Pimalai Resort and Spa Thailand

Hundreds of prominent property professionals gathered at the end of April, at J.W Marriot, Kuala Lumpur, for the announcement of the winners of the hotly contested Asia Pacific Property Awards. These awards are in association with Bloomberg Television and Google and form part of the International Property Awards. Established 17 years ago, they are the world’s most prestigious property competition, covering residential as well as commercial categories. Each year they set out to identify the very best real estate professionals around the globe. This is carried out through a meticulous process involving a judging panel of over 50 experts chaired by Lord Bates of Langbaurgh and covering every aspect of the property business such as development, architecture, interior design and marketing.
“We are delighted that we were recently recognized at Asia Pacific Award property awards as the recipient of Hotel Architecture award for Thailand” says Miss Sarinya Tiyaphorn (pictured) – Pimalai’s Deputy Managing Director.
The next stage is for the top-scoring winners from each category of the Asia Pacific Property Awards to literally take on the world by competing against other high scoring companies from Europe, Africa, the Americas and Arabia. The ultimate World’s Best in each category will be unveiled when the final results are proclaimed at London’s Savoy Hotel on December 12th.
“Perhaps it may be worthwhile to highlight the fact that from the conception of the entire resort at Pimalai, including its lay out, the materials used and those involved in its construction, virtually everything utilized was of Thai expertise and Thai craftsmanship” – Miss Sarinya adds.
The Architect involved in the resort lay out was Habita Architects from Bangkok. The interior design was handled by P49 Deesign and the entire landscape by Inside Out, both companies from Bangkok. Finally the entire project was built under the supervision of Mr Chakorn Niyamson, an architect who was also behind the design of the Spa. “PIMALAI has for long been highly regarded as being one of the top ten resorts in Southern Thailand and is also very highly respected as a model of development when it comes to environmental concerns and all the owners & management are very proud to have received such a distinction” commented Miss Sarinya.

The magnificent beach resort property, the pioneer of the deluxe hospitality on the Island of Lanta in Krabi province, Pimalai sits on 25 hectares of lush tropical land with direct access to 900 meters of beach. It boasts exceptional facilities, including 121 Deluxe rooms, Suites and Pool Villas, eight restaurants & bars, conference facilities and a wide range of recreational facilities.
Peace, Serenity, Solitude….. These are the words that come to mind for Pimalai. Add to that elegance, nature and genuine friendly service. Be it for a honeymoon or a break from it all, Pimalai nestled in a lush tropical forest, is the destination to set your sights on. The resort combines all the right ingredients – subtle five star comforts, natural beauty, far from the crowds, with no noise except the sound of the waves sliding in and out and slowly breaking onto a pristine sandy beach.

We take this opportunity to remind keen scuba divers that Scubafish@Pimalai Dive Center is open all year round! Diving during the green season (May-Oct) is usually fantastic. The weather can be a little unpredictable and we cannot guarantee that the oat will be able to go out every day, although most days it should be possible. Also, it is a great time of year to see a huge variety of marine life. It is like 'spring' underwater when the marine activity seems to peak. Many juvenile fish are born during this time and seek shelter near the reef alongside huge warms of tiny glass fish and baitfish. This attracts the larger, hunting fish towards the reef looking for a snack! You can often see large schools of Barracuda, Rainbow Runners and Trevally and there is plenty of action to watch in the blue. There are also fewer divers at the dive sites than during the high season and the visibility is usually better too. During that period (May to October) we moor our boats at Lanta Old Town on the East side of the island. We are able to manly offer trips to Ko Haa, Ko Rok and Hin Daeng & HinMuang. The trips to Hin Daeng & Hin Muang are possible if weather conditions permit and we have a minimum of 6 divers. If you are here for a week or more, you will almost certainly have the chance to dive here.

Do not be mislead by anyone who tells you to avoid visiting Thailand during our so-called "Green Season"and implying that it rains non-stop from morning to night from May 1 to October 31st.This is absolute non-sense.Yes, we experience rain during these months but normally in the form of intense outbursts of short duration and rarely for several days at a time. There are certain advantages for holidaying here in the "off" season; these include great deals and packages on accommodation that you may check at www.pimalai.com. In addition, when booking this coming June & July, the resort will offer a 10% discount on all Food & Beverages consumed in any of the resort outlets. Should you decide to book yourself and your partner into a Beach Villa or a Hilldside Pool Villa, you will receive a complimentary half-board dinner (food only) throughout your stay and also a 10% discount on all beverages consumed with your meals.

