The monsoon finally arrives in Bophut...

At least the strong winds and high tides bits have, according to Lucy. It rained hard last week overnight, and it's raining now, but the monsoon un-typically let up on the rain for three days, delivering only strong onshore winds and bright sunshine. The rough seas and high tides have dumped a load of beach sand onto the lawn area, which Jonny has been manfully trying to remove before the salt kills the grass - a strong possibility unless we get plenty of rain to dilute its affects.

We have only one guest and no bookings for a couple of weeks, so Lucy has sent most of the staff home while we paint the other guest rooms and conduct other bits of internal maintenance.

I know all this because as Lucy and I talked on Skype this morning, she simply walked around the lawn and beach with her MacBook showing me the damage through the lens of its built-in camera. At the same time she could see my reaction in Dubai recorded by my iMac's camera. Magic - and free!

The rough seas have also been responsible for breaking up Bophut's pier just down the street. The end third now separated from the shorter, strongest third, nearest the shore.

08/11/09: She's since sent me photos of the devastation. The pier is worse than I thought and it looks as if the village is taking a heck of a pounding. We are so lucky that Baan Bophut has a beach for the waves to crash against.

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The monsoon isn't the only thing to newly arrive at Baan Bophut. Despite promises to herself (& mum, Olwen) not to take-in another stray dog, after Blackhead disappeared, she's adopted two! Here they're pictured at 8 weeks old. They're now 10 weeks, all jabbed-up and seen to by the vet, and considerably bigger. Lucy tells me they're both gentle with an even temperament and not 'yappers'.

Bonzo and Foxy, different sizes, but both from the same litter, were too much to resist when Lucy learned that without a home, they would be going to Samui Dog Rescue to be put down.

Personally I'm delighted the hotel now has its own dog(s) again, instead of sharing (& feeding) the neighbours' - what's a beach hotel without a dog?

HM the King and royal household celebrate Loi Kratong...

Quoting the Nation newspaper:

"Their Majesties the King and Queen last night floated their krathong in the river near Siriraj Hospital. Many royal members joined Their Majesties in celebrating the Loy Krathong festival.

After Their Majesties floated their krathongs, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and his son, HRH Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, HRH Princess Chulabhorn Valayalaksana and HRH Princess Srirasmi, the Royal Consort of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, followed suit.

This was a rare event.

Hundreds of loyal subjects lined Siriraj Hospital's walkways to greet the Royal Family.

Since being admitted to hospital on September 19, His Majesty has appeared in public only twice, the first time on October 23.

Although His Majesty remained in a wheelchair last night, he smiled and waved to his people. After floating his krathong, he viewed a floating procession of decoratively lit boats along the Chao Phya River.

His Majesty also held a camera.

The Royal Household Bureau said His Majesty's health has been improving. More than 20 million people have signed get-well messages for him during his hospitalisation."

This has to be Suratthani's top destination...after Samui

While I knew of Khao Sok National Park in mainland Suratthani I didn't know anything about the park until I started to search for a website that I could link for Suratthani attractions in the previous post.

I didn't know it has an area of 740 km.sq, nor did I imagine it to be the oldest virgin rainforest on the planet, older and more diverse even than the Amazon rainforest.

The richness of the tropical forest flora, the abundance of fresh water and the shelter of the mountains combine to provide an excellent habitat for many species of wildlife. Mammals that call the place home include, the Malayan Tapir, Asian Elephant, Tiger, Sambar and Barking Deer, Sun Bear, Guar, Banteng, Serow, Wild Boar, Pig Tailed Macaque, Langur, Sumatra Rhino, White Handed Gibbon, Squirrel, Munjak and Mouse Deer.

The forest is dense and dominated by tall emergent trees; the middle layer is a tangle of figs and woody climbers, whilst the understorey contains evergreens such as bamboo, rattan, ferns and palms, all fighting for light. It is also home to many varieties of orchid and for flora-spotting botonistas, the park is one of only a handful of locations in Thailand and Malaysia where grows the world's largest flower, the parasitic and stinky Rafflesia kerrii, with it's rotten-meat stench (to attract pollinating flies) and giant 50-90cm diameter red flowers.

