Search Results for: Asian
- Phuket News
Banks continue threatened by bad loans
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s embattled banking sector will slowly begin to recover in 2001, but a morass of non-performing loans will continue to dog the industry, Merrill Lynch said in a report released today. The outlook for the banking sector next year is cautiously positive, but recovery could be pushed off course by the mountain of bad loans, or if the…
- Phuket News
Phuket Rugby Sevens canceled
PHUKET TOWN: It was announced yesterday that this year’s Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament has been canceled. The announcement came just 10 days before the tournament was due to start. The Thai Rugby Union (TRU) blamed the cancellation on a 2-million-baht shortfall in sponsorship. No hint of these problems was given in the last meeting between organizers and sponsors, held…
- Phuket News
Thai economy continues fragile: World Bank
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s economic recovery is on track but remains fragile, volatile and uncertain, the World Bank said today. Thailand’s recovery will remain difficult as long as the ongoing process of financial and corporate reform lags behind most of Asia, the bank said in a report on East Asia. “The pace and quality of the financial and corporate reforms continues…
- Phuket News
Gap between rich and poor widens in Thailand
BANGKOK (AFP): The gap between rich and poor in Thailand has continued growing since the 1997 Asian economic crisis as more people slip below the poverty line, a cabinet statement said today. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said in its latest study sent to the cabinet that some 7.9 million Thais live below the poverty line on…
- Phuket News
FantaSea to build theme park in Langkawi
PHUKET: Pin Kewpaisal, president and CEO of Phuket Fantasea, has revealed that Dr Mahathir Mohamed, Prime Minister of Malaysia, has asked him to build a new theme park in Langkawi, and he has agreed. In an interview with Tansettakit newspaper, K. Pin said that he had already had two conferences with Dr Mahathir to discuss the Prime Minister’s plan. K.…
- Phuket News
First cloned Thai calf about to be born
BANGKOK, Feb 9 (AFP): Thai researchers are close to delivering two calves cloned from an adult cow’s ear cells in what would be a breakthrough for Southeast Asian scientists, researchers said Wednesday. “The first cloned cow is expected to be delivered within a month,” said Rangsan Polpai, a researcher at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of Veterinary Science. A second calf is…
- Phuket News
PM opens Board of Investment Fair
BANGKOK (AFP): Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai was today due to open the two-week Board of Investment Fair 2000, designed to convince the world that the Thai economy has turned the corner and to lure foreign investors to bolster the recovery. The government is touting the fair, which opens to the public tomorrow and is expected to draw between three million…
- Phuket News
Business registrations soared in 1999
PHUKET TOWN: Business confidence soared in Phuket last year, with the number of companies registering in the province leaping by more than 50% compared with 1998, and comfortably exceeding even the pre-Asian-Crisis levels of 1996. Figures compiled by the Phuket Commercial Registration Office show 505 limited companies were registered last year, compared with 332 in the previous year, 311 in…
- Phuket News
Weather has little impact on local business
PHUKET: Amorn Chantanavivate, Director of the South Western Regional Meteorological Center, reports that the cold and windy weather Phuket has experienced over the past few days will continue until January. He warns all boats to be careful and urges small craft to remain in port until the weather improves. Local marine operators expect the weather to have little impact on…
- Phuket News
Fantasea still showing a loss – CEO
KAMALA: Pin Kewpaisal, President and CEO of Phuket Fantasea, admitted last night that the cultural theme park is still losing money but said that he remains optimistic about the future, and that he believes Fantasea is on the right track. Khun Pin didn’t reveal actual loses, but said Fantasea has to pay about 50 million baht a month just to…
- Phuket News
Blue Canyon wins international award
PHUKET: The Blue Canyon Country Club was named Asian & Pacific Golf Resort of the Year 2000 in the recent Hertz International Golf Travel Awards ceremony, held in Portugal. It was also nominated in two other categories: Asian & Pacific Golf Course of the Year 2000, and Worldwide Golf Resort of the Year 2000. In last year’s Hertz awards, it…
- Phuket News
Type A Negative blood urgently needed
PHUKET TOWN: Bangkok Phuket Hospital has issued an urgent appeal for Type A Negative blood for an Austrian tourist who is bleeding internally. Alfred Edlinsel, 41, was rushed to the hospital yesterday with a ‘terrible’ stomach pain that subsequently deteriorated into gastric and intestinal bleeding. Mr Edlinsel’s medical record shows that he has had a stomach condition for years. The…
- Phuket News
France wins Junior Pétanque Championships
SAPHAN HIN: France on Sunday recaptured the Seventh World Junior Pétanque Championship title after a lapse of six years, with a convincing 15-6 win over Switzerland. The French team – Ludovic Labrue, 17, Alexandre Ruffo, 17, Romaine Scultore, 15, and Nicolas Taviand, 17 – used a variety of strategic moves in “pointing” and “shooting” that experts agreed showed maturity beyond…
- Phuket News
Local team in shock defeat of national side
PHUKET TOWN: A scratch soccer team made up of players from Phuket and Chumphon beat Thailand’s national under-17 team 1-0 on Thursday, with a last-minute goal at the Saphan Hin stadium. The loss was a blow for the national squad, who are the Asian champions in their age group, and who preparing for the Under-17 Football World Championships in Napier,…
- Phuket News
Thailand to lead SEA force in East Timor
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand today agreed to a request from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that it lead the Southeast Asian contingent in the international force for East Timor, officials said. Thailand will take the post of deputy commander of the operation under Australia’s overall command, government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchart said. “Kofi Annan wanted to see Thai cooperation and involvement as…
