Coral Couture - Pure Blue Gala Dinner at Aleenta Resort, Phuket, Thailand

Jan. 6, 2011 - PRLog -- The recent gala fundraiser 'Coral Couture' hosted at Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga was the Pure Blue Foundation's first event in aid of a very worthy cause – the rebuilding of damaged reefs in Phang Nga. This fabulous charity dinner and auction succeeded in both raising funds and in ensuring all who attended had a wonderful night to remember.

The Pure Blue Foundation was founded by Aleenta Resorts and hospitality management group AHMS, with aims to ensure that whenever a resort is built the surrounding environment is protected and safeguarded for the future.  Reefs have played an important economic and cultural role in the area for hundreds of years and their continued decline could see the end of one of nature’s most fascinating wonders in Thailand. This imminent threat is why the foundation, working in tandem with Coral Reef Creator (CRC), a Swiss-French company that specialises in the conception, development and creation of coral reefs based on artificial structures, created an ambitious plan to construct a coral reef park 20 metres offshore from Aleenta Resort & Spa Phuket-Phang Nga on Natai Beach

The fundraising gala dinner was a great way to get people involved in helping to save the sea’s fragile ecosystem whilst also enjoying a sparkling night of fine food and wine and entertainment at the luxury resort. Guests also had the chance to bid in the auction starring an amazing array of prizes including a five nights stay anywhere in the world donated by Small Luxury Hotels of the World, two nights at Six Senses Hideaway in Hua Hin, three days at Pimalai Resort and Spa plus one days private cruising on a luxury catamaran. At the start of the night event organiser and AHMS managing director Anchalika Kijkanakorn hoped to raise some of the 700,000 THB the amount needed for the first year of the project. The total cost of which is 3,000,000 THB to build the reef over three years.

100 guests and VIP’s participated in the Coral Couture event including M.L. Sukhathai Chumbala and family. Attendees dined beneath the stars on a gourmet buffet created by Chef Jean Louis Leon who served up dishes including rock lobster, baked oysters and glazed duck. 250,600 THB was raised in auction bids with a staggering 400,600 THB raised in total thanks also to an additional pledge of 150,000 THB from one very kind donor.  Auction winners were as follows:

•   Hotel guest Mrs Rita Duerst successfully bid 105,000 THB for five nights anywhere in the world donated by the Small Luxury Hotels of the World
•   Mr Stephen Maclennan bid 27,000 THB and won a one day private cruise aboard a stylish catamaran courtesy of Sunsail Asia
•   Mrs Lillis-Arrowsmith won a two night stay for two people at a deluxe villa at The Racha for the bid of 22,000 THB

Anchalika remarked that “The evening was a fantastic success thanks to the great turnout; however I believe that our journey to help protect the reefs has only just begun.  My main goals are to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect and preserve the environment replenishing where necessary, given that most of the damage to our planet comes from mankind. It's now time that we gave something back to help our environment survive and make the world a better place for us all to enjoy. With the funds we have raised we are now in a good position to start our first artificial reef project and will continue to raise funds via the Pure Blue Foundation until we meet our target. “

The Pure Blue Foundation was set up to preserve the wealth of the sea; this is its first fund raising project. For more information and to discover how you can help, please visit www.purebluefoundation.com

Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga is a boutique luxury seaside resort set on the shores of the Andaman at Natai beach and is just one of the hotels within the award-winning Aleenta group. For more information visit www.aleenta.com

AHMS is the management company for Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga and Aleenta Hua Hin-Pranburi. The company specialises in the management of small luxury resorts with a mission to maximise resources on a reasonable economy of scale allowing property owners and developers to achieve better than expected results.  AHMS is launching its new brands, the Akyra Samui in Q2 2011 on Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui and the Akaryn Samui on Cheng Mon Beach, Koh Samui in Q4 2011.