THE CAGE is above the right shoulder now and swinging close to Big Buddha’s ear. We are floating on air, looking out over the island’s most spectacular views.

Only the daredevil workers who clamber across struts of wood on sure feet and low wages get to see the island from up here. This is the first time a stranger has come along for the ride.

Far below to the east, the sea around Chalong Pier sparkles. I can turn carefully to look out over my shoulder to the west and there, spread out way below, is Karon, on the opposite side of the island.

The spindly cage, hanging from the arm of a crane, feels flimsy. But the vistas are exhilarating. It’s a view to die for. But please, not today.

BIG, BIG things are happening on Phuket, with more to come. A 50-million-baht tin mine museum has been completed in Kathu and is being fitted out for an opening later this year.

Set for public access too is the unusual 46-million-baht Phuket Welcome Gate, near Sarasin Bridge. Both projects have been built to honour HM The King, his 80th birthday in December, and his six decades on the throne.

The Big Buddha is also a tribute to HM The King. Made of concrete, and erected with 60 million baht in donated money, the huge structure can already be seen from many miles out to sea and will eventually be cloaked in white marble, with a stunning gold pinnacle on top. It is set to open in 2008.

At 45 metres the tallest in Thailand and situated on a 380-metre-high hill, the Big Buddha will rapidly become the island’s signature icon, perhaps only trailing the beaches as a tourist draw card.

It will dwarf Hong Kong’s famous Lantau Island monument, at 34 metres the "world’s tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha."

Each week, hundreds of people already make the trip up five kilometres from Chao Fa Road West to pray and chant at the base of Phuket’s very own Big Buddha, to look on in awe at the sky walkers, or to take in those fantastic vistas across both sides of the island.

When work on Nakkerd Hill is complete, thousands more visitors will add the Buddha to their list of must-see sights in Thailand. Over time, hundreds of thousands, probably millions will be drawn to Phuket by this imposing attraction.

Its benefit to the island is obvious, and enduring.

Soon, even bigger things may be on the way. One of those projects, a man-made island for mega-rich sailors, will probably provoke controversy.

Phuket’s Big Buddha, on the other hand, appears to have the support of just about everyone. Monks from all the island’s temples oversee the project, which is driven by an energetic committee of local businesspeople.

The president of the construction committee, Suporn Vanichkul, is constantly on the move between his Phuket City business and the Big Buddha.

He talks with enthusiasm about the depth of public response in support of the massive project from Buddhists, Muslims and Christians alike, in Thailand and abroad.

Just as enthusiastic is Promchote Traivate, who, as local representative of the Tourism, Sport and Recreation Department, is attempting to develop financial support for a large sports complex, resort and conference centre, planned for the island’s north.

The numbers are huge. Two thousand rai of public land is available if required, and the total spend could be as much as 5 billion baht. For years now, Khun Promchote has been trying to drum up private investment.

Finally, with private resort projects exploding all along the Andaman Coast between Bang Tao and Khao Lak, potential backers are putting their hands up.

An international sports centre, training athletes through the alphabet from Archery to Volleyball, is just part of the vision. Along with that comes an all-purpose conference centre capable of seating 5,000 people, plus a large resort and spa.

Investors are beginning to realise what this could mean for Phuket, especially in the low season. The numbers, as large as they are, no longer seem daunting.

With a mix of private investment and public land, a location close to the airport and to many five-star resorts, the sports/conference plan is beginning to be seen as an excellent investment for the island’s future. A bidding war may be about to break out.

Khun Promchote, who spends much of his time helping to organize events such as the Laguna International Marathon and blows his own flute to promote a cleaner environment among coastal villages, may soon find his big dream is coming true.

ISLAND billionaire Gulu Lalvani is another big dreamer. And there is no doubting Mr Lalvani’s enthusiasm or his desire to promote Phuket in ways that align with his own interests.

He is driving the growth of marinas in the region and can share some credit for the island’s emergence as an international sailing hub.

Mr Lalvani’s latest plan is to deepen the sea channel that leads to his Royal Phuket Marina, then dump the scooped soil and sand into deeper water as the base for a large man-made island of 65 rai.

The island would become the exclusive ocean preserve of those who can afford to dock their very large boats there.

If rich tourists fly to Phuket, hire local boats and stay in on-shore accommodation, the benefits to the local economy are obvious.

For now, the financial returns for Phuket of a man-made island three kilometres off the coast are less plain to see. Just as importantly, the potential effects on the environment are also murky.

With luxury boats on this gigantic scale, owners tend to bring everything with them – the crew, the chef, the minisub, jetskis for the whole family, everything the average billionaire needs to relax.

It’s a little hard to figure why the super-rich can’t just behave like the rest of us do on a break and paddle a kayak to explore the coves of Phang Nga, or, in the interests of the local economy, pay someone to paddle it for them.

There are many unanswered questions. At present, Mr Lalvani is unable to tell The Post how much soil and sand will be necessary to build an island of 65 rai in deep water. Our guess is, quite a lot.

Given its scale and possible side effects, the project deserves rigorous government scrutiny beyond the US$250,000 research and survey work that Mr Lalvani says he is paying for himself.

Although the telecom business whiz intends to fund the entire project (and then, we assume, make it back and more), the buck does not stop there.

