Thavorn Hotels and Resorts Internship Program

Hot and Spicy Friday Night

2010-12-06T16:40:00.009+07:00

It was 2 days after the 5th Prizedraw of Thavorn Hotels and Resorts. The purpose was to donate the blood, and suddenly the guys (Pi Jack, Pi Chum, Khun Nuch, and Khun Cha) cancelled it, and decided to have a hot and spicy dinner in one of the restaurant around Phuket town.

well, it was not actually around Phuket town, it's quite far. according to the google map, it takes around 9 minutes to go by driving and takes you around 35 minutes to go by walk. I definitely recommend you to rent a motorbike or go by car instead of walk :p

well, the restaurant's name is:

Ran Kon 101, located in Wichit Songkram Road.

The taste of North East Food

It has a unique concept of wooden gazebo for the guest, where we can sit together and enjoy the meals. Unfortunately, the menu is written in Thai Language. But dont be worry, because this restaurant is famous with its hot pot dish, and various desserts.

We ordered the hot pot with seafood. at first, I had no idea how does this hot pot work. but then, Khun Nuch showed me the way.

The hot pot comes with the vegetables, seafoods and sauce. all you have to do is boil the water inside the pot 1st, and put the vegetables and seafood inside. be careful! dont put all the stuff at once, because the pot will not fit them, and better watch out from the heat and the smoke.

but anyway, it was fun though :)

after the vegetables and the seafood well-cooked, grab your boil and pour them in. you might need the sauce to spice it up.

before we had the main dishes which is the hot pot seafood, it's better to order some appetizer, such as the spicy Som Tam, fried chicken wing, and sticky rice.

You should not worry about your diet, because they are too good to be missed :)

and plus, dont miss the dessert option, they have various choices for ice cream. I wanted to order the unique purple "Sa Ku Truadam Ma Praw On", they said it is made from kind of potato family, but it was sold out.

So, I tried the other dessert, which was as delicious as its picture.

after all of 5 dishes we eat, it cost around 150-200 THB per head. An affordable price for dinner after our pay day :)

2 in 1 of Talat Yai Road

2010-12-02T14:51:00.014+07:00

I just knew that we are actually surrounded by the great places in the town. If many people said Patong is the best way to hang out, well I dont think so, Phuket town rules!

With just a short walk to Talat Yai, around 10 minutes. you can find this 2 wonderful places:

1. The Halal Budgeted-Restaurant:

They are in the row of this road, which one of them sell a special dish, just the same like in Indonesia. well, you should give it a try, the name is "Martabak", the skin is made from flour, with beef,potato and egg inside. 30 THB per piece.

and just beside this restaurant, you can find the "Chicken Rice" shop as well.

2. The Restaurant and Karaoke

If you feel like enjoying the whole night with food and songs, you should give a shoot to this Ba Lé Restaurant and Karaoke. It costs around 300-400THB per hour to enjoy the karaoke time. Definitely a place to hang out with a group of friends.

me and the guys went there to celebrate one of our colleague's birthday. it is one of the sophisticated place to having a dinner.. the atmosphere is simply amazing with the touch of live music performing Thai songs.

So, what can i say?! Phuket town provides a lot of enjoyment beside its cultural sight. In one night, we could find a new road full of excitement, i cant wait to find another great part in Phuket town!

by: Astrid

Loi Krathong - the Festival

2010-11-22T13:09:00.017+07:00

"Loi" means "to float" and a "Krathong" is a raft.

It usually takes place in November, on the full moon of the 12th month in traditional Thai calendar. this year (2010), it falls on the 21st of November. In this celebration, there will be many people floating the small rafts (Krathong) on a river or other body of water, such as canals, lakes and seas. The floating raft is one way to honor and pay respect to the goddess of water.

so last night was the festival night of this Loi Krathong. We went to Patong beach to be the witness of this yearly event.

We arrived in Patong at 19.00 hours, the street was fulled by people from both local and foreigner, and plus the Loi Krathong Parade was passing by the street.

The parade took about 15 minutes, luckily we were exactly in the end of the street, so we could clearly see it.

the giant Kratong from banana leaves with the kid or lady in traditional dress sat in the middle of it, the marching band, the traditional dance, the traditional-dress fashion show, were the main parts of this parade.

everybody was so excited, no exception :)

apart from that, you could find a totally different vibe of Bangla Road! the middle lot was filled by the rows of vendors, started from food, accessories, furnitures, even food massage. while, a stage for the band was also opened in the front side of this road.

shortly, it was a great combination of the modern nightlife and traditional night market in there.

You would find people gather in any beach in Phuket to celebrate the Loi Krathong Festival, not only in Patong Beach though. Kata, Kamala, or any beaches in town like the Saphan Hin (where the Loi Krathong Night Market took place).

as for Patong Beach, the Kratong sellers were over the street, the prices varied from 50 THB, 150 THB or will be more expensive, depend from their models.

this Kratong later will be floated to the beach.

also the flying lamp, fly it after you make your wish

by: Astrid

Loi Krathong - the Night Market

2010-11-17T09:41:00.010+07:00

"Loi" means "to float" and a "Krathong" is a raft.

One of my friend also told me, there is also a belief that people may find their soulmate during this celebration. If your raft hit someone's raft when you are floating it on the water, he/ she will be your soulmate, it always be a romantic time for many couples in Thailand, she said :)

anyway, apart from that, Phuket town has its own "party", in Saphan Hin, you can find a huge night market near the roundabout. They sell a lot of stuffs in here, start from foods, fruits, jewelery, hose hold equipments, plants and even wooden furniture. They also have a stage with a lot of unique performances, and the game zone for kids.

you will be greeted by the big lotus from the main entrance :)

unique plants to be sold during the night market

the row of food vendors

When I told you the foods are unique, they really are unique (see below):

the performance

By: Astrid

a sunny journey in phuket

2010-11-15T22:05:00.017+07:00

Last sunday was a perfect sunny day to hang out.

We decided to go to several places in Phuket, well, actually it was an unplanned trip, because i just got a call from my friend, and she invited me to go out together.

we met at 12:30, when the sun is exactly above your head. Lon mak mak (ref: very very hot), and we stopped for a lunch in Chao Fa East Road, a plate of delicious chicken PhadThai from a noodle restaurant there, "Pah Teaw VIP Noodle Restaurant (since 1943)".

you should not miss the great coffee stop either, just in front this noodle shop, owned by the friend of my friend. 40THB for a fresh ice espresso, and other coffee menus.

after a short chat in the coffee stop, we continued the Sunday's trip,

Chalong Temple!

Thai people believe the 1st place that need to be visited by the visitor for their 1st trip in Phuket is this temple. the believe says that it would give them the good luck.

well, it is quite late for us, since we have been here for almost 4 months and it was the 1st time we visited the Chalong temple.

But anyway, we were amazed by the beauty from inside and outside the temple.. superb!

next! the Chalong Pier ! another beautiful spot :)

a very short stop in the pier, then we moved to Promthep Cape. People said, it is the most beautiful spot, and yes! it is!!

the last stop of the day was in Phuket Old Town. we tried to find the Phuket museum there, but well, it was almost close. so, we decided not to go.

Phuket Old town has a elegant atmosphere, the style of Sino-Portuguese colors all the way there.

By: Astrid

The Beautiful Angle from Phuket

2010-11-13T15:31:00.038+07:00

Hi..hi..hi..whatz up?

Here you are with Iyeck , I’m going to share my wonderful experiences in phuket Thailand to you.

What’s going on with Phuket …???

I have a lot of hobbies one of my hobbies is Photography, I like to take pictures of beaches, sunset, Peoples, old town and mountains. Here in phuket you guys will find many wonderful angles. The most important if u are really want to get the best view in phuket ,so you should know where’s nice and beautiful places, I got information about that from sites and Lonely Planet guide book, that’s what I do.

I took this Pictures on the Pier of Tavorn Beach Village Resort and spa.

