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Consumer protection board battles Phuket condo developer
PHUKET: Nine Property (Patong) company was given two weeks yesterday to address compensation to pre-build purchasers in the Ace 1 condominium project in Phuket. More than 30 Thai and foreign customers have sought compensation after making down payments of about 400,000 baht on the project, which was scheduled to be completed in April this year, explained Ampol Wongsiri, Secretary General…
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Light-rail public meeting set for Thursday
PHUKET: Island-dwellers can have their say about the light-rail project in a public hearing at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town on Thursday. The news follows a meeting with Sirigate Apirat of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning yesterday about the light rail. It was decided yesterday that there would be an extra stop added in Mai…
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DDPM queues up flash flood, landslide warning
PHUKET: The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office will issue an official flash flood and landslide warning for Phuket residents today in preparation of worsening weather conditions this week. “According to the Thai Meteorological Department [TMD], we can expect increasingly heavy rains tomorrow, which will run through the weekend,” said Santhawat Riwleung, chief of the DDPM Phuket Office. “We…
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Thanyapura sings silver at SEA Games Singapore
PHUKET: Thanyapura’s top swimmers triumphed at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, winning a bounty of silver medals and breaking three Thai National Records. Peerapat Lertsathapornsuk, Patarawadee Kittiya, Kornkanjana Sapianchai and Tanakrit Kittiya competed in ten races at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore earlier this month. Patarawadee and Kornkanjana returned home to Phuket with two silver medals each, after helping…
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Phuket tour guide silent on catching clown fish
PHUKET: A Thai tour guide caught catching a clown fish so that tourists could hold it at Koh Khai Nai has refused to comment on his behavior after his tour guide licence was temporarily suspended. The clown fish, which has become incredibly popular with some tourist markets following the Pixar animation Finding Nemo, was in a plastic bread bag being…
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Turkish couple rescued after spending hours lost in jungle
PHUKET: A Turkish couple was rescued after spending nearly nine hours on their own in the jungle in Khao Phra Thaew National Park on Saturday. Bulent and Pinar Burak, both 34, were on their way to the Wildlife Sanctuary when they got lost in the park. They then called Palm Beach Hotel in Patong, where they were staying, to ask…
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Phuket study to determine sun lounger fate
PHUKET: A twist of fate may be in the cards for Phuket’s abandoned sun loungers, with island officials aiming to decide by the end of July whether or not to allow them all back on the sands. Governor Nisit Jansomwong revealed to the Phuket Gazette last week that a beach management research team at Prince of Songkhla University (PSU) Phuket…
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Officials seize 100 rai of illegally possessed park land
PHUKET: About 100 rai of illegally possessed land in Sirinath National Park were seized by a team of park officials and Navy personnel on Friday. Seizure notices were posted on the five plots in Sakoo and Cherng Talay, which were being used for rubber plantations, after the owners were unable to present ownership documents for the land. “The owners are…
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Opinon: Life-saving lessons
Prathaiyut Chuayuan, 50, from Phuket, is the president of Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC). He graduated from Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani campus, with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He was involved in exchange programs in England and Australia related to life-saving services. He started his first job as a lifeguard at Le Meridien in Phuket in 1998. He has…
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Construction worker killed in Patong landslide
PHUKET: A landslide at a construction site in Phuket killed one worker and injured five others this morning. Myanmar national Set Lai, 20, was crushed by the dirt and rebar. The other five workers were rushed to Patong Hospital, four have since been discharged, confirmed Lt Col Weerapong Rakhito of the Patong Police. The fifth worker is still in hospital…
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Bangla bouncer files police brutality complaint
PHUKET: The alleged victim of a vicious attack by police in Patong filed a formal complaint against the officer and others in his party yesterday. The bouncer at Hollywood nightclub on the party town’s famed Soi Bangla, 29-year-old Kamolchai Singhakerd, told police that Patong Deputy Superintendent Sorapong Chukaew and a group of his officers attacked him at about 2am on…
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Navy continues Rohingya “helping on’ mission
PHUKET: The mission of ‘helping on’ Rohingya and Bengali migrants by providing medical services and translators, as well as food and water supplies will continue until further notice, confirmed the Royal Thai Navy. The mission was launched with a tentative two-week deadline last month (story here). “Our vessels, HTMS Saiburi and the HTMS Angthong, and aircraft are continuing to search…
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Jet-skis make waves at luxury resort off Phuket
PHUKET: The Naka Island, A Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, based on the small island off the east coast of Phuket, is battling against local jet-ski operators. “The jet-skies are dangerous. They are always coming too close to customers swimming at the beach,” said The Naka Island representative Sureeporn Roongreung. “They have yet to hurt anyone swimming or diving, and…
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Opinion: A stone’s throw
PHUKET: It is imperative that you have excellent defense driving skills in Phuket, especially if you are a daily commuter on some of the island’s busiest roads, such as Thepkrasattri. Drivers stop in front of you and park without warning, and people switch lanes without signaling and open car doors without looking. And, as I found out on my way…
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Phuket on alert for MERS virus
PHUKET: Phuket Health officials have ramped up efforts this week in order to identify passengers who are possibly carrying the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) to the island from South Korea or the Middle East, where the virus is spreading. “We received an order from the Ministry of Public Health in Bangkok to be on alert for the virus,” Phuket…
