Phuket

Chief departs Phuket with park encroachment raids

Published

5 years ago

May 20, 2014

Chief departs Phuket with park encroachment raids | The Thaiger

PHUKET: As his last major act as chief of Sirinath National Park, Cheewapap Cheewatham this morning led 50 officers on raids of businesses deemed to be illegally built on national park land near Nai Thon Beach.

“Seven new shops – six on the beach, one on the beachfront road – have been built without permission from Sirinath National Park and Sakoo Municipality,” Chief Cheewapap explained.

A total of 14 businesses have been granted permission to operate at the prime location on the condition that each business have no more than 12 tables and that no permanent structures are built.

Those 14 businesses have fully complied with their permits, Mr Cheewapap said.

“However, these seven new businesses have installed large buildings at the site, including toilets that connect directly to the sea. They are certainly illegal,” Mr Cheewapap said.

The seven operators were identified as Madagascar Reggae Beach Club, Baan Ra Tree Restaurant, Kafe Alladin, Yellow Cafe 2 restaurant, Aqua Divers company and two other unnamed shops that are still under construction.

“The owners have 90 days to remove their belongings. After that, DNP [Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation] officers will return and seize all properties found to be illegally on government land,” Mr Cheewapap said.

Complaints against all seven operators will be filed with the police for further action, he added.

Joining the raid was DNP Director Samak Donnapee.

“We will fight every case of encroachment to make sure we get all of Sirinath National Park back,” Mr Samak said.

“Even if business owners claim they have title deeds for the land where their businesses are located, we know that some corrupt government officials have been involved in illegally issuing land titles in the past. All such titles remain illegal.”

Mr Samak said that a total of 1,755 rai of Sirinath National Park has been encroached on.

“The raids today accounted for 185 rai, and the court has already ordered 500 rai of illegally occupied land to be vacated and returned to the park,” he said.

“The remaining land under encroachment is under legal process.”

Mr Cheewapap confirmed that he will present himself to the Royal Forest Department in Bangkok to start work on Thursday.

“I will oversee efforts to protect national parks throughout all of Thailand, while Director Samak will personally oversee the investigations into national park encroachment in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi,” he said.

“But that doesn’t mean I will no longer be looking into problems specifically in Phuket… Actually, I will be able to investigate encroachment and illegal logging in the Nakkerd Hills and Kamala Hills.”

Mr Cheewapap called on his successor, Kitiphat Tharapiban (story here), from Mae Ping National Park in Chiang Mai, to resist the temptation of lucrative bribes in his new post.

“I refused bribes from many people who offered me huge amounts of money to illegally build on park land. I hope the next chief does the same,” Chief Cheewapap said.

“To best protect Sirinath National Park, the new chief will need to have integrity, intelligence and courage to resist graft. He will also need to be clever enough to know which land is legal or illegal, and be brave enough to arrest all the bad people.”

— Saran Mitrarat

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People

‘Always Smile Journey’ raises fund to provide free English classes for underprivileged people

Published

18 hours ago

October 15, 2019

Nattha Thepbamrung

‘Always Smile Journey’ raises fund to provide free English classes for underprivileged people | The Thaiger

On October 18, the ‘Always Smile Journey’ group and its partners will host an exhibition with plenty of fun activities at the Yak Yai Market, near Chalong Circle, in Phuket. This event was designed to raise funds to provide free English classes for underprivileged people on the island of Phuket on Saturdays and Sundays. The group does not accept donations but aims to raise money through the sales of the products available at the event.

From 2 pm to 8 pm, there will be a number of artists, musicians and performers who will keep the attendees entertained along the way. There will be a short film about His Majesty King Rama 9 as well as fun activities and games for kids and families, which are all free of charge.

The big bike crew is also a part of this event. They will ride a parade from Rawai Beach heading to the market and showcase their gorgeous two-wheel buddies.

