- Phuket News
TAT takes Deep South kids on Phuket megatrip
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand took 60 poor children from Thailand’s troubled Deep South provinces on a National Children’s Day trip of a lifetime to Phuket on Saturday. The lucky youngsters were chosen from schools in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces, where an Islamic separatist insurgency continues to rage with almost daily acts of violence. Included on the itinerary…
- Phuket News
Gazette Poll: Phuket has too many hotels
PHUKET: A clear majority of Phuket Gazette Online readers believe the island’s hotel industry is in a state of oversupply, the results of the newspaper’s latest poll reveal. Overall, more than half of those taking part (58.9%) thought there were too many hotels in Phuket, compared to just 17.1% who thought there were not. Almost a quarter of all those…
- Opinion
PHUKET OPINION: Put the alcohol ban on ice
PHUKET: While possibly well-intended, the recently announced ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Thailand’s 110 national parks is just one more addition to the long and growing list of regulations that are difficult or impossible to enforce – and that probably do more harm than good. The new rule, announced over the recent holiday period, calls not…
- Phuket News
Park booze ban: Phuket tourism players “shaken, not stirred’
PHUKET: Reactions by key figures in Phuket’s tourism industry are mixed over the recent ban on alcohol inside 110 national parks nationwide. However, many agree that the rule will be very difficult to enforce at marine national parks. Pracha Rachai, Events Manager at Andaman Aqua Trails, said the ban had already caused “a lot” of cancellations by Russian tourists, the…
- Phuket News
Phuket PIMEX gets down to business
PHUKET: The 2011 Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) is off to a flying start, with Jaguar selling one of their all-new cars and Derani Yachts selling a Monterey 298SS Super Sport on the show’s opening day. Other deals inked include Phuket boat broker Lee Marine selling a 57-foot Jeanneau and a 33ft Fountain powerboat changing hands through a private sale.…
- Phuket News
Children’s day on Phuket
PHUKET: Children’s Day activities kicked off in Phuket today with addresses to the island’s next generation by the Phuket Governor and head of the provincial council. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) president Paiboon Ubatising both addressed a crowd of youths and civil servants at Phuket Provincial Hall, one of the many places staging special events…
- Phuket News
Investors target Phuket as tuna-industry hub
PHUKET: In a move that would more than double Phuket’s tuna-fishing fleet – already the third largest in Asia – a delegation of Taiwanese investors are looking to set up an operations center in Phuket to take advantage of increased tuna stocks in the Andaman Sea. The delegation of executives from Singapore-based Seaspire International floated the idea yesterday at a…
- Phuket News
New Phuket school library opens
PHUKET: Baan Tungkha School in Rassada has opened a library on its grounds for students and locals alike. Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen presided over the opening ceremony of the 600,000-baht facility, one of the few of its kind on the island. School director Wilas Parinyaniyom explained, “Our school committee wanted to gather secondhand books and computers and make them available…
- Phuket News
Phuket braces for Children’s Day
PHUKET: Phuket will be abuzz with activity tomorrow as kids celebrate Children’s Day across the island. Free activities for children will be available at the following times and locations: Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukhaban will open events at Loma Park at 8:30am. Activities involve games and performances, a bicycle giveaway and a scholarship handover ceremony for about 5,000 lucky recipients.…
- Thailand News
Worn out woman opts for penal retreat
KHON KAEN: A woman caught shoplifting from a 7-Eleven told police she committed the crime because she was bored with her life and wanted to go to jail. Wipha Chanachuen, 53, said she was tired of working for a living and wanted to rest in an old people’s home – but jail was the next best option. Khon Kaen City…
- Thailand News
Gruesome offering for pig-headed spirits
PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: Villagers tried an usual rain-making method last week after two years of drought ruined their coconut harvests. Instead of appealing for the cloud-seeding techniques famous across the land, they instead decided what was needed was an offering of 249 severed pig heads to the spirits of the land. Despite parts of the country experiencing the worst floods…
- Phuket News
Burmese man murdered in Phuket
PHUKET: Police are investigating the murder of a Burmese man found lying dead in shallow water off Kata Beach in Phuket yesterday. Chalong Police were informed by local residents that a body was discovered in the water at the south end of Kata Beach at about 8am yesterday. Arriving at the scene, they found the body of an Asian man…
- Phuket News
“Phuket proud to host PIMEX’: V/Gov
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak today officially opened PIMEX 2011 with resounding praise. “Phuket is very proud to host such an international event. It is the only event of its kind in Thailand,” he told the crowd gathered at Royal Phuket Marina. “Phuket is becoming Southeast Asia’s focal point for international-standard tourism and the marine industry. International investment in…
- Phuket News
Chinese tourist airlifted to Phuket
PHUKET: A Chinese woman is fighting for her life at Vachira Phuket Hospital after a dramatic airlift rescue from Surin Island National Park this afternoon. Lt Cdr Somsak Boonkam of the Naval Air Section, Third Area Command (NASTAC), told the Phuket Gazette that he was among the five rescuers dispatched on the mission. “At about noon we received radio orders…
- Phuket News
Locals fight to preserve Phuket mangroves
