V in the bar area of his little guest house.

Thanat Sompongphanich – better known as “V” – originally came to Phuket from Bangkok with a commission to paint murals for the Phuket Mining Museum, particularly depicting the streets of old Phuket Town during the tin boom of a century ago.

Now V has found himself a home in those same streets, in Soi Romanee, to be precise. Soi Romanee in those days was the city’s entertainment quarter, where tin miners (mostly immigrant Chinese) would blow their hard-won wages on booze, gambling and women.

It was a great deal for the mine owners, who were also often the owners of the bars, gambling dens and brothels of Soi Romanee. They would pay the miners and, within hours, a lot of that money would flow back into their hands.

These days, Soi Romanee is very different, however. The end of the tin boom and the shift to tourism in the 1970s saw the raucous night life of the little street dwindle. Over the past few years, however, it has seen a revival, this time with the opening of small craft shops, cafés, bars and, in V’s case, a small guest house called Rommanee @9 Be My Guest. It’s easy to find – Soi Romanee is a short street.

This is no big hotel. Upstairs are just two rooms with air-conditioning and three with fans. They’re for small budgets; the former cost B550 a night and the latter B350. The rooms, as you might expect at those prices, are basic, but clean.

The place is also a showroom for V’s artistic talents. Paintings cover most of the walls, upstairs and down. Some are by him, some by his look nong, or assistants. All are definitely worth a look. One wall is a showcase for the photography of a friend.

If you like motorbikes, you’re going to be fascinated by his pride and joy, a Triumph Speed Twin made in 1952 and in mint condition.

Or just drop in any evening; there are usually people there for the pleasure of good company over a few drinks. And if the company gets too good, you may need to check whether one of the rooms upstairs is free.

The art of running a small hotel in Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

A glass of Champagne in one hand, a scarlet woman in the other, and all at 9 am. Life could be worse.

Laguna Resorts & Hotels (LRH) has held its first function in its new Latitude convention and exhibition facility – a demo for the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (M.I.C.E.) industry of what’s possible in the giant tent.

The visit was organised by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), who took several dozen MICE big shots from Bangkok and the region on a swing around the country, including the visit to Latitude.

Laguna rolled out the red carpet, literally, with an Oscar-themed reception for the delegates, which also aimed to demonstrate the versatility of the huge, air-conditioned tent.

On arrival, the delegates were escorted along the red carpets, “paparazzi” blazing away at them (Laguna must have hired most of the island freelance shooters for the occasion). Each was outfitted with appropriate garb – the ladies with boas and the gents with “faux tuxedos” – bibs with bow ties printed on them. They were then propelled into a reception at one end of the tent, with Mimosas or Champagne. This was at about 9am. There are worse ways to start the day.

Dotted around the reception area were cutouts of famous movie stars for the delegates to hobnob with, though the conversation was rather less than sparkling. Rather more lively were the Thai models brought in for the party. Most lively of all was MC Michael Massey, who insisted on asking the MICE people about movies they had never been in.

The tent can be configured many different ways. In this case, part of it was an exhibition area.

The visitors, now warmed by the Champagne and the movie star welcome, moved into the next section of the tent, this one set up as a theatre. Here they were treated to the première of Laguna’s new promotional video, and a lesson in how not to do a voice-over, by Phuket’s Hollywood refugee Ed Vaughan.

Finally it was into the third section of the tent, where a couple of dozen hotels and other tourism businesses had booths set up to tempt the visitors.

Latitude is in the Elephant Park area, on the left of the road into the Dusit Resort, opposite the entrance to Canal Village. Go here for more information.

Laguna Phuket entertains some MICE is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

The view from the Preah Vihear temple complex is huge - if the complex is not ringed by Thai and Cambodian soldiers pointing guns at one another.

AirAsia is to  start direct flights three times a week between Phuket and Ubon Ratchathani. The new service, starting on October 12, will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Ubon, as the city is generally known, is tucked into the southeast corner of Isan, with Cambodia just to the south and Laos to the east.

