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Phuket’s Songkran New Year festivities will gain some added excitement with the annual Phuket Bike Week set to run during the same week. The 19th annual Phuket Bike Week is kicking off on April 14 with a week full of fun revolving around big bikes, parties and riding. Some 30,000 visitors from 26 countries are set to visit Phuket for the event. Most of the action will take place on Patong Beach.
 
http://www.tatnews.org/eventscalendar/41-event/50-phuket-bike-week-2013

Phuket is set for a week of splashy fun with the Songkran Thai New Year festival celebrated across the island from April 11-16. Some of the highlights for Phuket’s 2013 Songkran events include a procession and water-throwing party in Patong Beach, long boat racing at the Sarasin Bridge and a traditional Buddhist ceremony in Phuket's Old Town district.
 
http://songkran2013.com/phuket-songkran-festival-2013-songkran-on-the-beach/

Thailand continues to enjoy strong growth in the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) segment from Asian countries, said the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB). Eight of Thailand’s top 10 events markets are in Asia with just two outside the region; ninth and 10th ranked Australia and the USA.
 
For the first quarter of 2013, there were 102,501 Asian event visitors and that generated an estimated Bt8,711 million according to TCEB assessments. Incentives enjoyed a growth of 32% followed by conventions (30%); meetings (21%); and exhibitions (17%). For this fiscal year, TCEB forecasts the country will attract 940,000 MICE visitors and generate Bt88,000 million compared to 895,224 visits and Bt79,770 million in 2012 fiscal year.

The Asian elephant is one of Thailand’s most revered creatures and in honouring its pachyderm residents the Kingdom celebrates National Elephants Day every year on March 13. Several events across the country are planned including a week of conservation awareness activities in Queen Sirikit Park in Bangkok and an elephant parade in Lampang province in Northern Thailand.
 
While Phuket no longer has wild elephants roaming its jungles, the island is home to several elephants, mostly working at safari tours or other tourist activities.
 
http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNEVN5603070010002

Those hoping for a weekend escape from Singapore will have the chance to book some great-value flights to Phuket and beyond. AirAsia Singapore has launched a promotion on flights from Singapore to Phuket and Bangkok as well as other popular Thai destinations including Chiang Mai and Trang.
 
The promotion is valid between March 11 and 17, with flights from Singapore to Bangkok on AirAsia Singapore going for Sin$20, one way, for travel between 1 July 2013 and 30 September 2013.
 
Check AirAsia’s website for full terms and conditions. http://www.airasia.com/sg/en/home.page

The International Business Association of Phuket is holding a networking session and discussion on eco-tourism in Phuket at the Urban Food restaurant in Central Festival Phuket on March 8. Khun Mon from Flying Hanuman, the featured guest speaker, will give his first-hand knowledge and experience on the challenges he has faced and is facing, and why it is so important to care about the island we all call home.
 
Find more information at http://ibap-phuket.org

The annual Phuket Heroines Festival is set to start this weekend (March 2) with a number of ordination ceremonies for Buddhist monks. The festival's main activities will take place from March 13-15 at the fairgrounds just east of the Heroines Monument. Performances include traditional shadow puppet shows, Thai dancing and reenactments of historical events.
 
The heroines, two sisters later given the honorific names Thao Thepkrassatri and Thao Srisoonthorn, are highly revered by Phuket people for their bravery and skill in fending off a Burmese invasion of the island in 1785. A statue of the warrior sisters stands in the centre of the roundabout on the airport road.
 
http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-plans-events-to-celebrate-heroines-37347.php

Lonely Planet, one of the world’s top travel guides, has reported that its Thailand guidebook remains its best-seller. Celebrating its 30th year in covering Thailand, Lonely Planet has also chosen the Kingdom to be among the first destinations in its new ‘Recommended by Lonely Planet 2013’ programme that recognises destinations that are reviewed in its catalogue of guidebooks.
 
After covering 3,219 kilometers of coastline and over 150 temples, the Lonely Planet writers completed 37 weeks of in-depth research to declare: “Friendly and fun-loving, exotic and tropical, cultured and historic, Thailand beams with a lustrous hue from its gaudy temples and golden beaches to the ever-comforting Thai smile.”
 
http://thailand.prd.go.th/view_news.php?id=6644&a=4

Romance is in the air with the February 14 Valentine's Day fast approaching. The tropical island of Phuket is an ideal place for celebrating Valentine’s Day, and the romantic ideas highlighted in a recent magazine article include escaping into a luxury Phuket resort, taking a helicopter tour for two, having a wedding in a private villa, and indulging in a Phuket yacht cruise.
 
How do you plan to spend your Valentine’s Day? http://www.windowonphuket.com/features_regular/phuket-island-romance.htm