Koh Lone villagers to get hydro power from Phuket @ 30-08-2012

After a three-year wait, villagers on Koh Lone in Chalong Bay are finally to get some green, clean power – not a lot, but better than none.

We’ve been seeking help from the authorities for several years,” said the Headman of Koh Lone, Manit Yotharak. “Finally, it’s happened.”
By March next year, however, villagers will have a small hydro-electric power plant, set up on Klong Tone on the east of the island, which will be able to generate up to six kilowatt per hour, enough to power 220 36-Watt fluorescent light – though only in the rainy season when the flow of water in the klong is strong.
The new power source will bring eco-friendly power to the island’s 106 households, who currently depend on a diesel generator and solar cells, many of which are not working because of a lack of funds for maintenance.
The cost of running the generator on the island has been a heavy burden on the villagers, most of whom earn a living agriculture or fishing. Each household has had to pay B2,000 a month, but even that provides for only four hours’ power supply a night.
The hydro project, costing B1.8 million, is being funded by the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DAEDE) in the Ministry of Energy.
When the project is completed, the DAEDE hopes that Koh Lone will become a model for alternative eco-friendly solutions for other islands that have no access to mains electricity.
For example, the villagers of Koh Maphrao, east of Phuket City, have been lobby for authorities to honour government promises to provide them with mains electricity through a B46-million submarine power cable project, which was approved during the last Democrat government.
So Koh Lone is the good place to visit because have the electricity .
Koh Lone Map : 

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That project was due to be completed in October this year, but work has not even started.
On Koh Lone, Mr Manit noted that once the hydro project is up and running, villagers will need to think about the cost of maintenance.
He said they may set up a committee to raise maintenance funds, either from villagers or from appropriate government bodies.

New Chalong-Patong route confirmed @ 24-08-2012

The route for the proposed new road linking Patong with Chalong was confirmed today at a public hearing at the Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town.

The new 2.7-kilometre road will wriggle its way from the eastern end of Hasip Pi Rd, Patong, to Yothatikarn Rd (the road to Luang Pu Supha temple), near Amazing Bukit Safari in Chalong, and from there will join Chao Fa West Rd to the east of Wat Chalong.
In a previous meeting in May this option, put forward by a trio of companies – Transconsult, Phisut Technology and Panya Consultant Co received the greatest support because people felt it was the most appropriate. So it is for people in Chalong area to Patong beach .
There is already a dirt road along this route that is used by local people, and people felt that upgrading this would result in less environmental damage than cutting a new road.
Banpote Jaroensathayatam, Executive Director of Transconsult, said that the new road will serve the growth in tourists and residents in Phuket, and also act as an additional escape route in case of disasters such as the 2004 Asian Tsunami.
He added, “The result of this hearing means we can make a start on survey work and begin designing the road. When these are complete we will call another public hearing, probably in October.”
Next year , it is short time from tourist from Chalong to Patong beach .

French family tell of terrifying hours after Tiger blaze at Patong beach

Benjamin, 30, is currently in intensive care in Bangkok Hospital Phuket after suffering severe burns to around 40 per cent of his body. He is being flown to an international hospital in Bangkok this afternoon, for specialised burns care. Four people died in the fire that broke out at around 3.30am on Friday, while Benjamin and 10 others were injured.
Benjamin's niece spoke to The Phuket News at the hospital and said the seven family members were on a one-month holiday around Asia. On the trip were Benjamin, his wife and one-year-old daughter, Benjamin's brother and sister in law, and his niece and nephew.
The family arrived in Phuket about a week and a half ago, and were due to fly back to France in about a week's time.
But Friday night changed that.
Benjamin, his brother in law, and nephew were at the Tiger complex when the fire broke out.
Benjamin's brother in law, who did not want to be named, said the lights went off at the venue, and before he knew it there were flames. He and his nephew were right by the door on the ground floor of the building and left the building quickly, but said Benjamin was a floor above with another friend.
The pair waited an hour outside the complex for Benjamin. His motorbike was still outside Tiger, but they hoped he had already made it out.
"I was very nervous and so worried. I thought and hoped that maybe he had got out already and gone back to his hotel,” said the brother in law.
The pair then spent the next three hours driving around Patong, including going back to the hotel on Nanai Rd where the family were staying, trying to find Benjamin.
They visited Patong Hospital, but were told that no one with his name had been admitted. Relieved, they returned to the hotel and waited, hoping he would show up soon.
"They searched around for so long but found nothing. They were really happy when the hospital didn't have his name,” the niece, who did not want to be named, said.
But later, Patong Hospital called the hotel to say Benjamin was in the hospital and was seriously hurt with burns to his upper body.
The family arrived and found him wrapped in bandages. He was conscious, and the family learned that he was able to give hospital staff his name and details of where he was staying, which meant his family could be called.
Since then his scorched throat has swelled up and he's unable to talk, but is able to move his limbs.
"The doctor said these are good signs,” said his niece.
Benjamin's wife was too upset to speak to the media, and his niece said she was “devastated”.
“She's crying a lot, but she's being very strong.
"We are so shocked. We are in a different country, and not our own country. We never imagined we would see him in this state.”
She said Bangkok Hospital Phuket had been excellent, taking very good care of Benjamin, and keeping the family well informed. Benjamin is now in a stable condition.
Thankfully the family are covered by insurance which means Benjamin can be transferred to Bangkok today. His niece said family members in Paris, where Benjamin and most of the other family members live, were waiting to hear more before deciding whether to come to Thailand.
Benjamin's brother in law did not know the three other French people injured in the fire .
Tiger Bar is in the Bangla Road where are the destination of tourist to walk and drinking .