Considering that it was founded 230 years ago, Ubon Ratchathani – the name means Royal City of the Lotus - is surprisingly lacking in attractions. WikiTravel remarks, “Ubon is a little short on must-see sights, although there are a few mildly interesting temples.”

Not far from Ubon, the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge links Mukdahan in Thailand with Savannakhet in Laos, across the Mekong. Photo by Premica Pata.

It is, however, close to the Mekong River, a truly majestic sight when in flood. A little to the north of Ubon is Mukhdahan, which is linked to Laos by a bridge across the Mekong. Visa-free entry into Laos for limited visits is possible across this bridge.

An hour or so to the southwest of Ubon is the ancient Khmer temple complex of Preah Vihear (Khao Phra Viharn is Thai). It’s been the centre of tensions between Thailand and Cambodia for the past year or so, and is therefore closed to the public.

However, when it is eventually reopened, it is well worth visiting, not only for the pre-Angkor ruins – which are still in pretty good condition despite being a battleground several times in the past 40 years – but also for the huge views of Cambodia from the top of the complex. (For more details and updates, try here.)

Wat Pah Nanachart. Photo courtesy of picasaweb.google.com/watnongpahpong

Also close to Ubon is Wat Pa Nananchart (the International Forest Wat), well known among the spiritually inclined for its meditation courses for foreigners.

As usual, AirAsia will kick-start the new Phuket-Ubon route with low fares, starting at 690 baht each way. Travelers can book online between August 25 and September 5 for travel between October 12 and September 11, 2011.

In addition, AirAsiaGo, the airline’s travel portal, will also offer a related four-day-three-night accommodation-and-tour package starting from 2,779 baht per person in both Phuket and Ubon Ratchathani. Details do not appear to be online yet.

AirAsia made Phuket a regional hub in November last year. In addition to Ubon, the airline now has direct services linking the island to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Udon Thani, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh and Kuala Lumpur.

Air Asia to launch Phuket – Ubon Ratchathani direct route is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Untangle the sentence and do some research and you discover that U Hotels is a brand name owned by Absolute. That’s Absolute, as in Bryan Lunt’s Absolute Bangla Suites in Patong, right? Nope. Nothing to do with him. This Absolute is based in Bangkok.

Let’s separate the two. In the blue corner, Lunt’s Absolute Resort Management, or ARM for short. ARM lists on its website eight resorts under management in Phuket, two on Koh Samui and two more in Pattaya.

In the red corner, the other Absolute, from Bangkok, Absolute Hotel Services, or AHS. We’ll go into detail in a moment.

The plot thickens. AHS’s hotel management brand is U which, as we already know, will be affixed to the new Nai Harn resort, due to open in 2011.

Bryan Lunt.

Now get this: ARM has a deal, announced a year ago, with famed design house Yoo (headed by über-designer Philippe Starck) to cooperate on a 256-apartment development on Phuket, scheduled to open next year. When it’s complete – supposedly next year – it will be managed by ARM.

Now AHS and U are moving into ARM’s home territory. Observer hears that ARM, with their “Absolute-Yoo” – and despite their public pronouncement on the topic (below) were none too happy with AHS and their “Absolute-U”.

A company source said They Had Talked With Their Lawyers.

However, the official response from Lunt was: “Although the name of the top-end residential partnership Absolute Resorts & Hotels/Yoo and the company Absolute Hotel Services/U could pose some confusion, we have no real cause for concern”

He added (take a deep breath), “In Thailand, our resorts services extend much further than just our hotel management division.  The Absolute World Group has been an established market leader since 1998 and is made up of six brands offering a seamless range of services in the vacation industry, encompassing select resorts and hotels, luxury boutique real estate, a vacation club with thousands of members, a booming fractional ownership and resale division and a leading lifestyle magazine. Absolute operates 27 offices globally and employs 1,300 staff.” There was quite a bit more, but we reckon you get the idea.

