and carat weight. Let’s learn more about them with Pimchanok Jivavisitnont, owner of PIMM GEMS.

What inspired you to run this business?

My family has been involved in the gold business for many generations; you

How to Choose a Diamond Step by Step The customers’ budget and their requirements in terms of personal style or a specific look are the initial factor.

Personal taste and needs can vary dramatically from one person to the next with endless options and variations. For example, a customer with a budget of 500,000 baht is able to choose between a 3 carat, L color, VVS diamond or a 1.50

could go so far as to say they opened the first gold shops in Phuket. Growing up in this business and with my father being an expert in gold settings, as well as my mother, my aunts and other customers enthusiastic about all sorts of jewelry, I came to fancy these shiny and sparkling accessories.

After getting married, I had the opportunity to travel abroad more frequently, to see firsthand the advancements in jewelry, including innovations in diamond settings. The ‘Illusion Setting’ involves the technique of displaying a smaller diamond in a precious metal surrounding that has been patterned so that it mimics

carat, D color, VVS diamond. I’m able to provide customers with practical advice so that they can choose the diamond that best fits their needs.

the facets of the diamond, thus creating the “illusion” of a much larger diamond. This technique creates value for smaller diamonds while at the same time lowering the cost for consumers seeking the look of a larger stone. This type of setting requires a high level of skill and craftsmanship and has recently become particularly trendy and popular amongst Hollywood celebrities. Initially, I ordered a variety of Illusion diamonds to wear myself, then friends would see me wearing them and really liked them, and so sprung the beginnings of the business I’m involved in now.

4Cs

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Lifestyle - Precious Items

Diamond Shapes

Fluorescence Affects

In the past, buyers preferred roundshaped diamonds due to their intricate cutting that created a shine and sparkle unlike any other cuts. This demand for round-shaped diamonds made them the most expensive to purchase.

Fluorescence refers to a diamond’s tendency to emit a soft coloured glow when subjected to ultraviolet light. Roughly 30% of diamonds are fluorescent to some degree. Some buyers perceive fluorescence as a defect, but this may not always be the case.

Nowadays, however, fancy shaped diamonds such as princess, tear drops, marquise or heart shapes have increased in popularity due to their unique and contemporary look as well as their reasonable pricing compared to round shaped diamonds.

For example, the fluorescence of a higher colour diamond might create a slight reduction in clarity and make it look somewhat cloudy. On the other hand, fluorescence of lower colour diamonds may increase the clarity of this group and make them look shinier. However, this is not a clear-cut rule and fluorescence will affect each diamond on a case-bycase basis.

Choose the Right Certificate Always buy jewelry from a shop that has a guarantee. If a person is new to diamonds I recommend purchasing diamonds that have been certified by either HRD or GIA, in order to avoid purchasing a fake or one that doesn’t meet the standards they’re being marketed as. Nowadays, these certifi cations are laser-inscribed into the diamond themselves and you can purchase them from a trusted jeweler.

If you are in the market for diamonds please contact us for advice or view the current selection of diamonds by visiting our

pimm_gems Pimm gems

- We accept orders for diamonds of all shapes, sizes and color; with certificate or without.

- We also accept orders for all diamond settings. Our diamonds are VS and above, and we only use new gold.

- Our updated diamond collection is available every month.

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

ENVIRONMENTAL

SOLUTIONS The amount of waste produced Phuket increases exponentially every year. According to Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana the average monthly amount of waste produced from October 2017 through September 2018 was about 925 tons so it’s a serious problem.

Waste is not only an environmental problem, but also an economic headache. How can we change the way we produce and consume so as to lessen the island’s waste problem? Let’s have a look at some ideas from four hotels in Phuket.

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

Wandi PattraWee

director of Marketing coMMunications angsana Laguna Phuket and angsana ViLLas resort Phuket

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

W

e have a mission initiated at the end of 2018, to have in place programs to eliminate singleuse plastics such as straws, bottles and bags and by 2020, to replace disposable plastic items with alternatives. Angsana Laguna Phuket and Angsana Villas Resort Phuket have a waste management project in the concept of ‘Five R’s’ as below:

reduce

recYcLe

refuse

- Focus on specific items: straws, bottles and bags - Replace and find alternatives and reduce consumption

- Look for local opportunities - Understand what types of plastic can, and cannot, be recycled - Source items that can be recycled

- Refuse single use plastics - Refuse packaging - Give opportunities for others to refuse

reMoVe

reuse

- Cleaning communities - Collaborate with others

- Offer reusable alternatives - Donate products not used - Creativity in how to reuse plastics in the hotel

Ban straws and give guests options while explaining why. Not only in the hotel restaurants but in staff canteens too.

