- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
“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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
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…
- Phuket News
Gov orders encroachers’ homes demolished
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura yesterday ordered the demolition of 30 terraced houses being built for illegal encroachers on Sirinath Marine National Park land by the Sakoo Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor).The Governor announced his decision at an open meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall, attended by the Sakoo OrBorTor Chief Surapong Panyawai and Sirinath Marine National Park Chief Thanapong Aphaisorn.At the…
- Phuket News
Haze gone, unlikely to return
PHUKET: Blue skies returned to Phuket today as the haze from Indonesia receded, thanks to a combination of local winds and increasingly effective fire-fighting on Sumatra. Chumnong Chitpukdee, Chief of the Meteorological Department‘s Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), told the Gazette this morning that the weather in Phuket has already returned to normal. “Luckily for us we have sea breezes…
- Thailand News
Scent to jail
UDON THANI: Busting drug mules can be a dirty business, as police in Udon Thani found out on the afternoon of August 15. After receiving a tip-off that a drug deal was about to go down at the Jaroernsri Complex shopping center, police led by Provincial Police Deputy Chief Inspector Yanyong Wechsot set up a surveillance unit. It was not…
- Phuket News
Dead man’s next of kin sought
PHUKET: The British Honorary Consul in Phuket, Alan Cooke, has appealed for help in contacting the next of kin of British citizen Keith Alan Jones, 43, who died yesterday afternoon (August 16) of respiratory problems and severe liver damage. Mr Jones, who was born in Taunton, Somerset, had been in Phuket about a year and is believed to have been…
- Phuket News
New charter flights from Europe
PHUKET: One of the biggest names in European tourism is joining forces with a German airline to launch a new Phuket charter service at the start of the high season. Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, founded in 2002 and based at Brussels Airport, and low-cost carrier Condor Flugdienst plan to operate flights to Phuket between November and April next year.“Europe will…
- Phuket News
Sumatra “haze’ reaches Phuket
PHUKET: Hazy atmospheric conditions in Phuket today are the result of forest fires on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra that have left much of Malaysia and Southern Thailand coughing in smoke over the past week.Chumnong Chitpukdee, chief of the Meteorological Department’s Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), confirmed that Sumatra is the source of the haze, which is being carried here…
- Phuket News
Karon to crack down on tailors
KARON (Kom Chad Luek): Community leaders in Kata-Karon have issued a warning to the 144 tailor shops in the area that they will crack down on any that continue to use aggressive touting techniques or take advantage of tourists. Tambon Karon Chairman Winai Chidchiaw said that, at a meeting among village headmen and other community leaders, it was unanimously agreed…
- Phuket News
“Nation Party’ gay festival plans in doubt
PHUKET CITY: Despite Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura having already given his blessing for Asia’s largest gay and lesbian festival, the Nation Party, to be held in Phuket, the event may be staged elsewhere because Karon Municipality is worried about the possible consequences of hosting the party.The news broke yesterday following a closed-door meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Wednesday between…
- Phuket News
Patong, Kamala revamp still 8 months away
PHUKET CITY: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says that the number of tourists is on the rise since it launched a promotion for tsunami-affected areas.The only place that has not benefited, the TAT says, is Khao Lak, which it believes needs more time to recover before it can be promoted.The TAT’s plans to continue bolstering the recovery of tsunami-affected…
- Phuket News
Miss Teen Canada delivers the ‘bear necessities’
PHUKET CITY: Miss Teen Canada International 2005, 18-year-old Amanda Klyn, donated some 2,000 teddy bears to children affected by the tsunami, during her visit to Phuket and Phang Nga from August 7 to 9.Miss Klyn was invited to visit Thailand by Sananchart Thephasadin, the Thai Ambassador to Canada, after winning her title in January.She explained that the teddy bears were…
- Phuket News
Airport limo problem gets committee treatment
PHUKET CITY: The problem of transportation at Phuket International Airport has been dumped into the laps of at least 10 ad-hoc committees, who have been given the vaguest of briefs – to discuss solutions to the problem – and no deadline to report back with their conclusions.The decision to set up the committees was made at a public meeting at…
- Phuket News
THAI increases fuel charges – again
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced yet another round of increases in its fuel surcharge on all foreign and domestic flights, to be applied to tickets issued on or after August 15.The national carrier will raise the surcharge on one-way domestic flights from 200 baht to 300 baht; similar rises will be levied on regional and international routes, depending…
