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- Phuket News
Appeal for Songkran common sense
PHUKET: Phuket Province has issued its annual appeal for safety and common sense during the upcoming Songkran Festival and has set a target of keeping this year’s death toll from traffic accidents during the period to under six. The province has set up a “Songkran Safety Center” at Phuket Provincial Hall to monitor the toll of dead and injured for…
- Phuket News
Drive to break transport “mafia’ launched
PHUKET: In an attempt to improve public transport on the island, Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has announced his support for a new project aimed at putting hundreds of metered taxis on Phuket roads and launching an Airport Bus service.On April 1, the Governor presided over the launch of the “Taxi Phuket Development Project” at Central Festival, during which he also announced…
- Phuket News
Missing millions probe “making progress’
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police say they are making progress in the investigation into the alleged theft of 2.05 million baht in tsunami-relief funds from Phuket Provincial Hall – but have yet to name any suspects in the case. Phuket City Police Superintendent Pol Col Paween Pongsirin told the Gazette yesterday that his department would “clear up” the case before…
- Phuket News
US trade reps assess investment aid
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura met with US trade representatives and the head of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion (OSMEP) on Sunday to discuss ways in which the US private sector might assist in Thailand’s recovery following the December 26 tsunami. The talks focused on ways to channel private-sector investment from the US to affected businesses,…
- Phuket News
Patong nixes 100-day ceremonies
PHUKET: Patong Municipality has no plans to hold remembrance service on April 4 to mark the passing of 100 days since the tsunami, but services will take place in Kamala and at Wachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket City. Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukbal told the Gazette yesterday that he agreed with Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, who has barred “ghost-laying” ceremonies after April…
- Phuket News
Gov asks US to help tsunami-hit businesses
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has asked members of the United States Congress to back the establishment of a “Flexible Fund” to help small and medium-sized businesses recover from the tsunami.Gov Udomsak told the elected representatives it would be a “great help” if the US would support the fund, which would offer flexible financing with minimum paperwork to traders who…
- Phuket News
Gov calls for greater urgency in tsunami plan
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has ordered the provincial branch of the Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) to speed up its coastal evacuation planning and work more closely with local government bodies in order to prevent a repeat of the confusion that followed last Monday’s tsunami alert. Gov Udomsak made the call at yesterday’s monthly meeting of…
- Phuket News
Gov calls halt to public exorcisms
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today called a halt to religious ceremonies in public areas held to appease ghosts of tsunami victims, with effect from next Tuesday.At a meeting of provincial government officers this morning, Governor Udomsak said, “There have been enough religious ceremonies [for tsunami victims]. If anyone needs to hold a religious ceremony, they can but only within…
- Phuket News
Phuket on high alert, but no tsunami
PHUKET: Seaside towns and villages around Phuket were evacuated last night after warnings from the Meteorological Department that there was a high possibility of another tsunami hitting the island. The warnings came after a massive earthquake jolted Sumatra, just 200 kilometers from the site of the temblor that caused the tsunami on December 26 last year. That wave killed an…
- Phuket News
WTO calls for easier access to soft loans
PHUKET CITY: World Tourism Organization (WTO) consultant JK Robert England today called for more flexibility in providing soft loans to tourism-related small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the post-tsunami environment.Speaking after meeting with Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, he said, “The government has been amazingly successful so far in response to an unprecedented problem. However, more things can be done, more…
- Phuket News
ODPM officers “responsible for missing B2m’
PHUKET: The former chief of the Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), Metha Mekarat, and several of his staff were responsible for the disappearance of more than two million baht earmarked for tsunami victims, Vice-Governor Supachai Yuwaboon announced yesterday.V/Gov Supachai has been chairing a commission set up to investigate the disappearance of the money – reported missing on February…
- Phuket News
Govt slashes Patong, Kamala rebuilding funds
PHUKET CITY: The Cabinet yesterday approved a budget of 200 million baht to rebuild Patong Beach and a further 100 million baht to rebuild Kamala Beach, together totaling less than a third of the original budgets Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkul requested.At a meeting of district chiefs and other top-ranking provincial officials, chaired by Governor Udomsak today, Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit announced…
- Phuket News
B2m aid theft probe extended
PHUKET: The deadline for completion of the vice-gubernatorial investigation into the theft of more than 2 million baht of tsunami aid money has been extended. It will now conclude on March 11, Governor Usdomsak Usawarangkura said.The original deadline for the investigation – led by Vice-Governor Supachai Yuwaboon and separate from the criminal investigation by the police – was March 2.However,…
- Phuket News
Tsunami relief centre closes
PHUKET: Sixty-two days after the tsunami, the relief center for tsunami victims in Phuket has closed, following a Cabinet decision on Tuesday that there was no longer a need for emergency assistance of the kind the center had provided.Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura said that the focus now has shifted to long-term recovery and that he and the governors of the…
- Phuket News
Princess delivers inspiration
PATONG: HRH Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya visited Loma Park in Patong on yesterday to offer gifts and moral support to young survivors of the December 26 tsunami disaster. The Princess, dressed in black, arrived at the beach-side park at 5 pm, accompanied by Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan. There to greet them was Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, Patong Mayor Pian Keesin…
