Phuket Villas & Homes News

Phuket Villas & Homes News Copyright (c) 2008 Phuket Villas & Homes. All rights reserved. http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com Phuket Villas & Homes News and Press Release en-us Fri, 4 Jul 2008 05:14:09 EDT 2,000 hoteliers manage multiple web activities with ease Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:56:54 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_163.html 2,000 hoteliers manage multiple web activities with ease Our Internet appetite is in overdrive; we need every feed, every favorite site and easy access at the click of a mouse. Quick and easy has definitely become the only viable option in our fast paced environment. In response, VIZERGY, formerly SECURE-RES, a Jacksonville, FL based hotel Internet marketing company, introduced My Web World in early January 2008. My Web World, an integrated Web presence management platform and free service to all VIZERGY clients, quickly became THE viable answer. After recently reaching a milestone, serving more than 2,000 multitasking clients, it continues to see a steady increase in users and visits. My Web World manages clients' Web activities including Internet Reservation System and third-party sales channels, Web site reporting, e-mail hosting and event calendars. The "My Active Services" portion of My Web World allows clients to track and review online marketing campaigns and determine how successful their efforts are. The platform also has a reputation monitoring component that provides real time RSS feedback from popular social media and travel review sites, letting clients know exactly what is being said about their property. This user-friendly, one stop location for all VIZERGY clients' marketing services is also easily customizable. Industry news feeds, favorite links and user access can be modified as desired. Additionally, Web site changes can be requested and sent to queue via the platform. "It's about convenience and functionality. At VIZERGY, we pride ourselves on listening to the needs of the client and delivering. Increasing RevPAR and maximizing visibility is a priority," says Joel Carver, senior VP of sales and marketing. Future trends in hotel e-business Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:56:02 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_162.html Future trends in hotel e-business Opportunities exist for those in the hotel e-business, even during these tough economic times. Attendees at HEDNA’s Lisbon Conference learned about the future trends for hotel e-business, how to profit from those trends and how HEDNA members can make a difference as the industry evolves. Uncertain times call for different strategies. One of the top strategies for hotel e-business is evolving from selling to engaging the customer, points out Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. Hoteliers need to think more like retailers. “To succeed, hoteliers need to fulfill the experience expected by customers, not just think of them as heads in a bed,” says Harteveldt. Another strategy is engaging the customer through social computing, which Harteveldt calls the fifth generation of electronic distribution. “Travel plays a big role in social computing, making social computing a blend of marketing and distribution,” he says. He points out that in Europe, online travelers are “more likely to consume than create social computing content.” The sixth generation for electronic distribution is mobile technology. Mobile phones are becoming ubiquitous in many countries. “Travelers are an ideal group for mobile-based services and activities,” says Harteveldt. Frequent travelers are the ones who find the most utility from using mobile services. How can those in hotel e-business succeed? Harteveldt says success is through evolution. “To truly engage digital travelers, hotel e-business must evolve from channel to gateway, from single purpose to all encompassing, and from functional to fulfilling,” he says. Getting ready for tomorrow The hotel electronic distribution industry, or hotel e-business, is “an exciting industry with lots of positive opportunities ahead,” Michael Ball, CEO of WORLDHOTELS, told attendees. “We’re at a pivotal time. Tomorrow will look very different from today,” Ball says. The “pillars of business and commerce are out of alignment today,” observes Ball. From the credit crunch to high energy prices to food prices, changes are happening at a faster pace. The GDPs of India, China and other Asian countries are growing fast while the US and Europe are dropping. Social factors, such as the environment and population, must be part of the travel industry’s considerations as it moves forward. Yet despite all of these changes, there are opportunities. Some of the opportunities center around the five important trends affecting hotel e-business. According to Ball, these trends are: more demanding consumers; more complex distribution channels; changing business models where companies must give more but expect less in return; an emphasis on technology and richer content; and a change in the structure of hotel e-business. Other opportunities are contained in Ball’s “five points to ponder.” First, don’t let opportunities for the hotel e-business get hijacked again. The industry must do a better job at managing downturns, says Ball. The other points are: strive to simplify; put distribution at the heart of your planning process; recognize the need for capital expenditures on new technology; and add the social agenda to your agenda, before the environmentalists and regulators do it for you. Ball sees HEDNA members making a difference in several areas including technology, richer content and collective ownership of data. “Collaboration is important in times of an economic downturn,” Ball says. Globalization versus localization Are globalization and localization competing strategies? No, says Mike Nelson, COO of Orbitz Worldwide. “Any business needs to think about both,” he told attendees. Globalization is here to stay as evidenced by changes in demographics and affluence. For instance, Russia is becoming the biggest European market while India, China and other Asian countries are emerging as important markets, too. In all of these regions, there’s a huge rise in an affluent middle class who will be interested in travel. A globalization strategy needs careful planning, cautions Nelson. “You can’t rush into it. You need to give it some thought,” he says, noting several examples of faux pas made by major corporations. Don’t forget about the local aspects of your strategy. You need to incorporate local and global to be successful, Nelson says. Changing factors in decision making Shaping customers expectations is becoming crucial as customers look for an ‘experience’ rather than just a room. The more compelling the experience for the customer, the more satisfied the customer will be. “Content will replace price as a deciding factor for customers,” forecasts Heiko Siebert, vice president distribution at M๖venpick Hotels and Resorts, who participated on the Online Distribution panel. But who then owns that content and the customers that are attracted by it? Is it the hotel or is it the online service? Siebert strongly believes that his hotel has ownership of its content and customers. But online services feel otherwise. Since this is an area of debate, the panel believes this is an area where HEDNA can make a substantial impact in the industry by developing a solution. The traveler’s experience was very much the focus of the Web 2.0 panel. Consumer generated content, which is more and more in demand, is all about a traveler’s experience, explains Marc Charron, managing director Europe for Trip Advisor. This is a great way to match content with traveler’s age group and interests. It’s also a way to bolster the customer’s expectation about what that experience at the hotel will