Article Category - Phuket Local News

AUSSIE expats and tourists will celebrate Anzac Day in ‘fair dinkum’ style at the OTOP Market in Patong on Saturday, with a televised Dawn Service, a free barbecue and a traditional game of two-up. Anzac Day, April 25, is the day Australians remember their war dead. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and is named after the combined military force which attacked the Turkish beach of Gallipoli in 1916 Neil Cheyne, who runs Lilly’s Bar, and John Kerr, who operates the Anzac Bar in the OTOP Market complex, join forces each year to host a traditional Anzac Day.

PHUKET now has two of the world’s fastest taxis. Well known Patong personality, Somnuek ‘Nicky’ Phonkaew and his brother, Kai, have started the island’s first Ferrari hire car service. For between 10,000 and 15,000 baht, they will get you from anywhere on the island to the airport in record time, and in a style usually reserved only for millionaire playboys. Nicky owns two Ferraris, a bright red 360 Spider and a yellow F438, and he is keen to share the Ferrari experience with paying customers.

A CARAVAN of 65 Buddhist monks have arrived in Phuket after walking more than 2000 kilometres from Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand. The massive trek took them more than 99 days. The pilgrims left The Golden Triangle Apex, which is the northernmost point of Thailand on January 10, and crossed the Sarasin Bridge which links Phuket to the mainland on the 99th day.

THAI-tarot card reader extraordinaire Khuntong Asunee Na Ayudhaya is coming to Phuket to read the future for a select group of ‘believers’. During the three days he will be here, he will lay his cards on the table for 30 prominent Phuket businessmen and women, and will teach six prospective Tarot teachers the finer points of fortune telling. Khuntong’s passion for the magic of Tarot cards was born when he discovered a dust-covered pack of cards in a pawn shop in the US town of Huntsville.

BRITAIN’S Princess Eugenie spent the Easter-Songkran break in Phuket where she danced on a bartop in a lesbian-friendly bar, drank beer laced with tomato sauce, and went for a sexy romp in the Andaman Sea. A photo of a gal-pal groping the Princess’ ample breasts was published in Britain’s Sun newspaper along with lurid details of her wild night out in Phuket. The blonde woman was pictured cupping the busty royal’s chest and gazing wistfully at her cleavage as Eugenie gave her a piggyback in the sea.

PHUKET’S new Governor Wichai Praisa-Ngob is determined to solve the island’s growing rubbish problems. Earlier this month, he met with the director of the National Innovation Agency, Supachai Lorlowhakarn, and the Director General of the Department of Environment’s Quality Promotion, Orapin Wongchumpit, to work out ways to make Phuket ‘greener’. They also discussed the ongoing problems with plastic bag dumping on the island.

THIS year’s Songkran festival is set to be a wet and wild three days of fun, festivities and religious ceremonies. Songkran, or Thai New Year, will run from April 13 to 15, and is traditionally celebrated with lots of water throwing. And although it is a Thai festival, foreigners are welcome to join in and enjoy the fun atmosphere. Songkran is held in the hottest and driest month of the year when a bit of water can be both cooling and refreshing. But be warned. You WILL get wet, so wear clothes that can withstand a soaking.

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) will host a mass concert at Sapan Hin Park on the outskirts of Phuket Town on April 18. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people, including PAD members from around the Kingdom, are expected to turn out for the event which runs from 5pm until midnight. Senior PAD leaders, including Major General Chamlong Srimuang, media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, Chaiwat Sinsuwong, Pibhop Dhongchai, Somsak Kosaisuuk and Khun Somkeit Pongpaibul will make speeches, and the event will be broadcast live on ASTV.

ECO-friendly tourist operators in Phuket will soon have access to low-interest loans to ensure the industry remains green and financially viable in the future. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the French Development Agency has allocated 50 million euros to the project, 10 million of which has been earmarked for southern Thailand. The money will be deposited in a Thai bank, and bank staff will be trained in the standards and criteria required of borrowers to be eligible for a loan.

PHUKET International Airport is about to become even more efficient. Immigration officers will increase the number of manned counters from nine to 14 during the coming high season, making it faster for the 15,000 tourists who pass through the airport every day. With between 30 and 40 flights a day landing and departing from the airport, the immigration queues have been growing, along with the number of complaints about slow service.

THE current world-wide recession could be over by as early as the middle of next year, according to one of Phuket’s leading financial experts. Edwin Goulding, a certified financial planner and currency expert with Phuket- investor.com, said past recessions had lasted, on average, less than 18 months. “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines recessions as periods where global growth is less than per cent,” he said.

JUNGCEYLON’S parent company, Phuket Square, has put its plans for overseas expansion on hold, while back home, the shopping centre is celebrating its second birthday with a feast of bargains and free shows. Prices are being slashed by as much as 70 per cent and there will be a whole range of free entertainment between now and Songkran. A number of superstars from Bangkok are expected to help bring in the crowds and push revenue to an estimated 45 million baht a month.

PHUKET’S new Governor, Wichai Praisa-Ngob has made the island’s traffic problems his first priority. Governor Wichai, who replaced former Governor Dr Preecha Ruangjan, two weeks ago, has already started making plans to ease congestion problems at the Central Festival intersection and the Heroines’ Monument. “Plans for a tunnel under the road outside Central Festival are already in place, but this will take maybe two years to build, and it will be very expensive,” he said.

LASH out on some leathers, fire up the Honda and scoot on down to Patong for the three days of motorbike madness that is Phuket Bike Week. This year’s festival runs from April 10 until April 13. More than 5000 bikers are expected to roar into town from as far away as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur for the festivities which will include a series of bike competitions, a tattoo contest, a Ride for Peace through Kata, Karon, Nai Harn and Phomthep Cape, and three rock concerts.

