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Dream destination taking shape in Bang Saray
Bangkok Post
Thailand's money-spinning tourism industry could get a major boost when the first phase of The Beaches, a major destination resort and spa development at Bang Saray Bay, is completed in three and half years.
This project is positioned to have something for everyone — a water-themed park, man-made private beaches, a kilometre-long boardwalk lined with shops and restaurants, and even villas over the water, taking their inspiration from the Maldives. All this grandeur will be very 21st century, with the whole site being served with super high-speed Internet and a cashless payment system.
Liakat Sultan Dhanji, the chairman and CEO of Pacific Shore Company, has pulled out all the stops to make the project a success. His track record suggests he can pull it off. A former CEO of Golden Land Development Plc, he has also undertaken a string of projects in Canada before he came to Thailand.
''Well, I'll start from when I retired,'' he says of the events leading up to his latest venture. ''I took eight months off and travelled around the world and came back and decided that retirement is not good for me.
''I went to South America, the Caribbean, North America, Europe, the Mediterranean and Fiji and I looked around at what was happening and it became very apparent to me that the whole tourism market is shifting dramatically and shifting towards destination resorts.''
The concept is not really new — think back half a century to Walt Disney and his vision for Disneyland, followed by Disney World. Another pioneer was Sol Kerzner who built Sun City in South Africa. Investors in Las Vegas started to take notice, and set out to transform the US city from one known mainly for gambling and vice into a thriving family attraction.
Today Hong Kong and Tokyo have Disneylands of their own, and Singapore is also building two mega resorts where casinos will be part of the draw. There will also be water-based theme parks, shows, entertainment, food outlets and retail — ''basically turning Singapore into another Las Vegas,'' says Mr Dhanji.
In Dubai, meanwhile, there is Dubailand, which is being divided into six theme worlds with the first of four phases expected to be completed early next year. One of the most eagerly awaited attractions is Sahara World.
After Mr Dhanji returned to Thailand, it dawned on him that while the country was famed for its warmth and hospitality, and had a successful tourism business, competition was getting awfully stiff.
He became convinced that Thailand needed something to compete with the big attractions in place or taking shape across Asia. ''I decided I was going to find space and build an integrated destination resort to compete with our neighbouring countries. My strength is big projects, complexity doesn't bother me and big destination resorts are extremely complex.''
Spurring him on was an interesting statistic out of Las Vegas showing that 97% of the people who go there in fact don't gamble but are there for the entertainment, food and ambience. ''Because you can go to one place and it satisfies the needs of mom, dad, the kids of various ages because they have something for everyone from theme parks to golf courses to spas, so many types of restaurants, from casual to expensive, that somebody can take a week off and never have to leave Las Vegas.''
To him, this means that any such destination resort in Thailand would work and be able draw visitors even without the casino element.
Another interesting statistic led Mr Dhanji to choose a location close to Bangkok. It seems that 67% of all the visitors to Las Vegas are from one city only, and that is Los Angeles.
This led to the purchase of The Beaches site in Bang Saray, a small fishing village close to Pattaya. ''One day I happened to go to Bang Saray because somebody had invited me there and I said, 'Oh my God, it reminds me of Waikiki (in Hawaii) 32 years ago when my father took me there', and I said, 'Wow, this is right on my doorstep.'''
Having acquired the 200-rai land plot that is 1.8 kilometres long and bigger than the Las Vegas strip, he's now looking to put all the elements together.
The water park will be built by White Water West Industries, the largest specialist in the field, with customers including Disney and Sea World.
''Now, to make a destination resort work you need several features — hotels, restaurants, retail shops, entertainment. So what I did was I put together a boardwalk, a kilometre long, that is going to have a mixture of all kinds of restaurants.''
The private villas as well as private lagoons and man-made beach, are a nod to the location. ''Because the history of Bang Saray is fishing, and it's got to be one of the oldest and most beautifully preserved fishing villages. I am going to recreate a fishing village here and actually work with the fishermen — the village will be able to give us fresh seafood.''
Aside from a six-star hotel there will be a convention centre, given that the meetings and incentives market is the fastest growing tourism segment.
Pacific Shore has already sold some villas and condominium units. The residences offer 90-year leaseholds (three 30-year terms) because the venture has received Board of Investment promotion. Bangkok Bank will be providing some of the financing for the project.
While some might regret the modernisation of Bang Saray, Mr Dhanji says the company has taken pains to ensure low density, with as much as 70% of all the space on the site being open.
