Patong hospital flood prevention measures done for 2012 @ 2012-10-30

A larger expansion project – which includes construction of the hospital’s first Intensive Care Unit (ICU) – is due to finish by September 2013. Mr Pumin met with Phuket Vice-Governor Sommai Preechasilpa today and confirmed that construction had began on flooding prevention measures, which include a waterproof wall around the area, raising the road inside the hospital, and a new improved drainage system. The upgrade will cost B16 million, and will be finished by January 7. Patong Hospital is often flooded during the rainy season because it is in a low lying area. In addition, the project to expand the hospital by 60 additional patient beds, and add 13 private rooms, an ICU department, a new delivery room, a medical stock room, and sterilisation room was almost 15 per cent complete. Around B69.5 million has been earmarked for the project. “However, the budget only covers the building. It is not for new medical instruments, so we will use the hospital savings to buy them, and then get some more funding,” Dr Pumin said.

US Navy leaves Phuket, Indian Navy arrives at Ao Makham @2012-10-12

The Sujata operated for 19 years as an offshore patrol vessel but is now used exclusively for training. The cadets spend six months on the 101-metre-long ship, exposing them to life at sea, shaping their skills on bridge watches, chart work, small arms handling and communications. The ship arrived complete with its own 11-piece orchestra, which swung into action for an on-board reception last night, playing Indian music as guests from the local diplomatic community, the Royal Thai Navy and others arrived. Later, the versatile musicians played the music for a karaoke session.

The ship will leave on Monday for the return voyage to India waters. So today Phuket have many tourist by national army .

Free Wi-Fi service for all on its way to Phuket @ 2012-10-01

Free Wi-Fi is on the way for residents and visitors to Thailand with the introduction of the latest government project, ICT Free Wi-Fi for Tourism, TTR Weekly reports. The project will offer more than 2,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the country, 323 of them in the south, including Phuket. Under the ICT project, people must register to gain access, using their ID card numbers or passport numbers in the case of tourists. After registration, users will get free access to Wi-Fi hotspots anywhere in the country for up to six months, though sessions will be limited to just 20 minutes online, with a two-hour wait before users are allowed back on again. Launched late last week, the project is a joint effort of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. The latter claims the project will help the government reach its tourism revenue target of B2.2 trillion in 2015. In the first phase, ICT Free Wi-Fi for Tourism will cover 1,616 hotspots across Thailand by the end of the year, mostly in tourist destinations. Apart from the 323 in the South, 253 hotspots will be installed in tourist districts in Bangkok, 446 in the central region, 201 in the eastern region, 325 in the North and 67 in Isarn. The project will uses CAT Telecom as the service provider, offering a speed of 2 Megabits per second for downloads. Details of how the project will be applied in Phuket have yet to emerge. Chuan Sutontatspidok, CAT’s Phuket director of marketing and service, told The Phuket News that his office had sent a plan for up to 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Phuket, half in the Patong area and half in Phuket Town. But he had not heard anything back yet. “The research has been done. The next step will be the go-ahead from the ICT. I believe we can have all the Wi-Fi points working before 2015,” he said. Free Wi Fi is part of the Smart Thailand project of the ICT Ministry, which includes a target of high-speed internet for 80 per cent of people living in Thailand by 2015, and 250,000 Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country by 2017. This is not the first project to offer free Wi-Fi access to tourists. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has already launched Green Bangkok Wi-Fi, which offers around 20,000 hotspots. True Internet is the provider for that project. Earlier this month, Pattaya announced it will offer free Wi-Fi for tourists covering areas from Na Kluea in north Pattaya, south to Jomtien beach, with a download speed of 2 megabits per second. In the case of Pattaya, users must register first. Registration lasts three months, with a maximum of five hours’ use per month. But Phuket will have more Wifi user in 2013 .

1,000 black taxis in Phuket register to 'go green' @ 2012-09-11

The Provincial Transportation Department (PTD) was deluged with paperwork yesterday when it opened registration to convert illegal “black” taxis into legal “green registration plate” cabs. Because the black taxis is the problem in Phuket . The office received 1,048 applications for conversion from taxi drivers on the first day. Drivers will be called back to the department later so that their cars can be inspected to ensure that they are roadworthy and suitable for use as taxis. Somsak Poknuengnong, expert adviser to the Phuket Land Transportation Office, said, “The [black] taxis have 180 days in which to sign up and we expect more to come. As a result, the paperwork will take some time to complete.” In addition to getting a green plate, the converted drivers will be required to charge regulation fares (with fare tables in every taxi), to dress properly, and to have good manners and a “service mindset”. The drive to legitimise black taxis is the first step in a renewed drive to bring some order to the island’s chaotic transport sector, which is dominated by fiercely independent drivers who have rejected all past attempts to bring them to heel. For the PTD, the black taxis are the low-hanging fruit; many of the estimated 10,000 black taxi drivers on Phuket will be only too happy to become legal, making it relatively easy to organise them. Bringing some kind of order to the mafia-ridden tuk-tuks and stemming the violence that erupts from time to time over taxi territories are likely to prove less easy to achieve. So the tourist in Phuket will receive the good service from the good taxis .

Tourist at Phuket airport arrivals jump 30pc in first half @ 2012-09-04

Extrapolating from this, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) estimates that seven million tourists – both domestic and international – will have visited Phuket by the end of this year. The new Director of the TAT’s Phuket Office, Chanchai Doungjit, speaking at a meeting in Provincial Hall yesterday (September 3), said flights coming to Phuket are full this year, even in the “green” season. The increase in the number of international flights arriving has gone up in line with the number of tourists, rising 28 per cent from last year. Most of the additional flights are from the Middle East and North Asian countries such as South Korea and China. Last year, more than half of the four million international tourists who came to Phuket were stamped in by Phuket Immigration directly, an indicator that Phuket itself (as opposed to Thailand) is an increasingly popular destination. “The rate of growth is very positive,” said Mr Chanchai. “Though the number of European tourist has fallen between 3 and 5 per cent this year due to the impact of the Euro crisis, the Asian market is going up, replacing the missing European tourists.” He noted that although Europe as a whole has fallen, the numbers of tourists from France, Britain and Germany have remained stable. Their numbers, however, have been far outstripped by the new markets. In the first half 142,582 tourists arrived from China and 140,297 from Russia. In third place was Australia with 121,916, followed by South Korea with 102,021 and Sweden in fifth place with 80,427. According to TAT’s statistics, the biggest growth markets were China and Russia, which both more than doubled. China increased 107 per cent and Russia 105 per cent, followed by South Korea (30) Malaysia (25) and Sweden (25). But other news said it is not mean the tourist in Phuket , becuase their flight landing at Phuket airport but they go to other city around Phuket island .

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 .