Twitchers are well served with over 180 species of birds. Khao Sok is just about the only place in Thailand to see both Lesser and Grey-headed Fish Eagle. The Banded Pitta is a fabulously beautiful species which appears far more common in the park than anywhere else. Hornbills can be found with Great, Helmeted and White-crowned the most frequently seen.

Divers (tech), kayakers/canoeists, fishermen, climbers and cavers all seem to be well catered for.

It appears that Khao Sok National Park is one of the easiest national parks to get to in Thailand. It's frequently visited by tourists from the southern beach resorts and many places from Khao Lak, Krabi and Phuket run minibuses to the accommodation just outside the park. Samui based trippers must first take the ferry and bus to mainland Surattani. If you choose to drive, simply follow highway route number 401, which is also known as the Suratthani-Takuapa road. Turn right at the 109 kilometer stone and drive for another 2 km. or until you see the park’s headquarters.

From Suratthani take a minibus to Khao Sok or any bus to Takua Pa can also be taken; the buses will stop at Km 109 where people from various bungalow resorts at Khao Sok wait to collect visitors. From the main road to the accommodation is a few kilometres so it is best to take a ride with one of the bungalow operators. A visit here, from where I copied some photos, looks to be a worthy choice.

Nok Air cuts the costs of travel to mainland Suratthani...

Photo source: Nok Air

Nok, no surprise given their livery, means 'bird' in Thai

From Sunday, Oct. 25, low-cost airline Nok air will start flying between Bangkok and Suratthani, Samui's mainland province . A promotional fare of Bt555 (US 16 GBP 10) one-way or Bt1,000 return, will operate for the first three months, after which it will double, but is still expected to be around $10-$12 cheaper each way than Air Asia, that also operate the route.

Sihaphan Choomsai Na Ayutthaya, the airline’s senior vice-president for public relations, said the new air route, aimed at increasing (cash strapped) tourist traffic to Samui and Koh Phangan, will have two roundtrip flights daily. The flight from Bangkok will depart from Nok Air's hub at Don Muang airport.

The route will be serviced by a Boeing 737-400 aircraft which can seat 168 passengers.

Suratthani Gov. Pracha Taerat said the new air route would provide tourists bound for Samui or Koh Phangan a chance to make a side trip to some of the province’s many other attractions.

Monthly roundup...

Less than two weeks after Gary's 40th birthday bash that featured Dirty Vegas as previously posted, sadly his Bophut Hills Gecko venue burned to the ground. Gary was briefly hospitalised with smoke inhalation, but thankfully there were no other injuries. Gecko can and will be rebuilt. The overwhelming tragedy is the loss of Gary's tapes and digitised music representing twenty years of a life recording and DJ'ing. The fire is attributed to an electrical fault in an AC.

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I forgot to follow-up on my pledge to name & shame or acclaim the contractor we used to finally sort-ot the hotel's WiFi package. I'm delighted to recommend the services of Matthew at Bluechip Wireless who have provided broadband WiFi throughout the hotel and beach. Bluechip also upgraded our reception computer and agreed to become our on-call IT department. Good job Matthew - thanks.

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And on the family front...

It's number one daughter Lucy's birthday today. When I called her this morning she was into a sausage roll and cup of tea at Big Joe's and later planned lunch at Ocean's 11 in Bangrak with Jonny. I hope she had a great day.

Self-snap: Lucy and Jonny today

It gives me huge pleasure to let those that don't yet know - number one son Dominic finally asked his Fiona to be our future number one daughter-in-law last weekend. We could not be more delighted with his choice.

HM the King makes his first public appearance today...