be like. Charron points out that there’s an incredible reluctance by hotels to post consumer generated content, fearing that it will be negative. However, most people that take the time to write have positive comments about their travel experience. As the day grew to a close the hundreds of delegates from the international community attending the Lisbon Conference seemed to share the perspective that as HEDNA stays on top of major trends and technologies, their membership and collaboration will assist the industry to navigate the seas of change. Soneva Kiri creates a Host Village for Thai staff Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:54:05 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_161.html 2,000 hoteliers manage multiple web activities with ease Our Internet appetite is in overdrive; we need every feed, every favorite site and easy access at the click of a mouse. Quick and easy has definitely become the only viable option in our fast paced environment. In response, VIZERGY, formerly SECURE-RES, a Jacksonville, FL based hotel Internet marketing company, introduced My Web World in early January 2008. My Web World, an integrated Web presence management platform and free service to all VIZERGY clients, quickly became THE viable answer. After recently reaching a milestone, serving more than 2,000 multitasking clients, it continues to see a steady increase in users and visits. My Web World manages clients' Web activities including Internet Reservation System and third-party sales channels, Web site reporting, e-mail hosting and event calendars. The "My Active Services" portion of My Web World allows clients to track and review online marketing campaigns and determine how successful their efforts are. The platform also has a reputation monitoring component that provides real time RSS feedback from popular social media and travel review sites, letting clients know exactly what is being said about their property. This user-friendly, one stop location for all VIZERGY clients' marketing services is also easily customizable. Industry news feeds, favorite links and user access can be modified as desired. Additionally, Web site changes can be requested and sent to queue via the platform. "It's about convenience and functionality. At VIZERGY, we pride ourselves on listening to the needs of the client and delivering. Increasing RevPAR and maximizing visibility is a priority," says Joel Carver, senior VP of sales and marketing. The 10 Commandments of Web Design Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:53:08 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_160.html The 10 Commandments of Web Design Since the Internet emerged as a major force, altering everything from the way people work to the way they date, it has been a roller-coaster ride that made the world giddy. Microsoft (MSFT), Netscape, et al. fought the browser wars, Web standards were championed, and the Web became community-minded and social, ushering in the reign of Facebook, Flickr (YHOO), and YouTube. From boom to bust and back again, with staggering amounts of money changing hands at every point, the online industry rides on with no end in sight. The Net has also attracted prophets, gurus, theorists, and evangelists of every stripe. Many of their promised game-changing technologies—Jini, DHTML, and countless others—never panned out, while seemingly simple innovations—metadata, XML, and CSS—have led to major breakthroughs. Meanwhile, Web design vogues from the effervescent jumble of HotWired to the stark utility of Google (GOOG) have continued to evolve and become more contradictory—and entrenched. To try and make sense of it all, BusinessWeek.com canvassed a broad range of Internet luminaries to discover the design rules they live by right now. Contributors ranged from the guru of Web usability, Don Norman, co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, to the design director of NYTimes.com, Khoi Vinh, and John Maeda, president-elect of the Rhode Island School of Design. These 10 commandments of Web design for 2008 are the combined results of our survey. For the full list of contributors, see the end of the story. 1. Thou shalt not abuse Flash. Adobe's (ADBE) popular Web animation technology powers everything from the much-vaunted Nike (NKE) Plus Web site for running diehards to many humdrum banner advertisements. But the technology can easily be abused—excessive, extemporaneous animations confuse usability and bog down users' Web browsers. 2. Thou shalt not hide content. Advertisements may be necessary for a site's continued existence, but usability researchers say pop-ups and full-page ads that obscure content hurt functionality—and test a reader's willingness to revisit. Elective banners—that expand or play audio when a user clicks on them—are much less intrusive. 3. Thou shalt not clutter. The Web may be the greatest archive of all time, but sites that lack a coherent structure make it impossible to wade through information. Amazon.com (AMZN) and others put their sites' information hierarchy at the top of their list of design priorities. 4. Thou shalt not overuse glassy reflections. Apple (AAPL) often sets the standard for slick and cool—in all forms of design. But some experts say the company's habit of creating glassy reflections under photos of its products has been far too commonly copied, turning the style element into a clich้. 5. Thou shalt not name your Web 2.0 company with an unnecessary surplus or dearth of vowels. The Web has brought with it a strange nomenclature that's only got weirder over time. Hip, smart Web sites have been named either with a superfluous number of vowels or strategically deleted ones. Cases in point: Flickr, Smibs, and Meebo. These names are memorable but destined to sound dated. 6. Thou shalt worship at the altar of typography. Designers say that despite the increase in broadband penetration, plain text has gotten a second wind in cutting-edge Web design. Mainstream sites such as Craigslist have led the way, while designer-oriented sites such as Coudal Partners and John Gruber's popular Daring Fireball blog represent the cutting edge. 7. Thou shalt create immersive experiences. Merely looking good doesn't cut it anymore. Sites like Facebook and YouTube draw in users with compelling content and functionality. Creating Web sites that can capture and hold users' attention is what matters most. 8. Thou shalt be social. Web 2.0 is everywhere. MySpace (NWS) and similar sites only launched the trend of having users communicate and interact—sometimes obsessively—on browser-based sites. Designers are now filtering those same elements into diverse sites, from smart advertising to online office productivity. 9. Thou shalt embrace proven technologies. Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, and their cohorts have become a part of daily life. Sites that can incorporate these elements into their design will connect with users in a meaningful way by providing functionality and an interface with which they're already familiar. 