The Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon is set to welcome over 8,000 runners from more than 40 countries to the tropical island of Phuket to compete in Southeast Asia’s favourite destination marathons. Held 10-11 June 2023 at Laguna Phuket, the award-winning Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon is one of the longest-running international sports events on Phuket and is driving the island’s resurgence as a world-class sports tourism destination. This year, the event will feature a new race format with different start times for the various distances. On Saturday the 10th, the 2km kids run, 5km, and 10.5km races will commence in the morning, while on Sunday the 11th, the Half Marathon (21.0975km), Marathon Relay (42.195km), and Marathon (42.195km). Internationally certified by IAAF AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) and a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon, the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon is organised by GAA Events and has set the gold standard for 17 years. “Entries are looking strong with thousands already confirmed from across Thailand and overseas. What’s particularly encouraging this year is the return of interest from international participants. The pandemic limited international travel and as Phuket sees a resurgence in international arrivals we are also seeing growing interest amongst overseas runners and their families wanting to combine a run with a holiday in Phuket,” said Charlie Jung, Assistant Race Director, GAA Events, organizer of the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon. From children and families to age-groupers and top talent across Thailand and from overseas, the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon attracts participants of all ages and abilities with its popular two-day format and festival atmosphere at the start/ finish line at Laguna Grove. Popular Thai actor and singer Somchai Kemglad (a.k.a. Tao Somchai) will be running the marathon distance at this year’s event. “With Thailand’s recovery well and truly underway, we’re delighted to welcome Thai and international visitors back to Laguna Phuket and are looking to showcase the island as a world-class tourism and sports destination,” said Paul Wilson, VP, Deputy Managing Director, Laguna Phuket “We have partnered with Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon since the very beginning and work closely with the local community each year to ensure the benefits are dispersed. Through Laguna Phuket Foundation’s Children First Fund (CFF), we support more than 400 underprivileged children in seven orphanages in Phuket and we encourage all runners and spectators to help make a difference by supporting our efforts.” Guests can register for the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon at https://www.phuketmarathon.com/registration.

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Sunrise Cambodia provides a safe and nurturing learning environment to children living some of the most impoverished communities in the world. Sunrise Cambodiais the registered Australian charity I founded in 1993, which supports Sunrise Children’s Villages, where they have a residential centre for at-risk children, giving 24/7 care to more than 100 children, 20 kms from Phnom Penh.  The children that come to us have often been trafficked into prostitution, slave labour, begging rings, illegal adoption rings, are victims of domestic violence due to parental alcoholism or drug dependency, abandoned in hospitals by their families,  disabled or live on the streets to survive. As a result, they are in great need emotionally and physically when they arrive at Sunrise Cambodia. At Sunrise Cambodia these poor young victims are rescued from their terrible situation in life, and provided a home, food, clothing, government school, medical and dental care, English, Mandarin and computer lessons, classes in music, art, dance and sport, but more important of all, love.  They provide university studies in Cambodia when they pass Grade 12 and they cover other living costs for them outside Sunrise Cambodia for these students. For the students who do not pass, they give them vocational training courses in car repair, air conditioning maintenance, plumbing, electricity, printing, administration, management, hospitality and beauty. No one leaves us without a job and the means to live an independent life. In addition, they support more than 150 disadvantaged community children from neighbouring villages. Their parents are often very poor rice farmers, who cannot provide their children such a good start in life.  At Sunrise Cambodia they receive the same educational opportunities as our residential children and return home at the end of the day to live with their families. ABOUT SUNRISE CAMBODIA Sunrise Cambodia is a world-class charity working on the ground in Cambodia to give much-needed help to at-risk kids, struggling families and poor communities in some of the most poverty-stricken provinces of the country. Cambodia has a heart breaking recent history which has crippled this beautiful south east Asian country. During the 1960s and ’70s, while civil war raged in Cambodia, the USA carpet bombed the Cambodian countryside. The communists won the civil war and over the next four years, more than a quarter of the population was systematically murdered by its leader, Pol Pot. More than thirty years later, the disastrous impact on the gentle-natured people of Cambodia is still profound. Sunrise Cambodia began in the early 1990s when a South Australian fifty-year old named Geraldine Cox began a small orphanage to care for the some of the orphaned grandchildren from Pol Pot’s regime. Unable to have her own children, Geraldine became “Mum to Many” as she took in street kids, orphans and the disabled to give them good food, a place to sleep, an education and lots of love. With the need so great, Sunrise Cambodia has grown to support whole communities with the basics for survival: clean water, sanitation and healthcare, followed by education. We have 100 Cambodian staff and a small fundraising team in Australia. The work of Sunrise Cambodia is entirely funded by generous donors. For information and donations, contact: https://www.sunrisecambodia.org.au/ https://www.facebook.com/sunrisecambodia/ hq@sunrisecambodia.org.au

