This week nineteen companies have signed partnership agreements with Thai Longstay Management Corporation (TLM), in joint ventures between the government and the private sector. The TLM, just as the Singapore government, is seeking to attract long-stay residents to Thailand and one proposal, which should also boost the tourist industry, is the development of a floating island city in Phuket. Building over water is not a new idea and Thailand already has Koh Pannyi (Sea Gypsy Island), a village built on stilts in Phang Nga Bay that is both a fishing village and a handicrafts centre for tourists.

The Phuket Bay International City would take ten years to complete and visitor numbers are projected as 20 million a year. There are five separate projects for the new city, including the comet-shaped resort and entertainment complex Good Luck Island. Recently the Thai government has been considering the possibility of allowing casinos, spurred on by declining tourist numbers in the country and the lure of Macau’s success. Casino games would be part of the Good Luck Island project. The ambitious development of a floating city includes international sporting facilities, a convention and exhibition centre, offices and tourist resorts.

A Thai-Japanese joint venture is reported to be planning to spend US$3.3 billion on Phuket Bay International City, which is scheduled for completion in 2015. The devastating tsunami has dented Thailand’s income from tourism, although many hotels and attractions are now running normally and the government is anxious to persuade the tourists to come back. The floating city should provide competition for the integrated resorts planned in Singapore and other countries in the region, and the spectacular scenery and beautiful beaches that Thailand can offer could make it ultimately ahead of the game. (E-10.20.05)

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