Year: 2010
- Phuket News
Phuket: Big success in bad times
PHUKET: Phuket’s relative prosperity “shows how shifts that transform the global economy can also supply visitors to an attractive destination so steadily that it becomes relatively immune to temporary disturbances,” such as the recent violent demonstrations in Bangkok. That is the theme of Wayne Arnold in a story about Phuket in yesterday’s New York Times. Noting that the truly significant…
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Paul Poole workshops to resume
PHUKET: Despite political uncertainty in many parts of the country, sponsorship specialists Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co Ltd have decided to resume their popular training workshops following a two-year hiatus. Paul Poole explained that resuming the workshops, to be held at The Metropolitan Hotel in Bangkok, is the result of what he termed “surprising popular demand”. “We plan on…
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Phuket pawnshops busy in April
PHUKET: Government-run pawnshops on the island did a roaring trade last month in the run-up to the new school term that began in mid-May. More than 10,000 people pawned goods valued at over 200 million baht at the island’s three government-licensed pawnshops in April. The Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop currently has 247 million baht out on loan, while the Patong…
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Australians warned off Phuket medical tourism
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: The Australian Medical Association (AMA) yesterday urged people to be cautious after a Gold Coast business offered plastic surgery and dental holidays in Phuket. For background on the CosMediTour offer, see Tuesday’s Phuket NEWS Hound, here. Although doctors…
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Patong to get ‘drunk center’
PHUKET: Foreign tourists who over-indulge and get into trouble in Patong may soon be left overnight to sober up in a ‘drunk center’, according to plans revealed at the second meeting between Honorary Consuls and Phuket authorities on May 24. Another major proposal mooted at the meeting was setting up a call center to coordinate taxi services in Patong. Phuket…
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Phuket airport arrivals up 41%
PHUKET: While the ‘red shirt’ protests and ensuing government crackdown in the Thai capital saw international passenger arrivals to Bangkok airports fall by 0.6% last month, the number of international arrivals to Phuket in April increased by 41.4%, according to Airports of Thailand (AoT) statistics reported by real estate firm CB Richard Ellis today. International arrivals to Suvarnabhumi Airport last…
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Travel warning revision to benefit Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Britain’s Foreign Office eased its advice against travel to the Thai capital yesterday as Bangkok slowly returned to normal after protests and riots. Britain had advised against all travel to Bangkok, including Phuket and Thailand in general, earlier…
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Murder trio nabbed in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket City Police this afternoon held a press conference announcing the capture of three young men wanted in connection with the stabbing murder of Sathit Chuenchuan in Rassada Sunday night. Led by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Komol Wattrakorn, police identified the stabber as 22-year-old Kanokchart ‘San’ Deethong-on from Nakhon Sri Thammarat. Also presented were his alleged accomplices, 23-year-old…
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U.S. Embassy in full service
PHUKET: The U.S. embassy in Bangkok re-opened today for “limited operations” and will resume full services tomorrow after being closed for a week due to the street protests. “In Thailand, our embassy was open for limited operations today [Monday] and we anticipate resuming full operations tomorrow,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. The United States closed its embassy, located…
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PHUKET OPINION: Let’s move up from ‘social engineering’
PHUKET: A few years ago, the back of a best-selling T-shirt on sale in Patong listed events that had hurt Phuket’s tourism industry: ‘Phuket tourism: 2001 Bomb Alert, 2002 SARS, 2003 Bird Flu, 2004 Tsunami. What’s Next?‘ The front simply read: ‘Still alive and kicking,’ a nod to the industry’s resilience. Given the drop-off in sales of the older shirt,…
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Phuket medicine goes to the Gold Coast
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: More than 150 people are expected to be on hand tomorrow at a Phuket medical tourism initiative on Australia’s Gold Coast. Among them will be Phuket’s internationally recognized cosmetic surgeon Dr Sanguan Kunaporn and director Peter Davidson of…
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Security boost at Central Festival Phuket shopping mall
PHUKET: Security has been stepped up at Central Festival Phuket following the destruction of Central World Plaza in Bangkok last week. General manager of Central Festival, Wilaiporn Pitimana-aree, said that although there were no signs of political violence on the island, it was company policy to increase security at all the chain’s branches. The company had no evidence of a…