In meetings use jugs and glasses only.

We use refillable glass bottles and water fountains for associates. In order to reduce plastic and paper glasses the hotel gives reusable water glasses as a New Year’s gift.

We are one of the leading MICE hotels in Phuket. Most people think that chair covers are important for the events but if the chair already has an attractive design it’s not necessary to use a cover. We have invested in buying new chairs as an alternative choice for customers. Not using chair covers is better for the environment.

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

fhunfhon YangkhaM

director of huMan resources renaissance Phuket resort & sPa

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

M

arriott has announced plans to completely phase out disposable plastic straws and plastic utensils from all locations around the world by July 2019. This plastic straw phase-out supports the ‘We’ pillar to show how we care about the environment and ‘Serve the World’ is one of Marriott’s core values.

The company’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact as part of its sustainability and social impact platform is called ‘Serve 360 - Skip the Straw’.

Renaissance Phuket has implemented many projects to reduce plastic in all areas around the resort

guest areas

Skip the Straw. No plastic straws in the hotel and served only by request in the restaurant with paper straws

Replace plastic bottles in guest rooms and meeting rooms by glass bottles filled with water from the air, this project is reduces plastic bottles by 260,000 items per year

Use LED light bulbs in all area

Paper box and bags for takeaway food/drink from the restaurant – NO plastic bags and cups

associates area

‘No plastic day’ project to encourage our associates to use linen bags and reusable glass, bottles and straws

No plastic spoons, cups and plates in all activities

Our core value – ‘Serve the World’ to support the communities where we live and work. One of the areas that Marriott International focuses on is the environment. We are committed to investing in the communities where we do business through our ‘Spirit to SERVE Our Communities®’ social responsibility and community engagement initiatives.

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

Bhatara

aMornrattanakij director of Marketing coMMunications jW Marriott Phuket resort & sPa

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

T

he Serve360: Doing Good In Every Direction” platform was launched to deepen our commitments in driving our sustainability and social good agenda through a series of next generation goals that the company aims to meet by 2025.

These efforts have been organized into four priority areas, which we call coordinates: (N) Nurture Our World, (E) Empower Through Opportunity, (S) Sustain Responsible Operations and (W) Welcome All and Advance Human Rights.

In terms of Waste Management System, it related to our (S) Sustain Responsible Operations pillar.

Our 2025 Goals: Reduce environmental footprint by Water: Reduce water intensity by 15%. Carbon: Reduce carbon intensity by 30%. Waste: Reduce waste to landfill by 45%. Reduce food waste by 50%

here are some environmental sustainability initiative programs we implemented since last year:

Skip the Straw: We are encouraging our guests and associates to skip the use of plastic straws at our restaurants and bars.

Alternatively, we offer paper straws if requested.

The Food & Beverage team is also looking into reusable materials so that we can replace paper straws this year.

Partnered with Generation Water Company we aim to eradicate plastic water bottles in the resort, by producing and bottling alkaline water made 100% from humidity in the air. The innovative solution is the first of its kind and produces more than 4,000 litres (1,000 gallons) daily of mineralised drinking water. The water is extracted from the virtually unlimited source of humidity in the air; filtered, essential minerals are added and then bottled into re-useable glass bottles. The solution is operated on-site by Generation Water at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa. The water produced by Generation Water’s solution is rigorously monitored for quality and has been audited and approved by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since the production officially kicked off almost five months ago we have already prevented more than 100,000 plastic bottles from entering our landfills or seas. In 2019, this solution will replace more than two million plastic bottles. Generation Water in partnership with Marriott International is in the process of increasing the scale to provide more than four million glass bottles across all Marriott resorts in southern Thailand. This aims to further reduce plastic waste, reduce our carbon footprint and decrease our reliance on traditional water sources.

