Phuket: A Millionaire's Playground? ( Phuket News )
by Aparna Raut Desai
“Just because you have a million doesn't make you a millionaire...” goes the saying. Indeed, a few millions today are rapidly becoming common place, but the term 'Millionaire' sill retains the exclusive lustre of the Super Rich.Just because a journalist can spell mililioniare doesn't get her any closer to having a few or indeed any where close to a million sitting in the piggy bank, and so it's very fortunate for this story that Phuket seems to attract the Super Rich in droves. Exclusive, elusive droves that is. Millionaires, for some peculiar reason, do not fancy being stuck in fabulously lax traffic jams on the way to Soi Bangla, or even gyrating wildly to the 1057th rendition of “Where is the Love” in a packed to bursting Thai pub.Why in Black Eyed Peas' name do they come here then, you could be forgiven for asking. And accordingly, I asked.“The golf!” stated a stately couple from Sweden, obviously mystified over the possibility of another answer. “We've been here two weeks and we've tried every golf course on the island. There is some absolutely superb golfing terrain available here. It's such a beautiful island too, we're definitely coming back. Soon.” Isak told me. They've particularly enjoyed playing at the Red Mountain golf course, he confided.... “it's state-of-the-art. “Although some others that we played on could do with some maintenance,” he added a trifle disdainful. “Not all of them were maintained to the standard professional golfers are used to all over the world. We will certainly only be returning to the few that were. It's a pity that some courses would let standards slip like that.”Isak and Julia were not not the only members of the rather elite crowd I spoke to on this story that golf had lured to the island. Bryan Lunt, chairman of the Absolute Group of companies and investor on the island, also spends considerable time on the island putting through the greens. Having just paid an obscene amount of money for a golf cart for his Discovery Bay residence in Hong Kong he told the Phuket Post in November, “Phuket is a great location for golf, the island is so beautiful and the people are so service minded.”Bryan reckons it's the Thais that make the very special allure of Phuket. For the Super-Rich too, the genuine warmth and smiles of the Thai people are a big draw. Even millions it seems, can't buy everything. “There is so much difference between the professional, polite smiles of staff all over the world, especially in the West and the gorgeous beaming faces of the Thais,” he insists enthusiastically. Craig and Karen, from Australia sailing in the King's Cup were also shopping for furniture for their 8,000 sq mtr home in Keswick island on the Great Barrier Reef. It stands to reason that self-made millionaires don't amass their wealth by squandering it, and attractive prices on Phuket can be a bonus to even those who don't have to count their $100s. The Kalizma, the gorgeous 100 year old 165 foot Edwardian Motor Yacht that belongs to the India's liquor tycoon, Vijay Mallya of United Breweries and Kingfisher Airlines, ranked 664 in the Forbes list of billionaires in 2007, caused a right little flutter on the island when she first docked at the Yacht Haven marina months ago. Moored at the Yacht Haven marina for months, the splendid yacht will be home to the flamboyant Millionaire whenever he visits the island another example of the profile of visitors to Phuket.On another marina not too far down South from the Yacht Haven, another tycoon...this time a telecom baron is making waves...and islands with his plans for Phuket. Gulu Lalvani, the British telecom moghul, having just launched the world's first Aquaminiums at the Royal Phuket Marina, is planning a base for superyachts off the coast of Phuket. A colossal facility that could handle superyachts ranging from 40 to 70 metres, with the intention of drawing a number of super-rich, like himself, to the area.Millions, apparently -- just like misery -- love company. Indeed the inlfux of the Super-Rich to the island can be credited in great measure to pioneering havens for the rich like the Amanpuri, where incidentally, Mr Lalavani bought his first home in Phuket and decided to 'retire' on the island. The induced demand created by the likes of the spectacularly luxurious Amanpuri has spurred the development of more fantastically decadent lifestyle options for those who are accustomed to them, and the Rich are lapping it up.With just the right mix of the things that make a millionaire's lifestyle, Phuket is preparing – and rapidly – to become a playground for those rolling in it.