HM the King has made his first public appearance since being admitted to Siriraj Hospital over a month ago, appearing in a wheelchair in the hospital's ground floor to pay homage to his late mother and King Rama V on the occassion of the Piya Maharaja Day, a public holiday.

Using their day-off to show their loyalty, many more well-wishers than usual visited the hospital, some wept with joy as His Majesty made his appearance to place garlands at the portraits of his late mother and King Rama V.

Photo source: The Nation

The monarch looked alert but frail as he was wheeled out to greet well-wishers in the public areas of the hospital. The appearance followed a tough week for the Thai people as rumours about his health caused panic selling and more than a little market manipulation at work in the stock market. The SET Index fell 7% over two days last week amid rumours originating from Hong Kong and Singapore which are now being investigated.

"His physical strength has increased. His sleep and food intake is normal," the Royal Household Bureau announced yesterday. It added that doctors would continue to give antibiotics and food supplements to His Majesty until the prescription schedule was completed.

The King showing early signs of recovery...

(AP photo)

Thailand's 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej spent his 14th day in a Bangkok hospital today with what the palace obliquely called a second bout of low fever and inflammation in his lungs, that finally appears to be responding to treatment.

King Bhumibol, the world's longest-serving monarch, was admitted to Bangkok's Siriraj hospital on 19th Sept. for fever, fatigue and lack of appetite three days after a routine check-up. It is his longest hospital stay since October 2007. Since his admission, the palace has released almost daily updates on his condition without saying what is causing the symptoms.

After being hospitalised for four days, the king's temperature returned to normal, but the fever returned several days later, according to the palace. "His overall condition has improved and his medication can be reduced" the Royal Household Bureau said in its latest statement. The brief statement said that a medical team would continue to give the king a reduced number of antibiotics and nutrients intravenously as it has since his arrival, and continue with physical therapy.

Elephants and well-wishers take part in a Buddhist prayer for the health of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej outside Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok yesterday (Reuters photo)

The king is regarded by his people as a semi-divine source of unity and stability in a country beset by four years of political turmoil that has been marked by several changes in government and frequent mass street protests. Bhumibol is a constitutional king with no formal political role, but he has repeatedly brought calm in times of turbulence and is considered the country's moral authority and a unifying figure.

A mahout astride his elephant participates in prayers for the King outside the hospital (Reuters photo)

Thousands of well-wishers have crowded outside Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital and events have been organized around the country in honor of the king. The king's health is an extremely sensitive topic in Thailand because of concerns that the succession may not go smoothly. The heir apparent, his son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, does not yet have the stature or moral authority of his father. He has reigned through a score of governments, democratic and dictatorial. In his six decades on the throne, he has taken an especially active role in rural development and is respected for his dedication to helping the country's poor.

Young well-wishers pray for the King's return to good health outside the hospital (Reuters photo)

Bhumibol is revered by most Thais, but in recent years the palace has come in for unprecedented, though usually discreet, criticism because of allegations that the king's advisers interfered in politics, including playing a part in inspiring a 2006 military coup that ousted a democratically elected government. Open discussion of the matter is barred by strict lese majeste laws that make criticism of the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

We join our staff and all loyal Thais in praying for the speedy recovery of the King

Six Chefs Six courses Charity Dinner

I've just noticed this event posted on the radio station site. While not a new concept it's another innovation for Samui; a chance to dress-up and for a very worthy cause...

Six Chefs, Six Courses Charity Dinner

A musical mystery tour...

Making it back home with the sun already warming her back this morning, Lucy has since been raving about Gary Gecko's fantastic 40th birthday party bash at his new venue in the Bophut Hills last night. And in absolute raptures over featured artists - Dirty Vegas, who also opted to spend their two nights on the island at Baan Bophut. By one of those weirdly, ever contracting degrees of separation their next gig is here in Dubai tomorrow night, in support of former Stone Roses frontman - Ian Brown - followed by Manchester, our family's birth city, on 3rd Oct.

