Phuket Island to be pilot for tourist safety advice : 29th June 2012

MOTS permanent secretary, Suwat Sidthilaw, deputy permanent secretary Thanitta Savetsila Maneechote, and Tourist Police commander Police Major-General Adis Ngamchitsuksri launched the project, the Bureau of Tourist Assistance and Fraud Prevention, late last week.
Mr Suwat said: “The campaign will provide tourists with important tips on how to avoid risks. Tourists are also encouraged to file complaints at the new bureau.”
Around 70 per cent of tourists in Thailand are travelling without the support of travel agencies and have no point of reference if they encounter a problem.
The “how to avoid risk” campaign is being implemented at Patong Beach and seven other pilot sites: Bangkok’s Khao San Rd; Ayutthaya’s floating market; Hua Hin; the ferry wharf on Koh Samui; Haad Yai’s Santisuk market; the walking street in Pai; and Chiang Mai’s walking street.
One part of the announcement by Gen Adis was puzzling. He said, “The Tourist Police will continue to step up safety for visitors in Thailand.
“A network of volunteers, who are taxi and tuk tuk drivers, have joined the police to disseminate safety information to travellers.”
Tourists and residents of the island alike view taxi and tuk-tuk drivers with a great deal of suspicion as they are often the cause of cheating and have been involved in many violent incidents, so it seems doubtful that they could be used as a confidence-building channel or to provide accurate information on safety to foreigners.
Phuket is more safety .

Medical teams practice halting flu at Phuket airport @ June 14th 2012

The training session was aimed at dealing with all subtypes of HxNy influenza, which includes such killers as Spanish flu, Asian flu, bird flu and swine flu.
Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch, a doctor with the Provincial Health Department, explained, “The training session is aimed at protecting the other passengers and Phuket.”

After the “call” came in to the control tower, the emergency medical team, wearing hazmat (hazardous material) suits prepared an area for screening passengers on the aircraft.

For this morning’s exercise, there was even an aircraft full of volunteer “passengers”.

Some of the medical team entered this and separated the passengers into green, yellow and red sectors – with green wristbands for those sitting far from the “sick” passenger, yellow for those sitting close to him, and red for the victim himself.

On the ground, both green and yellow passengers received an alcohol gel to clean their hands and a health information card, and were scanned with a Thermoscanner, which detects body temperature.

While the “red” passenger was rushed to hospital, the “yellows” were interviewed about their travels in the past 15 days, were rescreened with the Thermoscanner, underwent chest X-rays, and were then quarantined in a special negative-air-pressure room in hospital.

Finally, the medical team spray-disinfected the aircraft and the screening area in the airport.

Phuket grabs two more golds

The Phuket island today retained its seventh place in the medal standings of the National Youth Games, capturing two more gold medals.

In the final of the 39-42 kilo class of the Pencak Silat competition, Sampan Thongsidam delighted the home crowd by beating Muhamin Se from Pattani 4:1 in the sport that is traditionally strongest in the deep south of Thailand.

In the girls’ 15-18 years tennis finals, Phuket’s Butsarin Raktaengam repeated her victory in the Uttraradit Games four years ago by overpowering Rongroong Leenabanjong from Bangkok in straight sets, 6:4, 6:3.

The Phuket soft tennis team, meanwhile, racked up another three silver medals.

With a few more finals still to be played tomorrow (June 5), Phuket now has 17 gold, 15 silver and 25 bronze medals.
Bangkok still leads the medal table with 96 gold, 65 silver and 55 bronze medals, followed by Chiang Mai (27, 35, 37) and Chonburi (26, 29, 31).
But today the National Youth Games finish .

New 'no swimming' sign in 7 languages at Karon Beach Phuket , June 6th ,2012

PHUKET 2012 : Today Karon Municipality has designed new warning signs in seven languages with the aim of preventing tourists from drowning .
Fifteen signs will be erected on Kata and Karon beaches giving warnings in Thai, Chinese, English, Russian, French, Korean and German.

The sign includes a message, though in English only, from Karon Mayor Thawee Thongcham, which says, “The monsoon season has started and on certain days the sea can be very dangerous.

“Whenever the red flag is placed, we urge you not to swim in the sea as there are invisible undercurrents which are almost impossible to detect from the shore.

“Too many accidents occur every year on the Andaman Sea beaches and we cannot assume any responsibility in the case of accidents.”

The chief of the Karon Municipality Tourist Rescue Center, Suphachai Janpetch, said he is still worried about tourists who have no experience of rip currents in the water off Phuket.

They want to protect the toursit from the beach .

Phuket benefits from China-Philippines row , May 25th 2012

According to a Chinese news site, Phuket has benefitted from an ongoing spat between China and the Philippines, with mainland Chinese tourists who had planned to visit the Philippines diverting to Bali, Phuket or Cheju Island in South Korea.