That Pier one of my favorite place for me even evening time, because from front of the pier you can see beautiful ocean, on the right side u can see small hill with a villa on the top of it and on the left side u can see Patong beach, sometimes in the night many people celebrate the night with firework. So, what a beautiful pier it is.

I took this picture when the sun set was starting to go down in Kalim Beach

The sunset in Phuket is beautiful, one of the famous place for sunset view in Phuket is promthep cape view point, you need to drive in around 40 minutes from Patong beach.

Rawai is a 'working beach' and a launching point for day boat excursions out to Phuket's surrounding islands. Many boats available for hire line its shores, where you can arrange a trip to Coral island, Koh Lone or Racha Island,for fishingor snorkel trip. The beach is also used as a mooring point for the many fishermen who live in the area.

Phuket Town.

One of tourist destination in phuket is Phuket old town, because of the architectures is still in an old Asian style, even restaurant and bar, many tourist visit the old town because of the situation more quite than another places in phuket.

One of the old building in phuket town.

One of bar and café

Night situation in one of the roads in phuket old town, many Chinese living in this old town.

So far during my second training in Phuket island is amazing because many things I do in here than I like to learn culture in Thailand. They are totally different with Indonesia, one more thing that why I like to stay in here is the culinar, the taste of the foods are different. They made the food more spicy and delicious, hhmm..yuummi…

So what are you waiting for guys…?? Just visit Phuket and welcome to Thavorn. J

Old Town with beautiful lights

Created by: Rahmat "Iyeck" Hidayat (Indonesian Trainee)

The best place to joy the night in “Social Area” in Thavorn Grand Plaza

2010-11-13T10:11:00.032+07:00

During our internship in Thavorn Grand Plaza hotel in marketing office, we start our work at 09.00hours and finish 18.00hours. And after that, we just looking to have some rest after work, just in our nice small room, but some of us go to swim on 10^th or 3^rd floor.

Around 19.00hours, after 1hour rest time, we usually go outside to find out some food for our dinner. We usually buy at street food behind the hotel. Many kinds of street food there, and for the price is not too expensive around 40 to hundreds THB.

After we finish our dinner, we go back to the hotel, but do not go back to our room yet. We always go to our best place in this hotel on 4^th floor. There is a “Social Area” where all of guest can meet with each other and relax with many facilities provided for guests.

We can enjoy free wi-fi in every area in this place and 4 Computers for free to use. Beside that, in this place are provide some board games & DVDs, books, and there is a cafe-bar. For every guest who wants to laundry their clothes in this hotel providing self service laundry, from washing until ironing, just insert 50THB (5 pcs coins of 10THB) to use the laundry machine, and if they want to drying they also can use drying machine and also with 50THB or just hanging on drying rail.

As the name of this place is “Social Area” so you are not just only enjoying all of the facilities there, but we also can socialize with every guest with cozy and friendly atmosphere, so we can make new friends here. Actually all of guest in here, they come from different countries. We can share with them about the cultural in every country, and for us as a trainee here, we can get a lot of knowledge and everything that we never know in other countries.

This place is the best area in this hotel. I never seen place like this with good atmosphere and meet with friendly peoples.

\\(^.^)//

~created by: Gi2h Pribadi (Indonesian trainee)~

Trip on weekend :) Nov, 2010

2010-11-09T10:45:00.040+07:00

Wooooooooooowww…
Amazing Thailand, Amazing Phuket !!!

Trip on weekend :)

As we always get our day off once a week and it’s every on Sunday…

On Saturday night 6^th Nov 2010 it was nice weather in Phuket to go outside, and we decided to rent motorbikes nearby the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel, Phuket Town. As normal cost for rent motorbike is 200 Baht/day.

At 19.30 hours, directly we went to night market, local people named it Naka Market. It’s open on weekend only. In 15 minutes drive from the Thavorn Grand Plaza, *brummm ZzZzzzzz it was sounds from the motorbikes when we were parking there, at the time we had planned to buy some food for dinner. If you come to this market you could find clothes, souvenirs, etc and you should try kind of local food with original Thai taste.

Check it out guys…!! :D

On the next day, Sunday 7^th Nov 2010 we woke up late, we forgot that we had planned to go to other place in Phuket. Hahahahaiii.. :D

For the first our activity after we woke up late, we continued to find some food for our breakfast+lunch(brunch). We went to Expo Market, it’s not far from our hotel, we find some sunglasses then continued to find some foods, we decided to have our brunch time in Expo, ‘cos they also have some Food Courts there, we ordered some fried rice (in here they called Kao Phad), Phad Thai (looks like Kwe Tiew, but it’s thinner than Kwe Tiew).

After we finished our meals, we left that place to our next destination place in our “Sunday trip”. Time has shown at 13.30 hours, and we started our trip to Central Festival Phuket (shopping mall in Phuket Town). We visited to Homework (supermall for home utilities), we shown some exhibition there, then continued to Central Festival.

Less than 45 minutes we was walking around in this mall, we did window shopping there only… :D

The next destination is Karon beach, as we heard from online news that organizers of the Phuket Thailand Open have confirmed that final matches for the International beach volleyball event would be held on Karon Beach Sunday 7^th Nov 2010 at 15.00 hours.

We arrived to Karon beach around 15.15 hours, and we parked our motorbike near the beach. When we arrived to Karon, we thought the match was already played, but arrived on the good time when the match weren’t played yet.

We entered to see the match it was between USA vs. Italy, we found out good position to see the match, and we got it. We got good place from supporter seats, on that place we can see the match and also the beach on our left side. The weather on that time was very good, sunny with clear blue sky.

Before the match started we took some pictures, every site on supporter seats there almost filled full with all of hotel guest nearby the hotel along Karon beach such as guests of the Thavorn Palm Beach resort. All of them came to give some support for both of the teams. Then the match started, the announcer called both of the teams, and all of audience yelled when both of the teams entered to the beach volleyball yard. Some of us yelled to give support to Italy team, all of us so enjoyed that match. Around 16.00 hours, we decided to leave that match. We leave the match before that match finished, we continued to go to visit our friend in Thavorn Beach Villag e on Nakalay bay.

wait for the next story guys... :D

posted by ADAW

Kamala Beach Surfing

2010-11-03T14:34:00.008+07:00

Phuket is not considered as a surfing destination, people more noticed the island for its night life, white sandy beaches and island hoping activities. But it doesnt mean they cannot surf in Phuket, there are plenty of nice beaches here with quite smooth fun barrell waves that we can ride on! Surfing have been developing rapidly in Phuket for the last 10 years, more surf communities have been established, more people coming to surf and lots of surfing competition these days.

From the south to north, there are Kata, Karon, Patong, Kalim, Kamala and Surin beach that normally have perfect waves -- especially when the low tide. Kata beach attracting more people as well as Karon beach, more people surf there.

My favorite spot is Kamala Beach, located only 10 minutes by motorbike from Thavorn Beach Village and Spa, this is the best surf spot for me eventhough the swell isn't as consistent as Kata nor Karon. I like it because less people surf here, and i went there almost every weekend -- when we've spent our 6 weeks training in Thavorn Beach Village. Usually just some of the locals been surfing there with me and they are ripping! i've learned much from them. In the morning, when the tide is high the swell typically bigger but closed out, good waves coming usually in the afternoon and during low tide and that was the best time for me to surf! plus, watching the picturesque sun setting down at the horizon on my board, just perfect!

I rented the surfboard for about 100Baht/hour, His name is Mek, the local surfer which i usually rented the board from and we were becoming very good friends since the first time i met him. Mek also introduced me with other surfers from "Kamala Go Surfing" community which was just as nice as him.