10. Thou shalt make content king. Though the slogan is old, it still stands. Aesthetic design can only go so far in making a site successful. Beautiful can't make up for empty. Bangkok hotel to reduce fuel costs Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:25:38 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_155.html Bangkok hotel to reduce fuel costs The Novotel Lotus Hotel in Bangkok has become the first hotel to use a leading fuel-saving technology, Etorus FE. The hotel expects to reduce their fuel consumption by more than 60,000 liters of fuel annually by installing the device, a savings of more than THB 1.6 million. The hotel property employs two large high speed/high density diesel fuel fired boilers to operate steam powered generators and produce hot water. The boilers together typically consume more than 30,000 liters of fuel per month. "Our objectives are to be a good neighbor by reducing emissions of soot and carbon gases into the atmosphere and to simultaneously save money on fuel costs," said Ramesh Khendry, general manager for Novotel Lotus Hotel and the Regency Park Hotel in Bangkok. "We are accomplishing both with the Etorus FE fuel saving technology, and we have been very successful in reducing fuel consumption and limiting carbon released into the environment." The Etorus FE is currently used throughout the world to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in a number of applications, including fleet trucks, buses, locomotives, generators, boilers, furnaces, marine vessels and heavy off-road construction and mining equipment. You & your cat can help save the planet Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:25:59 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_153.html You & your cat can help save the planet Each year over 2 million tons of cat litter, or approximately 100,000 truckloads, ends up in landfills in the U. S. alone. Most of this litter is non-biodegradable or renewable and unnecessarily adds to the waste burden overtaxing our landfills. There are approximately 40 million households with 70+ million cats in the U. S. and most of them “go” in a litter box. In 1994 (the last statistics available) the U. S. Bureau of Mines estimated that approximately 1.5 million metric tons of clay were mined to make absorbent cat litter. Much of the clay is strip mined raising concerns about the environmental impact of clay based absorbent cat litter. Most of the used litter ends up in the trash and eventually in our landfills. Some industry sources claim that cat litter accounts for more volume in landfills than disposable diapers. A number of adverse impacts occur from landfill operations: pollution of the local environment; off-gassing of methane; harboring of disease vectors such as rats and flies; and simple nuisance problems. The need for waste disposal in landfills continues to grow along with the need to understand the actual health and environmental risks associated with waste disposal. The solution to the pressing and growing environmental problem with landfills is here. The Smart Cat Box litter box uses all natural, non-absorbent safflower seed litter. Safflower seed is both bio-degradable and renewable minimizing the adverse impact to our landfills. Safflower seed litter lasts much longer than scoopable clay litter thus reducing the volume dumped into our landfills. The patented Smart Cat Box with safflower seed litter is also more user friendly and healthier for cats and owners. The Smart Cat Box is easy to maintain, produces no dust, is relatively odor free, stays dry, is all-natural and is safe for you, your cat and the environment. As someone once said, “There is no idea or step to small if it helps to minimize the destruction of the planet”. Check out the Smart Cat Box at www.smartcatbox.com. Thousands of your friends and neighbors have already done so and are doing their small part in order to help save the planet. You and your cat(s) and your planet will be glad you did. Priciest apartment in Asia sold Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:10:36 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_151.html Priciest apartment in Asia sold A luxury flat in Hong Kong has sold for $28.8 million, the most expensive apartment per square foot ever sold in Asia, a report has revealed. The 80th floor penthouse sold for $41,000 per square foot, according to an unnamed real estate source. The flat is located in a new complex called The Arch, in Hong Kong's Kowloon area. A total of 5, 497 square feet, the apartment has views of Victoria Harbour, private swimming pool and a rooftop terrace. Before that sale, the record for the most ever paid per square-foot was $39,800.It was set last November for a smaller apartment on Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong's property market has boomed in recent years, following a major crash during the Asian financial crisis in the later 1990s. Asia property investment strong Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:15:06 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_148.html Asia property investment strong Cash flow into Asian property is not slowing in line with the credit crisis in the US, according to a new report. The report says property investment in Asia increased 27 per cent to $121 billion in 2007. The document is being published by KPMG, the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association, and index provider FTSE. While investment slowed in the second half of 2007 in Europe and North America, investment levels in Asia remained steady throughout the year. Many markets experienced real estate returns above ten per cent, higher than the global average. This year appears do be growing at the same pace. For example, MGPA (a private equity fund manager) just launched a global fund that will invest mostly in Asia, to the tune of $3.9billion in equity. The fund has already committed $2.2bn to investments in Singapore, Japan, China and Thailand, and is looking at South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia. North American investors make up 40 per cent of the fund. Ko Samui, maybe it's inhabited! Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:27:48 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_146.html Ko Samui, maybe it's inhabited! Text by Harold Stephens I looked at the chart and then at the island through my binoculars. It appeared lush and green, with rocky cliffs that dropped sheer into the sea. It also appeared be desolated. Not a house or a building, not a road, not a soul to be seen anywhere. "It might not be inhabited," I said to my crew who lined the railing to get a glimpse of the land coming up on our port beam. It was our first sight of land after leaving the lighthouse ship at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. We were on our maiden voyage to Singapore. It was an exciting moment, witnessing our first landfall aboard Schooner Third Sea. I had just completed the construction of my schooner on a small klong down river from Bangkok, and we were heading out to sail the waters of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. After leaving the Chao Phraya, we had encountered bad weather for several days and now welcomed the sight of land. "What’s the name of the island?" one of the crew asked. I looked at the chart, with all its nautical markings, depths in fathoms and swirling contour lines. The island stood a few miles off shore from the Thai mainland. It’s name appeared in neat letters. "It says Ko Samui," I replied. "Ko Samui Island, " he repeated. "We’ll sail southward along the coast," I continued, "and see if we can find a cove to anchor." "Maybe we’ll find a village," Matts, our Scandinavian crew, said. "And they might even have cold beer." Matts wasn’t the only one thinking about cold beer. "I doubt it. It doesn't’t seem to be inhabited. Maybe on the other side of the island," I said with encouragement. The wind died as we approached the shore due east of the island. We lowered and furled the sails, switched on the engine and turned south following the coast, cruising a hundred meters off shore. It was a remarkably beautiful island. Dense foliage clung to the rocky hills, and the sea broke in a gentle surf along the shoreline. The cliffs suddenly gave way and a small cove opened up. The chart indicated a depth of six fathoms. Good for anchoring. The helmsman swung the wheel sharp to port, cut back on the engine, and we glided into a tropical wonderland. We watched the anchor settle to a white sand bottom. We felt we were discovering a new ‘undiscovered’ island. As the crew lowered the dinghy, I made an entry into ship’s log. "Anchored, Ko Samui Island." And then I entered the date: "April 10, 1975." That