Pimalai Resort & Spa, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, recently received confirmation of its continued recognition as a 5-star***** beach resort. This Hotels & Resorts rating is the initiative of the Thailand Tourism Authority, the Thai Hotels Association, the Association of Thai Travel agents and the Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand. The star rating appraisal started back in 2005. Each year, a panel of 6 members of the above associations visit, inspect and evaluate designated hotels and make valuable recommendations as to what aspects of the hotel need to either be improved or implemented. Having successfully applied and passed all of the panel’s criteria, Pimalai Resort & Spa is to-date the only resort on the island of Koh Lanta, in Thailand’s Krabi province, that carries an official 5-star ***** rating, and this since 2007. This new recognition will be nicely complement the one received at the recent World Travel Awards,
And plans are now being considered to expand the Awards shelves as there is no more space left

There are times when one wishes to relax and stay at home. If this is how you feel then we can help by providing an “in-home” dining option. Yes, you can have some home cooking prepared for you by your own chef who will come to your villa and barbeque a delicious meal and also arrange for accompanying refreshments of your choice. No need to dress up...just relax on your balcony, watch the sun go down, listen to the cicadas in the forest, look up at the stars and inhale the mouth watering aroma of exquisitely selected meat and seafood as they are barbequed to perfection; but unlike home, you don’t even have to do the dishes! Yes, we would like to spoil you.

At Pimalai, sailing is becoming a big plus for our guests – both for the young and the not so young. We have on hand a range of light sailing boats that are available free of charge for our guests to use. Bakantiang Bay is a pleasantly sheltered bay that normally receives just the right amount of wind that is needed to enjoy easy sailing. Optimist, laser, hobby wave and surfboards are widely used all year long and our beach boys are also on hand to give a few tips for those who want to experience sailing for the very first time or are in need of a refresher lesson.

It is always a paramount concern for us to provide a safe and secure environment for the many guests who stay with us throughout the year. The security service – though subcontracted– plays an integral role as part of the Pimalai Team and, on the occasion of the year end, were commended by Khun Anurat Tiyaphorn, Executive Director – for their on-going efforts and dedication in ensuring that our guests are being provided with a safe environment in which to spend a relax holiday.
On the same line, we are very conscious that Guest’s valuables – when forgotten or lost – are being returned to their rightful right owners. This is exactly what Khun Adam – bellboy – did when he noticed that one of the latest I-Phone versions had been forgotten by one of our guests. Its owner was eventually traced back and after sweating overnight was delighted to have it returned. Khun Adam was acknowledged with an Honesty Award - we are very proud of having such person within our team.

Several provinces of Thailand were subject to severe storms and flooding in October and November. These floods have affected the lives of about 10,000,000 people. Not only were their homes affected but also their businesses and/or the businesses where they were working prior to the flood… This included a dozen of our own Pimalai staff, whose homes were badly hit and partially destroyed during the storms and the subsequent flooding.
A helping hand was needed and it did not take long to set up donation boxes within the resort’s staff restaurant, allowing all to show their generosity by helping those in need. Eventually, a total of B.35,000 was collected and shared between the staff members who had suffered property damage due to the flooding.

Chef Asker - of Danish origin - and who has been with us for the past 18 months has recently upgraded the menu and also will now recommend daily specials to further enhance our guests' gustatorial experiences. New to the menu are: Seabass Mediterranean style on polenta and Roasted Phuket pineapple flamed Koh Samui rum.

Some Lanta dive locals say that recently the shoals of fish at Koh Haa have become so numerous that the fish outnumber even those at Koh Rok. With the start of the high season we have re-launched our highly successful Koh Haa sunset cruise.

Participants may swim and snorkel in the clear blue waters surrounding the five (Haa=5) spectacularly scenic islands, home to a vast variety of tropical fish. The timing of the cruise is slected to be in the late afternoon by which time other excursion boats have returned to their bases. Also, the return journey to Pimalai is scheduled to coincide with the glow of a colourful sky as the sun sets down into the western horizon (a great photo opportunity!) at which time wine, beer and canapes are served! A MUST to do on your next visit!

Pimalai is delighted to annouce an exciting new development in the Dive Centre facilities offered to our guests within the resort Pimalai has joined forces with Scubafish, PADI 5 star, Gold Palm and IDC Dive Centre to create Scubafish at Pimalai'. This exciting partnership makes a whole host of new diving facilities and underwater opportunities available to all our guests.

This joint venture brings the following improvements to our diving services:
* Year-round diving availability
* Underwater Digital Imaging Academy and Marine Education Centre facilities
* High quality dive tuition from complete beginner right up to Instructor level
* Instructors able to teach in: English, Swedish, French, German, Thai, Spanish and Danish
* And of course retaining the priviledge - from November to April - of depart directly from the resort floating jetty and mooring before about anybody else on the diving sites.

This development marks the Dive Centre at Pimalai as one of the most exciting dive centres in Asia. Winners of the prestigioud Project AWARE Environmental Awar in 2007 and 2010 and further endorsed by winning the 2010 PADI Member's Award; Marine Environment category, Scubafish takes eco-action seriously. We, together with Scubafish, look forward to continuing our hosting of the annual Pimalai Clownfish Release program as well as on-going promotion of environmental awareness, cleanup and involvement in other local community initiatives.

Diving enquiries can be directed to diving@pimalai.com and we look forward to sharing the beautiful reefs and oceans around Koh Lanta with you soon!