- Phuket News
Patong “building site’ deters tour companies
PHUKET: Travel agents are still reluctant to send tourists to Phuket because property damaged by the tsunami has not yet been repaired, yesterday’s Patong renovation progress meeting heard.Pattanapong Aikvanich, the President of the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA), said discussions with tour companies and journalists from countries such as Germany, Australia and Sweden had revealed the feeling that tourists would not…
- Phuket News
British arts minister pays respects
MAI KHAO: British Arts Minister Estelle Morris today became the latest member of a foreign government to pay respects to the tsunami dead.Ms Morris, accompanied by senior British police office Detective Chief Superintendent Nick Bracker, visited the Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) centre at Mai Khao, where she laid a wreath at the international wall of remembrance and observed a minute’s…
- Phuket News
Deal struck for Kamala homeless
KAMALA: More than 70 families in Kamala have agreed to rent state land near the beach from the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization for minimal rents ranging from 20 baht to 1,000 baht per rai per year, figures fixed by Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura.The families – all of whom had been encroaching on state land before the disaster of December 26…
- Phuket News
Patong Mayor ordered to get a move on
PATONG: Phuket Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit yesterday ordered Patong Mayor Pian Keesin to pick up the pace in carrying out orders to make Patong Beach more orderly, remarking that the Patong beachfront area appears to be slipping back into pre-tsunami chaos.The order came during a meeting of a special committee set up to oversee the redevelopment of Patong Beach in line…
- Phuket News
Ex-presidents stress local approach to recovery
THALANG: Projects to rebuild tsunami-ravaged areas should be “locally-driven” former US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Snr declared after touring parts of Phuket and Phang Nga at the weekend.Thailand was the first stop in a four-country tour by the ex-presidents, aimed at encouraging private and corporate donors – particularly in the United States – to continue giving to the…
- Phuket News
Divers break world record off Koh Tao
SURAT THANI: More than 720 people from at least 35 countries have set a world record for the most divers diving simultaneously off Koh Tao, as part of the Koh Tao Underwater Day festival.The event was held to promote awareness of how global climate change is slowly killing coral and to mark the coming into effect today of the Kyoto…
- Phuket News
Swedish royals to visit Phuket, Phang Nga
PHUKET: Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will arrive in Phuket on Friday for a tour of the island and Phang Nga.Their plane will arrive at 9:30 am at Phuket International Airport, and the royal couple will be received at Phuket Provincial Hall by Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura and representatives of the Thai government, before visiting the Bangkok Phuket…
- Phuket News
B2m in tsunami aid “disappears’
PHUKET: More than two million baht intended for tsunami victims has gone missing from a safe in Provincial Hall.The theft was reported to police yesterday by Metha Mekarat, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM).Altogether, 2,050,000 baht is missing from the safe, which is in a strongroom at Provincial Hall.K. Metha said that since the tsunami, the…
- Phuket News
Old Phuket’ draws big crowds
PHUKET CITY: Thousands of people thronged streets in the old part of Phuket City last night to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese Year of the Rooster and the first night of the 7th Old Phuket Festival.Thalang Rd and Dibuk Rd in the old quarter of Phuket were filled with the sights and sounds of celebration, as well as the…
- Phuket News
Putting the boot in for a good cause
PHUKET CITY: Thai Cabinet ministers led by freshly reelected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will face ambassadors from 38 countries during a friendly soccer match at Surakul Stadium on February 26.The event is intended to help Phuket recover as a tourist destination after the tsunami.Admission is free, and the match is due to be broadcast nationwide by Thai TV station TV5.The…
- Phuket News
Linkin Park star visits Bang Tao
PHUKET: Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Californian band Linkin Park, visited Bang Tao beach today to see for himself the damage caused by the tsunami.Bennington was in Phuket to record material to be broadcast by MTV in the USA, as part of a global campaign to raise money for tsunami victims.After lunch at the Banyan Tree, Bennington and his…
- Phuket News
Phummisak challenges Gov over water supplies
PHUKET: Former Phuket City Mayor and tin mine owner Phummisak Hongsyok has dismissed Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura’s assertion that he will use the law to force owners of private water resources to share them with the province if there is a water shortage this year.K. Phummisak, who owns two flooded former tin mines with a total capacity of three million cubic…
- Phuket News
Island has water to last until May
PHUKET CITY: The Bang Wad reservoir will be able to supply Phuket with enough water until May, because the drop in the number of tourists caused by the tsunami has reduced water consumption, a post-tsunami review meeting has been told.Irrigation Project Director Watchara Arepornsiri told the Phuket Provincial Hall meeting, “At the moment we have 5.9 million cubic meters of…
- Phuket News
Loungers recolonize Patong Beach
PATONG : In another sign that things are returning to normal, Patong Municipality is allowing beach lounger rental operators to begin limited re-colonization of the tsunami-swept sands of Phuket’s most popular beach. The move follows a request by the Municipality to the central government to allow a limited number of beach loungers, arguing that the government’s plan to ban them…
- Phuket News
Tsunami dead moved to Phuket
PHUKET: Work began today to move the bodies of more than a thousand non-Asian victims of the tsunami from Phang Nga to the Mai Khao Cemetery in Phuket.The cemetery is close to Phuket international Airport, and the move is intended to make it easier for bodies, once identified, to be repatriated by air.Bodies believed to be Asian will remain in…