A project as unusual as this one must have the involvement of all the affected stakeholders, especially those whose livelihoods will be endangered if large stretches of seawater are polluted by mud for any length of time. Transparency, in every sense, is essential. So are public meetings.

Do people want an artificial island (or two or three) sitting in their souvenir photos of the panoramas to be enjoyed looking across from Phuket to Phang Nga? Well, that’s another unanswered question.

What’s even more difficult to answer is the precise effect of worldwide alarm about climate change and global warming. The issue is front-page news almost every day now in Europe, America and Australia.

Concern is widespread. Industries and individuals who waste energy are criticized and told to change their ways. Even billionaires, especially those with fortunes based on public shareholdings, are cutting back on ostentatious displays of wealth.

A megayacht is an awfully expensive and inefficient way of transporting a small number of people over long distances. Put a lot of them together and, to many observers, you have an ostentatious display of waste.

What a man-made island and its mega-boats costs in carbon emissions, a currency that’s rapidly becoming as important as cold, hard cash, is hard to assess. Our guess is, quite a lot.

As well as urging Bangkok retailers to open in Phuket, Mr Lalvani says he is a committed environmentalist. He adds that this whole project is “good for the environment.” So there seems little doubt that he will do his bit for climate change when the time comes.

As far as we can tell, egalitarian Phuket people don’t have anything against billionaires, provided they treat everyone as generously as we treat them. Yet if international concern about climate change continues to grow, the era of the megayacht may be powering to a close.

Having said that, let’s remember Amanpuri, another strictly-for-the-rich idea, a breathtaking concept for its time. Critics said it would never work. So it would be unwise to write off Mr Lalvani’s Zoran Island just yet.

Whatever Thailand eventually decides should follow a careful and well-considered impact study.

We hope Mr Lalvani keeps having bold visions and that he keeps acting in Phuket’s best interests, even if these conflict with his own.

One thing this island will always need is big ideas.


More about Phuket’s Big Buddha, Phra Putthamingmongkolakenakkiai, or the Mingmongkol Buddha for short, can be found at www.mingmongkolphuket.com.

Questions for Mr Lalwani

THESE questions from The Phuket Post cannot be answered yet. A spokeswoman for Mr Lalvani told us: "As soon as more information comes to light, we will let you know."

1. How deep is the water where Zoran Island is planned?

2. How much soil will have to be dumped there to make an island of 65 rai above sea level?

3. How long is this process likely to take?

4. Where will the tides carry the floating soil and mud?

5. In detail, what exactly does the US$250,000 survey say about the likely environmental effects of deepening the existing channel and building the island?

6. Are the figures quoted for the recovery of Phuket’s retail and resort industries just part of the cyclical return to the boom that was taking place when the tsunami arrived?

7. Aren’t people who own megayachts inclined to travel all over the world rather than keep returning to one spot? Isn’t that why they buy such big boats in the first place?

8. Don’t megayacht owners carry everything they need on board, including chefs, and in some cases, mini-submarines? If they can enjoy their own private luxury world, including the shopping and accommodation on Zoran Island, why would they come ashore to Phuket?

9. Why would people who can fly to New York, Paris or Rome whenever they wish in first-class seats or on private jets choose to go shopping in Phuket?

10. In New York, media baron Rupert Murdoch is walking to work and telling the world to cut back on conspicuous spending to save the environment. What do global warming and the massive concern about climate change mean for this project?

11. In terms of carbon usage as well as in cash terms, megayachts are extremely expensive. Are you concerned that, because of international alarm at global warming, megayachts are about to be abandoned, just like Concorde?

12. What will be especially Thai about Zoran Island?

Big, Bigger Biggest. Phuket never lets it rest

The Big Buddha
Status: Open late 2008
Cost: 60million baht
Location: Off Chao Fa Road West

Attractions: Superb views across Phuket at both sunrise and sunset. Museum will be inside the structure. Foreign visitors tend to visit during the week while Thais come to pray at weekends. Monks hold a ceremony at 10.30am every Saturday.

Phuket Welcome Gate
Status: Complete and awaiting opening date
Area: 25 rai
Cost: 46.67 million baht
Location: Near Sarasin Bridge

Attractions: Six offices, areas for stalls selling OTOP (One Tambon, One Product) goods, 29 seven-metre concrete pillars with metal plaques explaining Phuket’s history in Thai and English plus a 21.8-metre tall granite sculpture.

Kathu Mining Museum
Status: Opening late 2007
Area: 7000 square metres
Cost: 50.6 million baht
Location: On the Kathu-Koh Kaew road

Attractions: Exhibits and displays relating the history of Phuket’s tin mining industry. Completion delayed by contracting problems. Entrance fee yet to be determined.

Zoran Island
Status: Yet to be approved
Area 65 rai
Cost: Ballpark 6.6 billion baht
Location: Three kilometres east of Royal Phuket Marina

Attractions: Man-made island capable of mooring at least 40 yachts and about 10 megayachts. Design calls for villas, shops and a resort on a circular berthing cay.

Sports Park and Convention Centre
Status: Negotiations moving faster now
Area: Up to 2,000 rai
Cost: Up to 5 billion baht, depending on scale
Location: North Phuket on government land

Attractions: Private resort and spa coupled with conference centre capable of holding 5,000 delegates and a sports park providing world-class facilities and coaching for sports of all kinds.