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Hearing on bypass road ‘flyover’ in Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: A planned flyover at the Darasamuth Intersection near Central Festival Phuket will become a ‘flyunder’, if the project consultants get their way.At a public hearing scheduled for tomorrow at The Metropole hotel, Thai Engineering Consultants (TEC) will recommend a tunnel to take bypass road traffic under the intersection and onto Chao Fa West Road. Another tunnel would also take…
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Briton dies in Phuket hotel room
PATONG, PHUKET: The body of a British man who died of apparent heart failure was discovered by his father in a Patong hotel room yesterday afternoon. Kathu Police Duty Inspector Jakkapong Luang-aon identified the body as that of UK national Kevin Dean, age 47. Mr Dean’s body was discovered at about 2:30pm on the bathroom floor of his room at…
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Revved motorbike leads to Phuket stabbing murder
RASSADA, PHUKET: A man was stabbed to death in Phuket last night after complaining about his neighbors’ noisy motorbike. The 24-year-old victim, Sathit ‘Geng’ Chuanchuen from Suphanburi province, died on the way to Vachira Phuket Hospital of a stab wound to the heart. Hospital workers alerted police to Mr Sathit’s death at around 12:20am today. Police examined his body in…
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AirAsia suspends Phuket – Ho Chi Minh, Phuket – Medan routes
PHUKET: Thai AirAsia’s direct flights from Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City and Medan have been canceled temporarily due to low demand, but the carrier remains committed to growing Phuket as its second air hub in the Kingdom. The two services began at the end of last year with daily flights to Ho Chi Minh City and three flights weekly…
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Phuket tourists divert to Bali
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: The long-running political crisis in Thailand appears to have had a positive spin-off for Bali’s tourism industry, with more foreign tourists than usual visiting the Indonesian island instead of Thai destinations such as Phuket. The Jakarta Globe reports…
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Mumbo jumbo in Phuket hotel bookings
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Phuket readers of stories from a wide array of ‘media outlets’ are by now well accustomed to conflicts, mumbo jumbo and gobbledygook when it comes to hotel occupancy, forward bookings and other tourism statistics. There are times when…
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Phuket Perspective: Major media did poorly in the protests
PHUKET: While on holiday in Phuket two weeks ago, a Malaysian Sun Daily columnist was disappointed, if not disgusted, by the reports of respected international media covering the protests in Thailand. In his column Down2Earth last week, he wrote about a spectacle that many Thais in Phuket and all over Thailand, including Bangkok itself, had been observing with indredulity for…
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Phuket Airport dismisses “chemtrail’ video
PHUKET: Air traffic control officials have dismissed as “crazy” a video circulating on the Internet purporting to show a mysterious unmarked airplane leaving “chemtrails” in the sky over Phuket. The video was posted on YouTube on May 19 by a user calling himself “robinhoodlum”. “Chemtrails in Phuket. Caught on tape at last,” says the narrator in a British accent, as…
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Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll: How has the crisis hit Phuket?
PHUKET: It’s clear that tourist numbers are way down in Phuket right now, but what’s causing the situation? It is, after all, the start of low season and economies around the globe have yet to fully recover from the 2008 financial crisis. How much effect has the current political crisis in Thailand had on Phuket tourism? Have your say in…
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Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll: Patong reversal is a step backwards
PHUKET: Only around one-third of Phuket Gazette readers believe reversing the direction of one way traffic will make travel in Patong more convenient, according to the results of our latest poll. A total of 645 readers voted in the poll, which asked respondents what effect the plans would have on travel in the resort town. The most popular response, offered…
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Phuket prisoners taste freedom
PHUKET: As part of a Royal Pardon, 148 convicts were released into civil society from Phuket Provincial Prison yesterday. Phuket’s newest batch of ex-convicts, 138 men and 10 women, were among 490 Phuket prisoners who were either released or had sentences reduced to to mark May 5 Coronation Day in Thailand. Vice Governor Smith Palawatvichai told the ex-cons at the…
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Phuket Fun Fly underway in Rawai
PHUKET: The Phuket Paragliding Club’s first-ever Phuket Fun Fly is underway in Rawai. Hundreds of paragliders from around the world are taking the big leap from the launch site at Laem Phromthep, then gliding along to their final descent at Nai Harn beach. Activities include spot landing and gate passing competitions, as well as ‘fancy dress flying’. Experienced paragliders will…
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Drunk driver in Phuket pile-up
