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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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Phuket ready for Chinese tourists
PHUKET: Roughly 800,000 foreign tourists are expected to take part in concurrent celebrations of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day in Thailand today, with many of them having arrived in Phuket on charter flights. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said on Friday that 120,000 ethnic Chinese were expected to arrive inn Thailand from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong…
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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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‘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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Paragliders to get high in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: International daredevils are getting ready to throw themselves from the island’s southernmost cliffs as part of Phuket’s first ever ‘Fun Fly’ paragliding festival in May. The festival will take place at Laem Phromthep, Nai Harn Beach, Ya Nui Beach, and Koh Deang, where Phuket’s only wind turbine is located. The death-defying event is the brainchild of Phuket Paragliding…
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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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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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Tourist safety: Phuket Gov meets honorary consuls
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Governor met with honorary consuls from 16 countries yesterday afternoon to discuss ways to improve safety for foreign tourists on holiday in Phuket. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop chaired the meeting, which was hosted by the Royal Phuket City Hotel. Only the honorary consul from Spain was unable to attend. After all attendees introduced themselves at the…
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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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February blood drive in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Chapter of the Thai Red Cross Society in conjunction with the Phuket Regional Office of the National Blood Center has announced the following dates and times for it mobile donation clinics for February: February 10 (10am to 2pm): Phuket Wittayalai School, Phuket Town February 11 (11am to 3pm): Jungceylon, Patong February 15 (1pm to 4pm): Radi…
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Phuket education fair this Sunday
PHUKET: More than 20 Phuket-based Thai, bilingual and international schools are taking part in the Phuket Private Education Fair at Central Festival this Sunday. The schools will be occupying booths at Central Festival’s Event Hall on the 2nd floor from 11am to 8pm on February 14, giving prospective students and their parents the chance to meet school representatives and find…
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Car crushes cobra in Mai Khao
PHUKET TOWN: A cobra trying to cross Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang got crushed by oncoming traffic late yesterday afternoon. Estonian freelance photographer Ardo Kaljuvee, who happened to be driving past at the time, was among the many motorists who stopped to view the remains of the flattened serpent, which was at least three meters in length. The snake’s final slither…
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Phuket fishing boat scuttled after blaze
RASSADA, PHUKET: A wooden fishing boat that burst into flames during repair work this morning was deliberately sunk in the waters of Klong Tha Cheen. After receiving a report of a boat fire at about 9:30am, Phuket City Police, Marine Police and four fire engines from Rassada Municipality and Phuket City Municipality rushed to the scene. Arriving at the Pichai…
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Man killed in bypass road collision
RASSADA, PHUKET: A young man was killed last night when he drove his motorbike at high speed into the back of an 18-wheel truck parked on the bypass road. Police believe 22-year-old Uthen Thepohol failed to notice the truck because its tail lights were switched off. Mr Uthen, from Nakhon Phanom province, died instantly in the smash, which happened around…
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Phuket Gazette Readers Poll: Don’t enforce drugs law
PHUKET: Most Phuket Gazette readers think current Thai laws regarding the sale of prescription drugs like diazepam (Valium) should not be enforced, according to the results of our latest poll. More than half of the respondents to the last survey thought over-the-counter sales of such drugs should either be legalized or tolerated, as they are now. The poll followed the…
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Phuket prepped for Super Bowl
PHUKET TOWN: Super Bowl XLIV (that’s 44), the culmination of the NFL season and the biggest annual sporting event in the USA, will kick off early tomorrow morning, Thai time. The New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts will meet in Miami to decide the destination of the next Vince Lombardi trophy. It will be an historic occasion for the…
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Phuket bar destroyed in arson attack
RAWAI, PHUKET: Police are investigating an arson attack that completely destroyed the popular Roxanne Bar on Wichit Rd in Rawai early yesterday morning. Chalong Police were notified of the blaze at 3:30am. It took two Rawai Municipality fire engines about 30 minutes to put out the flames, but not before they destroyed the bar and everything inside. Located near the…
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PHUKET OPINION: Stop ‘zero fare tours’ before they start in Phuket
PHUKET: Plans by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and three tourism business associations to stop ‘zero tour fare’ operators from setting up in Phuket are laudable, especially given the damage such outfits have already done to the inbound Chinese market in places like Chiang Mai and Pattaya. (See story here.) Often run out of Bangkok, zero fare tour operators…
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Paddlers go for gold in Phuket
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: One of the more colorful events taking place this weekend is the 6th Annual ‘Hua Tong’ Boat Paddling competition at Ao Por Pier in Pa Khlok. Eighteen teams with ten paddlers each are taking part in the main competition, which began at 9am yesterday with an opening ceremony presided over by Phuket Vice Governor Smith Palawatwichai. In…
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Phuket passes on swine flu vaccine
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket residents at high risk of contracting swine flu are failing to get vaccinated due to fears of side effects. Fewer than 7% of those identified as being at high risk have taken the vaccine, according to figures from the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO). The PPHO says there are around 10,000 people in Phuket listed as having…
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Donations sought for Phuket road project completion
PHUKET TOWN: Wichit Municipality is seeking donations to help build a new house for a family of squatters who are holding up completion of a new road running behind Darasamuth School. Wichit Mayor Kreetar Saetan told the Gazette the municipality currently lacks the funds to build a new home for Chamnan Rungklin and his family, even though they already have…
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Red shirts plan big Phuket rally
PHUKET TOWN: Leaders of Phuket’s small red shirt movement yesterday declared the group will no longer back down against parties denying them their right to free speech – and say they are planning a large regional rally in Phuket. Four leaders of the ‘Phuket Protect Democratic Group’ [sic], the local branch of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship…
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Phuket cops speak on tourist murders
PATONG, PHUKET: Patong’s most senior cop says perceived injustice, drunkenness and robbery attempts are the three factors that lead Thais to assault foreigners. Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark says it is important to examine the underlying causes of Thai-on-farang violence. The comments come just after the announcement of Col Grissak’s transfer from the bright lights of Patong to Phang Nga’s…
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Phuket villagers burn red flags
WICHIT, PHUKET: Villagers burned flags belonging to a band of red shirts who attempted to rally in front of the Thai naval base in Cape Panwa this morning, warning them: ‘You are not welcome here’. A local man told the Gazette, “I don’t think they’ll come back, but if they do, we’re ready for a fight.” At around 9:30am a…
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Phuket to benefit from EVA – Bangkok Air agreement
PHUKET TOWN: Bangkok Airways and Taipei-based long-haul carrier EVA Air have signed a ‘code share’ agreement for services from Amsterdam, Vienna, London (Heathrow) and Taipei to Phuket, Koh Samui, Phuket and Chiang Mai. A code share agreement enables two airlines to sell seats on the same flight. Under the agreement, EVA will operate the international flights and Bangkok Air will…
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Phuket red shirt rally foiled by residents
WICHIT, PHUKET: Plans by supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to hold a peaceful rally at the Navy Base at Cape Panwa early this afternoon got off to a bad start this morning, when the red-shirts got into a fight with local residents. Following the argument, the red-shirted members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) were…
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Phuket could benefit from Finnish retirement community plan
PHUKET TOWN: Finland plans to build serviced apartments for retirees in Thailand, the Finnish website aamulehti.fi has reported. The move is intended to help Finnish retirees enjoy their golden years in this country, where their pension savings and other benefits will go much further than in Finland. According to Finnish government projections, the population of people aged 65 years and…
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