Predictably, Lucy has been Facebooking her enthusiasm, urging friends in both cities to go hear the Grammy Award winning UK based band that exploded onto the scene with their self-titled debut album in 2002 landing at number 7 on the billboard 200, and selling close to a million records worldwide. Kudos to Gary for snagging Dirty Vegas for his birthday party.

Twenty years a DJ with the last ten on Koh Samui, Gary is responsible, almost single-handedly, for pioneering the now thriving international dance scene bringing scores of the biggest names in the dance world to his famous Gecko beach venue. Recently squeezed off the beach by newly arrived big name hotel neighbours, Gary relocated his operation to the hills above Bophut where, it seems, the Gecko continues to party on. In between running the NEW Gecko Samui and touring the globe DJ’ing at the coolest venues from Ibiza to Japan, you’ll find Gary in the studio doing what he loves best.. making music!

And he now has another outlet for his creativity with the recent arrival of Radio One Samui where Gary has a regular spot on Tuesday evenings.

We had two fantastic weeks in August...

After our Dubai friends Sam and Chucky put the date of their wedding at Baan Bophut back by a week, we were free to surprise the family by pitching up at my great niece Giada's combined christening and 1st birthday bash in Italy, which had clashed with the original date.

A rather more different call to prayer than we're used to

The celebration with Dom and Fi, my siblings and most of their partners and offspring by Lake Garda, extended to four days of outstanding food, wine and general merriment, amid great company and lovely weather, after the suffocating heat of Dubai. It was also the chance to load up with some fantastic local cheeses and salami for onward transport to Dubai and Koh Samui. We had just 26 hours at home in Dubai before taking-off again for BKK, and once again I was fortunate to be upgraded to Business class (both ways, it turned out).

The wedding at the hotel was our biggest yet, with 48 guests that had arrived from as far away as the UK, the US (actor/rapper Mos Def's dad no less) and New Zealand, together with a large Dubai contingent. The weather was relatively kind in that it didn't rain or, unusual for Samui weddings, have anyone worrying that it would. An onshore breeze picked-up in the afternoon to alleviate some of the affects of the heat and humidity on an otherwise clear, almost cloudless day.

This was the first time that I'd been at Baan Bophut to witness the preparations that go into the making of such a special occasion. There are a lot of moving parts to one of these event and I must say that I was so proud of Lucy and all our staff at the way they pitched-in and got things organized. The flowers were beautiful and the crisp linen on the chairs, each with a little posy of orchids on the back looked splendid.

After the ceremony, while guests headed for the bar (itself beautifully decorated), our staff wheeled-in the eight, large circular tables which they unobtrusively set for dinner, on this occasion a combined buffet and barbecue. The bride's choice, a combo of Thai, western and vegetarian options seemed to go down well and I was pleased to receive several compliments for my fabled, twice-cooked, oven baked ribs. Unused to praising food he hasn't cooked himself, Tik said they needed more pepper.

We met some wonderful people that we hope to stay in touch with, as well as many old friends and Sam's brothers and sisters that we've known and caught up with, on and off, for many years.

Unable to focus, I put the camera away before the fireworks, fire balloons and many guests sought a form of recovery in the pool. For interested family and guests an album of my photos of the day can be found here.

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What else happened during my nine day stay...? Oh yeah, the reception computer crashed and it's having a new motherboard fitted, along with 10 times more memory than it originally started life with. And while we were at it, arranged to upgrade our Internet connection and WiFi coverage to all rooms from an additional all-weather router on the beach bar roof. Hopefully it should all be up and running early next week. Watch this space for either praise or scorn heaped on the contractor, to follow.

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Finally, I watched some of our staff enjoy their twice monthly English lesson, on this occasion with a trainee from Island TEFL, here engaged in an observed teaching practice. Island TEFL is one of two such schools that use Baan Bophut as part of their TEFL teacher development. It's a win-win arrangement judging by the enthusiasm of both the student teacher and our staff who, Lucy tells me, really look forward to these lessons.

