Legend wins Kinaree Award

CHIANG RAI The Legend won Thailand’s prestigious Kinnaree Gold Award in the North Thailand category for hotels under 80 rooms.
The Kinnaree awards , often called Thailand’s tourism industry “Oscars”, were presented by the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Kobkarn Wattanavrankul, late September, to outstanding hotels across the country.
Located on the banks of the Mae Kok River, 2 km from Chiang Rai’s town centre, the 11 year-old property is positioned as a boutique resort in the four-star category.
It was one of just two hotels in North Thailand to win the coveted awards

inside no 2Hotel owner, Dusit Thammaraks, received the Kinnaree award from the minister of tourism during the Thailand Tourism Awards held at Impact Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Bangkok, 27 September, which was also World Tourism Day.
A resident of Chiang Mai, the veteran hotelier travelled the 180 km distance to Chiang Rai to present the award to the hotel’s staff, last weekend.
He said the award underscored the staff commitment to providing genuine Thai hospitality.

“It makes me very proud of my team and a hotel that I personally helped to design from scratch… it is one of just a few hotels in the far-north that reflect authentic Lanna heritage… it also has a strong commitment to community and environmental endeavours in Chiang Rai.”
Located on a 12-rai plot of land, next to the river, the hotel has 78 rooms and suites that reflect in architecture and interior design the art and culture of both the Chiang Saen and Sukhothai eras.
The Thailand Tourism Awards are held every other year. Applications for the 2015 awards closed last November and the process of short-listing candidates took around nine months including two site inspections of the eligible properties.
inside no 2.1“It took us around six months to complete all the questions and assessment in the awards manual,” Legend’s general manager Makoo told TTR weekly.
“It’s a comprehensive process that challenges a hotel to focus on its assets and this year’s awards set exacting conditions on community service and the environment.”
Unlike media awards, that are inevitably linked to advertising, the Kinaree Awards adopt guidelines and assessments that test a hotel’s resolve and focus on community and environment,
The Thailand Tourism Awards are part of TAT’s ongoing efforts to upgrade standards of the kingdom’s tourist destinations, to promote creativity, encourage environmentally friendly tourism practices and to ensure the Thai tourism and hospitality industry’s competitiveness within ASEAN.
The awards are divided into five categories: tourist attractions; organisational bodies that have supported and promoted Thai tourism; accommodation; health tourism and travel programmes.
Held every two years since 1996, the 2015 awards marked the 20th anniversary.

sourced:ttrweekly.com