The two changes are to issue visiting yacht skippers and crew with six-month visas – they currently get 30 days after which they must leave the country – and to open the boat charter industry to all boats, not only Thai-flagged vessels, as is currently the case.
Mr Lalvani said this would allow Phuket to compete for charter business on even terms with neighbouring Malaysia and even classic yachting centres such as the South of France.
He put these ideas to Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul when she was in Phuket last week and, he said, they were well received.
“My main point to her was that we have to do whatever we can to get more affluent tourists to come to Phuket. And people with boats are wealthy. But there are certain crazy bits of red tape and rules that stand in the way of improving the boating industry.
“She very quickly caught on and said these rules put people off. People with big boats who want to keep them in the region, when they go abroad they keep them in Langkawi [in Malaysia].
“You have the French Riviera and we should be the Riviera of Asia and eventually overtake the Riviera of Europe because here are a lot more places here to discover by sea. I want owners to bring megayachts here and leave them here.
“But you’ve got to do things: waive those stupid 30-day-visa rules for the crew … and allow owners to charter out their boats, which is currently not allowed [because they are not Thai-registered]. These rules put people off.”
If superyachts and megayachts can be chartered out, he argued, many wealthy people would extend their holidays in Phuket because they could add a week on a superyacht to their stay.
He cited as an example Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, who chartered a boat seven years ago for a holiday that included two weeks in Phuket.
But, Mr Lalvani explained, Mr Gates had to charter the yacht from Singapore. He could not do so in Phuket because no super/megayacht owner wants to go Thai-flagged. He chartered the boat for three weeks, Mr Lalvani said, but spent two weeks in Phuket waters.
He also noted that if anyone wanted a Thai-flagged boat they must not only pay 7 per cent VAT but must also set up a Thai company with 70pc Thai ownership to own the boat.
He denied a report in another publication that he had suggested to Ms Kobkarn that the 7pc VAT be waived. “I know that to change the rules on VAT would be a long struggle. I said, ‘Keep that VAT for those who want a Thai-flagged boat, but make a concession that foreign-flagged boats are allowed to charter.’”
If that concession could be made, he pointed out, the main objection to the VAT would disappear.
“The average owner [of a large yacht] uses it maybe six weeks of the year so it’s lying here for the rest of the time, earning nothing. If people could charter it, there’s fuel bought here, the charterer will come her shopping, and all this adds a lot to the economy.
“That would [also] make it a lot more palatable for the owners to leave their yachts here.” He noted that the rule changes would not bring great benefit to his marina, which cannot take boats of more than 35 metres in length – superyachts are generally defined as being from 24 to 50 metres, while megayachts are greater than that length.
“I’m not looking at the benefits for my marina – it doesn’t matter to me if boats go to another marina – I’m looking at the benefits to Phuket.”
Mr Lalvani’s proposal fits well with the recent announcement that the government wants to see Phuket beome a yachting and cruising hub in Asean.
Last night (January 23) Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-Ocha, in his weekly TV address, announced that talks had been held with the Vietnamese government about making join efforts to promote marine tourism in the region, and that Vietnam had responded positively.