- Phuket News
Tax Office reaps huge gains from business profits
PHUKET: If tax paid by businesses is any indication of an island’s prosperity, then Phuket has made a positively astounding recovery from the depths of the Asian crisis. According to the latest figures from the Phuket Provincial Revenue Office, revenue from Juristic Income Tax, levied on the net income of most companies and partnerships, is up by a massive 52.7%…
- Phuket News
Man found shot dead in tin mine
PHUKET TOWN: Kupai Foundation staff found a corpse floating in an abandoned tin mine on Chao Fa Nok Rd on Sunday. Police called to the scene described the corpse as male, wearing an unbuttoned black shirt and Chinese trousers. Kupai Foundation staff found one gunshot wound in the back of the head and another in the right chest, with an…
- Phuket News
Big Balls-up at Bangkok Airport
BANGKOK: Bangkok airport authorities said earlier today that they had launched an investigation into how excerpts from a pornographic video were shown on television monitors throughout the international terminal during coverage of a major football match. An airport spokesman said it was a mystery how a 20-second clip of a man and woman having sex was aired after Thailand [also]…
- Phuket News
Unidentified bodies washed up on Patong Beach
PATONG: Kathu Police have appealed for help in identifying two men found dead on Patong Beach last weekend. The first was found early on Saturday morning in front of Kamonland, a cabana hotel. Police said the man was about 45 to 50 years old, wearing violet shorts and a green T-shirt inside a long-sleeved grey shirt. An autopsy showed the…
- Phuket News
Laguna Resorts to take over Banyan Tree
PHUKET: Laguna Resorts and Hotels Plc (LRH) has announced a plan to acquire the Banyan Tree Hotel Group, an acquisition that would make it the largest hotel group in Thailand and one of the biggest in Asia. LRH’s board of directors approved the plan on July 9. It has yet to be approved by shareholders, who will meet on August…
- Phuket News
Boxes on sale for Phuket Rugby Sevens
PHUKET: Organisers of the Phuket Rugby Sevens have announced that corporate boxes for the two-day international event are now available. The tournament takes place at Saphan Hin, Phuket Town, on July 3 and 4, and will feature top international teams from Asia and Europe. The boxes cost 60,000 baht and include 15 tickets and two meals per person per day.…
- Phuket News
Fisherman finds unidentified corpse
THALANG: A fisherman yesterday found the body of an unidentified man in the water near Baan Tah Chat Chai. Police said the dead man was Asian, dressed in brown trousers and shirt. They estimated his age at around 25 to 30 years, and his height at about 1.6 metres. The corpse carried no identification, but police believe he may have…
- Phuket News
Crowd Greets Arrival Of Elephants
PHUKET: Five elephants shipped back to the Kingdom from Indonesia received a warm welcome late last night as they, along with their 12 mahouts, arrived at the Deep Sea Port aboard the Sinthu Phuket. The pachyderms made headlines recently when the cash-strapped Indonesian government said they no longer could afford to continue a joint elephant training program. In October 1997,…
- Phuket News
Europeans Boost Arrivals
BANGKOK: Aided by double-digit growth in the European and Oceanian sectors, international tourist arrivals to Thailand posted a 7.3 percent year-on-year increase during the first ten months of 1998, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) reported today. From January 1, 1998 through October 31, 1998, a total of 6,235,639 tourist arrivals were recorded. During the same period a year earlier,…
- Phuket News
Regatta Winners Honored
KATA: “This was the greatest regatta ever,” proclaimed Admiral Thira Haoch, Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy and Honorary Chairman of the 12th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, to an audience of competitors and guests assembled Saturday night for the Royal Awards Ceremony. The admiral was among a host of dignitaries in attendance at the function held in the…
- Phuket News
Europeans Check In For Long Stays
BANGKOK: When it comes to taking a holiday in Thailand, German and Swiss tourists check in for the longest stays. Vacationers from the two European countries remained, on average, in the Kingdom longer than any other segment surveyed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in its just-released detailed statistical report for the first half of the year. From January…
- Phuket News
Europeans Fuel September Gain
BANGKOK: International tourist arrivals at Bangkok International Airport registered a 17.8 percent year-on-year gain in September, the Tourism Authority of Thailand announced. European markets, led by the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, contributed to the double-digit increase. A total of 29,315 UK tourists arrived at the airport during the month, a gain of more than 10,000 arrivals compared to September last…
- Phuket News
THAI Winter Program Announced
BANGKOK: Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced its new Winter Program, which will be in effect from October 25, 1998 to March 27, 1999. The carrier will maintain its flight frequencies on Northern Pacific routes, including seven flights per week on the Bangkok-Osaka-Los Angeles route. The total number of weekly flights operated between the Kingdom and Europe will be increased…
- Phuket News
Australian Navy Ships To Arrive
PHUKET: The Australian Embassy has announced that three warships from the Royal Australian Navy will arrive for goodwill visits as part of their Southeast Asian deployment. HMAS Adelaide, HMAS Brisbane and HMAS Hobart are scheduled to arrive at Phuket’s Ao Makham Port on October 8 for a five-day visit. HMAS Adelaide, a William Hazard Perry class frigate, has a complement…
- Phuket News
Banyan Tree Tops Reader Poll
PHUKET: Conde Nast Traveller magazine has named the Banyan Tree Phuket as the world’s best spa resort following tabulation of more than 26,000 votes cast in its 1998 Readers Travel Awards poll, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has announced. Readers cited the resort’s service, quality spa treatments and facilities, accommodations and unique ambience in casting their votes. “This award is…
