Opinion
The Thaiger Opinion Columns.
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Phuket Opinion: Please don’t sell our reservoirs
PHUKET: After learning that a young man had been caught on a CCTV camera urinating into the local reservoir, the chief administrator of the Portland, Oregon Water Bureau in the US made a hasty decision last month. He ordered that all 7.8 million gallons be drained out of it. While Portland is far from Phuket, the controversial move that cost…
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Phuket Opinion: Despite the danger, reconciliation on the roads not likely for now
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette wishes Phuket’s Land Transport Chief Teerayout Prasertphol the best of luck in his efforts to end the illegal practice of using salaeng (motorcycles with sidecars) to transport passengers. But we think we’ll be seeing no reduction in the number if these cartoons on the roads – at least not during the current decade. It is difficult…
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Sunday Opinion: Our MPs need to leverage Thailand for the benefit of Phuket
PHUKET: The landslide election win by the Pheu Thai Party last weekend may strike fear in the hearts of some Phuket residents, but the new coalition government should be given a chance to establish itself and make good on its promises to bring about national reconciliation and prosperity. [See ‘Business as usual?’, page 11, current issue of the Phuket Gazette.…
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Sunday Opinion: Phuket declares support for roadside trash in national elections
PHUKET: As Thailand’s general election draws near, one can only guess what tourists in Phuket might make of it all. So ubiquitous and impressive is the roadside pollution that many visitors will spend their holiday bewildered as to why they are looking at thousands of colorful images of suited monkeys, salivating dogs and fatuous monitor lizards. For many, the preponderance…
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Phuket Opinion: Why not recognize honor at street level?
PHUKET: Phuket has launched a contest to name the new road that opened late in December. It connects Saphan Hin with Chao Fa East Rd on the outskirts of Phuket Town. [See story, page 2, in the current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full issue.] That a new name is needed would probably…
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Phuket Opinion: Consuls could help break the choke hold on tourism
PHUKET: The latest meeting of Phuket’s honorary consuls with provincial authorities was rather unremarkable, but as the gatherings remain the only official forum for tourists and expatriate residents of Phuket to have their concerns presented directly to the people in charge, they need to continue. [See ‘Tourists beaten, cheated and cursed’, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click…
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Sunday Opinion: Phuket Town could become a driver for island-wide dining
PHUKET: Phuket Town’s plan to apply for listing as a UNESCO “City of Gastronomy”, if carried out, would be one of the more rational overtures put to the United Nations (UN) by Thailand in recent years. But it’s premature to think that we’ll soon be seeing a wave of ‘gastro-tourists’ coming to Phuket to sample the local cuisine. [See story,…
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Phuket Opinion: Pink buses delivering people, promises and dreams
PHUKET: The recent expansion of the poh thong (pink bus) public transport service to the people of Koh Sireh is not only great news for some of the poorest residents of Phuket Town, but also gives long-suffering tourists an overdue, low-cost travel option. The latest route’s eastern terminus at Laem Tukkae will be a blessing for many, from the poor…
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Phuket Opinion: Captive dolphins pitied, even in the Land of Smiles
PHUKET: The recent announcement that a Canadian investor has sought provincial support for his plan to develop a 900-million-baht aquarium, resort and retail facility in Rawai has generated much debate over the ethics of keeping dolphins in captivity. Soon after the announcement that dolphin performances were slated to be among the attractions at the aquarium, forum comments and letters arguing…
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Phuket Opinion: Phuket moving forward in tsunami preparedness
PHUKET: The earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan last month once again forces us here in Phuket to review our readiness for a potential repeat of the events of December 2004. The death toll from the 9.0-magnitude quake off the coast of Honshu is now approaching 12,000, with more than 16,000 people listed as missing. The entire world empathizes with…
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Phuket Opinion: Policy on Thai residency should not be secret
PHUKET: It’s time for the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to set up a special task force to begin fast-tracking the processing of the huge backlog of permanent residency (PR) applications it is now sitting on in silence. Such a move would have multiple benefits for all parties involved, including, especially, foreign investors (potential and extant) and Thailand’s all-important tourism industry.…
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Phuket Island View: Sidecars extremely dangerous, but not to worry
PHUKET: The crackdown on motorbike passengers having to wear helmets has been excellent, though it hasn’t stopped parents from carrying babies, talking on a mobile phone, or smoking (or all three) while driving.I understand the trusty Honda Dream is the sole mode of transport for many families on Phuket, and that if they could afford something with four wheels they…
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Phuket Opinion: Keeping the cops out of the drug business
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette wishes the new City police superintendent the best of luck in his effort to rid Phuket of illegal drug use and police corruption. He is certainly going to need it. It is normal for newly-appointed government officers taking up key posts to state policy objectives, and those of Pol Col Chote Chitchai are irrefutably noble. Col…
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PHUKET OPINION: Some notes on the value of spam
PHUKET: Following a salvo of gratuitous email last week from a local hospitality service company announcing the launch of a new business – which has now itself begun to indulge in daily bulk mailings – we at the Phuket Gazette have re-evaluated our long-standing policy against the use of spam for any purpose. And we’ve decided to change nothing. We’re…
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Phuket Opinion: Bull elephants should be banned from Thai tourism
PHUKET: The terrible stomping death of a Swiss tourist by a berserk male elephant last week once again underscores the need to restrict tourism work to female elephants, as many operators who provide these services already do. (See story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full issue.) Riding through the jungle on the…
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Phuket Opinion: Beach nipples not naughty
PHUKET: I note there is no space [for a reader to] comment on Blair Christopher’s online story ‘Phuket Nipple Alert: Staying abreast of nude on our beaches’. (See story here.) So [as a Phuket resident] I’d like to comment here on how it is apparently perfectly acceptable for the male walking along the beach in the accompanying picture to have…
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PHUKET OPINION: Why not support a bit of heart for unlucky tourists?
