Search Results for: Bangkok
- Phuket News
Milk needed for tsunami kids
PHANG NGA: A charity daycare center in Bang Muang has appealed for donations of milk for small children.The “Nice Care Center” behind the Tambon Administration Organization in Baan Bang Muang, near Baan Nam Kem, is run by the Duang Pratheep Foundation in Bangkok. Coordinator Rojana Phraesrithong explained that the daycare center looks after more than 150 children as their parents…
- Phuket News
Phuket landing fees to be cut by half
PHUKET: Airports of Thailand (AOT) is set to cut as much as 50% off landing fees for both international and domestic arrivals at Phuket International Airport (PIA) until December, in an effort to boost the region’s flagging tourist industry.The Director of PIA, Sq/Ldr Pornchai Eua-aree, confirmed that AOT had had a meeting in Bangkok to discuss the cut in fees.…
- Phuket News
Mystery suicide identified
PHUKET CITY: The British Embassy in Bangkok has confirmed that the body of a man who committed suicide at the Phuket Merlin Hotel on June 18 is that of British national Lyndon John Pedley, 44, of Liverpool, England.Mr Pedley, who apparently swallowed a large number of antihistamine and tranquilizer pills in order to end his own life, was initially identified…
- Phuket News
Taiwan finally cancels travel warning
PHUKET: Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has finally lifted its “orange” alert, which warned against travel to Phuket.The ministry announced on Tuesday that it had received a report from Taiwan’s representative office in Thailand confirming that Phuket’s tourism facilities and transportation networks have been successfully repaired and rebuilt. Daily living for locals has returned to normal, the report said, and…
- Phuket News
THAI to double domestic fuel surcharge
PHUKET: From Friday July 1, Thai Airways International (THAI) will double the surcharge levied on domestic fares because of the continuing rise in the cost of fuel on the world market.The increase will take the surcharge for a round trip from the existing 200 baht to 400 baht. For a one-way journey it will rise from 100 baht to 200…
- Thailand News
Fine behavior
BANGKOK: The daughter of a retired police general ran amok at Dusit Police Station after suffering the indignity of seeing her boyfriend fined for driving without a license. The incident occurred at about 11 pm on June 26. Kwanreuthai Taensawat, 31, and her 25-year-old brother Supakorn were in a pickup truck being driven by her boyfriend, Thongchai Khombaramee, when it…
- Phuket News
Volunteers sought for Samaritans’ office
KHAO LAK: The legacy of emotional trauma left by the tsunami is generally unquantified, but perceived to be widespread throughout the affected communities.In response to this, the Samaritans of Thailand is seeking volunteers to man telephones, answering calls from people in distress at the Samaritans’ office at the Mental Health Recovery Center in Khao Lak.The Samaritans have also asked Thai…
- Phuket News
Phuket to be “C-Commerce’ guinea pig
PHUKET CITY: Phuket and Chiang Mai are to pilot a new e-commerce scheme that will allow tour operators and travel agents anywhere in the world to give tourists up-to-date information on destinations, and to make hotel and tour bookings.Under the “Tourism C-Commerce Outlet” initiative, tour operators will be able to link to tourist attractions, spas, hotels, restaurants and other places…
- Phuket News
Wissanu recommends tsunami complaint centers
BANGKOK (The Nation, Gazette): Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, back in Bangkok after reviewing the tsunami aid situation on the ground, will ask the Cabinet to set up complaint centers in the six disaster-hit provinces to field queries about the distribution of state funds and private donations to tsunami victims.Government spokesman Chalermdej Jombunud said K. Wissanu would inform the Cabinet…
- Phuket News
Tsunami “causes rise in piracy’
PHUKET: The national commander of the Marine Police, Pol Maj Gen Suraphol Thuanthong, visited Phuket on June 18 to discuss ways of protecting vessels going through the Straits of Malacca from pirate attacks, which he said have become more frequent since the tsunami.Gen Suraphol explained, “We don’t really have accurate statistics, because not all cases are reported, but I think…
- Phuket News
“Bike racer’ found dead in hotel
PHUKET CITY: The body of a 45-year-old New Zealander was discovered in a room at the Phuket Merlin Hotel on June 19, in what police believe was a case of suicide.Terrance Hicks, from Auckland, was found dead at 3 pm, surrounded by discarded pill containers, Pol Lt Thivakorn Kongpeth of Phuket City Police Station told the Gazette.Investigators estimate that Mr Hicks took…
- Phuket News
Visa fee exemptions aimed at wooing tourists
PHUKET CITY: Tourists from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are being exempted from paying visa fees for Thailand as part of the ongoing attempt to revive tourism after the tsunami.In addition to the government waiving the 1,000-baht visa fee until October this year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is working with Thai Airways to put together a 3,500-baht mid-week…
- Phuket News
Maid of money
PHUKET CITY: A woman who, in a three-year spree, allegedly robbed at least 15 homes of as much as 570,000 baht apiece, has been caught in a police sting.The woman, named as Jirapa “Ying” Pasomsub, 34, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, got into the homes by answering advertisements for a maid. Once in a home she would work for a few…
- Phuket News
Diveboat sinks: one dead
PHUKET: One person died when a diveboat capsized and sank 40 kilometers off the coast of Phuket in a storm this morning.The 24-meter liveaboard boat Bubble Blue, from the Khao Lak-based dive business of the same name, was travelling from Phuket to the Similan Islands to carry out a survey of coral reefs when it was hit by a four-meter…
- Phuket News
Storm forces flights to turn back
PHUKET: Driving rain and strong winds forced several scheduled flights to abort their landings at Phuket International Airport this morning.An officer at Phuket International Airport, who spoke to the Gazette on condition of anonymity, said that the strong winds forced pilots of four flights to abort their landings at the airport because they were not confident that it was safe…
- Phuket News
Pelé and Cantona to visit Phuket
