PHUKET: A senior Government official yesterday threw his support behind the massive multi-billion baht Andaman Bay project that would shift development interest north from Phuket to Phang Nga.
For years the 1000-rai project along two kilometres of beach at quiet Thai Muang - in a district known these days as Greater Phuket - has been hampered by environmental restrictions.
But yesterday's declaration of support by Thailand Trade Representative Pichet Satirachawan breathes new life into the project, headed by Richard Li, son of Hong Kong's richest man Lee Ka Shing and a successful telcoms entrepreneur in his own right.
Khun Pichet was speaking in Phuket City after examining the project site, bought several years ago for two billion baht. Development would involve the investment of billions more.
Andaman Bay is an hour's drive north of Phuket, where developers envisage a marina, a golf course, a shopping mall and a brace of resorts along similar lines to Laguna Phuket, except with yacht access.
It's the creation of access from the sea that has made the battle to win environmental approval a struggle.
While the full plans have never been publicly revealed, Andaman Bay is believed to propose creating a series of canals and dredging to make the project accessible to private vessels at an exclusive marina.
Anyone who played golf at the old Thai Muang links course before the vast property was sold will know that the site is on a magnificent stretch of untouched beach and coastland.
Khun Pichet said yesterday that he thought the project would bring with it ''considerable benefits'' in terms of an economic boost and jobs for the local community.
He did not say whether the local community had been consulted about whether they wished for the development to proceed.
The go-ahead for Andaman Bay would trigger a knock-on effect along the entire Andaman Sea, opening up the coast to large-scale developers all the way to the province of Ranong and the Burma (Myanmar) border.
Restrictions on the scale of development have so far kept Phuket's neighboring provinces of Phang Nga and Krabi relatively natural compared to Phuket, where urbanisation is going ahead that will turn the holiday island into a big city with beaches before 2020.
At present, Phuket remains attractive because tourists seeking a more remote holiday can turn left from Phuket International Airport and find themselves relaxing in natural surroundings in Phang Nga or Krabi.
Permission for a multi-billion-baht development in Thai Muang - the first township along the coast north of Phuket - would herald a gold rush likely to speed the march of concrete and resort brands along the Andaman Sea coast from Khao Lak all the way to the Burma border.
Phuket remains a pleasant destination today that is heading for overdevelopment tomorrow. Opening the coast north of Phuket to large-scale projects would almost certainly seal Phuket's fate as a low-cost, mass market passe tourist destination.
The Andaman Bay project, for example, would probably be a preferred location for many people coming to attend gatherings at the proposed Phuket Conference and Exhibition Centre at Mai Khao in northern Phuket.
Resorts in southern Phuket would probably see no benefit from the Mai Khao centre as the island's demographics and future development march north into Phang Nga.
For years the 1000-rai project along two kilometres of beach at quiet Thai Muang - in a district known these days as Greater Phuket - has been hampered by environmental restrictions.
But yesterday's declaration of support by Thailand Trade Representative Pichet Satirachawan breathes new life into the project, headed by Richard Li, son of Hong Kong's richest man Lee Ka Shing and a successful telcoms entrepreneur in his own right.
Khun Pichet was speaking in Phuket City after examining the project site, bought several years ago for two billion baht. Development would involve the investment of billions more.
Andaman Bay is an hour's drive north of Phuket, where developers envisage a marina, a golf course, a shopping mall and a brace of resorts along similar lines to Laguna Phuket, except with yacht access.
It's the creation of access from the sea that has made the battle to win environmental approval a struggle.
While the full plans have never been publicly revealed, Andaman Bay is believed to propose creating a series of canals and dredging to make the project accessible to private vessels at an exclusive marina.
Anyone who played golf at the old Thai Muang links course before the vast property was sold will know that the site is on a magnificent stretch of untouched beach and coastland.
Khun Pichet said yesterday that he thought the project would bring with it ''considerable benefits'' in terms of an economic boost and jobs for the local community.
He did not say whether the local community had been consulted about whether they wished for the development to proceed.
The go-ahead for Andaman Bay would trigger a knock-on effect along the entire Andaman Sea, opening up the coast to large-scale developers all the way to the province of Ranong and the Burma (Myanmar) border.
Restrictions on the scale of development have so far kept Phuket's neighboring provinces of Phang Nga and Krabi relatively natural compared to Phuket, where urbanisation is going ahead that will turn the holiday island into a big city with beaches before 2020.
At present, Phuket remains attractive because tourists seeking a more remote holiday can turn left from Phuket International Airport and find themselves relaxing in natural surroundings in Phang Nga or Krabi.
Permission for a multi-billion-baht development in Thai Muang - the first township along the coast north of Phuket - would herald a gold rush likely to speed the march of concrete and resort brands along the Andaman Sea coast from Khao Lak all the way to the Burma border.
Phuket remains a pleasant destination today that is heading for overdevelopment tomorrow. Opening the coast north of Phuket to large-scale projects would almost certainly seal Phuket's fate as a low-cost, mass market passe tourist destination.
The Andaman Bay project, for example, would probably be a preferred location for many people coming to attend gatherings at the proposed Phuket Conference and Exhibition Centre at Mai Khao in northern Phuket.
Resorts in southern Phuket would probably see no benefit from the Mai Khao centre as the island's demographics and future development march north into Phang Nga.
I hope this goes ahead before Phuket is totally destroyed. There's a limit to the amount of damage that can be done before tourists start looking for more pleasant surroundings.
Posted by agogohome on December 4, 2011 18:36