Besides surf board rental, he's running a small reggae bar and a trees bungalow as well! trees bungalow?? yup, he's now constructing a comfortable wooden bungalow on a tree! --like a tree house -- cool isn't it? simply beautiful. Hes using the materials from surrounding local resources and they're working together to build it

one thing that i learned from my surfing experiences, respect the ocean and for sure the locals! that is what surfing is all about. keep on paddling! :)

the 4th PRIZEDRAW of Thavorn Hotel and Resort

2010-11-03T11:20:00.018+07:00

the 1st day from each month is becoming my favorite day lately.
simply because it means that I am getting closer with my salary :p and i need to get ready for the PRIZEDRAW!

after all the success in the 1st party in Thavorn Grand Plaza (TGP), 2nd in Thavorn Palm Beach (TPB) , 3rd in Thavorn Beach Village (TBV) , Thavorn family held the 4th back to TPB.

so here is the story ...
in the 1st of November 2010, Prizedraw Cocktail Reception in TBV offered a unique concept of Thavorn's logo "When Thai Tradition Meets Nature", the party presented various cuisines from Thailand, from east to the west and from south to the north, plus some international menus.

another surprise for the guests (and even for me) was the musical and dance performance.

after a short introduction by Roger and Melissa in the stage, prizedraw started, everybody looked so excited especially when they knew that they actually also had the fabulous chances to win free nights in Thavorn Hotel & Resort!

Interline Staff ! Travel Agent! Return Guests! and the In-House Guests!

the AGMD of Thavorn even gave away 1 year free stay includes ABF for the lucky in-house guest! and it was won by a Russian guest which was the most excited guest during the even, hehe.

i wish i could be that lucky guest :p

at the end of the party, all the guests ad staff were invited to go in front of the stage for group picture and because on saturday (30th October) was the AGMD's bday! We sang a "happy bday " song and wished him a good life!

well, after all, the live band was ready to rock the night! everyone was the dancing queen and king! and that means it was the end of the party.

hmmm.. i wonder what the next Prizedraw Cocktail Reception would be~

cant waiiiitt !!! ;)

ps: this prizedraw made me miss the other previous trainees :')

(ref: Lissy, Fab, Fabbiene, Ale, Camilla, Anja, Tiara)

By: Astrid

Working at Thavorn Resorts

2010-07-20T15:58:00.002+07:00

Just yesterday I arrived back in Phuket town, so back in the marketing office. Shortly there is only to say, that six weeks training in the properties “Thavorn Beach Village” and “Thavorn Palm Beach” were over too fast.
But surely I will let you be a part of all these 6 weeks! First I was training at “Thavorn Beach Village” at Nakalay Bay, close to Patong, the party center of Phuket, but concerning this, I will tell you later on some details.

So after arriving at “Thavorn Beach Village” the nice front office staff there let us check-in to one of the amazing “Ocean View Villas”, which are situated up the hill, so we had to take one of the cable cars to reach our room ! At the room we all (3 girls) thought, ooooook exactly like this must be the paradise. We had 2 huge beds and one not so huge extra bed, gut still a very comfortable one, really a spacious bathroom with separated bath tub, shower and toilet, it was simply one of the most beautiful bathrooms with all the beautiful stones on the floor and on the wall, the wood and the large space! And I even didn’t tell you the best, on our balcony with an astonishing sea view, we had our own private Jacuzzi! Simply beyond words!!!

But rest assured that we were not only relaxing the whole day in this wonderful villa or at the separate beach, we were also working in a lot of different departments. For my case my first department was the kitchen. First I had the possibility to learn in the bakery how to bake donuts, muffins, pan burger and also pastries filled with vanilla cream. On the afternoon I was assisting the people in the cold kitchen with cutting a lot of fruits and trying to carve roses out of carrots. So my first big job there was to prepare a big bowl of fruit salad. Then we were arranging the fruit plates with different kinds of fruits for special room service. Before finishing this day finally I had the possibility to watch how to prepare handmade Japanese Sushi.

On the following day I was in the morning at the Thai kitchen mainly for cutting vegetables and also for watching the staff how to perform during the little stressful morning hours of the breakfast time. After closing the breakfast I was cleaning up the breakfast area of Marisa Restaurant and then the Thai cooks showed me how to cook a Thai spicy soup. After the lunch break I was at the “Old Siam” restaurant for preparing some Chinese antipasti and for learning again how to carve the fruits in a beautiful way, not that I could do it!

Then my time at the housekeeping department started. During the 4 hours of my morning shift I had to clean 7 “Ocean View Villas” of the 4th floor. There I realisised how hard the people of this department are working. In every room I was first sweeping the floor, then the balcony, after that we had to make the beds, which was also first of all not easy and secondly a very power-extracting work. After this hard job it was time to clean the bathroom, certainly including the toilet. After this I had to clean the whole area of wood in the main room including all surfaces, like tables, cupboards and drawers of dust and of other dirt. Then I had to sweep the floor again with the mop and then finally with the broom.

At the end we had to put all the curtains in the right order and check all the lights and the TV stations. At this day I finally had to do this procedure all in all 9 times before I could get finally the important rest in our private Jacuzzi after such a exhausting day.

On Thursday I was responsible for cleaning 15 bungalows with the same procedure like in the Villa, only the bed is a little smaller and the bathroom is also not so spacious and without any shower. During the afternoon I was leaving the beautiful and idyllic situated “Garden View Bungalow” and “Sea View Bungalows” in order to go to the laundry. There I had to sort out the sheets from the pillow covers and the towels. After that I had to insert the covers for the pillow inside the huge steam roller followed by all the sheets.

On the following Friday and Saturday I had the late shifts at the housekeeping department starting at 3 o’clock. My first task was to sweep the floor in front of the “Marisa” restaurant. Then I had to do the turn down service in 6 “Pool Side Villas”. This service consisted of putting flowers again at the rooms, opening the beds at one side and putting sweet desert on the room, sometimes also changing of the towels. After this I had to clean 3 more “Pool Terrace Villas” and one “Pool Access Villas”. During the rest of my shift I had small extra tasks, like putting an extra bed in one Villa, bringing adaptors to guests, delivering the laundry and changing one light bulb.

On Saturday I was cleaning the public area of the “Old Siam” restaurant. First I had to sweep the floor, then we started to wash all the glasses of the lights and after that I was sweeping the floor again. After this I had to do again the turn down service but today only in 5 rooms. Finally after preparing all the bags for the room mates for the following day I finished my work at this department.

On Monday and Tuesday my new department was the reservation office. First they tried to make me familiar with the new booking system there (FROMAS). After learning how to search bookings I learned how to make new bookings, change rates and comparable challenges. My next task was to check the bookings for all the arrivals for the following day. After preparing the today activity report, and putting all the new bookings from these two days inside this booking system I also finished working in this department.

Finally my last department at “Thavorn Beach Village” was the Front Desk. In my opinion this department is simply the best, as I love everything which is connected to guest relation and all the handling of special guest requests. For example few guests wish to change the room, in order to get an upgrade, organizing the transportation to Patong or somewhere else for the guests, or also solving problems, like handling a not arriving tour pick up service. For me assisting guests with explicit questions is just always a pleasure. I also had to escort guests to the room, or assist the front office staff during the check-in and check-out mainly with preparing and filling out all the necessary papers for the guests. Furthermore I was also responsible for handling walk in guests and show them around in the hotel as well as explain them what facilities they can use and give them an overview of the resort and all the existing environment.

But now like promised also to the nightlife part at Patong! If you should come once to this wonderful island Phuket, you really need to spend at least 1 night out in Patong, as here on the island there is no other comparable place. Nowhere the nightlife is as crazy, varied and colorful as there. You can find there everything what could came in your mind, starting with small bars, to really nice restaurants, a lot of street vendors with food, cloths, CDs and DVDs, to huge discos with 2 floors and billiard cafes. Simply everything is possible there! I definitely will remember all those unforgettable nights in Patong for a really long time!

