Phuket’s praises sung – loudly

– A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point.

PHUKET: While not all is well in Thailand, with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatening to incite civil disobedience nationwide [see story below], Phuket continues to generate favorable press – and not only of the vapid variety.

Phuket’s boutique hotelier and gourmet restaurateur Mom Tri Devakul landed in the pages of the New York Times earlier this week when travel writer Ingrid Williams named 12 things not to be missed during a visit to the island province. Among them were eating at Mom Tri’s Boathouse Regatta at Royal Phuket Marina and staying at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale.

Some other notable Phuket stand-outs cited in her story, titled ’36 hours in Phuket’, include the “Bohemian art colony” Rawai Art Village; a visit to a Chef Roti stand in Kamala; and the night food market in Phuket Town.

Long term Phuket resident Sylvie Yaffe, PR manager at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale, says “We were delighted the New York Times listed [us]…. This is a great privilege to be recognized by such a publication.”

With a circulation of nearly 1 million a day, the New York Times’ article is likely to have generated considerable interest in Phuket as a currently attractive international tourist destination.

No sex, please; we’re… in Phuket

Phuket Gazette
If history is any indication, the Phuket Punchline Comedy Night on April 21 is going to see expatriate residents and a growing number of Thais in good humor – to say the least.

British comedian Mark Billingham will be one of three performers to take the stage. The best-selling crime author has also been stepping into the spotlight to deliver his stand-up routines since the 1980s. Joining him will be television personality Mike Gunn, who is a regular on the comedy club circuit in the UK, and Carl Donnelly, a relative newcomer to stand-up, but already a winner of several awards for his routines.

The venue’s doors at Phuket’s Holiday Inn Resort, Patong Beach, open at 8pm. Adults only.

The Phuket Gazette sponsors the Phuket Punchline Comedy Club series and further details are available here.

Aceh no match for Phuket

Time Magazine
The job for tourism officials in Aceh is not as easy as it is for their counterparts in Phuket. Promoting tourism in the tropical Indonesian province is hampered by a decades-long civil war, a devastating tsunami, and the dreaded Wilayatul Hisbah (Vice & Virtue Patrol) who enforce Shari’a, or Islamic law, and whose officers have been notoriously tough recently.

Pristine beaches and alfresco executions? It’s hardly a formula that’s going to worry Phuket or Bali. Unlike Phuket, where the tsunami also struck, Aceh is not simply repairing a tourism infrastructure. It is building a whole one – from scratch.

Solve such problems, and Aceh might one day attract visitors in the numbers it deserves.

Sour Grapes: Thaksin calls for turmoil

Asia one news
Thailand’s ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, now living in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption, regularly encourages the red-shirted protesters in Bangkok via video-link. On Thursday he even raised the prospect of a campaign of civil disobedience if Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva continues to refuse demands to dissolve parliament.

“I pledge [sic] all of you to come out in force and fight peacefully. If they won’t listen to us, then we will begin civil disobedience as [Indian independence hero] Gandhi did to win against Britain…. If it is necessary we will have to do this. It’s time for you to make sacrifices – don’t be afraid,” he said.

— Gazette Editors