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Published on October 13, 2007

The resort on Koh Lanta - Langham Place Eco Resort and Spa Rawi Warin - is the first hotel in Southeast Asia under the management of Langham Group, which owns eight hotels on four continents. The group's properties are in London, Boston, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Auckland and Toronto. The company does not consider Hong Kong as part of Southeast Asia.

The Langham in London was unveiled in 1865 as one of Europe's first grand hotels.

Chairman Lo Ka Shui said yesterday the resort in Krabi would consist of 185 rooms and villas on the hillside overlooking Klong Tob Bay. Most units have sea views and the villas have private pools. It is scheduled to open in January.

Pramote Titayangkurn, a local real-estate developer and jeweller, owns the property. It is his first resort after expanding from the land-development and jewellery businesses.

"This is a new luxury resort targeting European tourists in particular," said Shui, adding that the group believed the business in Thailand would grow in line with the tourism industry.

"With Thailand's steady tourism growth, hotel developers require hospitality management groups that have a strong and consistent identity. They understand that this is required to ultimately outperform the competition. The signing for Langham Place Eco Resort and Spa underscores the success we have had," said Shui.

The group is also planning to develop at least one hotel in Phuket and two hotels in the capital. One will be on the bank of the Chao Phya River and the other in a business district.

The investment could be through building its own hotels or joint ventures and acquiring further management contracts.

"We are negotiating with many investors in Thailand," Shui said. Meanwhile, the group is also planning to develop hotels in Singapore and Malaysia as well as in the Middle East.

The group has signed a management contract with three hotels in China and is scheduled to begin operating the first two in Beijing next year and the third in Changchun the year after.

Pramote, president of Rawi Warin Resort and Spa, said the resort was built as a five-star resort and is "ready to take off".

Langham Hotels International is a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Great Eagle Holdings, spearheaded by KS Lo, who is also the chairman and managing director of Great Eagle Holdings. The company has two brand names - The Langham and Langham Place.

Suchat Sritama

 The Nation