New crackdown on Samui drug users...

As part of a new and welcome initiative to stamp-out drug use on the island, Koh Samui District Chief Sakchai Jorphalit has urged hotels and resorts to play their part by making sure their guests understand that drug using tourists are not welcome on the island, and has suggested that notices are posted in hotels' public areas.

Creating awareness of the crack-down comes as a small part of a much wider campaign to eliminate drug distribution and use on the island. Recently Mr. Sakchai launched the Post Box 188 project, an address that encourages anyone to anonymously grass (sorry) with any information that could be useful to the campaign and is a component of the newly launched 'Operation Center to Fight against Drug', which Sakchai manages. The center will initiate other projects and activities to encourage island residents and tourists to help root out the drug problem.

“Our Operation Center to Fight against Drug has just established the Post Box 188 so that residents and tourists on Koh Samui can send us letters, news, reports, suggestions, proposals related to drug usage on Koh Samui. It is another channel for us to receive information directly from people about sources of narcotic drugs,” Sakchai said. He went on to say "People can give information about drug users, drug dealers, drug makers and areas where drug trading takes place or where people use drugs, without revealing their identities".

He cited a police report claiming that as high as 80 per cent of drug users on the island are foreign tourists. This explains, he said, why the drug business on Samui remains lucrative.

In an unrelated report by the Samui Express newspaper, a couple were arrested recently at a vehicle checkpoint for transporting illegal drugs. Somkiat Noentaisong, 32, of Chumphon, threw a white box out the window of the van he was driving as he approached the police checkpoint near the Bangkok-Samui Hospital. The police, who became suspicious, stopped the van and retrieved the white box, which yielded 370 tablets of amphetamine (Yaba) and an undetermined amount of marijuana.

The police's suspicions may have been alerted by the fact that Somkiat’s van had flashing lights and a siren on the roof and was sporting a police logo. Police took Somkiat and his wife, 22-year-old Rattanakorn Kaewinthi into custody.

At the police station the pair confessed they had been hired to take the illegal drugs from Bangkok to Samui.

Police said that for making their van look like a police vehicle, the couple face five months in jail and/or a fine of Bt10,000, but it was not reported if they faced a penalty for ferrying the drugs.

Pilot killed as flight crashes on landing at Samui airport...

BBC News website user, Japhy G, took this photo from the north end of the runway at Koh Samui airport

The pilot of a Bangkok Airways flight has been killed and seven passengers injured as it skidded off the runway while landing at Koh Samui.

The Bangkok Airways flight, carrying 72 people, hit an old and unmanned control tower amid reports of heavy rain.

The President of Bangkok Airways, held a press conference at 17h00 today concerning the accident of the airline’s flight PG 266 from Krabi which skidding off the runway and collided with an out of service, unmanned control tower during the flight’s attempted landing at Samui Airport.

The aircraft, an ATR-72 500 series, with 70 seats, carried 68 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants. Officials said the injured included the co-pilot, two Britons, an Italian and a Swiss national. The four tourists all suffered broken legs, while the co-pilot also had leg injuries, said the managing director of Bangkok Airways, Puttipong Prasartthong-Osoth. He said the other foreign passengers included nationals of Spain, France and Germany.

All passengers have been evacuated from the site with four seriously injured passengers sent to the Bangkok Samui Hospital, and two others with minor injuries delivered to the Thai Inter Hospital. The 62 other passengers have been transferred to hotels. Two flight attendants and a pilot were reportedly safe, while the other pilot died in the collision with the control tower.
An investigation team from the Department of Aviation has been despatched to the accident site at Samui Airport.

Several were treated for minor bruises or shock - including two other Britons - and were resting at local hotels before being transferred to Bangkok, officials said.

Samui Airport was temporarily shut down following the accident. The aircraft is to be removed on Wednesday morning, the runway inspected and cleared before the airport reopens to air traffic at 13hoo on Wednesday, 5th August.

