Thailand to study man-made island for billionaires' yachts

May 21, 2007, 12:03 GMT

Bangkok - Thailand will study the feasibility of building a man-made island off the coast of Phuket to provide exclusive mooring for billionaires' yachts, Tourism and Sports Minister Suvit Yodmani said Monday.

Suvit said the project, reportedly inspired by US Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates, would boost Thailand's image as a high-end tourism destination and deserved to be studied in detail, according to the state-run Thai News Agency (TNA).

The government's committee on national tourism policy will supposedly discuss the project on Tuesday when it meets to map out tourism strategies for boosting high-end tourism in the kingdom.

The Gateses reportedly visited Phuket Island last month on their 54-metre yacht and told Phuket's governor that they would gladly return every year they had somewhere private to dock their 'mega yacht.'

Phuket Governor Niran Kallayanamitr, however, on Monday denied media reports that he had already sanctioned the man-made island project, noting that it would require an environmental impact study, The Nation online news service said.

Phuket and neighbouring Phang Nga and Phi Phi, all on the Andaman Sea coast, were hard hit by the December 26, 2004 tsunami that claimed 5,300 lives Thailand, half of them western tourists.

After a slow year in 2005, as a result of the disaster, Thailand's tourism industry revived in 2006 and has continued to grow apace in the first quarter of 2007.

During this year's first quarter, national earnings off tourism rose by 9.6 per cent to reach 142 billion baht (4.1 billion dollars) compared with the same period in 2006, while tourist arrivals hit 3.82 million, up 5.4 per cent, Suvit said.