As this 3 weeks full of work and also a little of leisure time passed by soooo fast, it was now time to change again the property of the “Thavorn Group” to arrive at “Thavorn Palm Beach”. The first nice surprise when I arrived there at the wonderful Karon Beach, was that we arrived at the same time there as the “Phuket Music Festival” with a great choice of different local musicians as well as international ones. Of course I was there, what do you think? It was really simply amazing, such a lot of mixed people, from Thai, to Chinese, American, Russian, Columbian, German and Austrians (my friend Fabienne and me, I do not think that there were more), but definitely everybody was there dancing and enjoying the nice music! The best thing about this festival was that it was located directly at the beach, so everybody was dancing while having the wonderful white Sand under the feet. Unfortunately around 4 o’clock the party was over.

The training at “Thavorn Palm Beach” was slightly different from the training at “Thavorn Beach Village” as at “Thavorn Palm Beach” the training was more focused on the management basis of hotel work, so our main tasks changed from really working with the staff there to observe how they are working and how it could be possible to improve this work.

But back to “Thavorn Palm Beach” my training continued at the Front Desk for 6 days. The main tasks there were similar to the Front Desk at “Thavorn Beach Village”. So I was again handling special guest requests and also complaints. One big and important task was there to handle a lot of check-ins including preparing all the papers for the guests, escorting them to their rooms and showing them around in the resort.
After this department I was again in the reservation office, seeing how the other system works at this property and how to take care about all the reservations and special wishes of guests.

After all these experiences it was again time for the next department: housekeeping was exactly what was expecting me. At my first day here I was in the office handling all the incoming calls and getting familiar with the system and style of cleaning at “Thavorn Palm Beach”, which is slightly different from the system of “Thavorn Beach Village”, as the whole room structure is totally different.

Another part of my work during the first day was to fill out the new order form and to bring it to the pertaining department. On the second and the third day I was again cleaning the rooms. First I started with the “Standard Rooms” and then I continued with the “Deluxe Rooms”. It was again simply the most exhausting time at the hotel and really hard work from the beginning of cleaning until the end.

The next department was the kitchen. At this place it was again time to cut a lot of fruits for the fruit salad as well as a lot of herbs and vegetables. Furthermore I was there again watching and trying to carve vegetables in a beautiful way, which is not my main talent, there is now no doubt any more. Preparing a lot of decoration for the plates, which were presented at the following breakfast, roasting bacon and cooking small sausages were also part of what I did during my time in the kitchen.

My last department was the food and beverage department. There I observed how to organize the whole restaurant for the breakfast and how to make sure that there is always enough food available. Then after finishing the breakfast time it was time to remove everything connected with the breakfast and arrange the whole restaurant for the coming lunch time. So we were putting new table linen on, as well as all the necessary cutlery, glasses, plates and napkins. The only thing which was now missing for a perfect lunch were the guests, which arrived after a short period.

At the same time I could observe how to handle a big event with more than 150 people in house, as there was a big congress of justice people at the conference rooms. So I also learned how to set up the tables and how to arrange the buffets for a group with such a size.

All in all, I can only say, during this 6 weeks I had a very nice time with a lot of new things to experience and I am very glad that I have worked with this great team! Thank you again!

Thavorn Beach Village

2010-06-21T15:56:00.003+07:00

Novedades!!!
Ha pasado un buen rato desde nuestra ultima actualización, y en este tiempo hemos tenido un cambio importante, si, nos hemos mudado al Thavorn beach villaje, hotel de la misma cadena en la que nos encontramos. Quiero hacerles una breve descripción, ya que este lugar en verdad lo merece, es realmente hermoso y en verdad te sientes como en una villa (de lujo) en medio de la selva. Todo el hotel se encuentra rodeado de vegetación y jardines de hermosas flores por donde quieras que mires, un lugar paradisiaco y tranquilo. En este lugar tienes para todos los gustos y edades, si tu pasión es la comida tienes a tu disposición tres excelentes restaurantes, el Marisa (recibe su nombre por una historia de amor entre Marisa, una humana y Naka, guardián de los dioses)en el cual podrás disfrutar ya sea de la comida tradicional tailandesa o si prefieres cocina internacional. Por otro lado tenemos en Old Siam, para aquellos que quieran experimentar una la tradición del servicio y la comida tailandesa en todo su esplendor. Para aquellos amantes de la cocina japonesa (como yo ;)) tendrán a su disposición el restaurante Yachi, pequeño, acogedor y hermoso!
Pero si lo que buscan es playa sol y arena el hotel cuenta con una hermosa playa de uso exclusivo para los huéspedes, debo agregar que es una de las cosas que mas me gustan , el acostarte en la playa y estar tranquilo, sin tumultos de gente ni vendedores pasando cada dos minutos, realmente relajante.
Y aquellos que disfrutan de estar al lado de una gran piscina y de un buen trago estarán mas que satisfechos , pues este hotel cuanta con una de las piscinas mas grandes de todo phuket!! La cual se encuentra dispersa por casi todo el hotel, con un bar en medio y rodeada por las habitaciones, imagínense el salir al balcón de su habitación y lo primero que puedes ver sea la piscina y al mismo tiempo poder acceder directamente, acceso exclusivo.
Mencione nuestro hermoso nakalay SPA?... tratamientos (faciales y corporales) y masajes para todos los gustos, una experiencia mas que relajante.
Bueno si tengo que seguir hablando del hotel me podría pasar el dia entero, pero vamos a dejarlo aca por ahora y pasemos a que nos estamos dedicando en este grandioso lugar. En las primeras semanas se nos asigno hacer una auditoria de calidad en los departamentos de alimentos & bebidas y house keeping, al finalizar con este proyecto el gerente general nos dividió y envio a observar y aprender todos los diferentes departamentos del hotel, asi que en eso nos encontramos actualmente algunas en cocina, otras en recepción, otras en F&B y otras en house keeping. Han sido unos días bastante interesantes y definitivamente emprendedores pero creo que por hoy ya ha sido suficiente.
Espero traerles novedades muy pronto y hasta ese momento les deseo lo mejor esperando verlos pronto aquí, en la soleada Phuket!

Hi there,

It's been a while since our last update, and this time we have had a big change, yes, we have moved to Thavorn Beach Village Hotel. I want to make a brief description, because this place really deserves it, is amazing and you can really feel like in a villa (luxury ) in the middle of the jungle. The whole hotel is surrounded by greenery and gardens with beautiful flowers wherever you look, an idyllic paradise and quiet place. Here you have for all tastes and ages, if your passion is food there are 3 available restaurants., Marisa (named after a love story between Marisa, a human and Naka, a guardian of gods) where you can enjoy either traditional Thai food or if you prefer, international cuisine. On the other hand we have Old Siam, for those who want to experience a traditional service and Thai food in its entire splendor. For lovers of Japanese cuisine (like me ;)) Yachi restaurant is available, a small, friendly and beautiful restaurant!
But if you are looking for beach, sun and sand the hotel has a beautiful beach exclusively for guests, I must add that it is one of the things that I like the most, you can lay on the beach and relax, without crowds of people or sellers passing by every two minutes, really relaxing.
And those who enjoy being next to a large pool with a good drink will be more than satisfied, because this hotel has one of the largest swimming pools around phuket! Which is scattered throughout most of the hotel, a bar in the middle and surrounded by rooms, imagine? going out the balcony of your room and the first thing you see is the pool and at the same time be able to access it directly.

Have I mentioned our beautiful Nakalay SPA? ... Treatments (facial and body) and massage for all tastes, an experience more than relaxing.

Well if I have to keep talking about the hotel I could spend the whole day, but we'll leave it for now and move on to our work to this great place. In the first weeks we were assigned to audit in the departments of Food & Beverage and Housekeeping, at the end of this project the General Manager split us and sent us to observe and learn all about the different hotel departments, so that’s what we are doing right now, someone in the kitchen, others at the reception, others in F & B and other in Housekeeping. It has been quite interesting days and definitely entrepreneurs but I think that for today has been enough talk.

Hoping to bring you news very soon, until then I wish the better for all of you and hope to see you soon, here in sunny Phuket!

