Month: August 2005
- Phuket
Phuket Air “will not close down’
BANGKOK: Capt Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut, Executive Vice-President of Phuket Air, this afternoon confirmed to the Gazette that Phuket Air is not going out of business, but will instead expand its local routes.The announcement came after a report in today’s Bangkok Post that quoted Senator Vikrom Aisiri, founder and president of the airline, as saying the company was “preparing for a ‘soft…
Read More » - Phuket
Briton charged with cheap air ticket scam
PATONG: British national Jonathan Duncan, 24, was arrested today and charged with fraud after allegedly selling what he said were cheap air tickets to foreign tourists.He was arrested at 3:30 pm in Room 112 of the Patong Grand View Hotel, where police also seized a laptop computer as evidence.Pol Lt Col Boonlert Onklang said at Kathu Police Station that Duncan…
Read More » - Phuket
Gov rebuffs offer of 10,000 tsunami homes
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has rejected an offer from a mysterious businessman from Dubai to build 10,000 homes for tsunami victims.The Governor explained that Phuket already has enough donated homes to house all tsunami victims in the province.The businessman, who gave his name simply as “John”, visited Phuket Provincial Hall on August 25 to request that land be donated…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket Air banned by France
PARIS: Problem-plagued Phuket Air hit another hurdle this week when it was revealed that it has been banned from flying into France since June 4 on safety grounds. The Bangkok-based carrier has already been barred from British and Dutch airspace.The French civil aviation authority (Délégation Générale de l’Aviation Civile – DGAC) website included Phuket Airlines in a list of six…
Read More » - Phuket
Karon drops opposition to gay event
KARON: Phuket is set to host “Nation V”, Asia’s largest gay and lesbian party, from November 4-6 as originally scheduled, after organizers met with the Phuket Governor and leaders of the Kata-Karon Municipality in a closed-door meeting. The municipality, who earlier nixed plans to hold the party in their bailiwick, have approved the use of Karon Stadium for Fridae’s fifth…
Read More » - Phuket
Seabed sculptures to draw divers
ANDAMAN COAST: The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) plans to install novel underwater attractions off the six Andaman provinces affected by the tsunami. The underwater structures and designs are ostensibly to attract divers in lieu of tsunami-damaged coral.The Marine Science Faculty of Kasertsart University will be the main consultant to the project after the DMCR approached the faculty…
Read More » - Phuket
TAT sees revival of Japanese tourism in Phuket
PATONG: The Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Tokyo office expects about 300,000 Japanese to visit Phuket during the second half of 2005, as the message that it is now safe to return to Phuket is finally being heard.TAT Tokyo Office Director Patchaneelux Swatdee made the comments during a meeting of tourism industry experts at the Graceland Resort…
Read More » - Phuket
Soccer hero to return for football clinic
PHUKET: Peter Withe, arguably Thailand’s most successful head coach ever and currently Indonesia’s national coach, is to return to Thailand to take part in a football clinic in Phuket, for children who were affected by the tsunami.This Sunday, August 28, the three-hour free clinic at Surakul Stadium for some 400 students from 19 schools will start at 8:30 am with…
Read More » - Phuket
PM to hold Cabinet meeting in Phang Nga
PHUKET: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will hold a “mobile” Cabinet meeting in Phang Nga on September 5 and 6.On September 5, he will arrive, accompanied by some of his ministers, at Phuket International Airport in the morning, and be driven to Tambon Khuek Khak (Khao Lak) and Takuapa district in Phang Nga, before having lunch with local people.The Prime Minister…
Read More » - Phuket
Bank launches mortgages for foreigners
PHUKET: Bangkok Bank has broken ranks with the Thai banking establishment to become the first Thai bank to offer mortgages targeted firmly at foreigners wanting to buy property in Thailand.The mortgages are fairly limited in scope – they can be applied only to condos; the buyer must come up with the first 50% of the purchase price; and the mortgage…
Read More » - Phuket
Dubai mystery man offers 10,000 tsunami homes
PHUKET CITY: A businessman from Dubai met with Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura today to offer to build 10,000 houses for tsunami victims.The man, who gave his name simply as “John”, visited Phuket Provincial Hall to request that land be donated upon which to build the Australian-designed structures. The prefabricated homes would be shipped as knocked-down kits to Thailand, enabling them…
Read More » - Phuket
TOT blamed for mobile phone jams
