So long, farewell. Phuket, which has had the highest number of Covid-19 infections per capita in Thailand, is closing its first “field hospital” after discharging its final patients. The temporary hospital is closing down, hopefully for good, and will be “put on standby,” as the last patients have recovered, the island’s governor announced yesterday.

The building was actually the unfinished new provincial HQ for the local Phuket government. The building’s completion has been stalled for years with uncompleted contracts and delays. But it has served an important purpose in housing the island’s Covid-19 patients and keeping them away from the main hospitals.

“Today is the day that Phuket has zero Covid-19 patients. I would like to thank all officials and Phuket residents for their efforts and cooperation to make our province finally Covid-19-free. Our next job is to rehabilitate the province’s economy, especially the tourism industry, which has been severely affected by the outbreak.”

The governor was joined at the closing ceremony by representatives from the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Phuket Office, the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and the Phuket Federation of Industries to hand out 600 survival kits to local people affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

Phuket’s first field hospital was established in March with 104 beds in a two-storey building. It was staffed with medical professionals from 5 hospitals throughout the province. Some 123 Covid-19 patients were treated at the hospital and all have fully recovered and been discharged. None has tested positive again.

The second field hospital is also on standby, having released its last patient on May 15.

Since the outbreak started, Phuket has reported 227 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Of these, 224 patients recovered and 3 died.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

2 men are dead in Phuket after a truck slammed into a roadside power pole on the notorious Kata hill road, just out of Chalong yesterday. Police say the two men killed were a Thai and a Burmese national.

The deputy chief of Karon police says the accident occurred at about 4:50pm at the mouth of Soi Suksan 1 on Patak road – a windy section of road as it heads up the hill towards Kata Beach. The power pole fell across the road after being hit by the pick up truck, killing the man inside. He was identified as 31 year old Thanapon Prachit a native of Chaiyaphum province.

Another man, passing by on a motorbike, was seriously injured by the falling power pole. He was admitted to Chalong Hospital where but was pronounced dead. The passport found on him identified him as 28 year old Win Myo Hlaing from Myanmar.

The bodies of the victims were taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for an autopsy.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

A Thai and Burmese man were killed after a work truck collided with a power pole on Kata hill, southern Phuket yesterday afternoon. The deputy chief of Karon police reported that the incident happened near the turn off onto Soi Suksan 1, on the Chalong side of the hill.

The power pole crashed on top of the truck as it fell, killing 31 year old Thanapol Prachit from Chaiyaphum province.