PHUKET Governor, Dr Preecha Ruangjan, is leaving the island after serving only four months and 22 days as Governor. Dr Preecha has been posted to Phitsanulok province and will be replaced by Wichai Praisa-Ngob, who is currently the Governor of Singburi province. The shake-up is part of a nationwide reshuffle of Thailand’s 76 provincial governors by the recently empowered government under Abhisit Vejjajiva.

TEN Kamala students have been busy shooting each other with imported American cameras. The children, who are all orphans aged between 12 and 14, were snapping up new skills from visiting Wyoming photographer Marsha Lutz, during a week of photo-fun. The apprentice paparazzis are students at the prestigious H.M the King’s Rachaprachanakroh foundation school, which caters for more than 700 underprivileged mostly-Muslim students.

There’s something very funny about Hung Le. But that’s only to be expected because he is one of Australia’s funniest stand-up comedians. After leaving audiences all around the world in stitches, he is on his way to Phuket for a one-night-only performance at the Punchline Comedy Club in Patong.

A SECOND wind turbine generator will be built alongside the Big Buddha statue in the hills above Chalong. The Chief of Phuket’s provincial energy office, Jirasak Thammavate, said construction of the wind turbine was set to begin in April next year. He said Thailand’s Energy Minister, Dr Wannarat Channnukul, was keen for Phuket to have self-sufficient, environmentally friendly power sources.

AUSTRALIANS wanting to renew their passports will no longer have to spend thousands of baht traveling to Bangkok. Phuket’s honorary Australian consul, Larry Cunningham, will soon be able to renew unexpired passports here on the island. Mr Cunningham said the majority of Australians renewing passports in Thailand came from Phuket.

PHUKET’S main bus terminal is set to move into a flash new home. The department of Land Transportation will build a brand new terminal in Thepkrasatri Road, opposite the Supercheap shopping centre. An initial budget of 80 million baht has been allocated to the project, and the nine-rai of land has already been purchased.

PHUKET’S Provincial Administration Organization is hoping to enter the Guinness book of records with a 24-hour beach football tournament next month. More than 120 teams from around the world are expected to play in the one-day event, which will kick off at 8am on April 11, the day before the Songkran festival begins. The final whistle will be blown at 8am the following day.

PHUKET will celebrate the memory of its famous heroine sisters, Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Sri Soonthorn, this month with a carnival. The annual festival will run from Saturday March 7 until March 22, and will be based around the landmark Heroines Monument roundabout in Thalang. The festivities will begin on March 7 with a group ordination of Buddhist priests into the brotherhood of the Latthivanaram Temple, hosted by the Foundation of Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Sri Soonthorn.

ONE of the world’s most respected winemakers has made a flying visit to Phuket to showcase a range of Italian wines. Marco Bacci, who owns the Renieri and Castello di Bossi estates in Tuscany, spent an evening at the Catch Beach Club in Surin with 35 ‘wine apprentices’ to explain the ins and outs of Italian wine.

THE first Phuket Post packed plenty of punch. The ‘Souvenir Issue No.1’ which was published on May 6, 2005, covered business, news, property, money, and movies. ‘Up go building prices,’ screamed the splash headline on the front page, while another banner hinted at what Phuket would be like when the population hit the one million mark. A third story looked at whether or not missionaries should be banned from converting children in tsunami refugee camps to Christianity.

THE dog looked up from mothering her six pups and growled as the dog catcher came just a little too close. She was obviously ready to attack what she saw as a threat to her pups. The dog catcher, Nok, backed off to a safe distance and produced a blow-pipe. He fitted a small dart and fired at the still snarling bitch.

SCHOOL children in Phuket Town will become ‘Mosquito Detectives’ in a bid to wipe out dengue fever in the area. The Provincial Health Office will hold its second annual Dengue Protection School Project on February 24. The project, known as ‘Detective Mosquito’, will be a fun day for school children in Phuket Town to learn about the breeding habits of mosquito’s and come up with ways of preventing them from breeding around schools.

SCHOOL children in Phuket Town will become ‘Mosquito Detectives’ in a bid to wipe out dengue fever in the area. The Provincial Health Office will hold its second annual Dengue Protection School Project on February 24. The project, known as ‘Detective Mosquito’, will be a fun day for school children in Phuket Town to learn about the breeding habits of mosquito’s and come up with ways of preventing them from breeding around schools.

THE Thai government will give Phuket residents aged over 60 a 500 baht a month bonus between April and September this year. To be eligible for the hand-out, recipients must be Thai nationals born before April 1, 1949, they must be registered with their local municipality as a Phuket resident, they must not be receiving benefits from a private pension fund.

A THREE-legged dog which was abandoned by its Phuket owners, is heading to a new life in the US. The dog, named Christmas, was saved from a life sentence at the Soi Dog Foundation when he was adopted by Wyoming veterinarian, Dr Heather Carleton. “I met Christmas the very first day I started work as a volunteer at the foundation, and he reminded me of my last dog Baily-Duke, a stray I found at the side of the freeway back home,” said Dr Carleton.

THOUSANDS of people flocked to Chalong last week for the annual Chalong Temple Fair. The seven-day fair is held every year for Buddhists to pay homage to Luang Po Cham, a monk who helped the people of Phuket put down the Chinese Coolie rebellion in 1876 during the reign of King Rama V. Luang Po Cham was the head abbott at the temple, and he is still revered today for his bravery.