AHS were unfazed and equally voluble. The company’s founder and CEO, Jonathan Wigley, told the Observer, “Many companies have the same word in their name so really it is not very unusual.”

He went on, “[ARM] were not active in the market when we opened our company [and] our type of operations is very different.”

AHS was launched in the public eye just over two years ago, on June 26, 2008. It’s backed by multi-billion-baht Thai property developer Tanayong and headed by Wigley, who’s worked for the Minor Group, Marriott, Hilton, Omni, Delta and, most recently, boutique hotel management company Invision.

(Another Phuket connection; Invision was founded and is run by ex-JW Marriott Phuket GM Kevin Beauvais. Invision is another competitor in this increasingly crowded boutique hotel/resort management business; it runs the Glow Trinity Silom hotel in Bangkok and Villa Maroc in Pranburi, and, closer to Phuket. Zeavola Resorts Phi Phi.

It has also signed a deal to run the 123-room B-Lay Tong in Patong [due to open in December], and another to manage the villas at The Residence Phuket, in Bang Tao, under its Lantern brand.)

Jonathan Wigley

Wigley didn’t stay long with Invision – some 18 months – and when he left, two other Invision people went with him: John Westoby, who used to be Invision’s technical boss and is now AHS’s Chief Operating Officer, and Nopparat Pongwatanakulsiri, formerly Invision’s MarCom boss, now VP of Marketing at AHS.

The company’s website shows it has offices (or at least PO boxes) in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Australia. The impressive-looking U portfolio, as listed on the U website, includes a total of 14 properties in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India.

So far, however, only the 41-room U Chiang Mai is actually open. The U Inchantree in Kanchanaburi will open in November and is already taking bookings at very reasonable rates (between B2,000 and 3,000 a night). The other 12 are scheduled to open next year or in 2012.

The Phuket deal is so new that the U at Nai Harn is not yet listed in the website, but expect it to be up there soon.

Wigley doesn’t think there will be much confusion over the names. “Absolute Hotel Services is our company name, which is never used in a consumer environment; we are known to the consumer through our brands and hotel names.”

So no confusion? Well, only a little. “Whenever we have been contacted by mistake by someone looking for Absolute Resorts Management we just explain, then all [is] clear.”

As to the U-Yoo question, he responded, “The brand names U Hotels & Resorts and Yoo are clearly very different so we do not anticipate any issues in Phuket or anywhere else.”

So what it comes down to is that everything is cool and everyone’s happy.

Meanwhile, friends will be asking one another, “So you are staying at Yoo, are you?”  ”Oh no. I’m staying at U. How about you?” Confusion? Absolutely not…

Resorting to Absolute confusion in Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Groms away! And no experience required.

Phuket doesn’t have the big booming surf of Hawaii or Australia, but it does have waves big enough to test the abilities of grommets (or groms) – youngsters who just love to grab a surfboard and head for the beach to catch a wave or two.

Now there’s an additional reason for them to paint their faces with multicoloured zinc sunblock, haul on the surfing baggies and get down to the beach: the Rip Curl Grom Search 2010.

The Search will consist of three one-day events at three different beaches: Nai Harn Beach on August 21, Kata Beach on September 4 and Surin Beach on September 18

Each day begins at 7 am with registration followed by a beach clean-up and ocean awareness program with Phuket water safety specialist Steven A. Martin – gotta pay your dues first.

Then there will be a free surf clinic (with soft boards supplied by Nautilus Surf Shop) and a free lunch of healthy salads, sandwiches and fruit juice catered by DaVinci’s Restaurant. The surf contest will offer surf heats and finals for the boys and girls in various divisions, resulting in a variety of awards, prizes, and ending with a sunset BBQ beach party and fire-twirling show.

No experience is required, say the organisers, and everyone can learn not only about surfing but also about ocean safety, rip currents and sandbanks, and how to reduce water pollution and marine garbage piling up on Phuket’s shores.