Partnered with LightBlue Environmental Consulting Co., Ltd., a consulting firm that focuses on sustainability in the hospitality sector, expressly in food waste prevention, starting September 1, Marriott Café, serving over 1,000 guests a day, was selected as the pilot restaurant out of the 10 restaurants & bars of JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa to implement our food waste prevention project.

With an impressive result, based on the November data, Marriott Cafe achieved a 33.0% average reduction in food waste per cover across the full post-baseline period which is well beyond the goal of 10% reduction

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

orana

thongPrasit Manager-totaL QuaLitY ManageMent dusit thani Laguna Phuket

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Lifestyle - City Focus Environment

F

or waste management within the organization, the hotel encourages employees to reduce the amount of waste under the ‘3Rs’ concept.

Reduce: Reduce the amount of waste that may occur.

Reuse: Use again or more than once.

Recycle: Recycle waste by separating and collecting waste that can be recycled In addition, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket is aware of the importance of waste management and environmental systems within the organization and has been

certified with international standard certification about the environmental management in the organization ISO14001: 2015 since November 2017 including having been selected as one of the pilot hotels and establishments Navigation in Phuket Under the project Increase energy efficiency for energy conservation Phuket province (DSM Bidding), in which the hotel was recognized and has received support money amounting to 151,200 baht from the Phuket Provincial Energy Office, office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy to be used in energy management in the organization

examples of waste management in hotels under the 3rs concept;

reduce

reuse

recYcLe

• Reducing usage and increasing the quality of printers in the organization

• Using both sides of paper

• Sorting wastes that can be recycled from other types of waste for reuse and recycle such as paper, glass, plastic and hazardous waste

• Printing in black and white instead of colour • Reducing the amount of food left from both external and internal customers in the restaurant by launching a campaign of food waste reduction • Food preparation based on the actual number of staying guests • Promoting the use of towels inside guest rooms • Encouraging staff to turn off the lights and turn off the computer screens when not in use

• Decorating Christmas trees with used paper • Donating used batteries to schools • Using only glass water bottles in guest rooms and restaurants • Implementing technology to help reduce usage of paper such as in emails, live data systems, E-Learning

With small initiatives like these we can help save energy and make resources last longer while preserving the quality of our environment

• Donating of unused employees uniforms to charitable agencies • Reusing the remaining tissue on rolls that are still in good condition with the back of house (staff area)

• Using LED light bulbs to reduce energy consumption • Reducing single-use plastics in the organization such as plastic straws and plastic bottles

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Lifestyle - Charity

THANAPHAT PAYAKKAPORN SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE WILD ANIMAL RESCUE FOUNDATION OF THAILAND

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[ How will the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project impact our society?

The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project here in Phuket is currently the world’s most successful gibbon project.

It’s able to release and reintroduce gibbons back to the last rainforest in Phuket where gibbons were close to extinction more than 30 years ago.

We’re able to give back what humans have taken from the wild and a lot of people, a lot of children now come and see this success in bringing back the ecosystem in the last rainforest of Phuket and making it even richer in nature.

Lifestyle - Charity

T

hanaphat Payakkaporn is the key man of Phuket’s Gibbon Rehabilitation Project. The organization has been operating since 1992 and it’s currently the world’s first gibbon project that rescues, rehabilitates and releases gibbons back to the forest. Phuketindex.com recently had an interview with him and we’d like to share it with you...

Please tell us about your business experience.

Even though I’m a secretary general of a foundation, I have many other projects and of course, the Gibbon Project is one of them. I do this as a ‘full time hobby’.

This is my passion to continue on the work from my mother. I made a big promise to her that I would take care of all of my friends the best I could. So I have my own business to get enough money to live, and this is my full time hobby so I don’t have to depend on the money that people donate to help the gibbons. So you can be sure that all the money that you give us goes straight to the gibbons’ rehabilitation.

What inspired you to start the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project?

I was lucky enough to continue this kind of work on from my mother. She was one of the founders of this foundation. When I was young I remember there were more than 70 gibbons in the backyard. There were also tigers, bears, and a lot of wildlife out there.

My mother and her friends rescued animals from all over the country and we worked alongside the Royal Forest of Thailand. I grew up with all these animals so I look at them as my family, I don’t look at them as wild animals.

]

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Lifestyle - Charity

“THE EASIEST WAY TO SUPPORT US IS TO JUST NOT SUPPORT THE ILLEGAL ‘PHOTO PROP’ BUSINESS”

[

What makes The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project team come together?

