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OPINION: Phuket needs to bite the bag charge soon
PHUKET: The delay of an initiative by 24 island retailers to begin charging for plastic bags comes as a disappointment, especially given all the publicity and fanfare that went into organizing the three-day ‘Phuket Green Island’ event intended to kick off the project last weekend. According to Phuket Energy Office Chief Jirasuk Tummawetch, the initiative has been put on hold…
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Phuket water supply update
PHUKET TOWN: Addressing concerns that Phuket may not have enough water to get through the current dry season, the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO) has reported that the Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu has water to last until May if not replenished with rainfall. Mr Issara Anukool, who heads the PPIO’s water management department, said the reservoir currently hold 5.3…
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IP listing: Phuket Pineapple gets put in its proper place
PHUKET: The iconic ‘Phuket Pineapple’ has been registered on a list of 20 ‘geographical identity’ products by the Department of Intellectual Property. News of the listing, made in November, was announced by Phuket Provincial Commercial Affairs Office Director Sompong Onprasert during a meeting of provincial office chiefs at Phuket Provincial Hall. Also included on the list from the region were…
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Old Phuket Town Festival underway
PHUKET TOWN: Motorists planning to go downtown tonight should take note, as sections of several major arteries are now closed to traffic for the Old Phuket Town Festival that starts today. From 3pm until midnight on all three days of the festival, the following roads will be blocked off: Phuket Road: From the intersection with Dibuk Road south to the…
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Patong Darts League Roundup: Week 4
PATONG, PHUKET: Four weeks into the season Piccadilly remain at the top of the pack after an impressive 7-2 home win against Shakers. Most of the games were close, but Shakers had a case of ‘double trouble’ when it mattered most. Matt of Shakers got the high score with a 140. Queen Mary took a 5-4 advantage over Celtic, but…
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200,000 baht snatched in Phuket heist
CHALONG, PHUKET: Two men on a motorcycle snatched and rode off with a bag containing 200,000 baht in cash outside a rice shop in Chalong yesterday afternoon. Sompon Famangkorn, an employee of Namsaeng Rice Company, was getting out of his pickup outside the Nam Riab Rice Shop on Chao Fa West Road when the heist happened at around 3:30pm. Mr…
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Phuket encroachment problem continues to worsen
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket deputy governor tasked with putting an end to encroachment on the island is calling for more arrests. A provincial anti-encroachment panel chaired by Vice Governor Teerayut Eimtrakul met for the first time this year at Phuket Provincial Hall on Wednesday morning. The following statistics compiled by the panel showed a disturbing increase in the number of…
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Phuket hospital painted pink
PHUKET TOWN: A hospital has become the latest piece of Phuket to get the pink paint treatment. The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization Hospital, now under reconstruction on Anupas Phuket Karn Road in Phuket Town, will now join the Phuket Town buses and the new roadside pavilions which dot the island’s roads in being painted various shades of pink. PPAO President…
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Cherng Talay suffers from drought
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: Cherng Talay is drying up. That’s the fear of many local residents, who voiced their concerns at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Monday. Phuket Vice Governor Teerayut Eimtrakul chaired the discussion, which saw community representatives explain the area’s water management problems to Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (TAO) officials and hydrology experts. Residents say Cherng…
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Phuket gears up for Bike Week 2010
PHUKET: Organizers of Phuket Bike Week 2010 expect the event to generate 200 million baht in tourism revenue from big bike enthusiasts visiting from more than 20 countries. Organizers and local authorities met with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop earlier this month to discuss preparations for the event, to be held from April 8 to 11 this year. Representing the Tourism…
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Big name DJs in bumper beach fest
PATONG, PHUKET: Nine international DJs will be blasting out beats on Patong Beach for the island’s biggest beach party yet from 6pm until 1am this Thursday and Friday. Organized by Seduction Nightclub and 24Phuket.com, the two-day event at the beach end of Soi Bangla dubbed ‘Festival On The Sand’, will see the much anticipated return of award-winning DJ David Morales from…
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Cement truck overturns in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: A heavily laden cement truck overturned along the Patong to Kamala road in Phuket around midday today. The driver, 57-year-old Sukhon Sang-iat of Nakhon Sri Thammarat lost control of the vehicle while rounding a curved section of the road. The truck, carrying ten tons of Insee brand ready-mixed concrete, fell into a roadside drainage ditch and overturned. Mt…
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Patong Darts League report
PHUKET TOWN: Defending champs Piccadilly moved to the top of the table in the Patong Dart League with a beer-driven 7-2 win over Boozers last week. Both teams picked up some Scandinavian talent from former members of the Queen Mary bar, which is now under new management. Ronnie from Sweden went to Piccadilly, while his former teammate Steen opted to…
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HIgh on human ashes
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: In the latest drug craze to hit the south, youths in Nakhon Sri Thammarat’s Muang District are reportedly drinking a concoction that includes the ashes of recently-cremated corpses and extract from leaves of the krathom tree. ‘Phon’, a 17-year-old from Muang District, said he and his gang of about 10 friends had tried every known concoction of…
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Phuket aid for Haiti tops B3m
PHUKET: Money raised in Phuket to help earthquake-stricken Haiti may surpass the 3-million-baht mark, as the Rotary Club of Patong has revealed it has sent more than 400,000 baht to its Canadian-based Shelter Box relief project. Club president Woody Leonhard said matching donations from the Canadian government will result in more than 800,000 baht going to the charity. Shelter Box…