We offer our condolences to the family of the dead pilot and our sympathy to the injured, also to the visitors whose holiday has been affected so traumatically.

Full Moon Party... Glastonbury meets Ibiza, every month...

I've avoided all mention of Koh Pha Ngan's notorious FMP in the year since I've been writing this blog, simply because I've had no direct experience of it, nor a desire to acquire any. But I've seen my children, various younger relatives and innumerable hotel guests return from the event, wasted and daubed in florescent body paint, having lost their shoes or shirts or phone. I've heard their stories and seen their blurry photos to have a much better idea of what goes on than most of you reading this. I'm qualified.

What was popularized by backpacker visitors to the islands has since become a right of passage for many hedonist travelers to SE Asia and depending on the season, between 10,000 and 40,000 can attend the monthly FMP.

Koh Pha Ngan, the island silhouette visible across the bay from any of our rooms, has been hosting the FMP for over twenty years. In the late eighties it was a very different affair with small groups of dread-locked free spirits (that a decade earlier would have been called hippies), a guitar or two, cassette-player and a bonfire on Haad Rin beach. The ninety's saw the FMP grow and commercialize and in the past decade the introduction of professional, often international, DJs.

The event is a major, perhaps the principal source of income for Haad Rin's commercial community who, in recent years have attempted to exploit the concept with Black Moon and Half Moon parties for those sybarites that missed the boat (sorry).

The event kicks-off shortly after dusk, as the moon rises. Small tables are set out on the beach before the dance action starts and it gets too crowded for safety for a chance to watch the fire-twirlers and jugglers.

Drinks of choice are beer or buckets - vodka or Sangsom, a Thai rum, with Coke or Red Bull. After a couple of these, and in the swing of it, it's probably time for a bit of luminous body paint.

So adorned and sufficiently anesthetized, next, a wander up the beach to get one's brain fried by the wall of competing sound. Don't get me wrong. I like drinking, partying, beaches and being around young people. For me the awfulness of the FMP is the thought of the 15 or so competing sound stages belting out psy-trance, techno, hip-hop, drum/bass and house (whatever they all are) simultaneously. Each bar determined to be the loudest. Beaches in general offer very little in the way of acoustic properties, so the sound systems consist of large powerful walls of speakers which throw sound out towards the beach dancers, and fill me with horror as I imagine the cacophony.

The party ends, theoretically, with sunrise. But so many partygoers are still left on the beach awaiting a speedboat back to Samui the following morning, without a pair of sunglasses between them, a torpid, squinty-eyed version can still continue.

Party schedules for 2009 - 2010, tips, important do's and don'ts, ferry or speedboat details and much more information can be found here and here.

CNN poll rates Thailand best value for money, but is it safe?

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) reports on CNN International's recently announced results of its Online Consumer Survey (OCS) on Travel and Tourism which reveals that Thailand was chosen as representing the best value for money for travellers in the Asia Pacific region. The survey conducted across CNN English websites had more than 5,000 respondents globally. Thailand came out as the best value in Asia-Pacific for respondents over China in second place and India in third.

The comprehensive survey also revealed that although times are tough, the recession hasn’t reduced people’s desire to travel. On the contrary, people are trading down, but not trading out, and not compromising their experience.

In 2008, Thailand welcomed a total of 14.5 million international visitors, of which 60 per cent were repeat visitors. According to the US Department of State, the crime threat in Bangkok remains lower than that in many American cities and violent crimes against foreigners are relatively rare, but when such crimes do happen they seem to generate an inordinate amount of negative press and we are frequently asked by friends, relatives and prospective hotel guests "Is Thailand safe?"


The overwhelming majority of these trips were safe and without any negative incident. However, foreign governments do urge their citizens to take responsibility for their own personal security while travelling overseas and use the same common sense and sound judgement when abroad as they would at home.