The heart of the project is that we live together like a family, we’re not working here as a business model. Everyone is equal, we eat together, we work together, we go into the forest together. In order to work like this you have to trust one another because anything can happen in the forest, especially at night. The thing that draws people to come and work here is what we do for the gibbons not what we do for ourselves. That draws not only staff but also a lot of volunteers from all over the world. For more than 20 years they’ve been coming to help with our big mission here to release gibbons back into to the wild.

How do you search for gibbons that need help?

Phuket, as you know, is a tourist boom province, many people come to Phuket to see wildlife and that’s a bad thing for gibbons especially, because poachers go into the forest and shoot the entire family to get the little baby gibbon for tourists to see. And when the authorities hear about an illegal business with a gibbon they rescue it. Then we do medical checks on it before we put it into the training process which is not very easy because gibbons’ DNA is 90% the same as humans.

That means that when they live with humans they catch diseases from us. 70% of the gibbons that go through the medical checkup do not pass this process and that means we cannot release them back into the forest. We do not release sick gibbons back into nature.

What happens with the gibbons after you get them?

We check everything from Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HIV, Tuberculosis (TB), Herpes Simplex, Rabies and many other diseases. If they pass this process we put them into cages and try to team them up as family members.

We need to form a gibbon family before we can release them. But this is very challenging task because you cannot put males and females together in the same cage against their wills. It’s just like with humans; we choose our own mates. If you put a male and a female together they’ll start to fight so you have to put them in different cages and try to observe them every day… whether this one starts to like that one… and then move them closer and closer. When they look like they could make a family we gradually move them further and further into the forest.

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Lifestyle - Charity

When we think they’re ready we build another cage in the forest in an area that has enough food, and where everything is good for them.

We put them there for three months before we open the cage. But when we open the cage, normally the gibbons do not go out as the cage has been their safe place, their home for so long. So what we do is we leave the door open for a week while they go in and out, in and out, and then finally we close the door.

From the minute we close it, we stay with them 24 hours round the clock for two months. That means where they go, we go too, wherever they sleep in the forest we sleep too to make sure that they survive in the forest.

How can we support Gibbon Rehabilitation Project?

The easiest way to support us is to just not support the illegal ‘Photo Prop’ business. If you go anywhere in Thailand (or around the world) and see people walking around with a gibbon or wild creature, do not take a photo with them. That’s

the easiest way you can help because for every gibbon you see on the street, 10 have been killed in the forest. And it’s not easy to rescue them, it’s not easy to release these gibbons back into the forest! The first family we had we trained them for 10 years before we could release them. And another option to help us is by donating to us or adopting a gibbon program that we have.

Finally, what do you expect for the future of gibbons?

Now, from zero, we have 32 gibbons in Khaoprataew forest here but what we expect is that there are still many gibbons you see here that cannot be released due to disease. What we want to see in the future is that people like us or people who are working in the vet business could find a way to cure all these diseases so that gibbons can be able to swing back into nature again.

Next month (March 2019), at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project we will launch a new program to allow visitors to have a ‘research’ experience here. This means we will also ‘walk alongside’ with you and teach you about the gibbons’ nutrients and natural wild food and how to feed them so please stay tuned in our website www.gibbonproject.org We will launch this project soon.

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Travel - Zenith Holidays

Stay in Style

Image Copyright The SIS Kata

Image Copyright The SIS Kata

Image Copyright The SIS Kata

O

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Image Copyright The SIS Kata

ne of the most gorgeous, unspoilt corners of Phuket is the headland overlooking Kata Beach, with verdantly magical Poo Island dancing in the bay and the pristine sands of Kata Noi Beach to the south. The SIS Kata is set high on this richly tree-clad hillside overlooking this beautifully idyllic scene, and its rooftop Twilight Sky restaurant is definitely one of the Andaman’s most fabulous spots for enjoying magical sunsets, a crafted signature cocktail in hand, then dining al fresco on the marvellous creations of resident Chef Sonthaya.

by the eclectic, colorful design and eclectic art work – a memorable signature of this stylish creation.

As you ascend through the glamorously welcoming interior of The SIS Kata you’re immediately impressed

Twilight Sky at The SIS Kata is a haven of good taste… in every sense of the phrase!.