The Grom Search is presented by Australian surfing equipment and clothing company Rip Curl, and is supported by local municipalities and a variety of Phuket businesses.

For more details or to join in, go to the Rip Curl Thailand Facebook page.

Surf’s up for kids – Rip Curl Grom Search in Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

The Governor of Phuket, dressed in the uniform of a 19th century high government official, poses for photo with "brides" and "grooms", "matchmakers" (back row) and pages and bridesmaids. All photographs on this page © copyright Alasdair Forbes 2005.

Hundreds of people turned out today (August 15) to take part in or watch the parade that was the highlight of the Phuket Baba Wedding organised by the local Peranakan Association.

Sweet smiles from one of the "wedding" couples.

Led by a silver band and senior fugures of the Baba community riding in bicycle rickshaws, the procession started out from the Tourism Authority of Thailand offices, going along Thalang Rd and Krabi Rd to the Thai Hua Museum, originally the Thai Hua School, the community’s main centre of education.

“Married” in the celebrations were couples from Thailand, China, Taiwan and Japan, who paid B39,000 for a white suit for him and a spectacular traditional Chinese costume for her, along with make-up and a new hairdo.

The style of the whole event was that of 19th century Phuket, at the height of the tin boom and the wealth that brought to the island’s Chinese community. In those days, wedding celebrations might go on for eight or nine days but in this case, matters were shortened to and evening and a day. (But what a day – the brides had to be up and ready for the make-up and hair session at around 3am)

A child waves a streamer as the procession goes by.

Yesterday evening (April 14), celebrants poured into the grounds of the elegant Hongyok Mansion on Thepkrassatri Rd, Phuket Town, for a recreation of the “Making of the Desserts Day”, one of the more important events in a traditional Baba wedding.

This included a concert by the Yala Municipal Youth Orchestra and a performance by the world-renowned Joe Louis Puppet Theatre (the troupe won “Best Traditional Performance Award” at the 10th World Festival of Puppet Art held in Prague in 2006, beating troupes from 43 other countries).

The Peranakans (or Baba-Nyonya) are descendants of Chinese immigrants who settled in Southeast Asia in the 16th century, particularly in  Singapore, Penang, Melaka, Medan and Phuket. Ties between these communities remain  strong to this day.

Part of the Baba, or Peranakan, heritage – very much on display over the night and day of the wedding, is the traditional styles of dress. Here are some more pictures:

Spectators threw flower petals from upper stories of homes along Thalang Rd.

Pranee Sakulpipatana, historian and one of the organisers of the Phuket Baba Wedding, rides in a bicycle rickshaw..

The flower girls were favourites with the photographers.

Smart green and black uniforms for the silver band.

Intricate gold jewelry and equally intricate lace are essential elements of Peranakan costume for women - and, on hot days, fans.

Hundreds attend “mass Baba wedding” in Phuket Town is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Joe Conrad's a bit tied up for now - the illusionist does some magic for members of the International Business Association of Phuket, whose monthly meeting he used as the launch platform for his new theatre in Phuket

His name’s Joe Conrad. As far as we know he’s no relation of the famed writer Joseph Conrad, who wove such stunning word pictures of Southeast Asia 100 years ago.

But popular illusionist Joe is heading for Phuket’s Heart of Darkness, Patong. In fact he’s already here quite a bit of the time, overseeing creation of a 700-seat theatre in the Jungceylon complex, where he and his crew will put on two 1½-hour shows every nigh, with three on Saturday (closed Mondays).

Originally from Pittsburgh in the US, Joe started doing magic tricks when he was 13. He got his big break when he was invited to open for crooner Tom Jones on a tour of Canada in the 1970s. After that he performed on cruise ships, in night clubs and at venues such as Walt Disney World in Florida.

He came to Asia in the 1990s to redesign and perform at a magic theatre in a Korean theme park. After a long run there, he decided to stay in Asia, performing almost exclusively for casinos and for corporations – who find it handy to have a guy on hand who can make products such as cars appear or disappear with a snap of the fingers.