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Business Buzz: Defining your perfect customer
PHUKET: One of the first things you should be focusing on in business is deciding what your niche is and who your perfect customers will be. Most people, in theory, will have done this as part of the initial planning and deciding what business to go into, but sometimes businesses change and go through significant metamorphosis over time, so it’s…
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Opinion: Too good to be true
PHUKET: The recent proposal to launch a potentially free shuttle service for tourists transiting at Phuket International Airport is an excellent idea. However, islanders should not be optimistic about such a service being available any time soon. Until the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) came to power just over a year ago, Phuket’s tourism economy suffered brazen abuse…
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Heavy rain floods underpass construction site
PHUKET: Heavy rain today caused the second flash flood this month at Samkong Intersection, the construction site of Phuket’s second underpass. Though the deep waters caused tailbacks in the afternoon, it has since drained, confirmed Chalermpol Wongkiattikun, project manager from the Department of Highways. “I had to order our staff out into the rain with a digger to start clearing…
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Phuket Governor praises English-language media
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong praised the island’s foreign media yesterday during a public forum to raise awareness of the negative effects corruption has on society (story here). “I am glad that we have the media, especially the English-language media. They have a reporting style that is different from Thai media,” said Governor Nisit at the Royal Phuket City Hotel.…
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BISP strikes gold at SEA Games
PHUKET: It was an absolutely incredible night for British International School Phuket (BISP) in the pool on Sunday at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. In one evening, the school’s student athletes – representing Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand – brought home one gold, one silver and one bronze medal, in intense competition against the finest swimmers in Southeast Asia. Year…
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Superyacht licence registration coming soon
PHUKET: Registration for foreign-flagged superyacht chartering licences is expected to begin next month, Marine Department Director-General Chula Sukmanop revealed to the Phuket Gazette. “Officials have been discussing how to standardize criteria for the licences. We are pushing hard on what needs to be done, in terms of laws, to allow foreign-flagged superyacht charters in Thailand,” said Mr Chula. A public…
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Boy crushed to death by cement truck
PHUKET: An 11-year-old boy was killed after he fell off the back of his mother’s motorbike and under the wheel of a cement truck yesterday. Rescue workers arrived at the scene at the traffic light in front of Makro in Kathu to find Thanaphat Songserm severely injured underneath the truck. Patchanee Songserm, 42, had just picked up her son from…
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Protesters demand high-voltage power line update
PHUKET: More than 100 locals from Thalang villages gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday looking for an update on a high-voltage power line project that is slated to run through their community. Protesters filed a complaint on May 20 over the potentially negative effects a high-voltage power line project could have on their lives (story here). The complaint was first…
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Boat propeller slices British diving student’s leg near Koh Tao
PHUKET: A British diving student is in hospital in Koh Samui after her leg was nearly severed by a boat propeller while diving near Koh Tao. Alice Louise Davies, 20, had just completed a dive with Scuba Shack near Koh Hin Sam Kon on Tuesday afternoon and was about to exit the water when the accident happened. “A motorboat, Thanicha…
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Phuket’s poor gather to receive food donations during annual alms festival
PHUKET: More than 1,500 of Phuket’s poorest people went to the Kusoldharm Foundation headquarters in Phuket Town on June 4 to receive donations of food as part of the annual Te Krajard merit-making ceremony. “This year, we also handed out 250 kilograms of rice to a total of 34 schools and 5kg packs of rice and foodstuffs to poor locals,”…
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Opinion: Tackle criminals with technology
Col Kraithong Chanthongbai, 60, from Phang Nga province, is the superintendent of the Phuket City Police. He earned a PhD in public administration from Bangkokthonburi University, and has been superintendent since January this year. Here, he talks about the role of technology in the investigation process, problems Phuket police face in solving crimes, and different approaches taken in cases involving…
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Police launch new no-parking zones in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Island officials have established six new ‘no-parking’ zones and extended the hours in which it is prohibited to park on some of Phuket Town’s busiest streets in order to combat traffic congestion in the area. The move was prompted by the ever-increasing number of cars on Phuket and the subsequent worsening of traffic congestion, especially on narrow Phuket Town…
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Phuket resort sets up private life-saving team
PHUKET: Katathani Phuket Beach Resort is beefing up Kata Noi Beach security by providing its own privately funded safety and rescue team to patrol the small but popular stretch of sand. “This safety project is being launched in hopes of raising tourists’ confidence. We want all related businesses to join us and serve as examples for other beaches,” said Katathani…
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New shuttle gets nod from Phuket airport director
PHUKET: A new shuttle service from Phuket International Airport to three final destinations on the island has garnered the approval of Airport Director Monrudee Gettuphan. “I personally think it is a good idea to have a shuttle bus running from the airport to destinations throughout the island, such as Saphan Hin in Phuket Town, Karon and Rawai,” Ms Monrudee told…
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Lighthouse Weekend Market a boon to businesses
PHUKET: The new addition of a mini-motor expo at the Lighthouse Weekend Market last month produced four on-the-spot car sales, tagging the event as a business generator on Phuket – one in so much demand that it will continue through the rainy season. The cars that sold were Mini Cooper, Volvo and Subaru models, confirmed Kanittha Prasopsirikul, market organizer and…
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