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The menu boasts many local Phuket specialties such as pork belly, Moo Hong, Pad Thai with Andaman sea prawns, a local crab curry with white noodles, as well as delicious pizzas and healthful crunchy salads. Twilight Sky, you never miss; The cool Himalayan salt block that serves as a plate for dished like scallops sashimi and self-cooking hot stone of Australian wagyu sirloin are always available and freshly prepared by our chefs.

Travel - Zenith Holidays

One of the most gorgeous, unspoilt corners of Phuket is the headland overlooking Kata Beach Twilight Sky

255 Kok Tanode Road, Karon District, Muang, Phuket 83100, Thailand Phone: +66 76 609 555 Email: twilight@thesiskata.com Facebook: twilightdining Website: www.thesiskata.com

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Travel - Restaurant Guide

Alessandro Frau

Acqua Restaurant

Following a black-and-white theme that gifts the restaurant clean lines and a good sense of proportion, Acqua’s design fully complements an all-round satisfying dining experience. The restaurant has imaginative lighting, nowhere more so than at the bar. Trendy without being gratuitously chic, cutting edge without going over the top and spacious without being cavernous, Acqua’s décor balance practicality and aesthetics in a fine dining environment in Phuket.

Chef and Owner

Acqua Restaurant is the first of a series of restaurants designed by Alessandro Frau, as Alessandro dedication for culinary doesn’t stop to cooking but also to project and design restaurants and concepts. Chef Alessandro Frau was the Winner of Iron Chef Thailand on November 2013. Find more about Alessandro by visit www.fraualessandro.com In 2013 Acqua Restaurant was appointed as one of the Best Italian Restaurant in Phuket and Thailand from Ospitalita’ Italiana in the World.

Guide Cuisine: Italian Reservation: Recommended Dress Code: Smart-casual Open: every day from 16:00 – 23:00 Mobile phones allowed: Yes Car parking: Yes Credit cards: Accepted Tel: +66 (0) 76 618 127 E-mail : reservations@acquarestaurant.com GPS/DD: 7.916537, 98.290996

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Recommended Dishes 45-minute slow cooked egg on a Parmesan cheese fondue, fresh black truffle and crispy pancetta powder

Sous-vide cooked octopus salad, marinated in extra virgin olive oil, lemon and vinegar, fennel leaves, celery and taggiasche olives DOP

Pan-fried USA scallops with duck liver, chili jam and truffle pumpkin sauce

Trenette pasta with Alaskan king crab in its own jus with sliced Sardinian tuna bottarga

Wood-fired roasted suckling pig, saffron and violette potatoes, broad beans in its own sauce

Â

Where Italian dining experience meet art and passion

324/15 Prabaramee Road – Kalim Bay - Patong - Phuket Tel 076 618127 email: reservations@acquarestaurantphuket.com www.acquarestaurantphuket.com

Travel - Restaurant Guide

Korn Chumthong Director of operation

Sway With Me Garden Restaurant & Bar

Caesar salmon salad with parmesan cheese

Sway With Me Garden Restaurant & Bar is a wonderful place for a culinary evening out in Patong. The restaurant serves contemporary western and classic Thai dishes along with modern drinks.

Tuna salad with pomelo

It’s a great venue for seafood buet theme nights every Wednesday and Saturday, at only 699 baht per person.

Lobster bisque soup

Guide Cuisine: Seafood & Modern Drink Reservation: Recommended Dress Code: Smart-casual Open: 18.30 - 22.30 Mobile phones allowed: Yes Car parking: Yes Credit cards: Accepted Tel: +66 (0) 76 363 333 E-mail : info@sleepwithmehotel.com GPS/DD: 7.891068, 98.297887

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Recommended Dishes

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Steamed vegetables with prawns and butter

Vegetable lasagna

Seafood BBQ

Travel - Restaurant Guide

Savoey Seafood Supit Jararith Asst. Manager

Open since 1980, Savoey Seafood is considered one of the landmarks of Patong Beach. This popular and bustling restaurant not only has a wide array of fresh seafood but also offers competitive prices.

Baked lobster with butter and garlic sauce

Savoey Seafood is a large, open-plan restaurant with a seating capacity of 400 plus, but you would never know. Despite its size, with 50 staff members the service is excellent, polite and considerate.

Tom yum koong

Savoey Seafood is very popular and getting there early is recommended.