PHUKET: The island will play host on July 28 to a charity beach soccer match, which will be attended by soccer giants Edson Arantes do Nascimento – better known as Pelé – and Eric Cantona.The announcement was made by Somsak Thepsuthin, Minister of Sports and Tourism, who visited the island to watch the Phuket round of the 1st ASEM (Asia…
- Phuket News
Phuket Air hires “best practice’ experts
BANGKOK: Problem-plagued Phuket Air has recruited a British provider of safety training to instill “best practice” throughout every level of its operations.The deal between Phuket Air and training and development company The Human Factor was announced in London by the founder of The Human Factor, ex-British Royal Air Force pilot George Duncan, and Phuket Air Executive Vice-President Captain Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut.It…
- Phuket News
Three new public parks planned
PHUKET: The island may get three new public parks under the Cabinet’s “One Tambon, One Park” initiative.The Phuket office of the Royal Forestry Department is to ask its national HQ at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives for permission to create “Pa Bangkanun” in Tambon Thepkrasattri, Thalang District; “Khao Toh Se” in Tambon Rassada, Muang District, and “Khao Phanthurat” in…
- Phuket News
Miss Canada is Miss Universe 2005
BANGKOK: Natalie Glebova, 23, from Canada, was crowned Miss Universe 2005 at about 10 am today.Miss Glebova was born in Russia but moved with her family to Toronto when she was 12 years old. She is an information technology management and marketing student at Ryerson University, and also works as a model.Runners-up, in order, were Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Mexico and Miss…
- Phuket News
Surakul gets green card for Premier League kid’s soccer clinic
PHUKET CITY: Three representatives of English Premiership teams Everton, Bolton and Manchester City yesterday gave their approval for Surakul Stadium to be the venue of a one-day kid’s soccer camp on July 21, run by three coaches and two players of each team.Eam Thavornvongwongse, President of the Phuket Sports Association, said, “The purpose of this course is to give about…
- Phuket News
B10m tsunami archive to be established
NAI YANG: Some 200 government officers from Bangkok and the six tsunami-affected provinces gathered at the Pearl Village Hotel yesterday to offer suggestions of what data should be included in the Tsunami Information Center (TIC), which will be built in Bangkok at a cost of 10 million baht.The hearing was organized by the National Archives of Thailand (NAT), operated under…
- Phuket News
Tour of beauty
PHUKET: Picturesque Phuket provided the perfect backdrop for a visit by 81 of the world’s most beautiful young women today.The competitors in the Miss Universe 2005 beauty contest came to Phuket to boost post-tsunami tourism, and they received a warm welcome from residents and tourists.After lunch at FantaSea, Kamala, and seeing the “Amazing Kamala” show, one group of contestants went…
- Phuket News
Miss Universe beauties to visit Phuket
PHUKET: Miss Universe 2005 contestants will visit tourist attractions and hospitals, and learn about “Phuket culture”, when they visit the island on May 19 on a tour designed to boost Phuket’s tourism industry.The 82 young women from around the world will spend a day in the province during the run-up to the competition, which will take place in Bangkok on…
- Phuket News
968 businesses still await aid
PHUKET: Nearly five months after the tsunami, some 968 small business owners in Phuket are still awaiting 20,000 baht in financial aid packages from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to re-start their businesses.A group comprising mostly small-scale vendors and beach massage business operators contacted the Phuket Office of the MoI’s Department of Local Administration (DOLA) recently to see why their…
- Phuket News
OrBorJor promotes Phuket in UAE
PHUKET: A 22-member delegation from the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) have returned from the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, where for three days they promoted the delights of Phuket – and studied the way the city, famed for being duty-free, operates.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr, who headed the delegation, said that the Phuket booth got good feedback from visitors, though…
- Phuket News
Phuket Air apologizes for latest problem
BANGKOK: Troubled no-frills airline Phuket Air yesterday apologized to passengers delayed by the recent decision by the Netherlands Department of Civil Aviation (NDCA) to bar the airline from landing at Amsterdam. The NDCA banned the airline after discovering that an emergency floor light on an aircraft that landed at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport was inoperative, and that the medical certificate of one…
- Phuket News
Phuket Air in trouble again
THAILAND: Phuket Air expects to resume its Bangkok-Amsterdam service within days, following a ban of the service by the Dutch civil aviation authorities after it was discovered that an aircraft serving the route had a faulty emergency lighting system and a Phuket Air pilot was found not to have a necessary medical certificate.Sribenja Semmeesook, Communication Consultant of Aziam Burson-Marsteller, the…
- Phuket News
Night Bazaar opening postponed by a year
PHUKET: Construction of the Phuket International Night Bazaar (PINB) has been put back by a year and the number of shops it will include has been slashed by 80%, because of the tsunami.Buildiers should have started work on the 170-rai site off Chao Fa West Rd in March, and the Bazaar should have been completed by November, ready for the…
- Phuket News
Dulwich London takes tough stance in talks
BANGKOK: The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Dulwich International College (DIC) today lifted the lid on negotiations between his organization and Dulwich College in London, at which attempts are being made to heal a major rift between the two sides.At stake in the talks is whether DIC will be allowed to continue using the Dulwich name.In a letter emailed…
- Phuket News
Evacuation practice set for April 29
PHUKET: Tourists hitting the sands of Patong Beach early next Friday morning may find themselves in for a bit of a surprise, as the province plans to conduct a tsunami evacuation drill in the area at 10 am on April 29. An “evacuation route map” and a variety of warning signs were presented Wednesday to a seminar at The Metropole…