Phuket charity launches monthly pub quiz @ 2012-07-25

PHUKET island news : The last Monday of every month will see the brains of Phuket converge for a battle of wits and intellect – all for a good cause.

The Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation, in conjunction with Aussie Pub Kamala ( the famous beach in Phuket ) , begin monthly pub quizzes on July 30 starting at 7pm. The entry fee of B100 per person goes directly towards making a difference to underprivileged local children. B10 from every drink will also go to the charity.
Teams of up to four will go head to head for the title of ‘Phuket’s Most Smartest’, while improving the lives of local children.
Phuket Has Been Good To Us is a Thai registered charity which teaches free English classes to every student in Kamala and Kalim Schools. They also run free after school and weekend programmes for the 130 residential children at Kamala School, most of who have no family to take care of them.
Prizes include bar tabs, meals and beauty treatments – all generously donated by local businesses.

Thai AirAsia CEO calls for infrastructure improvements at Airport @ 2012-07-21

The Chief Executive Officer of Thai AirAsia in Thailand , Tassapon Bijleveld, has called for the improvement of Phuket’s infrastructure to support tourism growth when the Asean Economic Community (AEC) starts in 2015.

Speaking during the Phuket Creative Tourism Forum at Rajabhat University yesterday (July 20), Mr Bijleveld said Phuket had high potential to be a regional hub of southern Thailand. However, the improvement of infrastructure such as the expansion of the Phuket International Airport (PIA) was required. Mr Bijleveld said about 120 million people in the Asian-Pacific region travel on a plane each year. Fifty three per cent of those are people belonging to countries of Asean, which means Asean countries is a large market for tourism. The countries in Asean are Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. In addition, 47 per cent of the total number of tourists who visited Thailand were from Asean countries, he said. “To support the growth of tourism, the PIA will need to be upgraded and expanded,” said Mr Bijleveld. Mr Bijleveld believed the limitation of PIA’s capacity also prevent the establishment of new charter flights, which would expand Phuket’s tourism market. For example, one Indian wedding brought more than 200 Indian guests to Phuket, with about USD5 million to spend on their trip. This market is expected to expand in Phuket, however there are still no direct flights from India to Phuket. In addition, Mr Bijleveld said Phuket needed good public transportation to improve tourism, and perhaps even a bigger deep sea port to support high-end tourists who came on cruise ships. “About 1,000 to 1,500 passengers can come on a cruise ship, which is ten times more than the number of passengers coming on one flight,” he said. “If we can improve the deep sea port, it will help boost the tourism industry.” Because there are many tourist want to travel to Phuket .

Hotel staff in Phuket survey backs five-day week @ 16-07-2012

The new resort very swiftly attracted the cream of the island’s hotel workers, and dismay and anger among hotel owners and managers, who were used to having their staff work a six-day week.
In the past 10 years things have changed hugely, a recently released survey has found. Now, 50 per cent of the island’s top 100 hotels have a five-day work week, and another 23 per cent have arrangements that amount to a 5.5-day week.
The survey, conducted over the course of a year by 10 employees of luxury hotels, some which are among the 27 per cent still on a six-day week, has a very specific agenda: to have 100 per cent of top hotels in Phuket work a five-day week
One of those involved commented, “Those at [six-day] resorts were deeply concerned about the direction of their business and people, and [therefore felt] compelled to delve into this important issue by collecting data.”
The staffer, who for obvious reasons asked not to be named, says that the survey team are convinced that hotels benefit from allowing employees enough time off “to recover from work, reflect upon work, and enjoy a certain quality of life”.
The surveyors argue that there is a large relational gap between overworked servers and the guests at six-day hotels. Service can become grudging or lacklustre. Good employees leave, resulting in a decline in quality.
The survey is currently a work in progress, say the researchers, but they felt their findings should be aired at this point to raise interest in working hours in the hotel industry.
It lists the following hotels and hotel groups as having five-day work weeks: Absolute Group; InterContinental (Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn); Lauguna Resorts & Hotels; Marriott; Movenpick; Thanyapura Group; Six Senses; Starwood, Aleenta, Amanpuri, Anantara Villas, Andara, Best Western Karon, Cape Sienna, Dewa, Hilton, Mai Khao Dream, Millennium, Paresa, Patong Resort, Pavilions, Raddison Blu, Sala, Sea Sun Sand, Trisara, Kata Rocks and the new Pullman Arcadia.
Everyone want to work 5 days and rest 2 days a week .

Gov wants 5,000 CCTV for Phuket : 04/07/2012

Actions to improve security in Phuket have been proposed by Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Chonasit Watanawarangkun, following a meeting yesterday (June 2) with commanders of police stations on the island.
Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha said yesterday (July 3) that he wants to see the number of CCTV cameras in Phuket increase to 5,000 by next year.

He said he will allocate B2 million from his B10 million emergency fund to pay for 100 cameras, and he urged the 19 local authorities on the island to include the purchase of high-quality cameras in their budgets for the coming fiscal year.

“I hope we can achieve this goal [of 5,000 cameras],” said Gov Tri. “However, it depends on the support from local authorities as well.”

There are currently about 1,000 CCTV cameras installed around the island but many of these are not actually in use.

Phuket city is safe city for tourist .