Latest News

The Quiksilver Thailand Surfing Competition will be held from
September 21-24 at the north end of Patong Beach. Hundreds of
thousands of baht in cash and prizes are up for grabs in the short
board, long board and women's divisions, and this year for the first
time surfers aged 35 and over will be joining in on the new master's
division.
 
The competition is now part of the Asian Surfing Championship (ASC)
tour with contests held in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand.
For more information see www.quiksilver.in.th.

Amateur photographers looking for a fun morning out and great photo
opportunities will want to join the Worldwide Photo Walk in Phuket
Town on October 2. The Walk is a global social photography event where
photographers choose a picturesque urban location to get together and
walk around, shoot photos, and generally have fun with other
photographers. At last year's event more than 33,000 people joined at
over 1,100 locations around the world.
 
This year's Walk just happens to coincide with Phuket's Vegetarian
Festival, so Phuket participants will have some added colour and
excitement to catch on film. The Phuket walk will run from 7am to
10.30am near Bang Neow Shrine in Phuket Town. Entry is free.
 
Leading the walk is professional photographer Karim Khamzin, who may
be contacted on 08 6266 4406 or karim@PhuketPhotoPro.com for more
information. More details on the Walk in general may be found at
www.worldwidephotowalk.com.

The results are in for the 2011 Conde Nast Traveller magazine's
Readers' Travel Awards and Phuket has earned a tenth-place rating in
the best island destination category. Topping the list was the Greek
Isles, followed by the Maldives and Bali. Among the ten criteria
readers used to grade the islands, Phuket earned high scores for value
for money and for people/hospitality. Thailand as a whole also earned
high scores, with the Kingdom placing fourth overall in the best
country category.

Those hoping to sample both the latest trends and fascinating
traditions of Phuket will not want to miss Splash, a leisure and
lifestyle show set to launch at 1pm on October 22 at the Serenity
Resort & Residences in Rawai. Among the many performances and
demonstrations planned are a beachwear fashion show, Thai cultural
dance, Muay Thai boxing, mountain climbing and music. Big bikes will
also be on display and guests will have the chance to win a
Harley-Davidson.
 
Proceeds from the raffles and a snack buffet will go to support the
Home & Life Orphanage Foundation, a shelter for children in Phang Nga
province. Visit www.splashphuket.com for more information.

Phuket's sizeable Chinese population is getting ready to celebrate the
Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Mooncake Festival, which this
year falls on the full moon night of September 12. The streets of Old
Phuket Town will be alive as people make offerings in homage to the
moon goddess, perform dragon dances and release lanterns into the sky.
Special moon cakes for the event will be sold at several shops and
bakeries around town.
 
The Mooncake Festival is a traditionally a time for family gatherings
but there will be public events, too, including the main event at the
Queen Sirikit Park on Thalang Road, Phuket Town (near the Tourism
Authority of Thailand office).

Ten great days of international yacht racing are set to take place
later this month, in a rally-cum-regatta that starts from Ao Chalong,
Phuket, and finishes up in Sabang, northern Sumatra in Indonesia. Both
sail and power yachts may join the race. Up for grabs are a number of
prizes, trophies and cash awards. The action takes place from
September 15 to 25.

Yachtsmen looking to hone their skills or make a career in the Phuket
yacht charter industry will want to join the RYA Day Skipper Course
being held at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club from September 12 to 17. The
course follows Royal Yachting Instruction Theory, and students who
successfully complete it will receive an internationally-recognised
RYA certificate.
 
For more information on this and other programs at ACYC contact Mick
Kealy. Tel: +66 (0)81 396 0785. Email: courses@acyc-phuket.com. Web:
www.acyc-phuket.com.

Surf's up! Young surfers, known as groms, will be descending on Kata
Beach on September 10 for a day of surf education and contests in the
RipCurl Grom Search event. In addition to free lessons, surfers will
get ocean safety demonstrations and join surf competitions and games.
Free prizes and awards will be given in the evening party.
Registration is free for those who take part in the morning beach
clean-up activity. For more information visit
www.facebook.com/ripcurlthailand or call +66 (0) 8 6060 4040.
 
More Phuket surfing action will take place from September 21-24, when
Patong Beach plays host to the Quiksilver Thailand Surf Competition
2011.

Resort entrepreneur Allan Zeman is the featured speaker at this
month's networking event organised by the Phuket chapter of the
American Chamber of Commerce Thailand on September 16 at the Andara
Resort. Mr Zeman, who first made his mark in real estate by developing
the famed Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district of Hong Kong, will
speak about his Phuket resort and villa project, Andara. Event
organisers say that, 'this is a great opportunity to see one of the
region's highest profile business personalities up close and
personal'.
 
Registration starts at 4pm, with the program commencing at 4:30pm.
After Mr Zeman's presentation and a Q&A session, networking drinks
will follow at about 5:30pm. Entry is 100 baht for non-members. For
more information and to register, visit www.amchamthailand.com.