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The five-star Marriott Khao Lak has plenty of appeal to visitors

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'Greater Phuket' Chosen for First Jewish Pesach Festival in Thailand

By Alan Morison

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

PHUKET: Around the same time as 12,000 Chinese visitors will be flocking to Phuket in April, the first Jewish Pesach in Thailand will be held a little further to the north.

According to organisers of the special Pesach (Passover) gathering, ''demand is high from around the world to celebrate Pesach in Phuket, Thailand, this year with bookings for a 10-day Passover program coming in from countries including Australia, the United States, Israel, Russia and Hong Kong.''

Phuketwan would not want to ever spoil a party but in the interests of accuracy, it should be noted that Khao Lak is actually in ''Greater Phuket.'' The festival will be held from April 5 to April 15 at the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort and Spa and it ''promises to be a Pesach experience different from all others.''

Marriott is understood to have been well-briefed about the needs of guests for kosher food. What's described as ''a Glatt Kosher seder banquet'' is to be enjoyed, along with and other gourmet meals prepared by ''famed Israeli chef Michael Katz and the executive chefs of the JW Marriott, fully supervised by Kosher Australia.''

The event already has its own online site at www.pesachinthailand.com

Program organiser Lisa Mochkin says: ''The exotic location is certainly proving to be a big draw card, plus our program will run over 10 days compared with the standard eight-day Pesach vacation programs run in other countries.

''This will be a memorable sun filled Passover experience for anyone wanting to do something completely different for Pesach this year. ''

Among other attractions, the JW Marriott Khao Lak has a meandering swimming pool said to run for more than three kilometres.

It is believed planning is well in hand to cater for the needs of Jewish guests, although the geography and map-reading skills of promoters appear to need attention.

The pool is described as ''the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere,'' even though Phuket and Khao Lak are in the Northern Hemisphere. Marriott says the pool is the largest in Southeast Asia.

To the south on Phuket, the Amway China incentive group visitors are expected at Laguna Phuket from April through May, the largest single event to be held on Phuket so far.

Other bookings are reported to have already been made as a result of Amway China choosing Phuket for this year's gathering. Sydney and other big cities have been the usual locations.

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i've looked on all the maps i have and i simply cannott find this 'greater phuket' region you keep spouting on about marked on any of them!! khao lak is in phang nga - a separate province with it's own government departments, which do not come under the auspices of phuket..

Posted by another steve on January 4, 2012 17:44

Editor Comment:

That's why we usually put 'Greater Phuket' in quote marks. Phuket is the landmark for the Andaman region, especially since the tsunami. Phang Nga is unknown in most parts of the world, although Khao Lak has a slightly higher profile. As this article tells you, many people even assume Khao Lak is on Phuket . . .

I agree with another steve

Phuket has got nothing to do with the Province of Phang Nga. And to mention the Tsunami is way off the mark since Khao Lak was easily the hardest hit province of all, and the place where the highest number of foreigners where killed. Khao Lak is for sure famous enough, infamous if you feel the need to allude to the Tsunami to not be labeled as part of 'Greater Phuket'. If people are misinformed enough to not know that Khao Lak is not in any way part of Phuket, then that's unfortunate, but that does not make it ok to further spread that misinformation by using the term 'greater Phuket' when refering to Khao Lak. How people ever learn if sites like PW can't even refrain from using such a lousy term? Ignorance is human, but that doesn't make it any less wrong. So most people internationally can't be asked to know the difference between Phuket and Phang Nga and Khao Lak? Ok, fine but that laziness/ignorance is just that, ignorance and laziness. Are we supposed to give up and start using a term like this one because of that? When it's just plain wrong? The region is called the Andaman, there is no greater phuket region.

Posted by christian on January 4, 2012 22:26

Editor Comment:

''Phuket has got nothing to do with the Province of Phang Nga.''
Really? The vast majority of visitors arrive on Phuket before they travel to neighboring provinces and the futures of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi are inextricably linked. Many of the resorts in the region use proximity to Phuket in their marketing. Like it or not, as Phuket becomes one big city, it will continue to be the landmark for the region. We put it in quotation marks, but one day, the quotation marks won't be necessary.

Sorry Editor but I really have to disagree with you on this one.
Khao Lak is in the province of Phang Nga and Phuket is in the province of Phuket.
There are 76 provinces in Thailand excluding the special administrative area of Bangkok, which is effectively the 77th province.
You are being a little bit naughty in trying to mislead readers of your website, as to the true identity of Thai provinces, irrespective of quotes or no quotes.

Posted by Anonymous on January 5, 2012 04:11

Editor Comment:

There are now 77 provinces in Thailand, Anonymous. Times change, so do the names for pieces of geography.

Editor

The only connotation of connectivity between the two provinces, apart from a bridge, is that most visitors have to use Phuket airport to get to Khao Lak. You kind of said so yourself. But this is the "only" connection of any substance. Please excuse the quotes.

This may indeed change if Phang Nga ever built a new international or regional airport. Times indeed change but your crystal ball gazing may not turn out to be correct, and is insufficient a reason for misleading your readers at the current point in time.

Also the brand of tourism is different between the two Provinces.

You also made a comment that Phang Nga is unknown in parts of the world.

But the natural beauty of say Phang Nga bay is widely promoted by TAT and fairly
well known.
In the Ao Phang Nga National Park there happens to be a pair of islands called
Ko Khao Phing Kan. These are now jointly known by the nickname of James Bond island.

So how famous does a place have to be for you?

On a quid pro quo basis, would you have any objection to people in Phang Nga
referring to Phuket as Greater Phang Nga?

You do your website a disservice by being so misleading and so frivolous in your justification.
On the other hand, this is your website, in conjunction with Big Island Media, I guess,
and so it is no doubt up to you, as they say.

Posted by Anonymous on January 5, 2012 12:32

Editor Comment:

Perhaps you'd better tear down the bridge and refuse access to Phang Nga to people who fly in via Phuket airport, Anonymous. Phang Nga has many attractions and the world is learning about them because of the province's close connection to Phuket. My view is that a common strategy should be in place to serve the best interests of Phuket, the city-island, and to protect the natural beauty of Krabi and Phang Nga. Their futures are inextricably locked together, despite your wistful and wishful thinking.

Editor

I am not intentionally being either wistful or wishful, in my thought
process.

Over the Christmas period you ran an article to clarify the statistics on the
recorded deceased and recorded missing persons for the 2004 tsunami. You
rather laboured the point.

And yet two weeks later, it is you yourself who is not being completely accurate,
at face value, albeit on a different subject matter.

I am merely suggesting that it might be useful to show a modicum of accuracy
and consistency, and try to avoid present day misnomers as much as possible.

Posted by Anonymous on January 5, 2012 15:28

Editor Comment:

Anonymous, when it comes to the number of people who have been killed, precision is important.. Even in ''laboring the point,'' it's a fairly safe bet that some government departments will continue to record an extra 2800 deaths. Some facts - especially those involving life and death - are absolutes. Geographical terms, like the language itself, are always going to be subject to change with time and usage. Ease of understanding is one of the triggers. Like it or not, for convenience and instant understanding, Phang Nga is probably destined to be ''the province north of Phuket,'' ''part of the Phuket region,'' or ''Greater Phuket'' for the foreseeable future. Sorry.

At least it's not in the Southern Hemisphere yet.

Price for 4 people for after Leila haseder

Posted by David perez on March 6, 2012 22:01

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'Greater Phuket' Chosen for First Jewish Pesach Festival in Thailand

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