was twenty-five years ago, and on everyone’s mind was whether or not the island was inhabited. We quickly noted coconut trees along the hillsides, not growing wild but planted in some sort of order. We surmised the owners of the trees must come over from the mainland to farm the coconuts. We were convinced we were right when we rowed ashore and found a road, more like a dirt track, part way up the hillside. It was obviously used to haul the coconuts to the other side of the island where they could be shipped to the mainland. We decided to follow the road in hope that it would lead us to a village. Sailors are really not good hikers. After less than a kilometer, hot and thirsty under a boiling sun, we gave up. We slumped down at the side of the road, discouraged and thirsty. Above us, clusters of green coconuts hung, ready to be plucked from the trees. We immediately remembered the shipyard where we had worked on the schooner. Hucksters passed through the yard every day selling fresh coconuts for drinking. What a marvelous drink, cool and sweet, right from the nut. With one easy swing of a sharp knife, hucksters lobbed off the tops of the nuts, and then handed them to us to drink. It looked so easy. Now we had all the nuts we wanted to drink, hanging like in the Garden of Eden above us. All we had to do was knock them down and open them. You ever try to climb a coconut tree? It’s not easy. For someone who has not lived in the tropics, it’s impossible. All we did was skin up our arms and legs. Then trying to knock down coconuts is not much easier, although less strenuous on the body. We finally did dislodge a few nuts from the bunch, but gave up trying to tear away the husks with a penknife. We were a miserable bunch of beachcombers who returned to the schooner that day. Disillusionment with our new found island, we decided to continue on to Singapore. So much for Ko Samui, we thought. We lifted anchor, and under engine power motored around a promontory, marked Lamai Point on the chart, toward the open sea. We hoped to pick up wind once we cleared the headland. A light breeze came from the southeast and I have orders to hoist the main and jib staysail. As the sails filled and we heeled gently to starboard, a sigh arose from the helmsman. "Look," he called, "look at that bay." We all looked in the direction he pointed. In deed, a great bay opened, with a sweeping curve of a white sand beach. Through my binoculars I could see bamboo stalls along the water’s edge. Food stalls, and cold beer! Under full canvas, we sailed into Lamai Bay, and fifty meters from shore, in six fathoms of water, we turned into the wind and dropped anchor. The dozen or so food stalls, set back among palms along the beach, were primitive but the food they served was delicious. And the beer was cold. The food stalls, we soon discovered, were not set up to cater to tourists. There were no tourists. They were there to serve fishermen. As we were having our second round of Singahs, a fishing boat entered the bay and anchored next to our schooner, and soon another boat arrived and dropped anchor. I climbed a nearby hill to get a photograph of Third Sea at anchor, and when I looked down, a half dozen more fishing boats had anchored around us. We were hemmed in from all sides. Our first night at Ko Samui wasn’t a very pleasant experience. There was an offshore breeze but it didn’t carry the fragrance of flowers and tropical plants; it carried the stench of fish, from the fishing boats. Then, about four in the morning, when the world is still, fishing boats all around us cranked up their engines. Powerful lights flash on, and there came the sound of grinding windlasses and shouting fishermen. Relief came with the rising sun, when it was quite again and we were the only vessel at anchor. We spent three days at Lamai Beach. In the late afternoons, when the fishing boats began to arrive, we lifted anchor and motored around the point to the cove where we first went ashore. At down we returned to Lamai Beach. Lamai Beach then was all peace and quite. One morning we visited a copra plantation, and tired our hand at husking nuts with the workers. We couldn't’t complete. We got a lot of laughs, and young fresh coconuts to take back to the schooner. When we sailed away from Ko Samui it was with sadness this time. We had made friends, and we had found our island in the sun. Over the next eighteen years that followed, I sailed schooner Third Sea some 200 thousands miles through the waters of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. We brought up many beautiful landfalls, from Tahiti to Moorea and Bora Bora, and from Bali to Hawaii, and I won’t deny, they were all exiting and wonderful. But none will be remembered like Ko Samui, when we thought the island was uninhabited. Copyright Harold Stephens Chinese accomodation sales not shaken by earthquake Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:26:48 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_145.html Chinese accomodation sales not shaken by earthquake China?s accommodation and catering retail sales reached 120.36 billion yuan (US$17.4 billion) in May, up 22.4 per cent over the same period last year, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday. But accommodation and catering retail sales in the earthquake-ravaged Sichuan Province dropped 8.5 per cent from the previous year to 710 million yuan (US$102.7 million) in May. The country?s total accommodation and catering retail sales stood at 601.29 billion yuan in the first five months, up 23.6 per cent over the same period in 2007, 5.9 percentage points higher than last year?s figure. Accommodation and catering retail sales in the first five months accounted for 13.8 per cent of the country?s total consumer goods retail sales in the same period. The May 12 earthquake caused no significant impact on accommodation and catering retail sales in other quake-affected regions, including Gansu and Shaanxi provinces as well as Chongqing Municipality. Accommodation and catering retail sales for May in Gansu increased by 17.2 per cent, in Shaanxi by 34.2 per cent and in Chongqing by 27.1 per cent, according to the ministry. The four regions? accommodation and catering retail sales accounted for only 10.8 per cent of the country?s total sales and the disaster had no significant impact on the overall accommodation and catering industry. As the accommodation and catering market resumed normal operations in quake zones, the country?s accommodation and catering retail sales are set to continue fast growth, added the ministry. Freehold hotel property fund the first to be listed in Thailand Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:25:56 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_144.html Freehold hotel property fund the first to be listed in Thailand A private equity fund has launched the first freehold hotel property on the stock exchange of Thailand. Germing Frey, Hotels & Resorts PCC has launched the Luxury Real Estate Investment Fund (LUXF) as the first freehold hotel property fund on the stock exchange of Thailand (SET). The Real Estate Investment Trust, investing in the five-star resort Six Senses Hideaway Yao Noi, for the first time enables foreigners who seek to have exposure to luxury hospitality real estate in Thailand with attractive tax exemptions. "Germing Frey are the first to truly open up the treasure box of Thai beaches to foreign investors on a freehold basis and with lucrative tax exemptions. We always invest alongside with our investment partners: we put our money where our mouth is, says Jean Michel Germing, CEO Germing Frey. Germing Frey is a specialized private equity fund and a developer of premium tropical hotels and resorts with accompanying residences in outstanding locations. Owned by Swiss Management-Duo, Jean-Michel Germing and Dr. Markus A. Frey, the company offers further