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Patong, Phuket, Thailand (10th December 2004) – The Phuket Gay Pride Committee has officially announced the new dates for the upcoming 6th Annual Phuket Gay Festival to be held from 10th to 13th February 2005, right after the Thailand General Election (6th Feb ‘05) and Chinese Lunar New Year (9th Feb ‘05).

This yearly Gay festival is one of the biggest tourist events here in Phuket and Patong Beach. The 1st Phuket Gay Festival began in 1999, and surprisingly to many people, it was one of the most successful and talked about gay events of the year in the region, and has continued to have the same fine reputation for each succeeding year. Normally, the grand parade is held on the first Sunday in February each year, unless it collides with religious or national holidays. Since 6th February 2005 has been set by the Election Commission as the new date for the Thailand General Election, therefore the Phuket Gay Pride Committee have chosen to move the festival one week later, and will then be held from 9th to 13th February 2005.

Phuket is a small, charming, generally rural tropical island by the Andaman Sea, lush and green for the most part, with several well developed population centers, plenty of available current technology. Most of the Phuket Gay communities are in two areas, Phuket Town and Patong Beach. There is a small sized Gay population here, cohesive and strong when it needs to be unlike some of the other Thai cities, and maybe that is part of the charm. Small enough for the intimacy and still with enough size to provide all the entertainment you could want.

Khun Tangmo of Tangmo Group has been elected as the new chairman, with Khun Bon of My Way Entertainment, Khun Tiwa of Uncle Charlie's, and Khun Daniel of Club One Seven Bed & Breakfast, as the co-chairs in this year's elected executive committee. The 6th Annual Phuket Gay Festival has a good schedule, a series of events planned in the months before the festival, usually themed "Street Parties", where all of the businesses and concerned individuals come together for lots of fun and celebration with entertainment and partying into the night, in the Paradise Complex area of Patong Beach, location for most of the Gay venues. The Festival itself runs over five days this time, kicking off the festival is the Chinese Lunar New Year on the 9th February, with lots of street parties and celebrations, a beach volleyball tournament among other competitions, and on Sunday, February 13th, The Grand Parade, followed by closing party in the Paradise.

For more information about the Phuket Gay Festival and Calendar of Events, please visit the festival's official website.