100,000 candles light up Patong Beach

PATONG: The beach here was a blaze of flickering light last night when some 10,000 people joined the “Light Up Patong” ceremony, lighting 100,000 candles along the three-kilometer length of the beach.

The event was organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization and attended by 33 delegates to the World Travel Organization Executive Council extraordinary meeting, being held in Phuket yesterday and today.

Representatives of each country were asked to say, in their own language, the sentence “We will always remember you,” drawing delighted responses from multinational crowd.

Harry Hwang, of the Korea National Tourism Organization, told the Gazette that he had seen that Patong was fully ready to welcome tourists again. “I do hope that every Korean tour operator or tourist will come here to enjoy this beautiful beach,” he added.

Dr Kingsley S Ebenyi, Nigerian Ambassador to Thailand, said, “I am happy to see people here from many different parts of the world. That shows that the world is in sympathy and in solidarity with the people of Thailand and of Patong.

“I am optimistic that very soon the people of Phuket will put everything that happened on December 26 behind them, and will move ahead.”