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World health tourism conference slated to bring US$10 million
KARON: An international convention on medical and health tourism to be be held in Phuket next year is expected to generate US$10 million, according to the event’s organizer, SOS Medical Tourism Services.The World Medical Health Tourism Conference (TWMHTC) 2009 will be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa from September 16 to 18 2009.“Phuket is the ideal location…
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Kathu killing attracts top-level interest
KATHU (Gazette, Kom Chad Luek): The mafia-style murder of Komkai Kositkoon, whose mother owns Jintana Shopping Plaza in Patong, has caught the attention of some of the nation’s top police.“Maj Gen Chatree Sunthornsorn, a personal assistant to the national police chief, was in Phuket yesterday and has taken control of the case,” Thung Thong Police Superintendent Col Arayapan Pukbuakao told the…
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OrBorJor to offer incentives for rooms tax
PHUKET: In a move to encourage Phuket hotels to pay their dues, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising has said that the OrBorJor would start offering incentives to hotels that paid the controversial rooms tax.Although he did not specifically explain what incentives would be offered, Khun Paiboon said that they would be in the form of personnel or…
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One-two-go, Orient Thai hit by 30-day flight suspension
BANGKOK (Nation): One-Two-Go and Orient Thai Airlines risk seeing their aviation licenses revoked if they fail to tackle the defects that led to the suspension of their flight services today.That possibility comes amid growing concerns about the airlines’ safety standards.About 40,000 passengers on their booking lists will be affected by the 30-day flight suspension starting today and will receive combined…
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One-Two-Go forced to suspend operations
BANGKOK (Nation): Low-cost carrier One-Two-Go will suspend its operations from Tuesday until September 15, making it the first airline victim of record oil prices. Founder and CEO Udom Tatiprosongchai said the unrelenting rise in oil prices had forced the airline to shut down temporarily. “The company has been losing money for months, and we cannot continue like this,” said K.…
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THAI reopens Narita-Phuket route
MAI KHAO: The first Thai Airways International (THAI) direct flight from Narita, Japan, since the tsunami, arrived at Phuket International Airport yesterday afternoon, bringing some 300 Japanese tourists to the island.The Boeing 777-200 arrived at 3:30 pm, a little ahead of schedule, giving the tourists some more time to be welcomed by Tourism Authority of Thailand Southern Region 4 Office…
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Trawler sinks off Koh Racha Yai
KOH RACHA YAI: Crew on board the Sang Samut scrambled on top of their upturned hull yesterday morning as their 40-foot fishing boat sunk in rough seas off Koh Racha Yai.Sopon Sukkarin, vice-chairman of Koh Racha Yai Conservation and Prevention Network Club, told the Gazette, “The boat started taking on water the night before, when there were torrential downpours and…
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Intarat takes to the air
KARON: Maj Gen Intarat Yodbangtoey, “special adviser” to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Anongwan Thepsutin, wrapped up his two-day visit to Phuket yesterday with a helicopter inspection tour of suspected illegally acquired land plots on Phuket.“About 20 construction sites believed to be illegal are under investigation by the DSI [Department of Special Investigations]. We expect the DSI to announce the…
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Campaign to reduce plastic waste launched
PHUKET CITY: In possibly Phuket’s first unilateral move to reduce the volume of trash created each day on the island, the leaders of all 19 local administration organizations on Phuket – as well as representatives of 23 businesses, shops, department stores and resorts on the island – signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at The Metropole hotel on July 9.…
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Southern rebel leader announces end to separatism
Bangkok (Nation): A self-proclaimed spokesman of 11 “underground” separatist groups has announced a ceasefire in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, ending the secessionist movement in the Malay-speaking region.The announcement, delivered by videotape, was broadcast midday today through Thai TV5, an Army-run station and TV 7.Speaking through a translator, the spokesman announced an end to all violent…
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Goat beauties open agricultural fair
CHERNG TALAY: This year’s Cherng Talay Agricultural Fair began today with a beauty contest with a difference – the pageant aimed to find the island’s most attractive goat. Organized by Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), the five-day event offers islanders a chance to cop an eyeful of Phuket’s most attractive fruits, flowers and farm animals. Flowers and other agricultural…
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Abandoned Kancils baffle Customs officers
CHALONG: The discovery of two Perodua Kancil cars, found abandoned at two different locations on the island last week, have sparked a search by Customs officers for the people who left them behind.Customs officers found one of the Malaysian-made cars hidden in a rubber plantation on Sakdidet Rd, Wichit, on July 8.The white four-door Perodua Kancil was not fitted with…
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Floating gas station busted
AO MAKHAM: Phuket Customs officers on July 10 arrested two men found on board a Thai-registered boat carrying 3,000 liters of illegal diesel off the coast of Satun.Customs officers apprehended the vessel at sea 17 nautical miles north of Koh Adang in Satun province at 5:30 pm on July 10, Somchai Poolsawasdi, director of the Royal Thai Customs Investigation and…
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Drug arrests coming down
PHUKET: Crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police show that the number of drug-related arrests in June was down to 44% compared with 66% in May.In June, there were 171 arrests for drug-related offenses, 104 of which involved ya bah (methamphetamine) with a total of 7,052 pills seized.A total of 41 people were arrested for using cannabis, with 4,581.08…
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Bars asked to observe alcohol ban
PHUKET: As a mark of respect for Asarnha Bucha and Buddhist Lent this Thursday and Friday, respectively, bars and other sellers of alcohol on the island are being asked to observe an alcohol ban on the two Buddhist holidays.Businesses are asked not to serve alcohol from midnight on Wednesday night until midnight on Friday night.Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnak told…