direct investments in luxury projects on exclusive beachfront properties: The founders aim at achieving high and sustainable returns with hospitality developments. Current projects include the development of: - Soneva Kiri Resort (42 pool villas) and its Private Residences (20 units, US$ 4.5-7 m) on Koh Kood. Opening late 2008. - Six Senses Private Residences Yao Noi, the new trend island off Phuket (ranging from US$ 2 - 7 m). Sales start July 2008. One’s Trash is Another’s Treasure Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:11:07 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_140.html One’s Trash is Another’s Treasure Designers, artists, and creative businesspeople are making beautiful things out of trash. Artists have used recycled materials in their artwork since the early 20th century – Picasso, Braque & Gris built priceless collages out of newsprint, labels, and other found materials. Here in Santa Barbara local artist Rafael Perea de la Cabada exhibits pieces that incorporate recycled and found materials in many of his compositions. In Mexico colorful tinware is made from old cans and hubcaps. In Morocco steel-rimmed tires are fashioned into elegant water urns. Stripped out multicolored telephone cable wire is woven into baskets in South Africa. In Columbia craftsmen weave recycled plastic into baskets in a traditional style, while in Indonesia these same plastics are used to create children’s furniture. We have a long history of recycling materials in the U.S. as well. Decades ago a practical and instructive practice was to paste newsprint on walls for wallpaper. Children learned to read as a new decorative style was introduced. Today contemporary designers coat floor surfaces in newsprint with clear varnish to complement an industrial style. Recycled glass is appearing in architectural tile and custom slabs for table and countertops. Teak and barnboards are salvaged from buildings and deconstruction sites to be used again in furniture and flooring. Yogurt and milk containers are becoming counters, industrial woodwaste pulp is transformed into floor tiles in a variety of colors. Salvaged doors, shutters, windows, architectural metalwork and trim become focal points for new construction projects even though it their second time around. Landfills are filling up, toxic runoff from construction and landscape practice is running into the oceans, and incinerators are spewing noxious gasses. While recycling materials for re-use in our homes and workspaces is not a new phenomenon, it is definitely more popular as we recognize the crucial need to be more environmentally responsible. It is necessary, creative, economical, and smart to choose to re-use. 20 Things you can do to Conserve Energy Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:10:32 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_139.html 20 Things you can do to Conserve Energy Whenever you save energy, you not only save money, you also reduce the demand for such fossil fuels as coal, oil, and natural gas. Less burning of fossil fuels also means lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary contributor to global warming, and other pollutants. You do not have to do without to achieve these savings. There is now an energy efficient alternative for almost every kind of appliance or light fixture. That means that consumers have a real choice and the power to change their energy use on a revolutionary scale. The average American produces about 40,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per year. Together, we use nearly a million dollars worth of energy every minute, night and day, every day of the year. By exercising even a few of the following steps, you can cut your annual emissions by thousands of pounds and your energy bills by a significant amount! Home appliances 1. Turn your refrigerator down. Refrigerators account for about 20% of Household electricity use. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible. Make sure that its energy saver switch is turned on. Also, check the gaskets around your refrigerator/freezer doors to make sure they are clean and sealed tightly. 2. Set your clothes washer to the warm or cold water setting, not hot. Switching from hot to warm for two loads per week can save nearly 500 pounds of CO2 per year if you have an electric water heater, or 150 pounds for a gas heater. 3. Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it and use the energy saving setting, if available, to allow the dishes to air dry. You can also turn off the drying cycle manually. Not using heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher's total electricity use. 4. Turn down your water heater thermostat. Thermostats are often set to 140 degrees F when 120 is usually fine. Each 10 degree reduction saves 600 pounds of CO2 per year for an electric water heater, or 440 pounds for a gas heater. If every household turned its water heater thermostat down 20 degrees, we could prevent more than 45 million tons of annual CO2 emissions - the same amount emitted by the entire nations of Kuwait or Libya. 5. Select the most energy-efficient models when you replace your old appliances. Look for the Energy Star Label - your assurance that the product saves energy and prevents pollution. Buy the product that is sized to your typical needs - not the biggest one available. Front loading washing machines will usually cut hot water use by 60 to 70% compared to typical machines. Replacing a typical 1973 refrigerator with a new energy-efficient model, saves 1.4 tons of CO2 per year. Investing in a solar water heater can save 4.9 tons of CO2 annually. Home Heating and Cooling 6. Be careful not to overheat or overcool rooms. In the winter, set your thermostat at 68 degrees in daytime, and 55 degrees at night. In the summer, keep it at 78. Lowering your thermostat just two degrees during winter saves 6 percent of heating-related CO2 emissions. That's a reduction of 420 pounds of CO2 per year for a typical home. 7. Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Energy is lost when air conditioners and hot-air furnaces have to work harder to draw air through dirty filters. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5 percent of the energy used. That could save 175 pounds of CO2 per year. Small investments that pay off 8. Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights. Although they cost more initially, they save money in the long run by using only 1/4 the energy of an ordinary incandescent bulb and lasting 8-12 times longer. They provide an equivalent amount of bright, attractive light. Only 10% of the energy consumed by a normal light bulb generates light. The rest just makes the bulb hot. If every American household replaced one of its standard light bulbs with an energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb, we would save the same amount of energy as a large nuclear power plant produces in one year. In a typical home, one compact fluorescent bulb can save 260 pounds of CO2 per year. 9. Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket, which costs just $10 to $20. It can save 1100 lbs. of CO2 per year for an electric water heater, or 220 pounds for a gas heater. 10. Use less hot water by installing low-flow shower heads. They cost just $10 to $20 each, deliver an invigorating shower, and save 300 pounds of CO2 per year for electrically heated water, or 80 pounds for gas-heated water. 11. Weatherize your home or apartment, using caulk and weather stripping to plug air leaks around doors and windows. Caulking costs less than $1 per window, and weather stripping is under $10 per door. These steps can save up to 1100 pounds of CO2 per year for a typical home. Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. This service may be provided free or at low cost. Make sure it includes a check of your furnace and air conditioning. Getting around 12. Whenever possible, walk, bike, car pool, or use mass transit. Every gallon of gasoline you save avoids 22 pounds of CO2 emissions. If your car gets 25 miles per gallon, for example, and you reduce your annual driving from 12,000 to 10,000 miles, you'll save 1800 pounds of CO2. 13. When you next buy a car, choose one that gets good mileage. If your new car gets 40 miles per gallon instead of 25, and you drive 10,000 miles per year, you'll reduce your annual CO2 emissions by 3,300 pounds. Reduce, reuse, recycle 14. Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying minimally packaged goods, choosing reusable products over disposable ones, and recycling. For every pound of waste you eliminate or recycle, you save energy and reduce emissions of CO2 by at least 1 pound. Cutting down your garbage by half of one large trash bag per week saves at least 1100 pounds of CO2 per year. Making products with recycled materials, instead of from scratch with raw materials, uses 30 to 55% less for paper products, 33% less for glass, and a whopping 90% less for aluminum. 15. If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is recovered and recycled whenever you have it serviced. In the United States, leakage from auto air conditioners is the largest single source of emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which damage the ozone layer as well as add to global warming. The CFCs from one auto air conditioner can add the equivalent of 4800 pounds of CO2 emissions per year. Home Improvements. When you plan major home improvements, consider some of these energy saving investments. They save money in the long run, and their CO2 savings can often be measured in tons per year. 16. Insulate your walls and ceilings. This can save 20 to 30 percent of home heating bills and reduce CO2 emissions by 140 to 2100 pounds per year. If you live in a colder climate, consider superinsulating. That can save 5.5 tons of CO2 per year for gas-heated homes, 8.8 tons per year for oil heat, or 23 tons per year for electric heat. (If you have electric heat, you might also consider switching to more efficient gas or oil.) 17. Modernize your windows. Replacing all your ordinary windows with argon filled, double-glazed windows saves 2.4 tons of CO2 per year for homes with gas heat, 3.9 tons of oil heat, and 9.8 tons for electric heat. 18. Plant shade trees and paint your house a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color if you live in a cold climate. Reductions in energy use resulting from shade trees and appropriate painting can save up to 2.4 tons of CO2 emissions per year. (Each tree also directly absorbs about 25 pounds of CO2 from the air annually.) Business and community 19. Work with your employer to implement these and other energy-efficiency and waste-reduction measures in your office or workplace. Form or join local citizens' groups and work with local government officials to see that these measures are taken in schools and public buildings. 20. Keep track of the environmental voting records of candidates for office. Stay abreast of environmental issues on both local and national levels, and write or call your elected officials to express your concerns about energy efficiency and global warming. Upgrades planned for Phuket airport Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:21:31 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_136.html Upgrades planned for Phuket airport Phuket International Airport is getting a five-billion baht face lift to make room for millions more passengers each year. Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) is planning to invest the money in an upgraded domestic terminal, new international terminal, and more taxiways. These changes would allow Phuket's airport to fly in 11.5 million passengers each year, up from the current 6.5 million. Airports of Thailand hopes this could happen as early as 2010. The renovations are intended to help ease congestion at the country's second busiest airport. Tourists often complain during the high season from late October to April. The number of passengers coming to Phuket rose to 5.47 million last year, 22.6% higher than in the previous year. Aircraft movements rose 32.3% to 38,386. A budget has been has been set out for the construction, and design work is under way. However, there are no plans to extend the airports single 3,000 metre runway. Teaching our Children to Recycle Wed, 4 Jun 2008 03:58:03 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_134.html Teaching our Children to Recycle Here are some simple ways we can teach young ones (and ourselves) to help Mother Earth and begin to decrease our human footprints so our children and grandchildren have an Earth they can call home. 10 Ways to Teach Children To Recycle It is vital to our future to include the children in our efforts to protect and restore the environment. The best way to teach children and encourage them to make environmental awareness a way of life for them, is to make it fun. Teach them the four R’s of the Environment… Reduce, Reuse, Reinvent, Recycle… and our world will be the better for it. We all recognize that learning when we are younger is easier, so raise good recyclers and start teaching the 3 R’s today. 1. Start a recycling program at pre-school or grade school with the participation of the school. When you have the support of the school it can become an immediate group effort and everyone can pitch in and see real results. Set a goal for the money gained by turning in bottles and cans and host an ice cream social or other fun activity. 2. At home: Make Garbage/Recycling day a fun Family thing to do. When preparing a meal, why not ask your children to help you sort out which pieces they can put in their compost bin? Vegetable and fruit peelings are great. You can find good CDs to reinforce the recycle message at cdbaby.com – search on “recycleman.” So get toe-tapping and enjoy the three R’s every step of the way! 3. Find ways to recycle old things into new things, make projects out of them. Remember the dried macaroni necklaces we use to make? Many great things were “invented” out of reinventing an old item into something new and beautiful. Turn empty plastic milk jugs into birdfeeders. Cut out a large section of one side, about 1 1/2" up from the bottom of the jug. A stick can be inserted into a hole below the opening (for a perch) and a string run through 2 holes in the top (to hang the feeder).). 4. Create a poster illustrating the recycling symbols. Post your poster in the garage or wherever you keep your recycles and make it a game with rewards for the kids, to see who knows the symbols best. 5. Create art day at the house, challenge the kids to make art out of something old instead of throwing it away. The best way to reach kids about recycling and reuse is through craft activities. Creating butterflies, flowers and even whole cities out of recycled materials, ranging from cereal boxes to old compact discs gets them thinking of “trash” in a whole new and exciting way they can relate to. 6. As a fundraising project for school, collect old cell phones with the kids and then sell them to a reseller. Check out Greenphone.com who pays you for all of your working mobile devices. And since they ALL have toxic materials in them, you are helping Planet Earth in the process. Another great use of old cell phones is the Call to Protect program which helps domestic violence victims – check out NCADV.org for more information. 7. Next time you buy new electronics, start a neighborhood “Recycle Your Electronics Drive.” Check myGreenElectronics they can help you find electronics recyclers in your area and they also provide many other FAQ information for using your electronics and environmental education. 