Think back to a time when you hired a real estate agent to sell your home. Were you satisfied with the services provided by your agent? If not, is your agent still in business? Chances are that if you were satisfied, you wouldn’t be reading this, and if you weren’t satisfied, your agent is not still in business. It is hard to fine good agents who appreciate you, and have the skills it takes to make it in the field. That being said, Phuket Real Estate agents pride themselves in having the experience and skills to make you happy.

A good, experienced agent such as a Phuket Real Estate agent should possess the following skills that will help them to prosper in the real estate industry:

• Organizational-Of course no one wants their house to slip between the cracks, and that is why an agent needs good organizational skills.
• Time management-When there is so much going on just to sell one house then you have more than one house on the market, an agent needs extremely good time management skills.
• Communication-When you sell a house, your agent should be the one calling you and letting you know what is going on. Communication on all levels makes for happy sellers and happy buyers as well as a quicker sell.
• Technology-Technology is a great tool for marketing, promoting, and selling houses and real estate agents should be taking advantage of it.
• Patience to handle conflict resolutions-It takes patience to sell a house, patience in dealing with people, and patience when conflict arises such as two buyers negotiating; therefore, it is important that agents handle everything with delicacy and patience.
• Marketing expertise- An agent should have experience in marketing houses in such a way that the person looking for a house is able to pick their houses out of the rest of the bunch
• Self-motivation- An agent should be motivated to sell your house instead of you always having to call him/her to find out what is going on.
• Projection of an outgoing personality-An agent should be friendly, helpful, and easy to talk to, not pushy or shy.

As Phuket Real Estate, the agents have mastered these skills, and have put quality over quantity. Their listing portfolio may not be the biggest one out there, but they are sure to provide quality, and desirable properties.  With world-class development, your agent is sure to be in business when you want your next house.

PHUKET: In the tourism game creating memories is everything, explains the Head of Development at Reef Worlds, Dave Taylor.

“If you can create a tourism memory then you have won your game. You have won everything, because that’s a memory that never leaves a potential client, and they always come back to it,” Taylor told the Phuket Gazette in an exclusive interview.

Reef Worlds was established three years ago with the goal of working alongside resorts to create sustainable artificial reef systems that help reduce tourism pressures on natural reefs. Reef Worlds are fully monetized discrete mini-marine “protected areas” within the resort’s own footprint, allowing them to brand the signature underwater experiences of their guests, explained Taylor.

“It’s something NGOs [non-government organizations] have been trying to do for years; engage developments to take stake in their oceans. Reef Worlds combines conservation with tourism to get the best out of both worlds,” he said.

We now have the technology, interest and mass tourism to allow for a company like ours to come to the fore and really blow out traditional perceptions of what an artificial reef is, Taylor added.

The company, based in Los Angeles in the United States, targets mass tourism across the globe. Reef Worlds has already visited Phuket to talk with two potential clients and is now in the concept stage for those projects.

Taylor pointed out that despite the good work being done by many artificial-reef-building NGOs there is little tourism value in what they do – and tourism drives the economy, especially true in places such as Phuket.

“What we are trying to do is build iconic forms underwater. Forms that people will approach and know from a distance…then when they get really close, they are truly blown away,” Taylor said.

Reef Worlds is attempting to create a moment for tourists akin to when Doctor Howard punched through the Valley of the Kings and shined his light inside. When asked what he saw, he whispered back, “I see incredible things”.

“We’ve got a great team. There are guys (with us) who worked on Avatar, Lord of the Rings, you name any Hollywood blockbuster that was really unique and eye popping (and) they worked on it,” Taylor explained.

During the design phase of a project, Reef Worlds looks at what iconic design forms are used at the resort and then works with those themes to create a “seamless transition from land to ocean,” Taylor said.

However, Reef Worlds is balancing it’s revolutionary push into the world of artificial reef construction with the essentials of sustainability.

By using crushed rock, from ancient coral beds, and low PH concrete for their structures they create a “super platform” for wildlife, such as corals to adhere to. These in turn attract the charismatic mega fauna like sharks and manta rays that tourists want to see, explained Taylor.

Taylor admitted Reef Worlds has turned down several projects due to the sites being unsuitable, as the potential clients had asked them to build on “A-class” reefs.

