Marine Alliance of Thailand gets new chairman

by IBI Magazine on 19 May 2005 Grenville Fordham, managing director of Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX) organisers, Image Asia Events, has been elected chairman of the industry group, the Marine Alliance (Thailand) - (MAT).

Fordham replaces Sunsail's Kevin Quilty, who led MAT for the past year.

MAT is the marine industry group that successfully lobbied for zero tax on imported leisure boats and is pursuing other regulatory changes aimed at boosting Thailand's marine tourism industry.

'MAT has made great strides, working closely with Thai officials, to help generate an environment more conducive to the growth of this sector,' said Fordham, adding, 'but there is still a lot of work to do.'

Two items that top MAT's agenda in the coming months are increasing membership and turning this informal industry group into an official association. 'MAT sprang out of Phuket, one of Thailand's centres for marine leisure,' said Fordham, 'but if we want to achieve solid representation, we need to broaden the base and attract membership from throughout the Kingdom.'

Serving with Fordham on the new MAT committee are Andy Dowden, one of the founders of Phuket's leisure yachting industry, Andy Stephens of Royal Phuket Marina, Vincent Tabuteau of Thai Marine Leisure and Kevin Quilty, who will still retain and active role in promoting MAT's agenda.

Before stepping down as chairman, Quilty reported on the outcome of a recent meeting of industry leaders and relevant government departments, chaired by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). At that meeting it was confirmed that excise tax on components imported for boatbuilding had been scrapped and that regulatory changes that will give a massive boost to bareboat charter operations would be implemented within a year.

The TAT meeting also touched on 'yacht in transit status' and immigration procedures, both issues that have a direct impact on the potential income derived by local Thai businesses from yacht servicing and provisioning. 'However, both of these topics need further clarification and confirmation, which MAT will pursue,' said Quilty.

Foremost amongst concerns raised by members at the MAT meeting was inconsistency in the application of immigration rules and regulations as they affect visiting yachts, their crew and passengers. According to marina operators, this was a significant factor in persuading large yachts to leave Phuket for neighbouring countries offering a more consistent and streamlined approach.

While the MAT meeting identified its major short term objectives as achieving formal status and increasing membership, it also outlined broad long term objectives which included skills development and training, environmental protection and safety standards for leisure boats and their operators.