Short Trips Around Phuket – Yacht Style Magazine
Phuket is the hub of cruising in Southeast Asia and offers dozens of spectacular destinations for day and overnight charters. Thailand’s biggest island is also home to an enormous range of yachts for charter, with Asia Yacht Agency among companies offering dayboats, classic motor cruisers, superyachts and sailing yachts.
A member of the Thai Yachting Business Association, Asia Yacht Agency is among the leading charter companies in Phuket and currently has access to over 30 charter boats including models from the world’s leading luxury yacht brands, such as a Riva 70 and a Sunseeker 90.
Founder Olivier Payen has been based in Phuket since 2005 and in the boating business for over four decades, while his business partner Worawan ‘Poom’ Hokprasit has worked in the yachting industry for 15 years, having previously specialised in hospitality in five-star hotel and resorts.
“We have many boats for day and overnight charter in Thailand, from a small luxury boat of 26ft up to a 135ft superyacht,” says Worawan, the company’s Charter Director and a Board Member of TYBA, which is organising the inaugural Thailand Charter Week from November 16-21.
The seven smallest boats, including an Admiral 40 sailing yacht, are suitable only for day charters, while all the larger models can do both day and overnight charters.
The range of larger motor yachts include the 65ft L’Orientale built by Cheoy Lee in 1978 and refitted in 2018, a Sunbird 80 that also had a refit last year, a Spanish-built Astondoa 102, the 34m Moonen Xanadu and the 135ft Rodriguez Ocean Emerald, designed by Norman Foster and one of Asia’s iconic charter yachts.