The Jungceylon theatre is a new level of involvement – and investment – for him (creating the theatre and performance is costing US$1.5 million). Joe promises the show will be a feast of unexpected appearances and disappearances, people being chopped, sliced and diced in different ways (and reassembled, of course), and assistants flying gracefully through the air.

The climax, Joe told the Observer with a grin, will be a disappearing elephant. Well, what a coincidence. That just happens to be the climax of the Phuket FantaSea show, too. There’s no comment on that from Joe, but there’s a bit of a wicked glitter in his eyes.

The theatre is scheduled to open on December 15. Tickets will be B900 for adults and B600 for kids. For a taster, see Joe’s show reel and other videos here.

Illusionist chooses Jungceylon as home for his magic show is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Cheese. Lots of it.

When Phuket Observer first arrived on the island, there were really just two places to buy farang food - Sin & Lee on Thalang Rd and Tops in Robinson, both in Phuket Town.

Since then things have moved on a bit. We’ve seen the arrival of Tesco-Lotus (and its expansion into mini-Lotuses outside town), the opening of Big C, the arrival of Tops in Central Festival and Carrefour in Jungceylon in Patong, and more recently, Villa Mart in Chalong. We’ve even seen Super Cheap up its game by stocking foreign stuff.

Fish eggs, naturally.

But now the world-class guys are here. Tomorrow (August 11) sees the official opening of Central Food Hall at Central Festival. Tops is no longer tops at Central. In fact, Tops is no longer even there. It’s been elbowed out by the Food Hall.

This is the fourth Central Food Hall in Thailand. There were two in Bangkok, and will be again when Central World is reopened after being trashed by the Red Shirts (the other’s in Chidlom), and there’s a third in Pattaya. The Phuket branch definitely raises the bar locally.

If you're Brit, this'll stir the juices.

Take a tour with Nick, and he’ll tell you how Central has its own butcher backstage, making sausages onsite (they sell out almost as fast as they make them), how it imports fresh salmon and fillets and smokes them in Bangkok so that that the smoked salmon is fresher and cheaper than the Norwegian import (which they also stock, just in case you’re a suspicious Scandinavian).

Then he’ll point out the genuine British-style bacon from British icon Waitrose,proper cordials and ginger beer, McVitie’s chocolate digestive biscuits, Waitrose ginger nut biscuits, Wilkin & Sons jams, Twinings and PG Tips tea (okay, they have Lipton’s, too) – if you’re Brit, you get the idea.

If you’re French, Italian, German, Australian, Korean (kimchi) or Japanese, you’ll feel right at home, too, Nick reckons. There are American specialties, though he confesses there should be more, an insufficiency which will be remedied as soon as he can figure out which bit of the US is which, and what they like there.

Then there’s Central’s bottled water that Nick swears is better than any other available in Thailand (four filter processes),the huge range of cheeses, 30-year-old vinegar and so many different types of extra virgin olive oil that you have to wonder why anyone uses any other kind. (Sidebar: We’ve always wondered, how do you deflower olive oil? Who does it? And why? And how can you be extra virgin? You either are or you aren’t, aren’t you?) Anyway, goooooood.

Perfect additions to your favourite vodka.

There’s an emphasis on organic and, during our rounds we met a diabetic shopper looking for sugar-free products. The choice was so good he was planning to move in for a couple of weeks. There are no beds, so he’s planning to bring a sleeping bag.

Central has its own pig farms and its own chicken farms, Nick explains – not quite free range, because that might expose the chooks to bird flu, but farms where the chickens at least get to walk around the barn. Meat from these feeds not only into the fresh meat counter but also into the big sandwich bar with eight different breads to choose from, 20 fillings and 10 dressings. And quiche and, and and…

Then, of course, there’s a bakery. Spectacular. Absolutely. Check out the enormous sourdough loaves that take 12 hours to prove and another 12 to bake.

