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Phuket fans will now have the chance to read about their favourite local places in a new novel by British author Tony Parsons. The beaches of Phuket form the backdrop in ‘Catching the Sun’, a tale about a family forging a new life in the tropics.
 
The book explores the promise and realities of finding paradise: “When taxi driver Tom Finn is almost jailed for confronting two burglars in his own home, he leaves broken Britain and takes his wife and children to live on the tropical island of Phuket, Thailand. Phuket is all the Finn family dreamed of -- a tropical paradise where the children swim with elephants, the gibbons sing love songs in the jungle, the Andaman Sea is like turquoise glass and this young family is free to grow. But both man-made disaster and the unleashed forces of nature shatter this tropical idyll. ‘Catching the Sun’ is a gripping, moving story of a family who go in search of Paradise -- and end up discovering themselves.”
 
More details on ‘Catching the Sun’: http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles/49886/catching-the-sun-tony-parsons-9780007327812

There’s wet weather in the forecast this weekend, but it is unlikely to dissuade avid athletes from joining the island’s biggest running event, the Phuket International Marathon, which starts with a registration and expo on June 8. The marathon takes place on June 10.
 
In addition to the challenging 42km main race, there’s a half-marathon, 10.5km run, 5km community walk and a kids’ run. For more information visit www.phuketmarathon.com.

Britain’s Diamond Jubilee celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne reaches a pinnacle of pageantry today (June 3) with the launch of a flotilla of 1,000 boats down the River Thames.
 
The Pageant will travel from Putney, in the South West London Borough of Wandsworth to Tower Bridge. The full route will stretch from Hammersmith to Greenwich Royal Naval College. With some 20,000 participants and a global audience of millions worldwide, the Thames Pageant promises to be a spectacular event.
 
Queen Elizabeth is the world’s second-longest serving monarch, after HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who has reigned for nearly 66 years.
 
http://www.thediamondjubilee.org/

People across Phuket and Thailand will be celebrating one of the most important days of the Buddhist calendar, Visakha Bucha Day, which this year falls on June 4. Visakha Bucha Day marks three key moments of the Buddha's life: his birth, his enlightenment and his passing away.
 
Families join in a number of holy activities including giving alms to monks, listening to Dharma teachings, refraining from drinking alcohol, and joining evening candlelight processions at the temple. Those hoping to gain insight into the more peaceful and reverent side of Thai culture are advised to visit any Phuket ‘wat’, or temple, on this evening.
 
Find more information on Visakha Bucha Day here: http://www2.tat.or.th/visakhapuja/eng/about.html

Catch Beach Club, Phuket’s most fashionable beach club, is pleased to announce an exciting addition to our dynamic team: Benedikt De Bellis, our new Manager.
 
Ben brings hospitality expertise gained from a number of operations across Europe and Asia including five years in Phuket to his new role at Catch Beach Club. Before arriving to Phuket, Ben held management positions at some well-regarded luxury venues including Grand Copthorne Waterfront in Singapore, Radisson SAS Portman Hotel in London, and The Ritz Hotel London, Picadilly.
 
Ben said he’s looking forward to bringing fresh ideas to Phuket’s foremost beach club, and is happy to have the chance to continue to enjoy “the pristine beaches, the business opportunities, the weather, and the quality lifestyle” on the resort island. “But what really makes this place,” he added, “are the people that live in it. Being a Westerner, I, like many others, found it difficult at the beginning to adapt to a totally different culture, but what kept me going was that I always admired how genuine and cordial the people of Thailand can be. Nowadays, there aren't many people like that left in the world. It is a blessing for me to be able to work and live among them.”
 
Ben will help cultivate Catch Beach Club’s constant evolution in its aim to share our zest for life in the hot tropics with every new and returning guest.
 
Catch Beach Club recently expanded in size and scope, adding daily lunch and dinner buffets, a boutique shop, and a reception area for booking Twinpalms hospitality offerings including luxury yacht charters with sister company Andaman Cruises. It offers Phuket visitors and residents a rich variety of choices to indulge in a sophisticated and fun tropical lifestyle, from the club’s membership packages and day passes to white-hot parties, cool cocktails and fiery seafood barbecues.
 
With Ben at the helm, Catch Beach Club is poised to build upon its reputation as Phuket’s style-setting beach club, and take its signature brand of hospitality into exciting new directions.

Some savvy ‘Brand Phuket’ marketers will be talking sports this month at the American Chamber of Commerce Phuket chapter meeting on May 24.
 
Presenters include Debbie Dionysius, Assistant Vice President of Destination Marketing at Laguna Phuket, Paul Poole, Founder of The Sponsorship Experts, Duncan Worthington, the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta’s Media and Communications Director, and Nick Seaver, CEO of Thanyapura.
 
The event is being organised in conjunction with the Phuket PR Network. Registration opens at 3.30pm and the event will begin at 4.30pm followed by networking drinks from 6pm to 7.30pm. A fee of THB150.00 will cover the cost of attendance and drinks.
 
For more information visit www.amchamthailand.com.

Phuket wine connoisseurs are in for a treat on May 25 with a wine dinner at the Boathouse Wine and Grill on Kata Beach featuring the wines of acclaimed Hollywood film director Francis Ford Coppola.
 
Francis Ford Coppola famously said, “Wine making and film making are two great art forms” and he should know having won a hat full of Oscars prior to founding his northern California Sanoma County winery, which won the 2011 USA Wine Producer of the Year Award from The International Wine and Spirit Competition.
 
Emily Putman, the Director of International Sales for Coppola Wines, will present a range of Director’s Cut wines to complement a French gourmet menu specially created by Boathouse Chef and Maitre Cuisinier de France Jean-Noel Lumineau.
 
The wine dinner is Baht 2,000 ++ per person, including cocktails at 7pm. For reservations and enquiries, contact Khun Pinyo at fb@boathousephuket.com or visit www.boathousephuket.com.

The world’s best spas have been named in the 10th annual Readers' Spa Awards of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller magazine. The list of 30 spas, ranked by readers for several criteria including ambiance and design, body treatments, cuisine and service, are found in a diverse range of destinations from the big urban centres of New York City, Athens and London, to exotic island escapes including Bora Bora and the Maldives, to off-the-beaten-track locales like Latvia.
 
Earning the number-one spot is Ananda Spa, found in the Indian Himalayas: “ts unfailingly kind and gentle staff give it a special healing energy, and its programme of yoga, Ayurveda and Vedanta is as emotionally uplifting as it is physically effective. It would be impossible to go for a week and not leave feeling on top of the world.”
 
Find the complete Readers’ Spa Awards 2012 list here: http://www.cntraveller.com/awards/the-readers-spa-awards/readers-spa-awards-2012