Sand sculpting a big draw despite rain

KARON: About 300 people gathered at Nong Harn yesterday and braved sporadic showers for the second Chula Phuket Sandsculpting Festival. More than 30 teams of five competed to make the best sand sculptures in four categories of entrants: school, college, hotels and the general public. Between 9 am and 3 pm, entrants took to the sand and made the best of the intermittent rain. By 4 pm the winners had been announced. Dek Chalong Team, from Wat Chalong School, won the school category with their dragon sculpture, while students from Rajabhat Institute Phuket won the college category with their sculpture of a Chinese monk. The Royal Paradise Hotel won the hotel category with a sculpture of a woman, while Kom Chad Luek (no relation to the Thai-language daily newspaper) won the general public category with their big, sandy lobster. Dr Sa’nguan Kunporn, president of the organizing committee, said, “I think this year’s festival has been very successful, even though the weather wasn’t as nice as last year. It was raining almost all the time but no teams pulled out. This shows the spirit of co-operation among people in the community.”