Opinion
The Thaiger Opinion Columns
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Changes in Phuket: Make them last
PHUKET: Even as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) continues to roll on with its unprecedented and long overdue law-enforcement campaign, pressure inevitably continues to rise – both within the country and internationally – over when new elections will be held and democracy restored. “Branding” a military coup is never an easy task, but images of a pristine…
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Keep the Phuket cleanup ball rolling, take down jet-skis next
PHUKET: As the rains of the southwest monsoon fall and low-season tourism arrival figures plummet, there could not be a better time for the National Council for Peace and Order to be carrying out the long-overdue crackdown on the many illegal businesses that have tarnished the island’s reputation for too many years. The removal of illegal taxi stands along the…
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Phuket driving test: forget about the parking
PHUKET: Someone I know recently applied for a driver’s license and failed the parallel-parking test. “You hit the pole,” announced the proctor from her little booth. And I began to wonder: in the nation which has the third-highest road fatality rate in the world, does it really matter how well you parallel park? Being third globally (according to the World…
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Protecting Phuket’s image, day and night
Sopon Keamkan, 43, a native of Trang, is Acting Chief of Phuket’s Public Relations Department. He has a master’s degree in Political Science from Ramkhamheang University and has worked in the island’s PR Dept for more than 15 years. During that time, he and his colleagues have received numerous national-level awards for their work. Here, he talks about how he…
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Saving Phuket park is more than battling land encroachers
Kitiphat Taraphiban, 53, a native of Bangkok, is the new Chief of Sirinath National Park. He has a bachelor’s degree in Forest Management from Kasetsart University, and before coming to Phuket, served as chief of Mae Ping National Park in Chiang Mai for one year. Here, he talks about his plans to clean, protect and upgrade the beach, forest and…
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Phuket benefits from NCPO’s no-nonsense measures
PHUKET: Following the unprecedented crackdown on the island’s notorious transport syndicates in recent weeks, it is becoming clear that few provinces in Thailand are benefitting more from the no-nonsense measures ordered by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) than Phuket. Now the cleanup, aimed at ending illegal businesses in Phuket, has targeted another scourge that has increasingly tarnished…
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Military Rule in Phuket: I’m thinking Maldives
PHUKET: Ask anyone, and their first impression of the Maldives is the iconic Indian Ocean archipelago with possibly the most beautiful beaches in the world. Everyone has heard of them, and most have wanted to visit them. What most people do not know about this collection of 1,192 islands is that it has developed its reputation as one of the…
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Best news: Notorious transport syndicates shut down
PHUKET: It may have taken military action, but the long-overdue purge against some of the island’s most notorious transport syndicates is, hands down, the best news the island has had in decades. While the Phuket Gazette remains cautiously optimistic – and staunchly secular – we cannot help but join our readers in rejoicing that something is finally being done about…
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Beach club blues
PHUKET: I’ve heard it many times from long-term Phuket expats – over the years the island has changed for the worse. But it doesn’t take decades to notice the decline. For me it took just one year. Take what used to be my favorite Phuket beach – Layan. A half-moon of sand on the border of a national park, edged…
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Turning others’ bad reputations into profit
Manop Pukpaya, 46, has been working as a Phuket taxi driver since 1997. He has a certificate in sales marketing from Dusit Commercial College Bangkok and for the past three years has run his own taxi service.Here, he talks about how the bad reputation of taxi drivers in Phuket and a good online review helped him expand his business, and…
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Crying out for a fair shakedown
PHUKET: Few Phuket Gazette news reports have generated more comment and debate in the social media than our recent article about vendors of pirated goods in Patong banding together to stage a protest against alleged extortion by government officials (story here). Scores of officers from a variety of government agencies, the protesters claimed, had been demanding too much in bribes…
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Phuket’s transformation: The times, they are a changing
PHUKET: The times are changing, always have and always will – especially in Phuket. Even in the couple of years I’ve been lucky enough to live here, I have witnessed drastic changes all over the island. One of the most obvious transformations is new structures. Even though I travel around the island frequently, it is shocking how different the skyline…
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On the run: Visa runs to stay a part of life despite crackdowns
PHUKET: Recent reports quoting Thai Immigration officials as saying that “visa runs” were a thing of the past have generated a great deal of interest and confusion in Thailand’s expat community. Yet this crackdown is little more than the latest in a long series of tweaks to Immigration policy that is unlikely to have any real impact on foreigners staying…
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Mayor to tackle Patong corruption
Chalermluck Kebsup, 50, was voted in as Patong Mayor in the polls on April 26 (story here). She has a master’s degree in political science from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University and was Phuket Member of Parliament for 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. She is also a Patong native and a prominent businesswoman. Ms Chalermluck has also received the state…
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Save the living dead: put down the smartphones
PHUKET: Having recently become addicted to the American TV show The Walking Dead, where the survivors of a zombie-virus plague battle for survival in the post-apocalyptic landscape of America, I couldn’t help but think about a more insidious zombie plague that is slowly taking over the world. The zombies are all around us, everywhere… they could be your best friend,…
