As the Tourism Authority of Thailand considers how the country might safely re-open its borders, the Bangkok Post reports that there are tentative plans afoot to kick off the project with Phuket, possibly in October. The director-general of the Department of Health, Panpimon Wipulakorn, says Phuket’s position as a self-contained island means it would be easier to control any potential Covid-19 outbreak following re-opening. During the peak of the initial wave of Covid-19 infections in Thailand, Phuket had the highest rate of infections in the country, per capita, mostly concentrated in the Patong and Bang Tao areas. Meanwhile, TAT spokeswoman […]

In an apparent suicide, the body of a South Korean man was found in a pickup truck in the city district of the southern resort province of Phuket yesterday, his head covered in a plastic bag. Police found the white pickup, with Phuket licence plates, in the car park of the Golden Triangle Been Co. in tambon Vichit after being alerted at around 11:40am. The body of the 40 year old man, whose name is being withheld pending notification of relatives and the South Korean embassy, was found in the driver’s seat. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans […]

PHIST, the Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism, is set to break down boundaries again with a “virtual” version of Asia’s largest sustainable travel and hospitality event on September 7. Over 1,200 of the industry’s leading figures are expected to attend this socially-distant online gathering. The online event will include keynote addresses, interactive sessions, educational workshops and a green exhibition. The original edition of PHIST 2020 was scheduled to take place as a conference in Phuket but this was before the global pandemic caused disruption to the travel landscape. In the spirit of innovation and resilience, this conference is now […]