It is the time of the year when Phuket gets the bright sunshine of the tourism high season, and the island is vibrant with many visitors from across the globe. It is also the time when the Thailand International Boat Show is coming back to blast.

This year, the Thailand International Boat Show 2024 is expected to be the island’s rockstar for the grand beginning of the year, with a multi-billion Baht lineup of luxury yachts, superyachts, private jets, and hundreds of exhibits around the event that will attract both elite nautical wonders and newbies.

David Hayes, CEO of organizers JAND Event which runs this luxurious show, said that the event is the one and only biggest boat show in the region and opens its door widely to welcome everyone, not just boat buyers or yacht owners.

“It’s the biggest boat show in the region, not just Thailand and currently, it is the only boat show in Thailand. There is no other boat show, so we hope the event will be very busy,” said Mr. Hayes.

“It is important that people don’t think it is just about the boat. It is something about a luxury lifestyle. The show itself is Thailand International Boat Show A Luxury Lifestyle Event. That’s the name because we are trying to turn it into a luxury lifestyle event. Without the luxury lifestyle, the boats don’t work and without the boats, the luxury lifestyle doesn’t work, so they are connected,” he said.

“We are trying to make it a fun time for people to come and not just to buy a boat, the exhibitors also want people to come and look at their exhibits and products.”

Mr. Hayes explained that the event would consist of plenty of joyful elements including food, drinks and entertainment, that are neatly selected to offer the utmost delightful experience for the visitors.

Apart from the elegant display of the boats along the marina, there is a wide range of marine-related products and services from the luxury lifestyle sector that will be exhibited onshore.

The exhibition will take place in an air-conditioned space and consist of providers such as A. & Marine, Aqua Air Asia, ASA Group, Cholamark Boat, Flexiteek, FLS Yachts, Hull Co. Ltd, Marine Services Asia, Nava by Thaicom, Nespresso, Octopus Electrical Service, Royal Phuket Marina, SEA Yacht Sales, Siam Legal (Thailand) and Thailand Privilege. On the boardwalk at Royal Phuket Marina are AMI Marine International, Aoy’s Hoy Oyster Bar, Disabled Sailing Thailand, Entropy Solar, Hilda Loe Associates, SEABOB, Torqeedo Asia Pacific, and UWC International School.

“We want visitors to come and enjoy the exhibits. The show opens at 1pm every day from the 11^th to the 14^th of January and the show closes at 8pm when we have entertainment like a live band, DJs, and other entertainment that go on later in the evening.”

“We’ve got restaurants, bars, champagne, oyster bar, and a selection of local food. There are over a hundred exhibits. We have Nestle here with Nespresso coffee, we have other exhibitors here with different categories.”

“The highlight to me of this year’s 2024 event is that we have a wide range of exhibits, from small things to big things. Another highlight is being able to sit down and enjoy a drink with a great view of the marina and listen to music from a live band or DJ. Just generally have a relaxing evening or afternoon.”

He said that currently about 50 boats are joining the show, five of which are the biggest, including The Regal Escape: Princess Y95 by Boat Lagoon Yachting, Avant-Garde Allure: Ferretti 850 by Boat Lagoon Yachting, Peak Nautical Allure: Riviera 78 Motor Yacht by Lee Marine, Sleek Elegance on the Seas: Riva 76 Perseo by V Yachts, and Innovation Unfolds Over Azure: Sanlorenzo SX76 by Simpson Marine. The big five will be anchored and available for a visit.

He mentioned that there is an incontrollable issue happening in the Red Sea and some boats may not make their way to attend the show in time. However, he still expects that the marina will be filled with beautiful and attractive boats.

Complementing the boat show event at Royal Phuket Marina, there will be an indulging evening on January 10 when Thailand Yachting Conference takes place with the Robb Report Thailand Best Of The Best Yachting Awards Gala.

“It will be held at the White House at Boat Lagoon Resort, which will be during the day, and in the evening, we will have a very big award gala dinner, which is going to be a great evening,” he said.

“Again, it is open to everybody, not just people who are interested in boats. We call it a kickoff party for 2024. We will have Eka Band which is a great live band. It will be a great evening for everybody.”

”We’ve got Daniel Isberg, the celebrity chef, doing the menu for a six-course dinner with a free flow of wine and sparkling, beers and booze. So, at the end of the day, everybody who wants to have a great night out should be attending.”

While working alongside high-end investors and attracting loads of top-notch customers, the organizer also worked closely with the Thai government. There will be an official ceremony attended by a number of Thailand’s authorities.

“On Thursday, January 11, we will have a ceremony at 11.30 AM. We will have many authorities there including the Minister of Tourism and Sports who represents the Prime Minister, the Governor, the head of TAT, the head of TCEB, the head of the Marine Department, and provincial authorities,” said Mr. Hayes.

The highlight of the event does not only focus on adults but the little ones, too. On Children’s Day 2024 – January 13, there will also be kid’s fun activities happening at the event.

“Starting at 2 PM, people can come along, bring their kids, have fun, join face painting, clowns, and things like that and it is completely free.”

Mr. Hayes mentioned that while boat shows in Phuket continued for nearly 20 years, JAND Event has just started running the unique event in 2023.

“We took it over and were about to run it in 2022, but if you remember, the COVID situation in Phuket changed Christmas and every party, so we couldn’t run it, and we made it in 2023.”

However, he said that 2023 was still the year when people were still worried about the pandemic, which is the reason why he believes that the 2024 event will be the great kickstart as people started living a normal lifestyle and there is no more restriction.

“People genuinely forgot about it. You may read a little bit about it in the press but the reality is, it’s the flu now. Obviously, if you are older and have symptoms, two million people every year die from pneumonia. It’s unfortunate that people die but Covid is a terrible pandemic and it affected many people from old to young. What we have to do is getting back to where we were and I think that’s happening. I think we are pretty well over the pandemic issue and I think nobody is still thinking about it.”

“The event in 2024 to me is probably the biggest one in Phuket because it is the first one properly after COVID. There is no restriction, there is no hangover,” he assured.

“I think 2024 will be the first one where we get a real kickstart and we will announce the 2025 show at the end of the 2024 show and hopefully, that will be even bigger than the 2024 show.”

Mr. Hayes also expressed his opinion about the boating business situation that even though the pandemic affected the whole economy negatively, the boating industry in Phuket has grown bigger among domestic Thai customers.

“Many Thai people didn’t really know about boating. During Covid, the beaches are lovely, and you can charter a boat and go out on a boat, so the Thai domestic tourists went up on the boating and yachting business. They have become more interested in boats.”

“They understand about buying a boat now. You can see a lot more Thai people buying boats than ever before, and that happened during COVID because where else can they go? They can fly to Phuket and charter a boat. The market now is very much domestic and international, not just international,” he said.

The Thailand International Boat Show A Luxury Lifestyle Event will be held from January 11-14 2024 at Royal Phuket Marina and is open daily from 1 PM – 8 PM except on Sunday, January 14 when the show finishes at 7 PM.

For more information or online registration, please visit www.thailandinternationalboatshow.com.