“(We were asked to build on) a beautiful staghorn coral forest, and they were like ‘let’s just move it’”, Taylor said.

“They were missing the whole point,” he continued.

What Reef Worlds is looking for are white-sand bottoms or crushed coral flats that are denuded of life.
“We promote ‘do no harm tourism’,” Taylor said.

As part of their “do no harm tourism” Reef Worlds provides 10 years of follow-up analysis for their reefs.

Reef Worlds is confident that their pieces, weighing between 4,500 to 18,000 kilograms are not going anywhere and guarantees them against category five hurricanes.

“If they actually come off the bottom we’ll replace them at our cost,” Taylor said.

Each individual piece can be stamped up to five times allowing a resort that only has ten designs to have fifty shapes put into the water.
“We design it to be cost effective for the resorts,” Taylor said.

A three acre site might cost US$ 100,000 and a project with all the bells and whistles from a kiddy tide pool to baited monoliths could cost up to US$ 1 million .
The reefs are a marketing tool, as each site will be completely branded to the resort with its own name and back story, explained Taylor.

“You need a little vision,” admits Taylor, “I’ve had conversations with folks who don’t dive and have been in the resort business for so many years, and they just look at us blankly – wait there is something beyond the hide tide mark?”

After serious coral bleaching and the amount of pressure on reef systems, wildlife is on the move, and people are going with it, Taylor said.
“We are trying to hold down the fort by giving folks what they want to really interact with,” he added.

“A Reef Worlds artificial reef is the ultimate marketing tool, because no one else has it. Holiday memories are being created and branded to you [the resort].

“And guests are going to take videos and images and put them up on social media sites, which gives exposure in a way you just can’t get to yet,” he said.

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PHUKET: ThaiVisa.com, the leading English-language social networking website about Thailand, is expanding its operations to Myanmar and Cambodia.

“We have carefully studied internet traffic trends and we see a sharp rise in search traffic and interest about our neighbor Myanmar,” said Barry Main, marketing director of Bangkok-based ThaiVisa Expat Group Co Ltd.

“We believe it’s pretty easy for us to get a good market share of forum traffic regarding Myanmar as we are good at retaining visitors coming in from the global search traffic. ThaiVisa’s intention is to become the market leader in Myanmar as well.

“We have the logistics and infrastructure ready in the framework – we already have cloud hosting, support, marketing, sales and administration – and we are happy to announce the soft launch today of the Myanmar Forum,” he said.

In response to visitors searching for and inquiring about visa issues, business inquiries, hotel bookings and information about travel and lodgings in Myanmar, the new forum includes a general forum, news, visa forum, a business section and an economy forum, Mr Main explained.

“Together with our travel partners and news providers, we are certain that we will be able to provide a complete service for Myanmar in the same manner that made ThaiVisa.com so successful regarding Thailand-related content. We are also looking for new service providers who are willing to work with us,” he said.

ThaiVisa is also entering the Cambodia market later this month with a similar concept.

ThaiVisa.com, with whom the Phuket Gazette is partnered in the Phuket Forum, is the largest expatriate website in the world, with more than 45,000 unique visitors per day, serving more than 6 million page views per month, according to truehits.net and Google analytics.

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PHUKET: A three-day street market featuring items produced under the Ministry of Agriculture’s “Small and Micro Community Enterprise” (SMCE) program will taking place in Phuket Town started at 2:30pm today.

Kanda Pantong of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Phuket Office (DOAE-Phuket) in Phuket Town told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that the street market would start with an address by Phuket Deputy Governor Chaiwat Thepee at 2:30pm.

Over 60 producers in 30 tents will line the east end of Narisorn Road, in front on the DOAE-Phuket office, from 2pm to 8pm, Chaiwat said.

A wide variety of products will be available for purchase at very reasonable prices, according to the DOAE. These products include: Phuket pineapples, organic vegetables, goat milk, pearl jewelry, life jackets, batik garments, potted plants, sweets and spa products.

All are produced by small community groups in Phuket under the SMCE program, she said.

SMCE producers who successfully develop their products can apply for further investment funding under the larger One Tambon One Product (OTOP) scheme, she explained.

Purchasing agents from local hotels and restaurants are encouraged to develop contacts with promising local suppliers at the market.