2010-06-21T15:48:00.002+07:00

Fullmoon Party: a MUST for young Thailand travellers

2010-06-13T15:21:00.003+07:00

Fullmoon Party: a MUST for young Thailand travellers

The first message I would like to get through: Fullmoon Party MUST be stated on a „what I have to do in my life before I die“-list, that is for sure. It was the best party I have ever been to. But I would like to start from the beginning:

On 29th of May our trip started out from the Thavorn Grand Plaza to Kho Phangan. We had to get up very early because it took us four hours by Minivan to reach Suratthani where we had to switch into a big bus bringing us to the Donsak Pier after another two hours drive. Then we had to take a big ferry to reach the party island.

The nice thing, you could sleep on the ferry if you got some space and if you do not scrutinize what sticky substances were on the floor. You could also start your party right on the ferry because they provided the right drinks for the Partypeople.

When we reached Kho Phangan we had to check in in our Hostel (the Hostel, that some of us didn’t require..:-) After some drinks at our Hostel Bar we were in the mood to take off our shirts and paint our bodies with fluorescent color – like we have seen in so many videos about Fullmoon Party – and we didn’t even attract attention because everybody wore these “clothes”.

After we arrived at the party location we were just fascinated. The beach, the music, tons of alcohol and the crazy people – we couldn’t believe that we were at the legendary Fullmoon Party in Kho Phangan. Stalls with funny signs like “no money, no honey, no bucket, no boom boom” offered big buckets of every alcohol you would like to have for just 100 Bahts.

There were also people who were jumping over burning ropes – unfortunately or luckily I was a little drunk to try this dare because I didn’t want to hurt myself. After excessive partying I lost my friends, but this was no problem because you turn around and start chatting with people from Australia or you turn around and drink with guys from South Africa or you turn around and dance with people from Brazil – amazing. After pickpockets relieved me from my money (because I was so silly bringing my bag to the party) I had the choice to go to the sleeping area or to take a Tuk Tuk to our Hostel. Luckily I found some of my friends again, before I could even try out the sleeping area at the beach, and we decided to drive home.

The lesson is clear: This was the most amazing party in my life (even if I lost couple of things – so do not bring any belongings with you – you could go even naked you wouldn’t strike attention…) and we will definitely come back soon!!

Nai Yang Beach (Alejandra Lopez)

2010-06-01T17:00:00.003+07:00

Have you ever heard about the national park of Phuket?
Well, if you haven’t, I will tell you about it. Last Sunday we decided to visit this beautiful place at Nai yang Beach, and that was how we left the city of Phuket, towards the national park and after about 45 minutes by bike we arrived at our destination. I should mention that during our bike trip I couldn’t believe the incredible scenario around us, all that immense amount of green trees and jungle and the wind hitting my face, really perfect! I was amazed.
When we reached the beach I was surprised about how quiet it was, we did not see many people, don’t know why, but maybe the place is not very popular among tourists or is too far away. So, if you want to relax and get away from the crowd this is definitely the perfect place.
Coming back to the main subject, we walked along the beach for a while (where I collected more shells for my collection ) and we saw a few fishing boats and canoes. Then we wanted to go for a drink and something that I really liked was the choice we had to chose between small bars located on the beach or a variety of bars located along the street right in front of the beach. The bar where we stayed was quite nice, the people who attended there were really nice and also the bar was decorated with flags everywhere. We chatted for a while (while I was playing with a beautiful dog!), and after a game of pool we ordered something to eat and we moved with our dinner in one of the few tables on the beach. Sadly, After dinner we had to start our journey back to Phuket town because it was a little bit late and we were 45 minutes away ...
I think that’s all for now, I leave you hoping to see you soon here, in Phuket Island, la ciudad sol!

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Alguna vez han escuchado algo sobre el parque nacional de Phuket?
Bueno, por si no lo han hecho paso a comentarles. El domingo anterior con mis amigos hemos decido visitar este hermoso lugar, y así fue como partimos desde la ciudad de Phuket con rumbo al parque nacional y después de aproximadamente unos 45 minutos de viaje en moto arribamos a nuestro destino, debo mencionar que durante nuestro viaje en moto no podía parar de observar el increíble paisaje que nos rodeaba, todo esa gran cantidad de verde y el viento golpeando con fuerza mi rostro, realmente perfecto!!! Estaba maravillada.
Cuando llegamos a la playa me sorprendí al ver lo tranquilo que era, no se veía mucha gente, no se el por que… a lo mejor el lugar no es muy popular entre los turistas o se encuentra muy alejado. Así que si quieren relajarse y alejarse un poco de la multitud este es definitivamente el lugar ideal.
Volviendo al tema, primero caminamos por la playa un rato (donde recolecte mas conchas para mi colección ) y también pudimos observar un par de botes y canoas pesqueras. Luego fuimos quisimos ir a por unas bebidas y algo que me gusto fue que teníamos la opción de elegir entre unos pequeños chiringuitos ubicados sobre la playa o una gran variedad de bares ubicados a lo largo de la calle justo en frente de la playa. El bar en el que nos quedamos era bastante agradable, las personas que atendían allí eran realmente amables y además el bar estaba adornado con banderas por todas partes. Charlamos durante un buen rato (mientras jugaba con un hermoso perrito!!),después de charlar y de una partida de pool pedimos algo para cenar, trasladándonos con nuestra cena a unas mesas sobre la playa. Al terminar de cenar tristemente tuvimos que emprender nuestro viaje de regreso a la ciudad de Phuket ya que se nos había hecho un poco tarde y teníamos 45 minutos de viaje…
Asi que por ahora eso es todo , los dejo con la esperanza de verlos muy pronto aquí, en phuket island, la ciudad sol!

Elephant Trekking & Rafting (Spanish) Alejandra Lopez

2010-06-01T11:02:00.004+07:00

Senderismo en Elefante y Rafting Tour:

Nuestro viaje empezó a las 7.45 de la mañana en dirección a kao lak. Marine, Elizabeth, Camila, Alejandra y yo estábamos realmente emocionadas con la idea de hacer senderismo en elefante y por el tour de rafting. El llegar a nuestra primera meta, el Templo de los Monos, nos tomo alrededor de una hora. Nos quedamos muy asombradas al ver la cantidad de monos que habían allí, y de lo mucho que se aproximaban a las personas que pidiesen tener en sus manos algo para alimentarlos. Uno de ellos incluso se sentó en mi pie! Y mientras Elisabeth estaba tratando de darles algunas nueces un mono inteligente se le trepo por la pierna, salto a su hombro y por ultimo el muy tramposo tomo la bolsa de nueces y se escapo con ella para el solo. Pero también habían unos monitos muy amigables que tomaban de nuestras manos únicamente lo que nosotras les dábamos, así como también habían algunos monos con hermosos y dulces bebes aferrados de sus estómagos. Después de otro viaje en autobús de aproximadamente unos 30 minutos llegamos a nuestro siguiente destino donde tuvimos nuestro primer encuentro con los tranquilos, gigantes e increíbles elefantes. Experimente una clase de sensación tan especial, que definitivamente nunca olvidare. La gente trabaja allí prepara a los elefantes de la misma manera de que se hace con un caballo, poniéndole un pequeño banco en la parte superior del elefante para luego ayudar a dos de nosotras a subieron en el. Para luego llevarnos atreves de todo aquella vegetación tal cual como exploradores antiguos. Mientras recorríamos los senderos unos de los guías me pregunto si quería sentarme en frente de la cabeza del elefante, y claro, que mas podía responderle además de” SI!”. Era la oportunidad perfecta para estar mas cerca de este fascinante animal, pudiendo sentir su cuero caliente, sus graciosos y gruesos pelos y sus orejas golpeando constantemente mis piernas, realmente increíble. Después de 40 minutos de paseo en medio de la salvaje vegetación finalmente tuvimos que decirles adiós a nuestros nuevos amigos y después de tan solo algunos minutos de viaje llegamos al lugar donde nuestros niveles de adrenalina se iban a poner a prueba, la estación de rafting. Nos entregaron a todos un chaleco salvavidas, un casco y por ultimo nos dieron una breves instrucciones acerca de cómo manejar las palas de rafting. Para este tour el rio fue represado hasta el momento en el que estábamos todos listos, sentados en los botes y esperando para empezar a remar como locos y así, cerca de 20 botes nos salpicábamos los unos a los otros tratando de “remar –manejar” lo mas rápido posible. En el camino también tuvimos la oportunidad de encontrarnos con elefantes, pequeños pueblos y la posibilidad de sumergirnos en aguas que a diferencia de las del cálido océano de Tailandia eran realmente frías!