PHUKET: The plan by the Phuket Tourist Police to build a shelter for foreign tourists who fall on hard times is laudable and long overdue, as evidenced by the number of hard luck cases whose travails have been chronicled in the Phuket Gazette for many years. Exact details of the plan have yet to be revealed, but Ekachai Pramanakul, chief…
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PHUKET OPINION: Secrets, heads in sand won’t save Phuket’s beaches
PHUKET: Some officials have branded as unfair the “star rating” figures for beaches recently released by the Pollution Control Department (PCD), saying the low ratings are bad for Phuket’s image and could harm the island’s all-important tourism industry. (See ‘Beach Pollution’, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.) Phuket is naturally blessed…
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Phuket Opinion: Let’s get the sea gypsies off our list of tourist attractions
PHUKET: The ‘Sea Gypsy Summit’ recently held in Phuket sheds a great deal of light on the many issues currently facing the people of the Andaman Sea as they try to maintain the language, culture and traditions handed down to them by their ancestors. (See story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full…
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PHUKET OPINION: Put the alcohol ban on ice
PHUKET: While possibly well-intended, the recently announced ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Thailand’s 110 national parks is just one more addition to the long and growing list of regulations that are difficult or impossible to enforce – and that probably do more harm than good. The new rule, announced over the recent holiday period, calls not…
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OPINION: Street Show a great event for Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Street Show festival last weekend was a wonderful coming out party for Old Phuket Town following its recent facelift. (See story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.) Whoever came up with the idea to host world-class street performers in the old quarter is to be given a great…
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PHUKET OPINION: Economics leads the challenge to Thai Tourism
PHUKET: A survey by a popular UK-based website recently ranked Bangkok as 31st among 32 major cities around the world in terms of cost of living. (See Phuket Gazette report here.) The survey, and our report of it, set off a great deal of lively, if not always learned, debate among armchair economists in the Gazette readers’ forum. A common…
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OPINION: Phuket truly a leader in education
PHUKET: Construction of the new international school with a Chinese-language curriculum is good news for Phuket. [See front page story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.] The school will provide an important new option for parents who want to position their children to tap the potential of the world’s most-populous nation…
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Phuket Opinion: Fire lanterns out of control
PHUKET: The festive season is upon us and visitors from around the world continue to pour into Phuket in what is shaping up to be a banner high season for tourism – at least in terms of arrivals. Use of khom loy (“fire lanterns”) is increasingly common during festivals in Phuket and the night sky above our island was replete…
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Phuket Opinion: Good news for medical tourism
PHUKET: Results of a recent Phuket Gazette readers’ poll provide an interesting glimpse into how Phuket’s expatriate community feels about private healthcare services on the island. (See statistics in this week’s issue of the newspaper. Digital subscribers click here.) The poll question asked readers to rate the overall the quality of treatment offered at private hospitals and clinics in Phuket.…
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PHUKET OPINION: Saving lives is not an ‘internal affair’
PHUKET: The dismissal en masse of Patong-based volunteer rescue workers by the Kusoldharm Foundation once again raises the need for better standards in emergency medical rescue services – not just in Patong, but across all of Phuket. As a privately administered organization, the Kusoldharm Foundation has the right to dismiss volunteers whose conduct is inappropriate, but to terminate the services…
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Phuket Opinion: Making sense of the numbers game
PHUKET: Our story this week about violent crime in Phuket set off a lively, multi-sided discussion in the Gazette readers forum, with several contributors pondering the relationship between police statistics and the actual situation on the ground. Dismissing the report as irrelevant, some pointed to the astonishing number of reported cases of prostitution: 1,692 in the whole province for the…
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PHUKET OPINION: Road lines too cheap to catch attention?
PHUKET: There are some grandiose schemes underway to accommodate the rising number of vehicles plying Phuket’s roads, which is growing at a higher rate than ever with some 500 new registrations every month. Few hold out much hope that the stranglehold on public transport by the island’s widely detested syndicates will ever be seriously addressed – at least in areas…
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PHUKET OPINION: Opening the door to devastation
PHUKET: A special notification issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) in July to break the impasse over the proposed Klong Koh Pee Road project will no doubt be treated as great news by the vast majority of Phuket people who work, study or relax at Saphan Hin. (See Governor retires, front page, current issue of the…
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OPINION: Big stink at Phuket landmark
PHUKET: A meeting earlier this month about problems facing the central stage area at Saphan Hin, a Phuket landmark, ended with an unsurprising result. A new committee will be formed to deal with the issues involved. For readers who missed the Gazette‘s online report last week, the key issues are economic, although some stakeholders have donned the mantle of environmentalism…
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