TATs recently published comprehensive - Personal Safety & Well-being FAQs is as complete a guide and source of safety, security and scam avoidance information for visitors as I've seen anywhere and hope that prospective vacationers to this beautiful country recognize its value and adopt TAT's suggestions.

Samui's infrastructure - finally some investment...

Welcome news this week that Thailand’s Ministry of Finance has allocated a budget of Bt 900 million (US$25.7 million) over three years to redevelop and upgrade Samui's infrastructure.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and his deputy both visited Koh Samui recently to observe for themselves the perpetual round of repairs and reconstruction of the 70 kilometre ring road that circles the island. Most damage to Samui's roads is caused by the unimagined growth in vehicle traffic in recent years aggravated by frequent flooding and the accompanying soil run-off that fills the drains faster than they can be emptied.

photo credit

Deforestation associated with tourism related developments that themselves often obstruct or divert natural watercourses cause flooding after just a few hours of monsoonal downpour.

We've seen jet-skis used in waist deep water just up the road in Bangrak and many parts of the ring road can quickly become impassable by anything other than trucks. A day's heavy rain turns Chaweng into an open sewer.

Investment in Samui's infrastructure cannot arrive too soon.

Can't see the pics? Umm, me neither...

I deleted an overcrowded Picasa album without realising that Picasa hosts the blog pics - doh! Working to restore from the top down. Bear with me...

A boost to Thai tourism? And an advert for Airbus...

Along with many others dependent on the Thai tourism sector we have an expectation that tourist arrivals from the Middle East to Thailand will substantially increase following the launch of a daily A380 Emirates service from Dubai to Suvarnabhumi Airport on 1st June.

Emirates' A380 can carry 489 passengers and features luxurious facilities such as onboard shower spas, lounges, flat beds, massage-equipped private suites in first class and a new generation of intelligent seating and flat beds in business class. Other revolutionary features offered across all classes include mood-lighting to reduce jet lag and an award-winning, bespoke entertainment system featuring 1000-plus channels of on-demand entertainment.

The A380 is the world’s only twin-deck airliner that has 35 per cent more seats than its closest rival.  It is the most environmentally-advanced commercial aircraft in the sky today, offering better fuel economy than most hybrid passenger cars. The A380 burns up to 20 per cent less fuel per seat than today's next largest aircraft, and is quieter, generating less than half the noise of other aircraft on takeoff.

Emirates currently operates 21 flights per week to Bangkok from Dubai, but such is the interest in experiencing a ride in the new A380, usually reserved for longhaul flights, from Dubai based expats and locals alike, there is genuine optimism that visitor numbers can increase in the coming months.

The giant aircraft were originally destined to serve the airline’s Dubai-New York route, but due to a huge fall in the number of passengers flying to and from US destinations, Emirates made the decision to redeploy the A380s to Bangkok and Toronto. 

We need all the help we can get. Hotel occupancy rates on Koh Samui are expected to average 40-50% this year, a drop from 70-80% in previous years, mainly because of visitor concern about Thailand's political tensions and the world economic recession.

Seni Puwasetthawon, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, said visitors from the Middle East had great potential because of their high levels of spending, they travel in large groups, and they like Thailand's medical services.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects Middle East visitors to grow by 6.5 per cent to 500,000 this year from 470,000 in 2008. Mr Seni expected visitors from the Middle East to Koh Samui will double to 10,000 this year.

The association expects one million foreign visitors to Samui this year, down from 1.1 million in 2008, with revenue down by 30-40 per cent from 20 billion baht. Tell me about it.

Samui prepares for the pandemic - H1N1 detection at SIA

Photo: Bangkok Post

Doing it's bit to thwart the spread of the H1N1 virus declared yesterday by WHO as a global pandemic, and as the foreign toll rises Samui International Airport has installed a thermal scanner to detect arriving passengers with a temperature of over 37 degrees Celsius.