Al final de nuestro tour pudimos también visitar una hermosa cascada. Donde observamos una gran variedad de mariposas, como algunas aves y hasta unos aventureros saltando al agua desde las alturas. Después del viaje a la cascada los guías nos llevaron nuevamente a nuestro punto inicial de partida, donde nos ofrecieron un delicioso almuerzo que incluía vegetales, pollo, arroz y frutas. El almuerzo estuvo excelente y después de un día lleno de aventuras nos encontrábamos viajando de vuelta a casa, en Phuket Town. Fue un viaje increíble y definitivamente lo guardare en mi memoria por un largo tiempo.

Elephant Trekking and Rafting – By Marine Doom

2010-05-25T11:41:00.008+07:00

A 7h45, nous sommes partis du Thavorn Grand Plaza en direction de Kao Lak. Alejandra, Elisabeth, Camilla, Fabienne et moi, étions vraiment très excitées à l’idée de faire du trekking en éléphant et du rafting. Il nous a fallu environ une heure pour atteindre notre premier objectif, le Temple Monkey.

Nous avons été étonnés par le nombre de singes présents autour de nous et à quel point ils étaient intéressés par la nourriture. Nous avions acheté quelques cacahuètes pour les nourrir, et un singe très intelligent, monta sur la jambe à Elisabeth, sauta sur son épaule, prit le sac de cacahuètes et s'enfuit avec le sac entier, vraiment culotté. On a aussi pu observer des singes avec des tout petits bébés accrochés à leur ventre, ils étaient trop mignons. Nous sommes après trente minutes d’arrêt, remontées dans le bus pur environ 30 minutes, pour nous rendre au trekking en éléphant.

Nous étions étonnées devant la grandeur de cet animal, très touchant. Ils ont sellé nos montures et nous somme parties en randonnées pour 30 minutes, dés le départ je suis montée sur son cou, se fut vraiment très impressionnant.

Nous avons ensuite dis au revoir à nos nouveaux amis, et nous sommes remontées dans le bus. Nous sommes arrivées, dans un endroit magnifique, au milieu de nulle part, on a enfilé des gilets de sauvetage, un casque et avons sauté dans notre bateau.
Ensuite nous avons rejoint les 20 bateaux, et ils ont ouvert les vannes du barrage et là, se fut une réelle course dans les rapides. On pagayait tous comme des fous, en essayant de diriger le bateau avec bien sûr l’aide de nos guides. Sur le chemin nous avons également eu la chance de voir des éléphants, des petits villages et la possibilité de plonger dans l'eau froide (en comparaison de l’eau chaude de l'océan indien de Thaïlande). À la fin de notre visite nous avons également eu la chance de voir une belle cascade. Nous avons pu observer un grand nombre de papillons dans ce domaine, ainsi que quelques oiseaux.

Ensuite, se fut l’heure du déjeuner, qui fut un régal. Nous avons ensuite rejoint le bus et après cette journée pleines d’aventures, regagné le Thavorn Grand Plaza. Ce fut réellement une excursion extraordinaire et qui restera sans doute, gravée dans ma mémoire.

Voila la suite de mes aventures à Phuket.

2010-05-15T13:50:00.008+07:00

Dimanche 2 mai, ma mère est arrivée à l’aéroport de Phuket pour me rendre visite et profiter de vacances à Phuket. Nous avions loué mon copain et moi une voiture afin de profiter un maximum de la semaine avec ma maman. Le premier soir, nous sommes allés manger à Kata Beach, dans un restaurant de fruits de mer, Kata est une station balnéaire très animée, avec de nombreux magasins, restaurants et bars. Les deux jours suivant, j’allais la chercher le soir pour dîner, nous nous rendions dans des nouveaux endroits chaque soir. Le lundi nous avons diné à Fantasea (près de Kamala beach) pour ensuite admirer ce fabuleux spectacle d’acrobates, représentation avec des éléphants… Le mardi soir nous avons diné dans un restaurant situé sur un point de vue, entre Kata beach et Surin Beach, nous avons très très bien mangé pour moins de 20€ pour 3.

Le mercredi, c’était un jour férié en Thailande, on en a donc profité pour se rendre au Big Bouda, situé prés de Chalong. Le Big bouda de Phuket et le plus grand de Thailande, c’est aussi un magnifique point de vue sur le sud de l’île.

Ensuite, en moins de 15 minutes nous nous rendions au temple Wat Chalong, le temple le plus important de Phuket. C’est réellement un temple magnifique, on peut y voir des gens qui prient, des moines et bien sûr quelques touristes.

Nous avons ensuite passé l’après midi à Nai Harn Beach, une très belle plage située à l’extrême sud de l’île de Phuket. Le soir, nous avons diné dans un restaurant de fruits de mer à Nai Yang beach, une vaste plage au nord de l’île, à 5 minutes de l’aéroport. Le jeudi soir, après une journée intense et intéressante de travail, nous nous rendîmes pour dîner à Surin beach dans un petit restaurant très sympa avec un personnel très agréable. Le jour suivant, j’avais un jour de repos afin de profiter un peu plus de cette semaine en compagnie de ma maman, nous avons était dans le centre de l’île afin de faire du Trekking en éléphant, à la plage de Kamala, et ensuite faire du shopping à Patong.

Le samedi nous avons du rendre la voiture, après ma journée de travail, nous sommes allés au week end Market à 10 minutes du centre ville de Phuket, ce marché est génial, on trouve de tout, des souvenirs, des habits, de très bon petit plat…

Le dimanche matin nous sommes partis, ma maman, mon copain, une amie et moi, à Krabi. Krabi est une province situé au nord est de Phuket. On a payé 3 euros, pour 3 heures de bus, c’est vraiment pas cher. Ensuite nous avons pris le bateau pour nous rendre sur la plage de Railey, une presqu’il situé à environ une demi heure de la ville de Krabi. Nous avons séjourné 2 jours sur cette plage magnifique. Le mardi, fut le départ de ma mère.

Cette semaine nous (les étudiants) sommes en charge de différents projets, comme la mise en place du bar à l’étage backpackers, la restructuration de la réception… donc affaire à suivre !!!!

My Adventures in Phuket

2010-05-15T13:12:00.008+07:00

Sunday, May 2nd, my mother arrived at Phuket airport to visit me and to enjoy a holiday in Phuket. I rented a car with my boyfriend to make the best of the week with my Mum. The first night we went to eat in Kata Beach at a seafood restaurant. Kata is a lively resort with many shops, restaurants and bars. The next two evenings, we went out for dinner in new places. On Monday, we dined at Fantasea (near Kamala beach) and then enjoyed the fabulous spectacle of acrobats, performance with elephants ... Tuesday evening we had dinner in a restaurant located on a view point, between Kata Beach and Nai Harn Beach. We ate very well for less than 20 € for 3 people.

Wednesday was a public holiday in Thailand, so we went to go and view the Big Buddha, located near Chalong. The Big Buddha in Phuket is the largest in Thailand. There is also a magnificent view of the southern island. There were renovations to the Buddha when we visited, but it was still very impressive.

Then,in less than 15 minutes we went to Wat Chalong, the most important temple in Phuket. It is truly a magnificent temple, one can see people praying, monks and of course some tourists.

