PHUKET: A community of farmers living on a road leading into Sirinath Marine National Park, on Phuket’s west coast, have appealed for the road and power supply to their village not be cut off following a police complaint being filed against a nearby villa project for encroaching on national park land. In making the plea, Jaroon Boonchu presented to Sirinath Park chief Cheewapap Cheewatham a petition signed by 20 heads of families living in Baan
PHUKET: The Chalong Municipality has requested 300 million baht in funding from the Royal Irrigation Department for a permanent flood-prevention system after last month’s floods again highlighted the issue of flash flooding in Phuket. The project proposes the construction of retaining walls along all canals in the Chalong area to prevent debris and soil from clogging and disrupting the water flow, which was cited as one of the causes of the recent flooding.
PHUKET: Thalang police and district officers hacked open a path for progress in the war on drugs in Phuket by cutting down more than 60 kratom trees in Srisoonthorn yesterday. Despite the trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been designated a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943. The law made planting the trees illegal and ordered all existing trees cut down.
PHUKET: With 100 billion baht (US$ 3 billion) requested by government agencies for Thailand’s preparation for the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, private and government organizations in Krabi this week called on yesterday by the Asean Secretary-General to step up their efforts in order to establish a “central role” in the Andaman. “Krabi will have an advantage over several other Thai provinces due to its being the central province of the Andaman coast.
PHUKET: The new chief of Sirinath National Park, Cheewapap Cheewatham, has filed a police complaint against another landowner for allegedly encroaching on national park land. The complaint, against the fifth landowner of the 10 plots
PHUKET: The three district offices covering the entire island staged cleanups at public areas across Phuket yesterday as part of the “Big Cleaning Day” initiative. More than 500 people, including government officers, staff from private businesses as well as local students and residents, gathered at Saphan Hin Park in Phuket Town, where the Muang District Office held its activity under the banner “Giving back the clean nature to the Andaman”.
PHUKET: A turtle with one flipper severed and another suffering a deep cut inflicted by discarded fishing nets was recovered from Karon Beach yesterday. The discovery brought to 24 the total number of turtles rescued from Phuket and Phang Nga beaches in the past two months alone. Lifeguards patrolling Karon Beach found the turtle stranded in the sand near Karon Circle yesterday morning.
PHUKET: Thai Smile Air, the new regional sub-brand of Thai Airways International (THAI), will launch daily direct flight services from Phuket to Bangkok and Chiang Mai starting next month.
PHUKET: The Commissioner of the Thai Immigration Bureau has announced that a new automated entry system will be installed at all airports in the country, including Phuket.
PHUKET: As the rain continued to drench Phuket, staff at Patong Hospital this afternoon staged their annual fire and evacuation drill. “The exercise simulated a fire starting in a medical storeroom in a building next to the inpatient ward. The flames spread into the recovery ward, forcing us to evacuate the entire inpatient building,” explained Hospital Director Phumin Silapunt.