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Following in Raffles’ grand tradition of concocting exotic new cocktails, Mr Kong Len, the bar captain at the iconic Elephant Bar in Raffles Hotel Le Royal, in Phnom Pen, brings us the “Fifth Pillar”. While infusing locally sourced orange skin and homemade orange bitters with Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin for 15 days, Kong roasted a blend of rock salt, kaffir lime leaves, and orange zest. All the ingredients were then shaken and strained into a chilled martini glass. Kong said he was inspired to support Cambodia’s orange and lime farmers, and wanted to create a drink that offers the zesty twang of citrus with the refreshing botanicals of gin. The Elephant Bar first opened in 1929; early guests at the bar included Charlie Chaplin and W. Somerset Maugham. And it was here in the 1960s that the Femme Fatale was created especially for the visit of former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Happy Hour at the Elephant Bar, Raffles Hotel Le Royal, is daily from 4 pm to 9 pm with 50% off selected drinks. Patrons may be sated with the knowledge that a percentage of proceeds from sales of the Fifth Pillar is donated to a local NGO, Sunrise Cambodia, which supports children and struggling families in rural Cambodia. ABOUT RAFFLES     Raffles Hotels & Resorts boasts an illustrious history and some of the most prestigious hotel addresses worldwide. In 1887, Raffles Singapore set the standard for luxury hospitality, introducing the world to private butlers, the Singapore Sling and its enduring, legendary service. Today, Raffles continues this tradition in leading cities and lavish resort locales, enchanting travellers with meaningful experiences and service that is both gracious and intuitive. Connoisseurs of life choose Raffles, not merely for its aura of culture, beauty and gentility, but for the extraordinary way they feel when in residence with Raffles. Each Raffles, be it Paris, Istanbul, Dubai, Warsaw, Jakarta or the Seychelles, serves as a venerated oasis where travellers arrive as guests, leave as friends and return as family. Raffles is part of Accor, a world-leading hospitality group consisting of more than 5,100 properties and 10,000 food and beverage venues throughout 110 countries.

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Penang Hill was designated as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in September 2021, the result of years of concerted effort spearheaded by The Habitat Penang Hill and The Habitat Foundation. Penang is known for many things, but not much is known about the island’s rich natural biodiversity. This may change especially since the International Coordinating Council (ICC) of Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere Programme formally inducted the Penang Hill Biosphere Reserve into the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. With this listing, the Penang Hill Biosphere Reserve joins a distinguished global network of 714 Biosphere Reserves in 129 countries including 21 transboundary sites. The Habitat Penang Hill, an environmental discovery centre that opened in January 2016, and its NGO arm The Habitat Foundation were key in spearheading this historic initiative. A key figure behind this is Reza A. Cockrell, co-founder of both organisations, and director and chairman respectively. Cockrell and his family recognised how special it was to have Penang Hill‘s virgin primary rainforest so close to major human habitation. They were the first to introduce the idea of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme for Penang at a symposium called The Launch: Canopy Science and Forest Conservation in Penang in October 2016. The Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) was then appointed by the Penang State Government to represent the state in the preparation of the dossier for submission to Unesco. The Penang Hill BioBlitz, a complete forest floor to forest tree-top survey of the biodiversity of the rainforest on Penang Hill, was implemented over a period of two weeks in October 2017. Then, 117 scientists and bio-sciences students from USM, the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco as well as Singapore, Brunei and Hong Kong recorded more than 2,500 species of flora and fauna including species believed to be new to science. That BioBlitz confirmed that Penang Island’s forests were indeed rich in biodiversity and the findings formed the baseline science that was included in the dossier for submission to Unesco for the UBR nomination. This designation confirms Penang Hill‘s rich biodiversity and simply reaffirms that the island’s pristine natural heritage and cultural landscapes are truly world-class and should be protected and celebrated. The Unesco listing means that Penang has the opportunity to lead the way, at least in Peninsular Malaysia, to demonstrate that tangible socio-economic benefits can arise from protecting, valuing and celebrating nature rather than just exploiting it. Penang and Malaysia as a whole, being one of a handful of mega diverse countries in the world, with amazing and bountiful biodiversity assets, have a bright future as far as ecotourism is concerned. In Penang, the Unesco MAB platform will give access to a global network of 714 Biosphere Reserves. Coupled with the already existing Unesco World Heritage Site status for George Town, Penang will be able to promote its rich heritage, culture and now, its rich natural heritage and biodiversity on the world stage.

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