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Royal Grill Room & Wine Cellar awarded TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence
Royal Cliff Hotels Group
Executive Chef Walter Thenisch (second left), Food & Beverage Director
Paitoon Ritdej (second right), Restaurant Manager Vichai Pooalai (right),
and Assistant Restaurant Manager Vinyoo Rosdee (left) proudly display their
award.
The Royal Cliff Hotels Group’s fine dining restaurant,
the Royal Grill Room & Wine Cellar - Excellence & Heritage was recently
awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. This multiple
award-winning venue serves high quality imported meats and seafood, enhanced
by a magnificent underground Wine Cellar with over 1,000 new and old-world
wine labels in its prestigious wine lists.
Executive Chef Walter Thenisch said, “It is a great honor to receive this
award. I am touched that our services and cuisine have brought joy and
satisfaction to so many guests. That is indeed our fondest wish and goal.”
The Certificate of Excellence award is given to outstanding hospitality
businesses that have received praise and recognition in reviews by
TripAdvisor travelers. Winners of the award range from one-room bed and
breakfasts to 6,000-room hotels, from bakeries to Michelin star restaurants
and hidden attractions to world-renowned parks and museums.
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Tourism companies bone up
on Thai software options
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome (center) takes a
commemorative photo with sponsors of the Tourism Technology Fair at the
Dusit Thani Hotel, Pattaya.
Warunya Thongrod
The Association of Thai Software Industry with the private sector
organized the Tourism Technology Fair to help boost visitor arrivals by
2015.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome opened the July 17 fair at the Dusit Thani
Hotel with top area business and tourism association executives.
The Tourism Technology Fair targeted hotels, golf courses, restaurants,
spas and souvenir shops, highlighting technologies that can be
implemented in their businesses to drive customer growth and reduce
costs.
Pattaya’s tourism professionals browse the
new technology on display.
The fair, the second of its kind in Thailand, is being supported through
an agreement signed last year by the Thai Hotels Association Eastern
Region, Chonburi Tourism Destination Club, Pattaya Business & Tourism
Association, Food & Beverage Management Association Eastern Region, and
the software association.
“I believe the fair has largely benefited Pattaya tourism because the
business owners will get to learn of new technologies that will help
strengthen the businesses by using technology to serve tourists,
including promoting the online market to attract tourists from all over
the world to utilize their services,” Itthiphol said.
“This fair is determined to present Thai-produced software that has high
potential and is appropriately priced to businessmen in Pattaya to
learn, try, and choose,” said ATSI President Peerasath Bunyakupt.
In addition, the attendees also enjoyed demonstrations and tested
software solutions presented by more than 15 companies to specifically
support the tourism industry, including online payment, how to create a
website, online reservations, buying Wi-Fi packages online, and adding
mobile credit online.
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Similan Islands - One of the Top Ten Dive Destinations in the World
Comprising 9 granite islands roofed with a tropical rain forest, washed by
clear blue seawater and blessed with white sandy beaches, the Similan
Islands lie in a 25-km long north-south chain, 65 km offshore from Phang-nga
Province in the Andaman Sea, about 100 km from Phuket. The Similan Islands
offer the most stunning and diverse dive destinations in Thailand, which are
also in listed in the Top Ten Dive sites in the world.
The islands’ eastern fringes feature pretty hard coral gardens in the
shallows and sloping reef banks down to 30m. At some dive sites, such as
“East of Eden”, large bommies (coral heads) rise from the sea bed and are
blanketed with soft coral, fan coral, and swarms of small tropical fish.
Diving off the east coast of the Similan Islands is relatively easy-going,
allowing you plenty of time to explore the sites at your own leisurely pace.
The western side of the Similans, along with the north and south points, can
offer more exciting diving as currents swirl around huge sunken granite
boulders, which form a series of arches, tunnels and swim-through at sites;
such as “Christmas Point” and “Elephant Head Rock”. Growing on, and between,
these enormous rocks you find a tapestry of colourful soft coral. In the
channels between the boulders, sea fans can grow to some 3m across, and in
such numbers that you cannot possibly swim through. The contrast between the
east and west coasts and the variety of underwater topography is one of the
reasons the Similan Islands are so popular - every dive offers you something
different.
In front of Island #6 and Island #8, several shallow corals in various
forms; such as Staghorn coral, Foliose pore coral, and Mushroom coral, can
be seen in abundance, along with colourful fish and lobsters hidden in the
coral branches, especially around Island #8 which is the biggest island of
the Similans and the location of a sail-shaped rock, the symbol of these
islands. Apart from clear blue seawater, coral and fish, here you can also
watch “Cha Pi Nai” or Nocobar pigeon and the natural landscape.
On the Fourth Island, Mu Koh Similan National Park is located. Here, the
service of accommodation, bathroom, restaurants, mini-mart and rental tents
is offered. Most tourists prefer to stay overnight, so that they can enjoy
the first sunrise and nature in the early morning.
Know before you go: Only Similan Islands #4 and #8 allow you on land. There
are trails and very beautiful viewpoints. Bring your shoes! The other
islands are off limits to foot traffic. You can also include “Richelieu
Rock”, a famous diving spot in a part of the Mu Koh Surin National Park, in
any dive trip to the Similan Islands.
Recommendation: With over 25 dive sites spread over quite a large area and
far from the mainland, the best way to dive the Similan Islands is
live-aboards as you truly experience all that they have to offer at a
relaxed pace. Also, there are many day trip packages, with and without
accommodation, to choose from if you are short of time or prefer land based
diving.
Please: Be patient and polite to other divers, as sometimes it gets crowded
down there.
Travel Info
Getting to the islands is best arranged through either a travel agent in the
region or a diving or snorkeling company. There are plenty, but please make
sure they are certified by the TAT, insured and actually have knowledge of
the Similans.
GPS Location: N8° 38.817’, E97° 38.800’
Contact: Mo Koh Similan National Park, +66 7645 3272
Facilities & Services: Diving instructor, live-aboard boat, scuba diving
shop, food, accommodation, camping sites and restroom. (TAT)
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