VIPs get familiar with Bangla

phuketgazette.net — PATONG: Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat last night greeted tourists amidst the bright lights and booming sounds of Patong's Soi Bangla, the heart of the island's adult nightlife entertainment industry. Mr Weerasak was accompanied by Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit, Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban, Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark and a number of foreign ambassadors. The diplomats are on a government-sponsored 'mega-familiarization' tour of the Andaman provinces, with stops in Phang Nga and Krabi. While in Phuket, they are staying at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa in Karon. read more...

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Showcase Centre

phuket-post.com — Local leaders and tourism professionals have long desired a modern conference centre to bolster Phuket’s appeal for the so-called meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market. Leave it to Gulu Lalvani, developer of the Royal Phuket Marina (RPM), to make that dream a reality. In a press announcement on 5 August, Lalvani celebrated the launch of a privately funded exhibition and conference centre at RPM and detailed plans to partner with a world leader in conferences to make the centre a hub of activity. read more...

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Monkey Island

phuket-post.com — Two South African conservationists met with Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit on 20 August at Phuket Provincial Hall to persuade public officials to allow them to transform Koh Tanan into Monkeyland. The small island in Chalong Bay lies just northwest of Koh Lon, and the idea is to build a primate preserve modelled on an existing park in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. With approval in-hand from a committee of local officials, Zambian-born Tony Blignaut, chief executive officer of Primates Resort (PTY), Ltd., and partner Ronald Derek Taurog of the Touch a Monkey’s Heart Foundation detailed plans to create an education centre and a primate habitat as a new tourist draw in Chalong Bay. “The project’s goal is preservation of wildlife species and maintaining the environment,” Blignaut explained. read more...

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Surveying for Oil

phuket-post.com — Ships will soon start sounding the ocean floor off of Phuket with seismic waves, looking for formations in rock beneath the surface that suggest the presence of petroleum. Maybe soon, oil drilling platforms may rise off the island's west coast. First, though, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) must conclude environmental impact reviews and gain the approval of both the government and local people. That was the aim of a meeting at Phuket Merlin Hotel on June 13 led by Phuket Deputy Governor Piya Paratasinlapin. Representatives of the national oil company's development and production arm, PTT Exploration and Production Public Co., Ltd. (PTTEP), explained the system to be used for seismic mapping and outlined a timetable for surveys and exploratory drilling. PTTEP's surveys won't be the first for the Andaman Sea, however. Major oil companies conducted half a dozen seismic mapping projects during the oil price shocks of the early- and mid-1970s. Also, four other surveys looked for oil in the region during the mid- and late-1990s. None of those covered the areas that PTTEP now wants to survey: five regions scattered across three geographic "blocks" stretching roughly from 150km southwest of Phuket to 320km northwest. PTTEP will contract Pro-En Technologies, Ltd., a Bangkok-based engineering firm, to conduct the research. The budget for the research is estimated at US$5.5 million. read more...

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Yo!2 finds Raceweek plain sailing

samui-businesses.com — AO CHALONG: Peter Ahern’s crew aboard Yo2! have maintained their lead in the IRC 1 class of this year’s Six Senses Phuket Raceweek with two more wins today, leaving them with four wins from four races so far in the series. Other provisional results posted this afternoon show that Ben Copely’s Swan 42 Katsu, racing in her first Raceweek regatta, scored a second and a third place today to move into second place overall in the series. John Vause and his crew on Ruby Tuesday moved into third place overall in the class after scoring a third and a second place in today’s two races. Niels Degenkolw on Phoenix now leads the IRC 2 class, ahead of Peter Dyer’s Madame Butterfly in second place and Mick Kealy on Evason Phuket Minx in third place. Henry Kaye on Mamba moved into first place overall in the Firefly 850 class, with Roger Kingdon’s Moto Inzi in second place and Peter Dyer’s SEA Property in third place. read more...

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Farang Held In Phuket Drug Bust

phuket-info.com — Thai police have arrested a Briton, his Thai wife and two Hong Kong men in connection with a seizure of 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of heroin.The Hong Kong residents, Chung Oi Fung, 42, and Leung Pak Lun, 21, were arrested late Friday in front of a hotel in the popular Thai resort island of Phuket. "The suspects confessed to possession of heroin and drug trafficking,which could earn them a death sentence" if convicted, Colonel Chatree Paisalsilp of Thailand's Narcotics Suppression Bureau Police told AFP. read more...

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Bankers call for vigilance against fraud

phuketgazette.net — PHUKET: Poonsin Sinthanapat, president of the Phuket Bankers’ Club, yesterday called for people in Phuket to be especially prudent in their financial affairs following a spate of fraud on the island. At the Governor Meets Press conference at Phuket Provincial Hall on Monday, K. Poonsin called for people to be careful in many kinds of financial transactions, including use of credit cards and ATM cards, and buying or selling cars. “There are many instances of fraud now around the country, including Phuket,” he said. read more...

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