It would be a real shame if you missed the opportunity to dine at this first-class seafood restaurant during your stay on Phuket.

Stir-fried crab with spring onions, ginger and garlic

Guide Experience: Seafood and Thai cuisine Reservation: Recommended Dress Code: Smart-casual Open: 10:30 – 24:30 Mobile phones allowed: Yes Car parking: Yes Credit card: Accepted Tel: +66 (0) 76 341 171 – 4 E-mail: info@savoeyseafood.com GPS/DD: 7.894471, 98.295719

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Recommended Dishes

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Stir-fried crab with curry powder

Steamed fish with lime juice and chili sauce Deep-fried fish with sweet chili sauce Stir-fried mussels or clams with roasted chili paste sauce Oven-barbecued fish Stir-fried mixed vegetables in oyster sauce

Travel - Chef Talk

Chef

Bastian Ballweg Executive Chef Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Naiyang Beach German-born Bastian Ballweg is the Executive Che� at Phuket Marriott Reso�t and Spa Naiyang Beach and has wo�ked over six years in Thailand.

His first wo�k experience he�e was in a steak house a�ter which he moved a�ter 18 months to a small bist�o and wine shop. Almost one year later he got the oppo�tunity to wo�k in a hotel at the Naka Island – a luxu�� collection �eso�t & spa in Phuket. A�ter almost th�ee years the�e he took up �esidency as the Executive Che� at Phuket Marriott Reso�t and Spa at Naiyang Beach.

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{

Do it with heart

}

Travel - Chef Talk

How did you decide you wanted to become a chef?

Actually, this was not my first decision; my first job choice was to be a vet. But at a young age, I visited my grandparents and they had a restaurant so I got very interested in the hospitality business and liked to have conversations with the guests as well as being in the kitchen and then I decided, OK, why not be a chef?

Image Copyright Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Naiyang Beach

Where were you trained in cuisine?

I was trained in Germany. My first year of the three-year course was in a four-star hotel and then I moved to a restaurant. They didn’t have a Michelin star but the level of cooking was the same.

What’s your favourite food?

My favourite food is not easy to explain! Sometimes I’m very happy to have a nice sandwich and sometimes I like to have a steak. When it comes to a favourite dish it’s more about my emotions and feelings.

Image Copyright Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Naiyang Beach

What’s the greatest inspiration in your cooking?

The inspiration in my cooking is actually on a daily basis, when I watch TV, when I walk around, when I go to the market, I sometimes have ideas in the night when I sleep… I have many ideas springing up.

There is not a specific time for inspiration.

Image Copyright Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Naiyang Beach

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Travel - Chef Talk Any advice to young chefs about how to become a successful chef?

First, you must like to cook and when you cook, do it with all your heart.

This is all you need and don’t look at the time or overtime when you work longer than usual. To be a chef is a heartfelt work and there’s a long way to go to be a good chef and to be successful but at the end it’s a nice way in a satisfying job.

If you could cook for and dine with anyone, who would that be?

What are your favourite local ingredients to work with?

My favourite local ingredients are all about seafood; prawns, squid, seabass. It’s very nice to cook with local seafood here as it’s very fresh and it’s directly in front of us. When we talk about imported ingredients I like to cook with beef or pork.

In my opinion, the most successful chef is Gordon Ramsay, I would like to cook for him and dine with him and I would like to hear his advice about how to be a better chef.

What’s your favourite kitchen gadget? Why?

It’s a knife because good cuisine is all about a good knife. You can’t cook without a knife, you can’t cut without a knife. And fire, this is the most important gadget in the kitchen… you can’t cook without fire.

How do you adapt to the local environment?

There is actually no big diff erence between European and Thai cuisine or cooking in Thailand or cooking in Europe or Germany.

It’s all about yourself or myself in this case, how I improved and how I talk with my team, this is more important. It’s not about the difference in cooking. Of course the culture is different but that’s a small barrier to handle.

About the signature dish Today, I would like to cook seafood risotto. It’s one of our signature dishes at Big Fish restaurant, a mixture between European and Asian/Thai food, and this is the secret of the dish.