Just writing this, we’re full.

Did we mention that Nick is the same guy who hosts the Cooking for Fun TV show? We didn’t? Well, he does. And you’ll also see his face here and there in the Food Hall on Cooking For Fun products.

Life is good.

Central Food Hall opens at Central Festival Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

A winner in the under-16 group.

Local ladies tuned out in their very best traditional outfits and lots and lots of jewellery for the second Phuket Traditional Costumes Contest at the Provincial Museum near the Heroines monument today (August 8).

The competition was split into four age groups – 7 to 15, 16 to 30, 31 to 45 and over 45, and attracted about 20 entrants. Rather than try to describe the event any further, we reckon the pictures tell the story.

The youngest competitor, and 3rd-place winner in the under-16s

Another prize for another winner.

Rhapsody in Blue - and pink.

Beauties in the 31-to-45-year-old class.

A young entrant watches as others come on stage behind her.

Elegant trio.

Two members of the Cherng Talay Long Drum Club, who provided entertainment.

Colours of culture in Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Soon to be a much more familiar sight in Phuket? A Tiger Airways Airbus A320-200.

There can be little doubt that AirAsia has had an effect on the bottom line at Thai Airways International, offering discounts that the Thai flag carrier has not even tried to match.

Thai did try to claw back some of the revenue that was heading for AirAsia through its involvement in Nok Air, in which it has a 39% stake.

But this, apparently, is not enough. Nok Air has not been exactly a roaring success; it did make forays into India and Vietnam but has since pulled back to concentrate entirely on the domestic market, flying from Bangkok to 13 destinations in Thailand.

Thai’s president, Piyasvasti Amranand, laid out the problem plainly. “Our market share used to be 82%. But as air travel [has grown] our share has diminished. Even with Nok Air, together our market share is now 50%,” he said.

Nok is a great deal smaller than Thai AirAsia; it has just five aircraft compared with Thai AirAsia’s 18.

But now Thai has pencilled a deal with Singapore’s Tiger Airways to create a new airline, Thai Tiger Airways, to go head-to-head with AirAsia.

Hard times make for strange bedfellows. Tiger’s biggest shareholder is Singapore Airlines, Thai’s biggest rival in the region (yes, they are both members of the Star Alliance but there is no code sharing between the two, which says something about their relationship).

The important element, however, is the involvement in Tiger of RyanAsia Ltd, the regional offshoot of the highly successful European low cost carrier (LCC) RyanAir, which now carries more international passenger than any other airline in the world.

Tiger is also no stranger to Thailand. It has been flying to Phuket for six years, and also serves Udon Thani and has, from time to time, flown into Krabi and Haad Yai.

A memorandum of understanding, which foresees Thai and Tiger establishing the new joint-venture airline was signed on August 2.

The announcement of the signing, with the partners planning to have the new LCC off the ground early next year, ruffled not a few feathers in Bangkok. The Thai Ministry of Finance is Thai’s biggest shareholder, with 43%, followed by the government’s Vayapuk Fund with 15.5%  and the Government Savings Bank with 11% – for a total of just under 70% government ownership.

Transport Minister Sophon Saram harrumphed that things were moving far too fast. While he said that his ministry would do nothing that might be seen as interference in the airline’s decision-making, he warned that if the proposed new airline fails, Thai executives “must take full responsibility”.

So far there is no sign that Thai execs plan to back away. Piyasvasti rushed around the day after the MOU signing, visiting Sophon, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij, power broker Newin Chidchob and Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban to “clarify” the need for the new airline.

So far, thing still seem to be on track, with the new airline to be owned 51% by Thai and 49% by Tiger.

If and when it does get off the ground, expect to see the lucratively busy Bangkok-Phuket route becoming one of the main battlegrounds between Thai Tiger and AirAsia. That’s got to be good for passengers’ wallets.

Thai Tiger to go toe-to-toe with AirAsia is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.