PHUKET CITY: A 30-year-old man tested five times over the legal alcohol limit after smashing his truck into an oncoming pickup, scattering seven motorbikes and their passengers across the road. Nakhon Sri Thammarat native Wirot Songpan was driving his black pickup truck home at rush hour on the morning of May 19 after a night of drinking in Saphan Hin…
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Phuket bars to open late for soccer World Cup
PHUKET: Soccer fans will be pleased to hear that bars in Phuket will be allowed to stay open late to show South Africa 2010 World Cup matches, although alcohol sales regulations will still apply. “Bars can show the soccer matches late, but they still have to follow the law limiting the hours when alcohol can be sold,” said Phuket Provincial…
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Bird seller slain in Phuket
KATA, PHUKET: Chalong Police are hunting for a man who stabbed and bludgeoned a man to death in front of a crowd of horrified witnesses in Phuket on Wednesday night. Nakhon Sri Thammarat native Teerasak Sukkasem, the 40-year-old owner of a store selling caged birds, died at the scene. Inspector Anukul Nookate of Phuket City Police was alerted to the…
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British ironman to climb Mont Blanc for Phuket charity
PHUKET: Phuket resident Les Bird is a man who takes pleasure in pain, and a man who has been praying for rain so he can test out his new Size 14 waterproof hiking boots. The 59-year-old plans to climb Mont Blanc – Europe’s highest and most deadly mountain – in July, and hopes to raise one million baht for needy…
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Phuket Police arrest brothers for Rassada slaying
PHUKET: Two brothers have been arrested after nearly two months on the run and charged with stabbing their neighbor to death for ‘making too much noise’.Phuket natives Niphon, 37, and Niphan Kruae-in, 36, were arrested yesterday for the March 21 slaying of 41-year-old Ponsan Noi-oonsaen, a native of Chiang Mai. The brothers were hiding in a hut on a rubber…
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Phuket mall banks open Saturday
PHUKET: Prasarn Trairatworakul, chairman of the Thai Bankers Association, said today that banks in shopping malls can reopen on Saturday and Sunday. The move followed a Bank of Thailand (BoT) announcement that all banks in Thailand would be closed today and tomorrow, opening again for business on Monday. The move will protect bank staff and the public, according to the…
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Phuket wants peace: Dr Sriyada
PHUKET: Former Thai Rak Thai Party leader for Phuket Dr Sriyada Shinawatra doesn’t think the riots and arson attacks in the country yesterday will have a negative impact on Phuket, but insists that fresh elections and a respect for democratic principles are the only solution to Thailand’s current political conflict. Dr Sriyada, who runs a dental clinic in Phuket Town,…
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Phuket calm after Bangkok riots
PHUKET: Despite the recent mayhem in Bangkok, life has largely gone on as normal in Phuket – but local authorities remain on high alert to ensure continued security. Days of rioting in the capital culminated in the planned surrender yesterday of several ‘red shirt’ United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders. But rather than spelling the endgame to the…
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Sea rescue course in Phuket
PHUKET: A sea rescue course for 40 volunteers and government officers is underway at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) training center in Phuket. The 45-day Andaman Sea Rescue Course, funded by DDPM region 18, began on April 19 and is scheduled to end June 2. The course includes sessions on radio communication and maritime law by instructors…
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RoyFest returns to Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: According to public relations website PR Urgent, anyone in the Karon Beach area of Phuket will be able to hear music from a host of Thai and international DJs, as well as various other artists, at RoyFest 2010.…
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Phuket Airport safe, security stepped up
PHUKET: Security at Phuket International Airport has been beefed up following outbreaks of violence across Bangkok and other parts of the country today. Airport Director Pratueng Sornkham said more police officers were called in to guard the facility from 11am this morning. Stricter security procedures are now in operation and will remain so until the situation changes, he said. He…
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Turmoil in more cities, but top cop says Phuket safe
PHUKET: Despite the turmoil engulfing parts of Bangkok and some other Thai cities, Phuket’s top cop insists Phuket remains safe. Commenting on reports that two provincial halls in Northeast Thailand have been set on fire by rampaging red shirts, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong said the same could not happen here. Tha Chat Chai checkpoint, where police inspect vehicles…
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Phuket to host Seniors World Cup
PHUKET: The island is gearing up to host the fifth annual Football Senior World Cup 2010 tournament that kicks off on May 31. The tournament is to be held in Phuket for the first time since 2006, when the island hosted the inaugural event. Play in this year’s tournament, which runs from May 31 to June 5, will include teams…
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