Phuket
Phuket’s first underpass to open early next year

PHUKET: To alleviate the ongoing traffic tailbacks at the construction site of Phuket’s first underpass (story here), the project managers will open all three lanes of the underpass at the beginning of next year.
“So far, the underpass is 11 per cent complete. At the beginning of next year, it will be opened for road users,” Department of Highways’ Bureau of Bridge Construction engineer Itthiwat Kritsanawanich announced at a meeting yesterday.
“After we finish the underpass itself, we will begin the road works at the intersection,” Mr Itthiwat said.
“First, we plan to close the two lanes northbound in front of Central Festival for renovation. At that time, we will open all three lanes of the underpass so northbound traffic can continue uninterrupted,” he told the Phuket Gazette.
Any northbound motorists wanting to turn left or right at the intersection will have to continue all the way through to the Samkong Intersection, in front of the Tesco Lotus supercenter, and make their way from there, he added.
Southbound traffic wanting to turn left or right at the junction will remain unaffected.
“When we finish renovating the lanes in front of Central Festival, we will re-open the northbound lanes in front of the shopping mall and close the southbound lanes in front of HomeWorks.
“At that time, we will open all three lanes of the underpass so that southbound traffic can continue uninterrupted,” Mr Itthiwat explained.
“After we finish renovating all the roads at the intersection, we will allocate which lanes of the underpass are open to northbound traffic and which lanes are open to southbound traffic by designating the lanes with overhead lane markings,” he said.
In the mornings, two lanes southbound and one lane northbound will be open to traffic, Mr Itthiwat said.
In the evenings, the traffic flow will be reversed, with two lanes northbound and one lane southbound open to traffic, he added.
As done elsewhere in the world, lanes open to traffic will be designated by a green “O” symbol, while lanes closed to through traffic will be marked with a red “X”.
As for Phuket’s second underpass, to be built further north at the Samkong Intersection at a cost of 850 million baht, Mr Itthiwat said that a construction contractor had been chosen, but had yet to sign the government tender.
“I think the budget for the construction of that underpass might even decrease by about 10 million baht because the costs of the construction materials required were high at the time we opened the contract for bidding, but now the prices of the materials have fallen,” he said.
Additional reporting by Kritsada Mueanhawong.
— Orawin Narabal
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Thailand
Hotels and restaurants raided, 50 arrested for allegedly cheating “We Travel Together” subsidy scheme

Several hotels and restaurants in Phuket and Chaiyaphum were raided this morning and 50 people were arrested for allegedly stealing from the government subsidy scheme “We Travel Together.” The scheme was launched to help businesses that were financially hit by the lack of tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic and to stimulate the battered economy.
Last month, the Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn filed a criminal complaint against 312 hotels and 202 shops for allegedly cheating the scheme which covered 40% of room rates and offered e-vouchers. Instead of lowering prices to draw in more travellers, some hoteliers and restaurateurs allegedly raised their prices to get more subsidies.
This morning, police arrested 38 people in Chaiyaphum and 12 people in Phuket suspected of cheating the subsidy scheme. Suspects, including hotel and restaurant operators, face charges ranging from fraud and false identification to misusing electronic cards and adding fraudulent information to the computer system.
Nation Thailand says the verification system for the scheme was not stringent and people were able to register fake hotels and list fake bookings. Some hotel operators recorded higher prices for rooms to get a bigger payoff from the government.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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Thailand
Phuket eases restrictions, bars back to late-night hours

Things are getting back to normal in Phuket. The provincial government eased disease control restrictions, allowing restaurants, bars and entertainment venues to go back to their normal operating hours – no more midnight closure order – and lifting the late-night alcohol ban.
While bars can now stay open late and serve alcohol after midnight, dancing is prohibited and venues cannot serve alcohol in containers that will be shared among groups of people.
The Phuket Communicable Disease Committee agreed to ease the restrictions yesterday and an order allowing late-night hours and alcohol sales was posted today by the Phuket’s Public Relations Department.
“As the Covid-19 situation in Phuket has improved that there are no more Covid-19 infections found, the committee agreed to cancel the late-night alcohol ban in order to revive the economy of Phuket.”
All businesses related to gathering activities are warned to follow the Covid-19 preventive measures.
SOURCE: Phuket News
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Crime
2 shot dead at Phuket Bus Terminal Saturday night

Police say 2 men were gunned down at the Phuket Bus Terminal by a colleague at the terminal along the stretch of Thepkasattri road heading into Phuket Town last night. The incident happened at about 10:15pm with the local police chief arriving along with medical staff from Vachira Hospital shortly after the incident.
60 year old Wian Iadchuthong, the alleged gunman, was waiting to surrender at the scene when police arrived. Police say Wian appeared to be drunk and told them he had a serious argument with the 2 men and decided to take their lives with the gun. Police say they found 50 year old Yod Sae Lee lying on the ground in front of a taxi service stand, badly wounded. He was given CPR before being rushed to Vachira Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
54 year old Prakob Chuthong was also found lying dead by the counter of a 24 hour car park service kiosk. Police say he had been shot 2 times, once in the left side of his head and once in his left rib cage, according to Bangkok Post.
Witnesses say before the shooting, Wian was quietly drinking alone. But after getting drunk, he walked to the counter of the car park service kiosk and allegedly fired 2 shots from a 9mm gun at point-blank range, killing Prakob instantly. Wian then ran towards Yod, who was sitting in front of the taxi service stand. Yod saw Wian coming at him with the gun and he ran away to 1 side of the terminal building, only to be intercepted by Wian who allegedly fired 5 shots. Yod was hit 1 time in the head, 2 times in the torso and 2 times in the legs. Yod was also rushed to Vachira Hospital where he later died.
An initial police investigation found that the 3 were close colleagues at the workplace, but often engaged in heated fights over motorcycle taxi and taxi services at the bus terminal.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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