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Porntip slams “autocrats’
PHUKET: Dr Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan has rounded on “the autocrats” she says have forced her to close the mortuary at Wat Yan Yao, Phang Nga, where she and her team had been working to identify victims of the tsunami.The work has now been transferred to Phuket, to the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification Centre (TTVI), headed by Pol Gen Nopadol Soomboonsub.Dr…
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TAT blitz “helping to change perceptions’
PHUKET: Tour operators and journalists from eastern Europe have changed their perceptions of post-tsunami Phuket after seeing the effects for themselves, Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket has told the Gazette.“The journalists have been to Krabi, too,” said K. Suwalai. “They were very surprised to see Phi Phi Island, and Maya Bay, and…
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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…
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Court orders businessman off SorPorKor land
PHUKET: Businessman Charoen Thavornwongwong has been ordered to leave 16 rai of land in Karon’s Nakkerd Hills, after the Phuket Appeal Court overturned the Provincial Court’s earlier judgement that he could stay on the land.The Appeal Court said that the Phuket Provincial Land Reform Office (PLRO) had been right to contest the judgement of the lower court, on the grounds…
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WTO Phuket action plan adopted
KATA: A multi-point Phuket Action Plan drawn up by the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) to speed the recovery of Phuket’s battered tourism industry has been accepted by a WTO Emergency Session that drew togther representatives from 40 countries.The multi-point plan, approved during the session held yesterday and today at the Kata Beach Hotel, contains the following…
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F1 powerboat race postponed to March 2006
PHUKET: The Formula One powerboat race scheduled to take place next month in Ao Makham has been postponed for a year.Kata Group Chairman Pamuke Archariyachai told the Gazette today that a combination of the tsunami and the Cabinet’s slowness in approving funds to support the event had forced the decision to postpone until March 2006.“We had only a short time…
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Vehicle rental ban stays – Bhokin
PATONG: Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula is adamant that vehicle rental businesses will be barred from Thaveewong Rd, despite a 300-vehicle rally yesterday by owners of rental businesses opposed to the ban.Speaking at Provincial Hall this morning, K. Bhokin added that the restoration of Patong Beach would go ahead in line with plans drawn up by the Tourism Authority of Thailand…
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Stars Hingis and Keating aid Phuket
PHUKET: Former world No 1 women’s tennis player Martina Hingis will arrive in Phuket next Monday to help promote tourism to the area, just days after Irish pop star Ronan Keating recorded a music video on the island.Hingis, a five-times grand slam champion, is in Thailand to compete in the WTA Volvo Women’s Open in Pattaya, her first professional tournament…
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100,000 candles light up Patong Beach
PATONG: The beach here was a blaze of flickering light last night when some 10,000 people joined the “Light Up Patong” ceremony, lighting 100,000 candles along the three-kilometer length of the beach.The event was organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization and attended by 33 delegates to the World Travel Organization Executive Council extraordinary meeting, being held in Phuket yesterday…
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We need B700m immediately – Pian
PHUKET CITY: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has urged the government to approve immediately funding of 700 million baht to improve Patong Beach, in line with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s draft plan for reconstructing the resort.Mayor Pian told Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, during his recent visit to Phuket, that Patong was the worst-affected of all the tsunami-hit places on…
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Rental vehicle operators in mass protest
PATONG: Operators of vehicle rental businesses have staged a rally with more than 300 cars and large motorbikes to protest Patong Municipality’s plans to ban them from the beach road as part of the post-tsunami clean-up.The operators, some of whom carried placards stating, “Better to have died in the tsunami than live with a dictatorial government”, demanded that, if the…
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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…
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Suwat outlines tourism recovery plans
PHUKET CITY: Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop believes that marketing and rehabilitation of sites popular with tourists will be the keys to the recovery of the tourism industry along Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast.DPM Suwat, responsible for overseeing the recovery of the tourism industry in the Andaman region in the wake of the December 26 tsunami disaster, was reporting during a…
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Flowers for remembrance
KHAO LAK: At a solemn ceremony in the now calm waters some five miles off Khao Lak, the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) aircraft carrier HTMS Chakri Naruebeth led a flotilla of nine other RTN vessels to place wreaths on the water for those lost in the tsunami of December 26.The German, British, Swedish and Singaporean ambassadors to Thailand, as well…
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German town donates B1m to Kalim School
PATONG: The citizens of the small German town of Bad Rappenau – population 20,500 – have donated 1 million baht to help rebuild Baan Kalim School, which was badly damaged by the December 26 tsunami.On January 28, Heiko Schmidt, owner of Baan Suan Villa in Patong, who is originally from Bad Rappenau, handed over a check in that amount to…