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Balancing good and bad in a digital age
PHUKET: There is an apocryphal “curse” attributed to the ancient Chinese that is typically rendered as: “May you live in interesting times”. While its origins are sketchy at best, its popularity appears to be growing in this new era of digital information overload. The days of a popular culture developed through a limited mainstream media are long gone. Content consumers…
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Phuket kids to save Karon
Yuphayao Alshammary, 50, has been Director of Suwan-keereekate School in Karon since May 2013. She has an MA in Education Management from Maha Sarakham University and is now pursuing a PhD. Before coming to Phuket, she was director of two rural Northeast schools for more than 15 years. Here, she talks about how supporting education can help solve Karon’s social…
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Legal enigmas: foreigners beware
PHUKET: The news stories that have spilled across the pages of the Phuket Gazette over the past few weeks have thrown into sharp relief what it takes for a foreigner to live on this paradise island. A Russian woman who had made her home here being refused re-entry to Thailand last month because officers from the Immigration Bureau suspected her…
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Policing a Protestocracy
PHUKET: Few stories in recent memory better reflect the collective failure of local police to maintain law and order than the recent blockade of Thepkrasattri Road by residents of Thalang (story here). The closure paralyzed traffic in the north of the island for more than eight hours, inconveniencing untold thousands of visitors – many of whom will never choose to…
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Time for a resolution checkup
PHUKET: The Thai New Year has come and gone, and I can’t help but think about the resolutions I made for my own new year in January. For Westerners like me, the half-year point is quickly approaching and thoughts of resolutions made in good faith on January 1 are probably a distant memory. As I stared into the face of…
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When home is a dangerous place
PHUKET: I was born and raised in Yala, but have lived in Phuket for about three years. Many outsiders think that Yala is horrible because of the violence. My friends in Phuket don’t want to visit me when I go home, and I understand why. There are a lot of negative stories about Yala in the news. Teachers are assaulted,…
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Phuket’s most dangerous job
Saijai Luesup, 48, has been working as the Workplace Safety Department of Phuket Provincial Labor Protection and Welfare Office chief for almost four years. She has a bachelor’s degree in public health from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. PHUKET: Construction sites pose the greatest danger to workers in Phuket. Because of this we are very thorough with our safety inspections, which…
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Can’t wash your hands with dirty water
PHUKET: Hardly a week passes nowadays without a damaging news report about water-related issues in Phuket. Of these, none could be more harmful to the island’s reputation than reports of untreated wastewater flowing directly into the sea at some of the island’s most popular beaches. Such reports are nothing new. Sadly, untreated wastewater entering Patong Bay is now so common…
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Ticking off the Songkran bucket list – respect before revelry
PHUKET: By the time you read this, I hope you took a plastic bag with you to the shop to buy your copy of the Phuket Gazette. Songkran has once again come and gone, having been celebrated by the traditional bucket load. Most Phuket oldtimers I know choose to stay indoors during the Thai New Year, happily avoiding the deluges…
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Unwanted babies in Phuket are not to be abandoned
Special Report The discovery of a newborn boy abandoned in the bed of a pick-up truck in front of a luxury resort on April 10 has highlighted the issue of unwanted pregnancies on Phuket. Many women, not knowing which way to turn, abandon their babies or seek illegal abortions. The Gazette‘s Chutharat Plerin explores what options are available for pregnant…
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Travel a la carte
PHUKET: When I first came to Thailand, I came to travel. I went north and south, south and east. Sadly, since I moved here permanently, I find myself lacking the time to explore this country, and if I manage to secure some time off, I travel abroad. Luckily, there is a way to travel even when short on time and…
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Phuket double jeopardy: too much, too fast
Former Phuket Senator Tunyaratt Achariyachai, 59, represented Phuket in Thailand’s Upper House for six years. She graduated with a master’s degree in public administration from Manila University in the Philippines. Here, Ms Tunyaratt identifies her proudest achievements during her term as senator and what she still sees as the critical issues facing Phuket. PHUKET: When I was voted into office,…
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Phuket Opinion: Three cheers for clean police
PHUKET: The opening of the Karon Police Station in 2012 to serve the southwest of the island was a well-intended move, one expected to take pressure off the Chalong police who were previously responsible for the entire south of the island. Events in recent months have shown that the truncation did not stop the scandals that have plagued the Chalong…
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Safeguarding health in a shifting populace
Kajohnsak Kaewjarus, 49, took up the position of chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office on October 1 last year. Phang Nga born and raised, Dr Kajohnsak graduated from Mahidol University with a master’s degree in general surgery. Here, he talks about Phuket’s top health concerns and gives his prognosis on how to treat them. PHUKET: After spending only a…
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Essence of life endangered in Phuket
PHUKET: It is sad, but not surprising, that it took a recent public intervention to finally stop a well-known local Phuket businessman from backfilling an important water storage reservoir on the island. Given our nation’s growing reputation internationally as a hotspot for protests, it is difficult to fathom why so few demonstrations on the island are ever fomented by the…
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