TWO Ukrainian tourists, who had lost their way in the fastnesses of a jungle near Na Muang Waterfall 2 at nighttime, were rescued by the police and civilian volunteers.

Kwenda Dema, 27, said that last Jan. 8 he and his girlfriend, Karolina Achin, 34, rented a motorbike to explore Samui island. Upon reaching Na Muang subdistrict, they decided to trek up to Na Muang Waterfall 2. They parked the motorbike at the foot of the mountain.

From the waterfall, he said, they continued trekking to the peak of the fall, and reached it at dusk. Upon coming down, they could not remember the path they had taken. They became worried when darkness caught up with them. After walking for a couple of hours in pitch darkness and still could not find their way, they called the staff of the hotel where they were billeted to ask for help.

At around 8 p.m. the police at Na Muang Service Station were notified by the Maenam Villa staff and immediately a rescue team was organized to locate the tourists. Continue reading →

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samui

By CHAT ANUPAN

A STRUGGLING hotel earlier reported to have been put up for sale, the Samui Buri Resort and Spa, has opted to get a well-known hotel chain to manage it.

Accor, the largest international hotel operator in Thailand, announced the opening of the newly rebranded Mercure Samui Buri.
In addition, Accor will also manage a newly built hotel, Mercure Samui Fenix, owned by Fico, a property development company.

Both hotels are beachfront. Earlier the Samui Buri Resort and Spa was reported to be looking for a buyer and that its asking price was Bt1.1 billion.

Mercure Samui Buri Resort marks Accor’s first mid-scale hotel on the island. The hotel is in the secluded northern Maenam Beach, which has stunning views of Phangan Island. It comprises 56 deluxe rooms and 29 private villas.

Mercure Samui Fenix is in the eastern part of the island, in Lamai Beach, the second largest tourist area of Samui. The hotel borders lush jungle and has access to isolated bays, small local villages, temples and the famous rock formations Hinta Hinyai.

Mercure Samui Fenix has 52 rooms and eight villas, a 600-square-meter swimming pool, a restaurant, pool bar and a fitness center.

“Samui Island is an ever-emerging destination with constant development of infrastructure and facilities appealing to international and domestic tourists. These two Mercure hotels, which portray the quality guaranteed by the Mercure brand, will fulfill demand for quality, internationally managed mid-scale hotels on the Island. We have successfully operated Mercure hotels in other major tourist destinations in Thailand such as Pattaya and Phuket, and we will bring the best of these hotels to the Samui hotel operations,” said Oswald Pichler, Accor vice president – Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

The economic slump and decreased number of tourists have taken a heavy toll on small hotels, some of which have laid off some staff or closed their operations while waiting for potential investors to take over.
Many of the hotels reportedly for sale are in Nathon, which is not a tourist area.

Seni Phuwasethaworn, head of the Koh Samui Tourism Association, admitted that many hotels on Samui need experienced hotel operators to take over in order to survive.

Hotels have shifted their marketing strategies toward attracting domestic tourists instead of relying on foreign travelers.

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