PHUKET: Out of fear of losing their community and way of life to “selfish people” allegedly encroaching on protected mangrove forests, Pa Khlok villagers submitted a formal complaint to the Phuket governor yesterday. About 20 villagers, led by chief Cha-euan Hemhong and community leader “Uncle” Jurun Ratchapol, handed the letter to Gov Tri Augkaradacha requesting immediate investigation into the matter.…
- Phuket News
Phuket set for heavy rains
PHUKET: The Meteorological Department is warning of possible heavy rains and rough seas along the Andaman coast over the next 24 hours, as unusually strong monsoonal conditions prevail in what is normally Phuket’s driest month. In a report issued at 11am today, the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) read that a “rather strong” northeasterly monsoon prevails over the southern Thailand’s…
- Phuket News
Phuket landmark Mom Tri’s Boathouse sold
PHUKET: The owners of the Trisara resort have announced an agreement to buy Mom Tri’s Boathouse, the long-established resort and restaurant complex on the beach in Kata. The Boathouse issued a statement yesterday that Narong Pattamasaevi, Executive Chairman of the Three Dolphins group that owns and operates Trisara, has signed contracts to acquire 100% of shares in The Boathouse Inn…
- Phuket News
Phuket foreign property sales to grow 25% this year
PHUKET: Real estate sales to foreigners in Phuket are expected to grow 25 per cent this year to 5 billion baht, according to property development firm Seacon. Nevertheless, sales are likely to remain at least 50 per cent lower than during the boom years of 2006 and 2007, when foreign sales came in at 10 to 12bn baht each year.…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s PIMEX on track for another record year
PHUKET: The Phuket International Boat Show, PIMEX 2011, is set for yet another record-breaking year, organizers say. The annual international event gets underway tomorrow at Royal Phuket Marina and runs through Sunday, January 9. “PIMEX 2011 is really shaping up to set a new benchmark this year,” said Andy Dowden, Show Director of Informa Yacht Group. “The event has attracted…
- Phuket News
Phuket police warn over “royal souvenirs’
PHUKET: Phuket police are warning residents to beware of men approaching their homes calling for donations, for which, in return, donors receive souvenir plaques bearing images of His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej and the Queen Mother. The warning comes after a group of about 10 men in a Nissan Navara arrived in a neighborhood near the Tha Reua Shrine late yesterday…
- Phuket News
Tourists get more Phuket beachfront parking
PHUKET: The new parking zones along Thaweewong Road (the beach road) in Patong have finally been unveiled, allowing more room for tourists to park along the beachfront. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha on Thursday officially opened the new zones, heralded as the first in a series of steps to solve the tourist town’s traffic and parking woes. The changes make about…
- Phuket News
Phuket holiday death toll reaches four
PHUKET: A young man killed in a hit-and-run accident is the fourth road fatality recorded in Phuket during the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign, now in its final day throughout Thailand. The victim, 21-year-old Chalong resident Anek Karnchonchai, died after his motorbike crashed near Baan Kata School on Patak Road in Karon at about 6am today. According to…
- Phuket News
Skills shortage hampers Phuket MICE market
PHUKET: Human resources shortages may be stunting the growth of the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry in Phuket and elsewhere in Thailand. Universities and other educational institutions are being engaged to tackle the problem. Akapol Sorasuchart, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), says that MICE is a rapidly growing sector in the Thai tourism industry,…
- Phuket News
Canadian tourists killed in Phuket New Year smash
PHUKET: A Canadian couple, killed in a pickup truck bus (songtaew) smash just fifteen minutes into the New Year, were the second and third road accident fatalities in Phuket in the new year. Cherngtalay Police duty officer Tatchagrit Ritnuang identified the victims as Aryporn Sunthorn, 50, and Kongseng Sunthorn, 61. Both were Canadian nationals of ethnic Chinese descent. Four others…
- Phuket News
Cooking oil rations hit Phuket
PHUKET: Retailers throughout Thailand have begun rationing the sale of bottled palm oil in a move to curb seasonal shortages. Big C, on the bypass road, is limiting bottles of cooking oil to two per customer, while The Nation reports that Tesco Lotus is limiting sales to one bottle of palm oil per customer nationwide. Mr Pramarn Urawan, a researcher…
- Opinion
OPINION: Mentality change needed for safe water
PHUKET: Water-related issues are a constant source of complaints received both at the Phuket Gazette editorial offices and at Provincial Hall. A recent online poll revealed a great deal of confusion among readers as to whether or not household tap water is safe to drink. Overall, less than 20 per cent of those taking part in the poll thought it…
- Phuket News
First Phuket road fatality for the year
PHUKET: A motorbike rider without a helmet has been reported as the first Phuket road fatality of the New Year. The body of Uthai Maikhong, 33, was found beside his bike in a three-meter-deep roadside drainage ditch in front of Wat Muang Mai in Thalang about 8am yesterday. Local residents heard an accident about 7pm the night before, but in…
- Phuket News
Phuket ushers in 2011
PHUKET: About 1,000 people from across Phuket joined an alms-giving ceremony in Phuket Town this morning to offer food to 229 Buddhist monks to welcome the new year of 2011. Leading the proceedings at Queen Sirikit Park was Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana together with Phuket’s three Vice Governors: Nivit Aroonrat, Weerawat Janpen and Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak. The three Vice Governors…