8. Have kids count how many paper towels are used in a day at home, challenge them to find ways to reduce the consumption. Paper towels are a habit we’ve been sold by paper towel manufacturers. Sponges, dish rags and dish towels make perfectly sanitary and capable replacements and what else is one to do with your old t-shirts anyhow? 9. Start a compost bin in the garden; teach them the benefits of composting. Composting teaches very valuable lessons to children. They learn to recycle and reuse materials in an earth-friendly activity. It also involves dirt, digging, and water--favorite children's activities. You can find more valuable composting information at EdibleNature.com in the Edible Email Newsletter link. 10. Start a new Habit: “Cross the door, Flick the Switch.” Meaning if you’re leaving the room, turn off the lights (and all other electronic devices –televisions, stereos, ipods and computers too). A normal bulb will use 60 watts of energy an hour, meaning that you could conserve nearly 22,000 watts of energy per year by just switching off one bulb for one hour every day. That’s enough energy to power one months’ worth of evening TV viewing! Kids enjoy helping out and contributing to the family. To involve them more in earth-friendly activities have them take the compost bucket out to the compost bin or make them in charge of the reusable shopping bags each time you go to the grocery store. Take small opportunities like these to teach the big messages about protecting our plant. Empowering our little ones to be proactive in the environment is the easy part; often times it is us grown-ups that don’t want to take the initiative to change because WE (not the children) are too set in our ways. But aren’t our future generations worth a little extra effort? We think so too. Thailand Property Seminar Wed, 4 Jun 2008 03:51:44 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_132.html Thailand Property Seminar A number of high profile investors and developers will be offering their expertise at a seminar on Thailand property, which will take place at the Centara Grand Beach Resort on Koh Samui on June 6th from 14:00. “Whether you are interested in urban condominiums or tropical island villas, this seminar will give you the information you need to make the best property investments,” says the organiser. Among the featured speakers are: John Birt, CEO of Samui Villas and Homes; Nigel Cornick, CEO of Raimon Land; and Gary Beisty, Partner at Mayer Brown JSM. After the event is over Raimon Land will host a party at Tradewinds to celebrate the penultimate day of the Samui International Yacht Regatta. For more information on the seminar. Emerging Thai market attracting investors Tue, 3 Jun 2008 23:11:39 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_130.html Emerging Thai market attracting investors The success of the Thai economy has aroused the interest of international property investors, according to overseas specialist David Stanley Redfern (DSR). The country’s economy got off to a scintillating start to 2008, with first quarter growth at six per cent on the same period last year, and up 5.7 per cent on the last quarter of 2007. Furthermore, after two years of political turmoil - culminating in a coup last year - it seems the new government is finally settling in, and has made economic growth its top priority, argues DSR. The main course of the new administration’s efforts is centred on generating internal and regional investment, with global investment currently slowing following the continued liquidity crisis. "Continued growth in Asia is excellent news for property investment in Thailand, especially in the emerging markets of Thailand's islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, where growth is primarily fuelled by spiralling regional tourism," said Liam Bailey, head of international research at DSR. "Property prices in Koh Samui, an island with more five and six star resorts than any other in Asia, grew by 50 per year, in 2006 and 2007." While purchasing property in the country is difficult – with strict ownership criteria in place – it is possible for overseas citizens to acquire investments through the use of local businesses. The Institute of International Finance (IIF) also casts a positive light on the future of the Thai economy. The IIF has said rising inflation caused by the rising cost of basic materials was the biggest challenge facing Asian economies. However, the organisation also confirmed the problem would subside shortly and that worry over the problem had been greatly exaggerated. Furthermore, the IIF also finds Thailand has the best chance of weathering the global storm, saying: "The leading emerging markets in Asia are well-positioned to weather uncertain and less favourable global conditions." Top Ten Simple Steps to Reducing Global Warming Emissions Wed, 28 May 2008 04:05:47 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_128.html Top Ten Simple Steps to Reducing Global Warming Emissions If you’re planning a family trip to Glacier National Park in Montana, make sure to schedule it within the next 22 years. Scientists estimate that by 2030 there may not be a single glacier left – that is how quickly the ice is melting. In this way and many, many others, global warming affects us all. And while the United States is only four percent of the world’s population, we are responsible for 22 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. We especially, then, have a responsibility to reduce our emissions and concentrate on stopping climate change. Global warming is the result of too much of a good thing. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 are natural and necessary to an extent, but too much causes the atmosphere to thicken. This thickening causes more heat to be trapped within the atmospheric blanket and temperatures to rise, resulting in climate change. The problem impacts us all, and it is happening right now. Every person emits their share of CO2 and other greenhouse gases through daily activities. This share of CO2 can be greatly reduced if certain simple steps are consciously taken. Every small reduction in CO2 emissions makes a big difference because WE ADD UP. Here are 10 simple steps that anyone can take to reduce their emissions: Recycle. Recycling is something simple that anyone can do everyday – from recycling the morning’s newspaper to the plastic bottle from lunchtime. One ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water. Plus, trees actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Amazingly enough, recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours. Buy Local. Before arriving at your plate, the average meal travels more than 1,200 miles – all the while using precious energy and CO2. Make an effort to buy as many products as possible that are locally produced – from food and clothes to furniture. It will ensure that the energy consumed by transportation is as low as possible. Eat Less Meat. Livestock is responsible for 18 percent of global warming emissions. The millions of cattle being raised around the world release enormous amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Limiting one’s meat consumption will encourage cattle growers to raise smaller herds, which will help cool our planet. Bike. Make a significant contribution to stop climate change by biking to do your errands, attend school and work. You will save one pound of CO2 for every one mile you don’t drive.Additionally, you will enjoy the benefits of increased health and vitality. Demand Change. You can demand that your elected leaders make the climate a priority. Create change by writing letters, making phone calls, voting and campaigning for officials and policies that help ensure our earth’s recovery. You can make a difference! Lights Off. If you’re using compact fluorescent light bulbs, turn your lights off anytime you leave a room for more than 15 minutes. This will ensure you save energy and prolong the life of the bulb. If you’re using incandescent bulbs, turn your lights off every time you leave a room. You will be surprised at the energy you save. Drink Tap. Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste each year, which takes about 47 million gallons of oil to produce. The vast majority of plastic bottles end up in landfills. So make sure to filter your tap water and drink up. Unplug. Appliances and chargers (including MP3 player and cell phone chargers) left plugged in drain electricity, even when they’re not in use. Forty percent of all household electricity used to power home appliances and electronics is utilized while the devices are turned off. Using power strips and unplugging unnecessary electronics can save a great deal of money and energy. Go Organic. Organic agriculture produces soil that is excellent at storing carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere. Organic fields are also more resistant to intense droughts and floods (a consequence of global warming) than conventional fields. Purchasing organic products supports the increase of organic acreage, thereby keeping even more CO2 out of the atmosphere. Switch. Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last 12 times longer than incandescent bulbs and require far less energy to run. If every home in the United States switched just one incandescent bulb to a CFL, it would be the equivalent of taking one million cars off the roads. Everyone can do something to fight global warming, and simple steps are all it takes to make a difference. If each of us does our part to reduce our greenhouse emissions, we can create a healthy, thriving planet for generations to come. The majority of scientists agree that in order to continue living comfortably on this planet, we must reduce our carbon emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. That’s only a two percent reduction per year if we begin now. Remember, no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. WE ADD UP. Cities Switch off the Lights for Earth Hour Wed, 28 May 2008 00:58:07 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_126.html Cities Switch off the Lights for Earth Hour From the Sydney Opera House to Rome's Colosseum to the Sears Tower's famous antennas in Chicago, floodlit icons of civilization went dark Saturday for Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign to highlight the threat of climate change. The environmental group WWF urged governments, businesses and households to turn back to candle power for at least 60 minutes starting at 8 p.m. wherever they were. The campaign began last year in Australia, and traveled this year from the South Pacific to Europe to North America in cadence with the setting of the sun. "What's amazing is that it's transcending political boundaries and happening in places like China, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea," said Andy Ridley, executive director of Earth Hour. "It really seems to have resonated with anybody and everybody." Earth Hour officials hoped 100 million people would turn off their nonessential lights and electronic goods for the hour. Electricity plants produce greenhouse gases that fuel climate change. In Chicago, lights on more than 200 downtown buildings were dimmed Saturday night, including the stripe of white light around the top of the John Hancock Center. The red-and-white marquee outside Wrigley Field also went dark. "There's a widespread belief that somehow people in the United States don't understand that this is a problem that we're lazy and wedded to our lifestyles. (Earth Hour) demonstrates that that is wrong," Richard Moss, a member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the climate change vice president for WWF, said in Chicago on Saturday. Workers in Phoenix turned out the lights in all downtown city-owned buildings for one hour. Darkened restaurants glowed with candlelight in San Francisco while the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and other landmarks extinguished lights for an hour. New Zealand and Fiji were first out of the starting blocks this year. And in Sydney, Australia — where an estimated 2.2 million observed the blackout last year — the city's two architectural icons, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, faded to black against a dramatic backdrop of a lightning storm. Lights also went out at the famed Wat Arun Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand; shopping and cultural centers in Manila, Philippines; several castles in Sweden and Denmark; the parliament building in Budapest, Hungary; a string of landmarks in Warsaw, Poland; and both London City Hall and Canterbury Cathedral in England. Greece, an hour ahead of most of Europe, was the first on the continent to mark Earth Hour. On the isle of Aegina, near Athens, much of its population marched by candlelight to the port. Parts of Athens itself, including the floodlit city hall, also turned to black. In Ireland, where environmentalists are part of the coalition government, lights-out orders went out for scores of government buildings, bridges and monuments in more than a dozen cities and towns. But the international banks and brokerages of Dublin's financial district blazed away with light, illuminating floor after empty floor of desks and idling computers. "The banks should have embraced this wholeheartedly and they didn't. But it's a start. Maybe next year," said Cathy Flanagan, an Earth Hour organizer in Dublin. Ireland's more than 7,000 pubs elected not to take part — in part because of the risk that Saturday night revelers could end up smashing glasses, falling down stairs, or setting themselves on fire with candles. Likewise, much of Europe — including France, Germany, Spain and European Union institutions — planned nothing to mark Earth Hour. Internet search engine Google lent its support to Earth Hour by blackening its normally white home page and challenging visitors: "We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn." Tourism "boosting Thai property" Wed, 28 May 2008 00:51:26 EDT http://www.phuketvillasandhomes.com/news/news_124.html Tourism "boosting Thai property" Thailand’s biggest international real estate provider, CB Richard Ellis, has reported soaring interest in holiday home investment, which it attributes to booming tourism and an increase in flight links. In Phuket, the firm reports a 32 per cent increase in transactions from the third to last quarter of 2007, with a 59 per cent increase in their value, based on the latest statistics from the Land Department. While villas prices doubled from 2000 to 2006, CBRE said: “Phuket remains globally competitive. Prices and interest remain solid.” Market enthusiasm is attributed to growing tourism, with tourist arrivals to Phuket exceeding 5 million last year, complimented by a robust 22.5 per cent increase in visitors to Thailand. These included many from new tourism sources, such as Russia, the UAE, Switzerland and eastern European countries. “As a result, there is a broader global customer base for high-end villas. Previously, most customers were expatriates from Hong Kong and Singapore. Now we are seeing a rise in demand from NRIs, Russians and Eastern Europeans,” said CBRE. Airlines have responded to demand, most notably with new connections from regional budget carriers. From Singapore, budget airline Tiger Airways is supporting Silk Air connections. Air Asia has introduced new flights from Kuala Lumpur, and introduces daily flights between Macau and Phuket in May 2008. Dragon Air is meanwhile upgrading its Phuket-Hong Kong route in peak seasons with larger aircraft and 90 international chartered flights in the last high season from October 2007 to March 2008, which represented a 150 per cent increase from last year. With new flight links, investors are also looking for opportunities beyond Phuket to areas such as Phang Nga, Krabi and outlying islands in the Andaman Sea, said the realtor.