PHUKET: Mobile phone operators, who once touted their services as the solution to the lack of land lines on the island, are now finding themselves victims of their own success.They are fending off waves of customer complaints and trying to find solutions to the overloading of telephone networks in the peak hours between 5 pm and 10 pm.Boonkul Masangchai, Manager…
Read More » - Phuket
Property industry club launched
PHUKET: Members of the island’s property and construction industries, along with related occupations, met last night at the Green Man pub in Chalong to launch a Phuket chapter of the Lighthouse Club, an international networking organization that also does charitable work for construction workers and their families.Officiating at the launch was a founder and former president of the Lighthouse Club…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket Air jumbo seized in S Korea – twice
SEOUL: A Phuket Air jumbo jet has been seized in South Korea after the carrier’s owner, Phuket Airlines Co Ltd, allegedly failed to settle debts owed to its local sales agent.The Nation in Bangkok reported August 23 that the Boeing 747-300 had been impounded at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.The aircraft had initially been banned from flying back to…
Read More » - Phuket
Thai ambassadors recruited to spread the word
PHUKET: Thai ambassadors based overseas are the best messengers to tell the world that the tsunami-affected areas have fully recovered, Foreign Affairs Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon announced on Saturday.About 80 Thai ambassadors based in 62 countries came to Phuket over the weekend for presentations on the recovery of the tourism industry in tsunami-affected areas.The visit was one leg of a 12-day…
Read More » - Phuket
Duty-free to tempt Thai tourists
PHUKET: The government is launching a temporary duty-free project in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi Provinces from September 1 through December 31, to entice Thai tourists to the region.The announcement was made by Deputy Finance Minister Warathep Rattanakorn at a meeting dubbed “Recover three Andaman provinces with Duty-Free” at Dusit Laguna Resort on Saturday. K. Warathep explained that the government…
Read More » - Phuket
“Mazhofu’ to allay tourists’ worries
PHUKET: In an effort to attract more Asian tourists to Phuket’s yearly Vegetarian Festival the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office, Phuket Provincial Administration Authority (OrBorJor), Phuket City Municipality and representatives from Phuket’s Chinese shrines will bring a specially-made “Ruby God” or Mazhofu statue from its original home in Meizhou Island in Fujian Province, China.Suwalai Pinpradab, the Director of…
Read More » - Phuket
Work starts on “world’s largest’ Buddha image
PHUKET: Construction of a 1,000-ton concrete Buddha image, touted as the largest of its kind in the world, has started high on the Nakkerd Hills between Karon and Chalong.Suporn Wanichkul, the head of the project committee, told the Gazette yesterday that the Buddha will be 45 meters high and 25 meters wide. He claims that it will be the biggest…
Read More » - Phuket
Cloud seeders back in Phuket
PHUKET: Despite recent rain showers, the Royal Rainmaking Project has been called in again to help stave off yet another looming water shortage in Phuket.Isara Anukul, Chief of the Water Allocation Division of the Phuket Irrigation Office (PIO), told the Gazette on Wednesday, “The water level in Bang Wad Reservoir [Phuket’s main water source] has dropped to 450,000 cubic meters…
Read More » - Phuket
Minister buries underground cable pleas
PATONG: It appears unlikely that Patong will get the 350 million baht it wants for burying power cables, after Sports and Tourism Minister Pracha Maleenont sternly shot down a budget proposal for the project at a meeting on post-tsunami redevelopment. The meeting, at the Graceland Resort and Spa on Wednesday, was held to discuss progress reports on tourism redevelopment efforts…
Read More » - Phuket
Transportation Office deluged with license applications
PHUKET CITY: Overworked staff at Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) are rushed off their feet by the demand for new licenses and license renewals.Teerayuth Prasertphol, Chief Technical Officer of the PPTO, told the Gazette that the office is receiving 80 to 150 applications for new licenses and as many as 200 applications for renewals a day. “There has been a…
Read More » - Phuket
Officials inspect wrecked Kamala resort
KAMALA: Kathu’s top official paid an inspection visit on Wednesday evening to the tsunami-damaged Kamala Bay Terrace Resort, where he asked the hotel’s sole remaining employee to try to organize a clean-up as soon as possible. Kathu District Chief Khantee Silapa, accompanied Phuket Provincial Security Affairs Chief Nikorn Torhiranyapreuk, said the visit was prompted by a complaint to the Phuket…
Read More »
