''AMAZING Love'' is being offered on Phuket to 10,000 Chinese couples in a new campaign to bring tourists to the island for matrimony and romance.

The Secretary of the World Eminence Chinese Business Association, Li Zhuohe, has told the local Tourism Authority of Thailand to expect 10,000 couples to come this year nationwide under the scheme.

The romantic dividends will be shared, though, depending on which destination the couples prefer. Phuket will be competing with Pattaya and Chiang Mai for love's labors.

Regional TAT director Sethapan Buddhani told Phuketwan that a variety of packages would be organised. Couples will be able to marry in Thailand and honeymoon at a good price, for however long they wish.

''Phuket can offer weddings on the sand or even underwater,'' Khun Sethapan said. ''We have everything here at very reasonable cost.

''The island is a beautiful place to be married.''

Chinese tourist numbers to Thailand have dropped since the blockade at Bangkok's airports in November and were just recovering when the red shirt street skirmishes triggered travel warnings in April.

But Khun Sethapan, along with the promoters of the scheme in China, believes love will overcome and couples will flock in growing numbers to be wed on Phuket.

Elephant-back weddings are likely to prove popular, and there's the added attraction of Phuket's China links and the history of the Baba weddings, when traders married local girls in long ceremonies.

Among other activities, including offering environmental advice to businesses, World Eminence Chinese Business Assocation publishes the list of World Top 500 Chinese Enterprises and World's Top 500 Chinese Magnates.


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