Families with young children can enjoy the fair and relax at the nearby Phuket Community Hall, which has one of the nicest playgrounds on the island.

Similar fairs will take place on the last weekend of every month.

For more information call the DOAE-Phuket at 076-216565.

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PHUKET: The Suzuki car dealership in Phuket Town is reporting brisk sales of the “all new” Suzuki Swift eco-car and expects to sell 200 units by the end of the month from its recently renovated showroom in Phuket Town.

The showroom, on Surin Road near the Shell service station, is well-known to scores of Suzuki SJ413 “Caribian” drivers on the the island, who rely on it for maintenance and repairs.

The showroom and service garage recently underwent 30 million baht in renovations.

The subcompact Swift boasts a 1,250cc, 91 horsepower engine with a continuously variable transmission and several other new features.

SU Suzuki Co Ltd Managing Director Panthipa Upatising said public response to the car has been enthusiastic indeed.

Three models are available: the GLX, starting at 559,000 baht; the GL, starting at 507,000 baht; and the GA, with a base price of just 469,000 baht.

To sweeten the deal, SU Suzuki is offering a free 50% discount on first-class insurance for the first year.

First-time buyers will also qualify for 100,000 baht in government tax rebates, Ms Panthipa said.

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PHUKET: Global chain Swissotel will reportedly take over management of the former Courtyard Marriott Kamala Beach effective April 1, reports Phuket Gazette Property Watch columnist Bill Barnett.

The 180-key, all-suite hotel, which is owned by Destination Properties, is part of a Phuket portfolio that includes former Courtyards in Surin Beach and Patong.

The news follows Marriott and Destination Properties announcing in January that they were “parting ways” over the Courtyard brand in Phuket.

“According to industry sources the other two hotels will possibly be branded to different international chains in the near future,” Mr Barnett said.

The Kamala Beach resort will be the first resort in Asia for the Swissotel brand

“Phuket is one of the most visited regions in Thailand and after operating two hotels in Bangkok for years, we are set to finally open our first resort property in Asia.

“This project will strengthen our presence and complement our expansion strategies within the region,” said Meinhard Huck, president of Swissotel Hotels & Resorts.

The news follows a public statement issued yesterday by Destination Properties, stating that the other former Courtyard by Marriott properties to be handed back will owner-operated for a limited period.

“Starting 1st of April 2012 the hotels in Surin and Patong will be managed by the owning company for a period of approximately 30 to 40 days. Within this time frame the cluster sales office in Soi Lang Suan, Bangkok will be as usual your point of contact for all related issues.

In the mentioned intermediary period the Hotels will operate under the following names: Destination Patong Hotel and Spa; and Destination Surin Resort and Spa, said the statement.

“During the conversion period of the Hotels in Cha Am and in Phuket on Kamala Beach all of the above act as your points of contact. Even we are not in the position to take immediate decisions in regards to rates we are delighted to coordinate your request with the newly assigned management company accordingly,” the statement added.

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PHUKET: A panel of leading experts will conduct a session on the high velocity potential of Sports Tourism and its impact on Brand Phuket at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club’s (TSLC) ‘The View’ on May 24.

Among those giving presentations will be Debbie Dionysius, Assistant Vice President of Destination Marketing at Laguna Phuket, who will discuss how the success of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, Marathon and Ironman 70.3 have helped to market Phuket.

Paul Poole, Founder of The Sponsorship Experts, will explain why sponsorship marketing is integral to the survival and successful development of events on the island.

Duncan Worthington, the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta’s Media and Communications Director, will discuss the ongoing prestige that sailing events give to the island.

David Roberts, Vice President of TSLC, will speak about how efforts in branding their facility as the most desirable sports center in Southeast Asia will benefit Phuket and help further the island’s brand positioning as a quality sports destination.

The event is being organized in conjunction with the Phuket PR Network, which is a non-profit group made up of marketing and communications professionals on the island. The group is open to everyone involved in business communications with the principle aim of sharing best practice, ideas and building capacity to market Phuket as a destination internationally.

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 150 baht will cover the cost of attendance and drinks.

For more information contact Sheree Tanpensuk. E: sheree@amchamthailand.com, T: 022 541 041, ext 212. Or visit AmchamThailand.com.

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