We then spent the afternoon in Nai Harn Beach, a beautiful beach located at the southern tip of the island of Phuket. That night we dined in a seafood restaurant in Nai Yang beach, a wide beach north of the island, 5 minutes from the airport. On Thursday evening, after an intense and interesting day of work, we went for dinner at Surin beach in a small cozy restaurant with very nice staff. The next day, I had a day off to enjoy a bit more time with my Mum. We were in the center of the island to do an elephant trekking tour, followed by a visit to the beach of Kamala. Then we went shopping to the Jungceylon Centre in Patong and Central Festival near to Phuket Town.

On Saturday, after my work day, we went in the car to the weekend Market. The market is 10 minutes from downtown Phuket and is a great place to visit. You can find everything from souvenirs, clothes to very good food ...

On Sunday morning,my mom, my boyfriend, a friend and me went to Krabi. Krabi is a province located in the northeast of Phuket. We paid 3 euros for 3 hours by bus, which is really cheap. Then we took a boat to Railey beach, a peninsula located about a half hour from the city of Krabi. We stayed two days on this beautiful beach. On Tuesday my mother returned to France.

This week, we (students) are in charge of various projects, such as the establishment of the backpackers bar upstairs in the social area on the 4th floor and the restructuring of the reception... So stay tuned!!!

My daily life at Thavorn Grand Plaza

2010-05-08T16:54:00.004+07:00

Well, it's been 23 days since my arrival in this beautiful country called Thailand ...Since then I have had the opportunity to visit incredible places, and when I say incredible I really mean exactly this. Obviously all the amazing beaches and nearby islands you can visit in this island are the most beautiful ones I have ever seen. They are like a perfect and harmonious set of sun, sand, sea, flora and fauna. I am not going to tell you anything more about these beauties because we already described the scenery earlier in this blog.

But come on, the beaches are not the only striking attractions in this place, I must also mention its fascinating culture, which comes from their religion and their customs. If you are surrounded by these people you can really feel the deep respect and a friendly atmosphere, something really nice. About the typical Thai food I cannot say much except that Thai people really love spicy food. I can only mention that it's not my favorite type, but that's not a problem here, as you can choose from a wide variety of food. You will find a great and huge choice of restaurants to visit, from Japanese to Italian. If you really want to try something totally hot like traditional Thai food, you can enjoy it at local small food vendors which are everywhere on each street.

On the other hand something that has really caught my attention here is how important religion is. Here it is not only a choice of belief it is really a lifestyle. Every day early in the morning you can see the monks from their respective temples walking in different directions in order to collect food and other offerings off Thai people. The only things which they can not accept are monetary offerings.

The temples are really beautiful places, designed from the largest to the smallest detail. The last time I went with my friends to visit the Wat Suwan Khiri Khet in Karon, which was really unusual because the whole altar is surrounded by giant snakes, all were very colorful. Additional to the amazing temple, there were really nice people who offered drinks and fresh fruit at the end of our visit, which is definitely an experience to remember.

But don’t think we have always leisure time, still the main reason for my stay here is my internship at the Thavorn Grand Plaza hotel. So in my workdays I have to train professionally with the help of all my colleagues (I have to note that in our office there is a real mix of nationalities). I honestly find this whole experience is really nice and it is a pleasure to work at this hotel in this community with all these people!

I hope I am not alone with my opinion, because there are no words to describe this wonderful place. So hopefully we can meet during the next months here in Phuket ... LA PERLA DEL SUR!
By Alejandra Lopez

My daily life at Thavorn Grand Plaza

2010-05-03T17:27:00.009+07:00

Now again “my daily life at Thavorn Grand Plaza” from another point of view!

After my first month working under the shining sun of Thailand I must say, that I have seen a lot of things that impressed me totally! I don’t only mean all the white beaches around Phuket, I also mean the whole restaurant and bar scene. I think it is not possible to see in another place in the world the so many different kinds of restaurants with such a great choice of delicious food. Here you can find in addition to all the Thai restaurants, many Korean ones, many Chinese ones, Japanese ones as well as German restaurants, American restaurants, Italian restaurants without any problem.

Furthermore, it is possible on nearly every corner to find freshly cooked snacks or whole dishes. A very special thing here is also all the markets, but especially the weekend market. At this market you can not only go shopping for clothes, you can also buy a lot of different small gifts, souvenirs, decoration, jewellery, DVDs and stuff like this, you can also purchase food, fruits and all kinds of vegetables.

The next impression which I want to share with you concerns the amazing beaches around Phuket Island and also all our Thavorn Hotels! I really don’t know with which beach I should start, but in my opinion, the beaches on Similan Island are the most impressing ones in the near area! I have never seen such amazing white beaches and light turquoise water. It really made me and everybody else speechless! The water seemed to be clearer and purer than any water elsewhere in the world…

Another inimitable place for me was Phi Phi Island with all the colorful corals and shining fish around the unbelievable underwater world.

But I must add on this place that you don’t need to go on an island tour to see such beautiful beaches. All the beaches directly on Phuket Island, there are around 20 different mind-blowing beaches, like Kata Beach, Karon Beach, Patong Beach, Surin Beach, Nai Yang Beach, Bang Tao Beach and many more are amazing. On these beaches you can take a bath in the warm sea, sunbathe under the stunning sun or observe huge waves dashing against the fine white sand. You can also watch surfers riding on the waves, drive a jet ski, do parasailing or enjoy one of the popular and relaxing Thai massages directly on the beach!

All in all, I can only tell you my impressions, but if you really want to know what is going on here in Phuket, please don’t hesitate to come and form your own opinion!

Sea Cave Canoe Tour to James Bond Island

2010-05-02T10:14:00.006+07:00

Yesterday on the 29^th of April we started early at half past 7 to get ready for our next tour, going to James Bond Island, which is in the area of Phang Nga. We arrived at Phang Nga Bay at around 10 o‘clock and then our adventure started by boarding a big boat. After we got on the boat, the crew, which consisted of 12 people, welcomed us with cold and hot drinks and a big basket of fresh fruit. While the boat was leaving from the pier we got a short briefing about what we would be doing during the whole day, which made us all very excited. The tour guide then introduced us all to our personal boat guide. There was one boat guide shared between two of us, who would be responsible for the canoeing for us.

All in all it took us around one hour to get to our first stop which was our first of 4 total adventures. First was an Island called Lawa Island with a beach with lots of shells and crabs. There we had the opportunity to swim, relax on the beach or canoe on our own.

After 40 minutes it was time to get into the canoe again and go back to the big boat. There it took us around half an hour to get to James Bond Island. We stopped the boat again in front of amazing, huge rocks, which really seemed to climb out of the water. The boat guide drove us to a small bay with a beach full of shells and stairs on one end of the bay. The pathway we passed by some beautiful viewpoints where it was possible to see the famous rock, which is called James Bond Island, or Ko Tapu or Nail Island. These rocks are famous because important scenes with Roger Moore and Christopher Lee in the 1974 Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun" were shot there. At the beachside of this island it was possible to go shopping and bathing again.

Back on the boat a delicious Thai buffet lunch was waiting for us followed by fruits and drinks.

After half an hour additional driving we reached another beautiful island called Koh Hong, which we discovered by our private canoe. We saw a lot of impressive rocks, which sometimes looked like piranhas, fingers, an old monk or a gorilla. The impressing and amazing rocks made us really speechless.

Back on the boat we arrived after a 2 minute drive to our last stop for this day. Here we were exploring amazing sea caves, sea tunnels, lagoons and hongs by sea cave canoes. Sometimes it was necessary to lay down in the canoe because the rocks were very narrow for us. But after each small sea tunnel we arrived at a beautiful lagoon with a lot of different plans, like mangroves or palm trees. For us it was also very interesting to see the amazing bat cave or all the oyster fossils.

To sum it up, this exciting trip was a very beautiful insight into the scenic world of the mysterious “hongs” (Thai word for rooms), by canoeing along the amazing landscape of Phang Nga Bay.

Daily life in Thavorn Grand Plaza by Marine Doom

2010-04-30T17:49:00.006+07:00

Daily Life in Thavorn Grand Plaza, Phuket!