According to Shanghai-based online news service Eastday, the switch change came because of increasingly tense relations between China and the Philippines that blew up on April 10, “when a Philippine warship harassed 12 Chinese fishing vessels that had sailed near Huangyan Island to seek shelter from a storm”.

Huangyan Island – in fact a triangular chain of reefs and rocks surrounding a lagoon in the South China Sea – is claimed by both countries. Vietnam, too, in the past has laid claim to the shoal.

The Philippines call it Panatag Shaol but it is more widely known as Scarborough Reef, after a tea clipper of that name wrecked there in 1784. It is about 200 km from the Philippines and about 900 from Hainan Island, the closest point in China.

Eastday quoted Yu Weihua, general manager of the Shanghai China International Travel Service Co Ltd, as saying, “Short island routes with a relatively low price have soaked up the majority of local tourists [originally] bound for the Philippines because they boast similar attractions.”

The agency reported an increase of 20 per cent or more in the number of visitors it was sending to Bali and Phuket compared with last year.

Shanghai China CYTS Outbound Travel Service, too, has seen a 10 per cent increase in tourists to Bali, Phuket and Cheju. “Those who decided not to visit the Philippines contribute to the increase,” Liu Xin, its deputy general manager, told Eastday.

Eastday said that in 2011, the Philippines was a top-10 destination for tourists from Shanghai, with more than 38,000 holidaymakers heading mostly for Boracay, Cebu and Bohol.

For photographs and more on the debate over Huangyan/Panatag .

So today Phuket island have many toursit from China .

Evason workers , Phuket .

The Evason Phuket resort in Rawai was abruptly closed on Tuesday (May 22,2012), with 450 staff laid off with immediate effect, according to a labour union leader
Krittiphol Boonreerk, deputy president of the Phuket Island Resort Labour Union told The Phuket News today that almost all the workers at the Evason are seniors, who have spent a long time working at the resort.
“We need the new owner to let them keep their jobs. About 70 to 80 per cent of workers are older, and they will have trouble finding new jobs at their age,” Mr Krittaphol said.
He said workers should register as unemployed with the Labour Office, which will allow them to be added to a job search database.
He also advised workers against signing any documents from Evason without advice from the union, because there might be a risk of them signing away various rights.
Workers were hoping to meet with the owner of the resort on June 12, but at this stage the identity of the owner is still unknown.
V/Gov Sommai told the workers that she will assign the Phuket Provincial Labour Protection and Welfare Office and the Employment Offices to negotiate with the resort owner on their behalf.
Evason Resort is 5 start hotel in Rawai area and open many year .

Off to the airports

The People's Alliance for Democracy on Monday abandoned Government House and moved protesters to Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports.

Chamlong Srimuang, one of the PAD core leaders, told protesters encamped at Government House to move to the two international airports the PAD had taken over.



Maj-Gen Chamlong said all five PAD leaders agreed to move protesters out of Government House not because of pressure from any party, but because after occupying the compound of Government House since August 26, it was time to vacate it.



The move was also intended to accommodate royal ceremonies, including the Trooping of the Colour on Tuesday afternoon, to commemorate His Majesty the King's 81st birthday on Friday (Dec 5).



Maj-Gen Chamlong added that the PAD leaders also agreed the two airports were safer places for protesters to encamp than Government House after a series of grenade attacks by unknown assailants there killed one and injured scores of protesters.



"We've decided to use Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports as our main rally sites. For Government House, we might not go back there, but we have to assess the situation again," said Maj-Gen Chamlong.



PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said it would allow a selected group of people to assess the damage at Government House on Tuesday and send the report to the Prime Minister's Office.



Nevertheless, Mr Suriyasai said the PAD would not have any money to pay compensation for the damage if it was asked to do so.



The PAD leaders would also reassess the country's political situation after the Constitution Court hands down its verdicts in the party dissolution cases against the People Power, Chart Thai and Matchimathipataya parties. It will continue to rally if the new government is still a proxy government of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, however.



Government spokesman Nattawut Saikua said the PAD had asked the secretariat to the PM's Office not to launch criminal or civil lawsuits against the PAD.



The spokesman condemned the request as a PAD bid to refuse to take responsibility for its actions.



He claimed PAD leaders had earlier boasted they would ask for donations from supporters to pay compensation for damage they incurred at Government House as well as taking legal responsibility related to the group's seizure.



Mr Nattawut said police would inspect the Government House compound after the PAD had vacated the area. A number of PAD guards were still at Government House last night, but protesters had moved to the two airports.



A PAD source said another reason behind the PAD protesters' abrupt move was a rumour that a joint military-police force would disperse protesters at the two airports and Government House late last night.