Image Copyright Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Naiyang Beach

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Travel - Signature Dish

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Travel - in The Kitchen BLACK BEAN CHILLI ‘NON’ CARNE BOWL

BY CHEF JAMIE RAFTERY THE HOLISTIC CHEF FROM IRELAND

Ingredients: - Avocado - Mango - Tomato - Rainbow salad - Cauliflower rice - Cashew sour cream

Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort Address: 120/1 Moo 7 Thepkasattri Road, Thepkasattri, Thalang, Phuket 83110 Thailand Tel: +66 (0)76 336 000

BAKED LOBSTER

BY CHEF SUMOL HIRUNMAL EXECUTIVE SOUS CHEF OF RENAISSANCE PHUKET RESORT & SPA

Ingredients: - Lobster - Qualified butter - Chopped onion - Chopped parsley

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- Salt & pepper - White wine - Whipping cream - Parmesan cheese

Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa Address: 555, Moo 3, Mai Khao, Thalang Phuket 83110 Thailand Tel: +66 (0) 76 363 999

Travel - in The Kitchen

AVOCADO MANGO POMEGRANATE SALAD

BY CHEF UDOMSAK BOONSOPONE F&B DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE CHEF OF THANYAPURA PHUKET

Ingredients: -

Lettuce Mango Avocado Salad dressing Lemon dressing

-

Walnuts Sunkist peel orange Feta cheese Pomegranate Berry fruits (seasonal)

Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort Address: 120/1 Moo 7 Thepkasattri Road, Thepkasattri, Thalang, Phuket 83110 Thailand Tel: +66 (0)76 336 000

ANDAMAN PRAWNS AND MANGO SALAD

BY CHEF PHATSAKORN TATIYAPHAK EXECUTIVE CHEF OF PHUKET MARRIOTT RESORT & SPA, MERLIN BEACH

Ingredients: -

Sea prawns Yellow mango Beetroot Cucumber Daikon

- Carrot - Micro greens - Mango sauce - Marie rose sauce - Balsamic caviar

Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach Address: 99 Muen-Ngoen Road, Tri-Trang Beach, Patong, Phuket 83150 Thailand Tel: +66 (0) 76 335 300 www.phuketindex.com

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Travel - Kids’ Activities

Fabulous

THINGS TO DO WITH

KIDS IN PHUKET

Weekend Experience with Splash Beach Reso�t

He�e a�e th�ee g�eat kids’ activities in Phuket �or a sunny day. Our �ecommended activities a�e in th�ee locations: Maikhao, Patong and Cherngtalay. Splash Beach Reso�t is g�eat �or any day while the Harmony Wo�ld Puppet Festival’s schedule changes eve�� year so you should check up be�o�e going. Child�en’s Day Celebration is a Thai annual �estival �alling on the second Satu�day o� Janua��.

Welcome Ce�emonies Phuket Harmony Wo�ld Puppet Festival 2018

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Child�en’s Day Celebration at Laguna Phuket

Travel - Kids’ Activities

Weekend

EXPERIENCE WITH SPLASH BEACH RESORT

Enjoy a ‘Weekend Experience with Splash Beach Resort’. On Friday 12th October the hotel held a Gala Dinner in its conference hall to announce that it was rebranding from the Grand Hotel West Sands Resort and Villas to Splash Beach Resort under the management of Langham Hospitality Group, Hong Kong. The next day guests joined in activities with the resort at a spa workshop, relaxed at the Splash jungle waterpark and visited the island’s Gibbon Rehabilitation Centre.

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Travel - Kids’ Activities

Welcome

CEREMONIES

PHUKET HARMONY WORLD PUPPET FESTIVAL 2018

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Jungceylon Phuket held an unusual welcoming ceremony. This was the fi rst time for Phuket with more than 50 international puppet teams from 21 countries participating. At the event there was a puppet fashion show and special performances such as Lunaria Marionette Show from the Philippines, the Ramdas Padhye Group from India, Theatre Reflection from Russia and the Skybird Puppet Group from Hong Kong.

Travel - Kids’ Activities

Children’s Day

CELEBRATION

AT LAGUNA PHUKET

Visit Laguna Phuket to attend their Children’s Day Celebrations. Enjoy the activities and play games.

Have a chat with Uncle Yong, Uncle Puang and Uncle Nong from Jam-urd Na Jor, a very famous Thai Comedy Theatre Show.

