From left: Alain Ruffier - General Manager Avista Grande Phuket Karon, Khun Chupong -Director of Talent and Culture Pullman Phuket Panwa, Fernando Borralho - Star Marine representative, Sue Ultmann - founder of ‘Phuket Has Been Good To Us’, Andrea T Edwards - OnePhuket representative, Sebastien Tronchet – General Manager Grand Mercure Phuket Patong, Pannaphat Lapa - Resort Manager V Villas Phuket MGallery
PHUKET – In Thailand’s southern island of Phuket, the devastating effects of COVID-19 continue to be felt by the community due to low levels of domestic tourism and the closure of international borders. In response to the situation, a group of residents have joined together to launch ‘One Phuket’, a community driven initiative which seeks to support those in dire need of assistance and propose solutions for various issues.
Accor’s lifestyle loyalty programme, ALL – Accor Live Limitless has collaborated with One Phuket to assist in the donation of food parcels, or ‘life bags’, through a THB 80,000 grant to the cause. The life bags will be donated to residents of Phuket who are facing financial difficulty due to lack of employment or reduced hours of work. One Phuket is able to feed around 8,000 people on a weekly basis through the distribution of 2,000 parcels that include essentials such as rice, oil, fish and noodles.
Accor is the largest hotel operator in Thailand, with a network of 90 hotels of which 21 are located in Phuket. “The global health crisis has obviously caused severe challenges to many people, however the impact on those reliant on the tourism industry has been particularly painful for me to witness”, commented Garth Simmons, Accor’s Chief Executive Officer for Accor in Southeast Asia, Japan & South Korea. “We are humbled to see communities in destinations such as Phuket come together to support each other, and it is only right that we are there alongside them to offer a helping hand”.
Andrea Edwards, CSP, The Digital Conversationalist and co-founder of One Phuket commented “with no definitive date for an end to this global pandemic, which is having a major impact on economies around the globe, our beautiful Island of Phuket – which relies so heavily on the tourist dollar - continues to see many struggling to survive. The recent third wave has been devastating to local businesses, and the need in our community is greater than ever. This is why we created One Phuket at the beginning of 2021. It’s about bringing us all together, as a community, with the mantra: we will get through this crisis, together”.
Above: Around 2,000 food parcels are distributed by One Phuket on a weekly basis.
Those wishing to support One Phuket can make donations via Siam Commercial Bank, Choengthale, Phuket | Swift: SICOTHBK | Branch: 0706 | Bank: 014 | Savings account 706265040-3 or visit The Facebook Group One Phuket for more information.
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