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FAT Football result: Phuket 0 Phattalung 0
PHUKET: FC Phuket have a new squad, a new nickname and a new kit, but it was the same old story at Surakul Stadium yesterday, when they played to a scoreless draw against Phattalung. The match was the first of the season in Division Two (Southern Section) play in the Football Association of Thailand. Hopes were high for FC Phuket…
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Aerial survey finds encroachment in six areas of Phuket
PHUKET: Forest protection officers arrested two men for illegal encroachment after helicopter surveillance revealed signs of forest destruction in Phuket. Panumet Dam-on, chief of the Phuket Forest Protection Unit, said officers spent three hours in a helicopter on February 8 searching for signs of encroachment. The team flew over three sites. The first was Bang Khanoon forest reserve in tambon…
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‘Chang Noi’ born in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: Tourists have been flocking to the Saiyuan Elephant Camp in Rawai to see a baby elephant, or ‘chang noi‘, born there over the weekend. Prapoj Hoysung, mahout of the 32-year-old mother Phang Phimpha, said the baby was born at 3:16am on Saturday, just as Phuket was preparing for the dual celebrations of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day…
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OPINION: In defense of Phuket tourism
PHUKET: There is widespread support in Phuket for Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop’s idea to fit all taxis and tuk-tuks on the island with meters. It is not possible to quantify the economic damage the tourism industry in Phuket has suffered from the notorious patchwork of transport syndicates that continue to operate in defiance of the law, colluding to keep passenger fares…
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Phuket raises Bt 2 million for Haiti
PHUKET TOWN: An island-wide fundraising event by the Phuket Red Cross to provide aid to victims of the Haitian earthquake disaster raised about 2 million baht, organizers say. The campaign culminated in a telethon on local television and donation drive on Soi Bangla on Thursday night. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop was among the many volunteers going from bar to bar…
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Swedes skate from Chiang Mai to Singapore
PHUKET TOWN: Two Swedes who are skating almost 5,000 kilometers from Chiang Mai to Singapore are on course to roll into Phuket next month for a quick respite – and maybe a foot massage or two. Education workers Jim Petersson, 25, and his girlfriend Maria Larsson, 29, have endured high speed spills, heat and exhaustion, but say they’re relishing the…
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Phuket beach safety delayed
PHUKET TOWN: The return of lifeguards to Phuket beaches has been delayed because no companies have bid for the contract to supply them. The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) has had to sweeten the contractual terms to encourage more bidders to come forward. The winning company will now have to supply beach guards for 10 months of the year instead…
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‘Patong Taxi Federation’ formed
PATONG, PHUKET: More than one thousand tuk-tuk, motorbike and car taxi drivers are banding together to form a new ‘Patong Taxi Federation’. One of the organization’s primary goals will be to clean up the image held by many of Patong’s taxi drivers. A second aim will be to improve traffic flow by having a central body that will oversee all…
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FC Phuket start season on Sunday
PHUKET TOWN: FC Phuket will kick off the new football season against Phattalung at Surakul Stadium on Sunday. The team endured a disappointing first campaign, failing to win a single home game and finishing second to last in the Football Association of Thailand’s second division, southern section. The team, which has changed its name from Phuket FC to FC Phuket,…
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Human smuggling: soldiers nabbed in Phuket
PHUKET: Two former soldiers face up to five years in jail for attempting to smuggle four Burmese illegal immigrants from Phuket to Kanchanaburi. Immigration Police arrested Cpl Chettha Moonnam, 52, and L/Cpl Prasit Moonnam, 48, on Tuesday night. There were four Burmese women in the back of the men’s pick-up when it was stopped at around 10pm on Thepkrasattri Road…
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Haiti fundraiser in Phuket tonight
PATONG, PHUKET: The Phuket Chapter of the Thai Red Cross Society is holding a large fundraiser for victims of the Haitian earthquake in Patong tonight. From 6pm until midnight, performers from Phuket FantaSea and Simon Cabaret will take to a stage set up by the beach at Loma Park. There will also be a fashion show staged by the local…
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Home invasion: Frenchman fends off Fortuner attack in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Chalong Police are hunting for the owner of a ‘beer bar’ who allegedly drove his Toyota Fortuner into the house of a former friend, then entered the home and began smashing property. When Chalong Police arrived at the house on Soi Saiyuan in Rawai around 2pm yesterday, they found 31-year-old Gabriel Troisgros in a state of shock. Mr…
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Hammertime in Phuket: counterfeit goods destroyed
PHUKET TOWN: The Intellectual Property Department and Phuket Provincial Police on Monday destroyed over 200,000 counterfeit products valued at 43 million baht. The event, intended to show Thailand is serious about enforcing intellectual property laws, was held at the solid waste incinerator at Sapan Hin. Taking part were the Phuket Provincial Police, Department of Intellectual Property, Phuket Office of Commercial…
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Danish Prince Henrik coming to Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket is preparing for the arrival of Prince Henrik of Denmark in mid-February. Louis Bronner, manager of Mom Tri’s Boathouse, last week met with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop to discuss security arrangements during the Danish royal’s stay on the island. Governor Wichai said he was notified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Prince Henrik, husband of the…
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Phuket braces for “ice’ storm
PHUKET: Ya ice is replacing ya bah as the drug of choice for Phuket’s teenagers, according to the island’s top police officer. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong’s comments came after police seized 100,000 baht’s worth of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) in a sting operation over the weekend. Six were arrested on drug charges. Maj Gen Pekad and Phuket City…
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