One of the highlights of the Always Smile Journey exhibition is the ‘Happening’ artists group, who will draw and paint a picture of the His Majesty King Rama 9 under the name ‘Street Art King Bhumibol’ on a 4×10 meter sign live at the event so the guests will experience this large-scale art in action. The Happening will also offer portrait sketching for the participants.

‘Always Smile Journey’ raises fund to provide free English classes for underprivileged people | News by The Thaiger

One of the works created by the Happening team; a painting of HM the King Rama 9 on a huge wall (Photo credit: Chawat Chumpasan)

There will also be some western menus available at the event which will be donated to underprivileged children.

This free English class project has over seven years of experience through its cooperation working with individuals and other charity organizations. Throughout the years, the group visited several areas such as Ban Laem Hoy School, Ban Bopud School and Ban Angthong School in Samui, Surat Thani province, Ban Bueng Ao Oun School and Ban Kakoh Rayong, in Surin province, Jalae Village of Lahu (Muser) in Chiang Rai province, as well as community education centers in Siem Reap, Cambodia and in Luang Prabang, in Laos.

This event is a cooperation between several groups, including Happening, Yak Yai Market and Arrow Media, Tattoo artist group, Thonburi Art School Alumni, International School of Tourism, Suratthani Rajabhat University, big bike group from Phuket, artists/performers/musicians from many provinces as well as several businesses across Phuket.

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Bangkok

The world’s fastest growing tourist destinations

Published

20 hours ago

October 15, 2019

The Thaiger

PHOTO: Hello Phuket – destined for huge tourist growth in the next six years – fodors.com

In 2018, international tourist arrival traffic grew by 6% to reach a total of 1.4 billion world tourists, according to research by UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. And there’s a lot more to come with international travel predicted to increase by a massive 35% over the next six years to 2025.

But where is all that extra traffic going to go? Which destinations are quiet now that might be swarming with tourists in the years to come? Two destinations in Thailand are set for a prosperous future, according to the data. Whilst almost all the growth is excepted to be to Asian destinations, an under-visited resource for world tourism so far.

Euromonitor data has been used to simulate tourist growth models and reveal the fastest growing projected visitor arrivals in major cities and destinations around the world for 2025, compared to arrival figures in 2018.

In Thailand, Phuket’s tourist traffic is poised to increase up to 85% in the next six years, from nearly 12 million arrivals in 2018 to over 22 million in 2025. Bangkok is predicted to see the 8th most prolific rise in tourist traffic, with arrivals in Bangkok set to swell an additional 68% during the same period. Doha, the capital of Qatar, is set to explode with 104% increase in traffic over the next six years.

The data also predicts that both Bangkok and Phuket will rebound big time in 2020, Phuket in particular with a growth of around 20% for the next year, accord to the data from TravelSupermarket.com.

By 2025 the data predicts that Bangkok will be the world’s #1 tourist destination, a position it’s held before in recent years. The Thai capital will be followed by Singapore, Dubai, Phuket and Kuala Lumpur, making South East Asia the world’s emerging tourism hotspot.

Some of the world’s favourites – New York, Paris, London – will continue to grow their tourist numbers but not at the rate of most Asian destinations.

You can read the full list HERE.

Stats compiled by travelsupermarket.com

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Phuket

Rawai beachfront water shut-off tomorrow for mains works

Published

2 days ago

October 14, 2019

The Thaiger

The Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority says Rawai’s mains water supply will be shut off tomorrow (Tuesday, October 15) as new water pipes are fitted in front of The Title Beach Front condo resort complex on the town’s beachfront.

The mains water supply will be shut off from 9am until 4:30pm along the beachfront strip.

The PWA says the areas affected will be along Wiset Road along the Rawai beachfront road, as well as Soi Yanui and Soi Ruafaed.

Residents and businesses are being urged to collect water for use during the day today, before tomorrow morning’s shut-off.

As usual, the PWA say…“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Contact the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority on 076 319173 or 082 7901634 for more details.

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