Depending on other symptoms and their recent travel history, passengers will be sent to hospital for observation and treatment.

The scanner is identical to those installed at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (pictured above) and will be a permanent feature of the facilities at Samui airport to make sure that, as far as practicable, all passengers coming in are free of infectious diseases that record elevated body temperature among their symptoms. It seems likely that visitors suffering with common colds or ordinary flu symptoms could get pulled-in and subjected to hospital confinement for a few days, but the inconvenience to the few is far outweighed by the benefit of reducing the potential for Swine Flu on the island.

Sirichai Charoenrat, senior director of Samui airport, has said, “We have no intention of causing panic among the passengers over the situation. We just want to make sure that this flu outbreak never spreads to Koh Samui.”

The Bangkok Post reports that the anti-viral medicine Oseltamivir, used to treat bird flu patients, was effective for people infected with the swine flu. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation said it had a stockpile of 170,000 tablets of Oseltamivir which is enough to treat 17,000 patients.

In the case of an outbreak, the GPO could produce a million pills of Oseltamivir within four days.

Samui airport receives international direct flights from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. It's not known if similar precautions to limit the spread of H1N1 will be taken at the island's ferry ports.

I used to be a bit of a cheerleader for TripAdvisor...

I still believe their repository of guest reviews the best thing that could have happened to independent travelers who can choose their accommodation and build an expectation based on the experience of previous guests. But I was disappointed when TripAdvisor localised Baan Bophut's ranking and irritated when they didn't answer my mails asking for an explanation. What possible benefit could an organization dedicated (I thought) to serving independent travelers gain from pushing us into a mashed-up backwater ranking? A little research revealed the answer to this artless fool.

TripAdvisor is now owned by and is little more than a marketing tool for the World's biggest online travel agency and our previous placing among the top end of Koh Samui's hotel ranking is now, with few exceptions, mainly populated by Expedia Inc's affiliate hotels.

TripAdvisor no longer make the claim to be independent - with good reason

It seems inevitable that our target guests, independent travelers that book their own flights and accommodation, will progressively surrender to the ease of simply clicking on TA's 'Check Rates!' button, rather than hunt-out a hotel's site and book for themselves.

Expedia Inc's stranglehold on user generated feedback increased last year with TA's acquisition of Virtual Tourist

So, what to do? Do we maintain our independence and accept that Baan Bophut's former prominence (and occupancy) will continue to diminish over time? Or do we join them; consent to pay Expedia's commission rate to restore our standing in their rankings and keep our little hotel in business?

Unlike TripAdvisor and many others in the travel industry, we're not ready to sacrifice our independence just yet.

A tardy announcement of sad news...

Family and regular readers of this blog know how I loath to neglect its upkeep and they've become familiar with the way I look for vindication after a period of slackness, such as this, to sooth my remorse. No surprises then, when I tell you I've been busy. A couple of business trips (including my first to Moscow); overlapping visits from my brothers to our home in Dubai and a week later, from nephew Nick with a friend. All have robbed me of blog-posting time, and although they stand-up pretty well as legitimate excuses there's actually more to my negligence than simply failing to make the time to write.

It's over a month now since the hotel's much loved dog, Blackhead disappeared. After surviving a poisoning attempt in early March, Lucy's pretty certain the sicko succeeded this time. Blackhead wasn't really the hotel's dog; she adopted us. We were her hotel, and only one of several feeding stations she would visit throughout a typical day. Never the most active of animals, she would spend most of her days dozing on the decking or under a guest's sunlounger and at least some of her nights keeping Pee Mek, our watchman, company. Lucy had traveled to Chiang Mai on the day she disappeared and the staff, all of whom had been out searching for her, wouldn't tell Lucy until her return, rather than spoil her short break.

A favourite of family, staff and guests who appreciated her gentle ways, Blackhead is sorely missed. As Lucy has said - she was the only guest of the hotel that was guaranteed to greet her every morning when she arrived.