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Travel - The Hoteliers Talk

An interview with

Logan DaLey

Hotel Manager of Cassia Phuket 64

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Travel - The Hoteliers Talk

L

ogan Daley, the hotel manager of Cassia Phuket.

This newly chic hotel is located in the heart of Laguna Phuket integrated resort complex.

Cassia Phuket is the flagship property of this brand under the Banyan Tree Hotel and Resorts and currently has two operating hotels, one in Thailand, one in Bintan island, Indonesia with many more in the pipeline.

What are your strengths? What are you really good at?

Maybe one of my strengths is inspiring people in a hotel.

We need to have everyone working together and everyone going towards the same goal so of course as the leader, you really need to inspire this magic in everyone to always want to do better, always want to exceed guests’ expectations and of course like any businesses always drive revenue in different ways.

What are the most challenging issues you face in your current job?

image courtesy of Cassia Hotel Phuket

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’m originally from New Zealand, I’m the youngest of four children. My family all moved to Australia when I was about 16, when I finished studying and started my first job in a hotel. Since then I’ve been working around the world in different countries and with different companies. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to join Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts in Indonesia and now here I am today.

What motivated you to go into the hotel industry?

For me, I actually love this question. And I remember when I got my first job, I used to touch the walls and touch the furniture, suspecting that this was just a dream and of course, as the years go by the dream has never left because we get to create experiences and be involved in people’s lives. If it’s positive or negative, we still get to make a difference in our community with the things we create through the experiences and the memories that we give to our guests.

Cassia is a new concept for Phuket and is not within the norms of traditional hotel so if I guess that really what is the most challenging is finding people who can work with us. During the interviewing process we invite candidates to look at their talent and their personality to deliver on the Cassia brand promises. We all know that traditional hotel schools teach students about the formalities of hotels and about five-star service, six-star service and giving luxury experiences so for us we almost have the opposite; we want to have fun and share a memorable experience so finding the right people that will fit into our mold and then still have the right experience to operate finance, front office, housekeeping, food and beverage and then of course making sure everyone can work together is important.

At work, what puts a smile on your face?

Like any hotel managers, I love to see returning guests, I love to see great guest comments but what really puts a smile on my face here at Cassia is when I walk around the hotel and I see our Cassia staff interacting with guests, playing games with them, dancing around and really enjoying what they do. So obviously for me that really means that we have imparted our brand values into our team members and then they are imparting it in to the guests and really living up to what Cassia really is.

Teamwork is the key for success. How does teamwork drive a hotel to successful results?

In a hotel, it’s not possible to be successful as an individual, everyone needs to achieve together as a team so just like a car cannot operate if it loses one wheel, it’s the same in a hotel. If one team member is not performing, we cannot achieve what we are supposed to so of course a very open communication and good teamwork is vital to the success of a hotel.

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Travel - The Hoteliers Talk

image courtesy of Cassia Hotel Phuket

We have a great concept in Cassia which is housekeeping in every second day, this is our commitment to saving the environment for reducing water consumption and also reducing chemicals. In even this concept, we now seen in some other hotels in the US and Europe offering it to their guests as option so we really see the service and concept of Cassia is obviously going to be a real game-changer in the industry.

What advice would you offer to those who aspire to become a HM in the hotel industry?

image courtesy of Cassia Hotel Phuket

What do you do when you’re not working?

For me when I’m not at work, I like to experience new things whether it be things in Phuket or traveling around Asia, trying different food, trying different hotels, seeing different culture and of course really starting to understand what the world has to offer and then taking some of these things back obviously into our hotel and trying to deliver different experiences.

The best advice I can give anyone is to ask questions. When I first joined the industry, I asked questions of everyone whether it was a waiter, someone in the front office, in finance, even my general manager. You need to know what they know and once you have the knowledge you then have to share that with everyone. In our industry, there’s a lot of stigma about age. People figure that you need to be a specific age for a specific position but of course this is not correct. It’s all about ambition and knowledge and wanting to show everyone else that you can do it differently or you can do it better.

What are you most looking forward to in Cassia?

I’m excited about the expansion of Cassia, we currently have two hotels, the mothership in Phuket, the second hotel in Indonesia with a few more in pipeline. I’m looking forward to seeing Cassia up there with the international lifestyle brand and really sharing our service philosophy and our culture. We have some great touch point, some great experiences and great concepts.

image courtesy of Cassia Hotel Phuket

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