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Treasury Dept gets moving on ICEC
PHUKET: Nine months after a provincial government committee decided on a 350-rai plot of Treasury Department (TRD) land in Mai Khao as the preferred site for the Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC), the TRD has now decided the project needs prompt action.Pitak Direksoonthorn, Director of the TRD’s State Property Administration Office, on Wednesday met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit…
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Inaugural multihull regatta underway
CHALONG: Crews racing in the inaugural SEA Property Multihull Championship got off to an easy start this morning with catamarans and trimarans crossing the start line in light winds.Although the regatta entails only two days of racing, it has attracted a large number of local multihulls, including many of the Phuket designed and built Firefly 850s.Among the Fireflys, which are competing…
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Thaksin on graft charges
BANGKOK (The Nation): The attorney-general has filed a criminal lawsuit against Thaksin Shinawatra, accusing him of abusing power while serving as prime minister by converting telecom concessions to benefit Shin Corp at a cost of 66 billion baht in damages to Thailand.After an initial delay, the attorney-general yesterday took up the policy corruption case involving Shin Corp, which was investigated…
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Chalong Pier operator to quit contract
PHUKET CITY: Following allegations of not fulfilling obligations laid out in the concession offered by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), Choke Aree Tour Co Ltd has asked to annul the contract to operate Chalong Pier.At a meeting at the OrBorJor offices in Phuket City on July 3, OrBorJor President Paiboon Upatising said that Choke Aree received 300,000 baht a…
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Lucky escape no laughing matter
RAWAI: Twelve staff from Tamarind Bar on Wiset Rd miraculously escaped fatal injuries when the pickup truck they were traveling in careened off the road and smashed into a power pole, causing passengers to be thrown from the vehicle about 1 am today.Eye-witnesses said the four-door Toyota Hilux Vigo was northbound on Wiset Rd when its left wheels came off…
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PAD members march on Provincial Hall
PHUKET CITY: The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) marched through Phuket City this afternoon on their way to deliver a letter expressing disappointment at the central government’s handling of the Preah Vihear Temple saga.About 300 PAD members led by PAD leader Natjarong Ekpermsup met at about 1:30 pm in front of the Tourism Authority of Thailand office on Thalang Rd…
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OrBorJor hospital suffers another delay
RASSADA: In the latest snag in the saga of the re-opening of the old Phya Thai Hospital, one of Thailand’s leading interior designers, who has been commissioned for the project, presented interior plans for the five-story building and for only about half of the main building.Wibool Tiramongkol, special instructor at the Faculty of Decorative Arts at Silpakorn University – Thailand’s…
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THAI resumes Tokyo-Phuket flights
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced it will resume operating direct flights between Tokyo and Phuket from July 17.Flight TG 671, which will operate directly from Tokyo to Phuket to Bangkok, was suspended in February 2005 as passenger numbers plummeted after the tsunami.THAI will operate two flights a week – on Thursday and Saturday – departing Tokyo at 10…
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Rassada Municipality officer shot dead
RASSADA: Police believe the killing of Rassada Municipality officer Surin Inkaew, 23, who was found shot dead in his rented room early on Saturday, was motivated by ya bah (methamphetamine).Capt Sathit Noorit from Phuket City Police Station told the Gazette that he was notified of the shooting at 4:20 am.Police arrived at the ground-floor apartment, about 500 meters from Rassada…
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TAT lowers tourism projections
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has sharply cut its projections for the number of international visitors and tourism revenue next year due to soaring oil prices, which are discouraging international travel and have led to cuts in inbound flights.It targets only a 3.3-per-cent growth in the number of international visitors in 2009, a sharp downward revision…
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Tourists stay put as tsunami sirens sound
PATONG: Tourists in Patong opted to soak up the sun rather than run for their lives during yesterday’s tsunami drill. The exercise, held across the six Andaman provinces, included the sounding of all 79 tsunami warning towers operated by the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC).At Patong Beach, a female English tourist told the Gazette, “I heard the siren and knew what it was,…
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Clams, fish move into new digs
CHALONG: A group of Chalong villagers and Erawan Group staff on Friday released more than 1,000 rare marine creatures into Chalong Bay as part of an initiative to support marine populations off the coast of Phuket.Sutha Prateep Na Thalang, leader of a Chalong fishermen’s group, said, “There aren’t many of these animals left in the water because of all the…
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Dolphins rescued from receding tide
CAPE PANWA: Three rough-toothed dolphins were rescued after they were found stranded on mud flats created by the receding tide at Ao Makham on Saturday.The rescue comes one week after the carcass of a female striped dolphin was discovered washed ashore at Baan Dan in Thalang and nine days after a pod of false killer whales beached at Koh Racha.The…
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Nok Air slashes Bangkok-Krabi route
BANGKOK (The Nation): Nok Air’s daily Bangkok to Krabi flight was one of three routes dropped by the domestic airline on July 1 in an effort to reduce costs. Services from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and to Ubol Ratchathani were also terminated.Travelers already booked on flights for those routes are being transferred to Thai Airways International and Thai AirAsia flights,…
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HOGs go the extra miles
PHUKET: It’s official: the 52 Harley-Davidsons and their 74 riders that collectively notched up 21,000 kilometers by riding from Phuket to Krabi and back on Monday have been added to the global tally to set a record for the most miles on that one day by ‘hog’ riders.Bikers from Phuket, Haad Yai, Krabi, Trang and Pattalung set off from the…
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