I have already spent nearly a month at The Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel, so now it is time for me to start to share my experiences such as; my day job, my night time activities and my life in Phuket.

The Sales and Marketing office in which I work, has many people from various countries around the world such as; Spain, Argentina, Austria, Germany, Malaysia, England, Australia, Russia, Philippines, Brazil and of course Thailand and France (where I come). Our Assistant Group Managing Director is Thai. It is a wonderful opportunity to discover new cultures and improve my English, although we do not work in my native language which makes it a little more complicated. In the Sales & Marketing department, I am in charge of the French Speaking market, the registration of reservations and the relationship between the office and reception. I think the French market is very interesting work and I have contacted all the French and Belgian tour operators to offer them to work with us, that is to say, to include hotels for students in their package. The first week I visited with people from the team two other hotels in the chain, beautiful hotels, located on the beaches of Karon and Nakalay.

Our Assistant Group Managing Director has given us a great opportunity with other students to participate in excursions to Phi Phi and James Bond Island (already mentioned in this blog), and more to come. In a few weeks after my mission in the Sales and Marketing department, I will go in two other hotels to discover new services.

Regarding the evenings and days off, I spend much of my free time with the team for dinner, visit Phuket or even go to the beach. The bars and restaurants nearby are very nice and of course the shopping in Phuket town you can find very beautiful things for prices more than adequate.

Please follow more of my adventures on this blog…

Daily life in Thavorn Grand Plaza, Phuket !!

Déjà presqu’un mois passé au Thavorn Grand plaza, c’est donc avec un peu d’expérience que je peux vous raconter mes journées de travail, mes soirée, ma vie à Phuket.

Le bureau vente et Marketing dans lequel je travaille, Il y a des personnes venant de toutes les contrés, Espagne, Argentine, Autriche, Allemagne, Malaisie, Angleterre, Australie, Russe, Philippines, Brésil, bien sûr des Thaïlandais et France (là d’où je viens). Notre Assistant Group Managing Director est Thailandais. C’est donc une merveilleuse opportunité pour découvrir de nouvelles cultures et améliorer l’anglais, bien que ne pas travailler dans sa langue maternelle rend les chose un peu plus compliqué. Au département, ventes et marketing, je suis en charge du marché Francophone, de l’enregistrement des réservations et la relation entre le bureau et la réception. Quand je parle du marché Français, c’est un travaille très intéressant, pour le moment j’ai contacté tout les tours opérateurs Français et Belge afin de leur proposer de travailler avec nous, c'est-à-dire d’inclure nos hôtels dans leur étudiants package. La première semaine, j’ai pu visiter avec des personnes de l’équipe les 2 autres hôtels de la chaine, se sont des hôtels superbes, situées sur les plages de Karon et Nakalay. Notre manager général nous a donné la grande opportunité avec les autres stagiaires de participer aux excursions, à Phi Phi et James Bond Island (déjà raconter dans le blog), et d’autres à venir. Dans quelques semaines, après ma mission effectuée dans le département ventes et marketing, j’irai dans les 2 autres hôtels afin de découvrir de nouveaux services.

En ce qui concerne les soirées et les jours de repos, je passe une bonne partie de mon temps libre avec l’équipe, pour diner, visiter Phuket ou bien encore aller à la plage…. Il y a des bars et restaurants très sympas et l’on peut passer la soirée pour pas très cher. Et bien sûr du shopping, à Phuket town on peut trouver de très belle chose pour des prix plus que convenable.

Vous pourrez donc suivre toutes nos aventures sur ce blog…

Similan Island

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We woke up very early at half past five in the morning, as our mini-bus was due to pick us up in front of the Thavorn Grand Plaza at 6 am. After a 2 hour drive through the city outskirts and the open countryside we arrived in Khao Lak. From there we took a one hour ride on a speed boat to reach the islands. On the way from Khao Lak to Similan Island we saw a group of dolphins jumping out of the beautiful sea.

As Islands No. 1, 2 and 3, are part of a protected natural park, visitors are not allowed access. So our first stop was near Island number 5 where we spent around 40 minutes snorkeling. There we had the possibility to find Nemo or other fish and also to take a look at the spectacular coral reefs. We were lucky enough to see a sea turtle which was passing by very close to all the divers.

After those first impressions of the beautiful island we arrived at Island number 4 to have lunch. Then we had an hour of free time to relax a little and enjoy the white sand and the clearest water we have ever seen.

Back on the boat we arrived a few minutes later to Island number 7 for some more snorkeling. While we were snorkeling over the beautiful sea ground we took a few pictures with an underwater camera. We then travelled on the boat again to our last snorkeling place in front of Island number 8, where we observed even more impressive underwater life.

After that we got on the boat for the last time and did some sightseeing at the Donald Duck bay. This bay is named because one big rock looks very much like Donald Duck’s beak. We arrived back at the beach at around 5 pm to take the transfer back to Thavorn Grand Plaza, where we arrived around 8 pm. To sum it up, we enjoyed all the fabulous scenery very much and all the wonderful snorkeling.

Phi Phi Island Tour

2010-04-23T18:42:00.001+07:00

At 9 o’clock we were picked up by an AsianPremier Van in front of the lobby of the Thavorn Grand Plaza. After a 30 minute ride we arrived at the marina of Phuket. Then all the tourists gathered there were divided into a few groups according to each ones itinerary. After a short break the tour started with a photo taken in front of the marina. Then we boarded the boat with 15 other tourists, mainly Australian, German and French. The crew welcomed us aboard with fresh soft drinks.

After one hour ride on the speedboat we arrived at Bamboo Island. There we had the possibility to go snorkeling, walk along the beach with the stunning white sand or sunbathing for one additional hour. After we returned to the speedboat again we arrived a special place in the middle of the sea, were we could jump in the wide sea and discover the coral reef on our own. There we were able to feed the fish with bananas. After half an hour it was time to say goodbye to the coral and the fish. Back on board we got fresh bananas as a snack.

After a short ride to Phi Phi Don we enjoyed a great lunch at a beachside restaurant. There we got the choice between international lunch buffet and thai food. After the lunch we spent our free time relaxing and walking along the beach. After one hour we left Phi Phi Don and arrived at Monkey Bay to feed the monkeys with fruits.

The next destination on our journey was Viking Caves. These caves are very famous because there are many bird nests here which are collected to produce a special and very expensive soup. Then we arrived after 15 minutes at Koh Phi Phi Ley. This place is worldwide famous because of the British-American movie THE BEACH. At this place we had 40 minutes free time to enjoy the amazing landscape with the wonderful contrast of the crystal clear water.

The next and last destination of our tour was Khai Nai Island. There we had 40 minutes free time for snorkeling again, sunbathing or enjoying the breathtaking beach! Finally at 5.40 we arrived again at the marina. Here the van was waiting for us to take us again safe back to the hotel Thavorn Grand Plaza in the city center of Phuket.

Introducing the Interns

2010-04-23T18:37:00.000+07:00

Alejandra Lopez

Marketing Management Trainee

Camilla Tomazini

Marketing Management Trainee

Elisabeth Schwarz

Marketing Management Trainee

Marine Doom

Marketing Management Trainee

2010-04-23T18:25:00.000+07:00

Marine Doom

Marketing Management Trainee

Introduction to the Interns

2010-04-23T18:12:00.000+07:00

Welcome to our intern blog

2010-04-22T15:19:00.000+07:00

Thavorn Hotels & Resorts Group (THR) offer Internships for motivated and dedicated students in the department of Sales & Marketing as well as in Hotel Operations.

Interns start by gaining necessary product knowledge, in order to work as a part of our international team and finding solutions to problems independently regarding Communication, Contracting, Marketing, Project Development & Management. Interns are given the chance to put their skills into practice by directly working for our Resorts as Guest-Relation, Reservation, Front Office and Hotel Management.

This blog is written by our current interns and outlines their experiences on the program.

For more information or if you are interested in joining our team please email us

Internship@ThavornGroup.com