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Candle ceremony on Patong Beach tonight
PATONG: Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) is inviting everyone to join a “Light up Patong” event this evening, the aim being to place 100,000 candles along three kilometers of Patong Beach, in memory of the victims of the tsunami.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr said the OrBorJor intends to make the ceremony an annual event, partly as a memorial to the victims…
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We’re doing our best to help – Thaksin
PHUKET CITY: PM Thaksin arrived in Phuket yesterday morning to hear complaints by Phuket residents about the government’s handling of the tsunami disaster.The meeting, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, was attended by some 500 people, including Cabinet ministers and scores of other government officials. The Cabinet ministers reported on the progress of the various relief programs assigned to…
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Singaporean airlines offer Phuket deals
PHUKET: A couple of days after THAI Airways angered the tourism industry by abruptly dropping all of its flights from Singapore to Phuket, airlines in Singapore are doing precisely the opposite, by offering special deals to travellers.In a joint promotion with selected hotels in Phuket, Krabi and Langkawi, SilkAir is offering travellers special-value packages to these holiday destinations, valid until…
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Samui speedboat crash toll rises to 14
KOH SAMUI: Rescue services have today recovered a further seven bodies from the waters around Koh Samui, bringing the official number of dead following Tuesday morning’s speedboat crash to 14. Pol Cpl Pongkasem Thanawanitnam, Koh Samui Police Station spokesman, told the Gazette that there are now two people still posted as missing.Koh Samui Hospital gave the names and nationalities of…
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Scandi tour firms to spread the good word
PHUKET CITY: An inspection team representing major Scandinavian tour companies Star Tour, MyTravel & Tour, and Apollo Tours, yesterday announced that they will return home and spread the word that Phuket and the other Andaman provinces are safe tourist destinations.The team of five yesterday wrapped up a week-long inspection tour that took in some 80 hotels in Phuket and Krabi,…
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Phuket to host tsunami warning meeting
PHUKET: Representatives from more than 40 countries are expected to take part in the Ministerial Meeting on Regional Cooperation on Tsunami Early Warning Arrangements to be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa on Friday and Saturday.Organizations expected to take part include the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Tsunami Relief, the Economic and…
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Tsunami bodies arrive in Mai Khao
TAH CHAT CHAI: Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula and Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today visited Mai Khao Cemetery, to which the bodies of foreigners who died in the December 26 tsunami are being moved for identification and repatriation.The mass transfer of tsunami victim corpses from Phang Nga to Mai Khao Cemetery, at the north end of the island, began yesterday with…
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Search continues for 16 missing in speedboat smash
KOH SAMUI: Police have identified five of the people who drowned between Koh Samui and Koh Pha-Ngan after the speedboat they were in sank in the early hours of yesterday morning.The search continues for another 16 people who have been reported as missing by family or friends.Police are not, however, discounting the possibility that some of the missing might have…
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Court declines to move on Van Treeck extradition
PATTAYA: Despite widespread media reports that murder suspect Sam Van Treeck is back in his native Belgium, the Pattaya Provincial Court has ruled that it will not follow up on the issue or seek his extradition unless he fails to turn up at a scheduled court appearance in December.Van Treeck was 24 years old when he was arrested for the…
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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…
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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…
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World Tourism Organization to meet in Kata
KATA: The World Tourism Organization (WTO) Executive Council will hold an emergency meeting at the Kata Beach Resort on January 31 and February 1, to draw up plans to accelerate the recovery of tourism industries affected by the December 26 tsunami.Kata Group President and Phuket Chamber of Commerce Chairman Pamuke Achariyachai said today, “The WTO has invited national and international…
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Mystery over Kamala body
KAMALA: Police have so far been unable to identify an apparent murder victim whose body was discovered by villagers in Kamala last weekend.The body was discovered by residents of Kamala village 6 on the sands of Nai Yea Beach, at the south end of Kamala Bay, at about 6 pm on Saturday night. A worker with the Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation,…
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Wreath-laying ceremony for victims
PHANG NGA: Thais and foreigners, residents and visitors alike, are invited to join the Royal Thai Navy in laying wreaths for tsunami victims at Khao Lak on Friday morning.The memorial service will be led by Defense Minister General Sumpun Boonyanun, who will place a wreath on the sea about three miles from shore.The navy will provide nine ships to take…
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90 firms to exhibit at Home Show Asia
PHUKET CITY: More than 90 of Thailand’s top homeware, interior design and décor specialists are due to take part in the first Home Show Asia, to be held in Phuket from March 25 to 27. The show, at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, will feature the latest in contemporary Asian living, ranging from soft furnishings to high-end furniture to state-of-the-art…
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