PHUKET: It is hard to imagine that only two countries in the world have more deadly roads than Thailand. Yes, Phuket Land Transport officials should take a measure of pride in the reduction of road accident deaths in recent years, but the island obviously has far to go before conditions on the roadways can be considered anything close to acceptably safe. The “culture of carelessness” that pervades Phuket roads, and Thai roads in general, has been addressed numerous times in this space; yet, it remains the most fundamental and intractable factor in road deaths.
PHUKET: A 12-million-baht project to dredge the Koh Kaew Canal and deepen the existing approach channel from Phang Nga Bay will begin in March. The six-month project was approved at a public hearing led by Governor Maitri Inthusut at the Royal Phuket Marina last Thursday.
PHUKET: A Phuket landlord and her son were gunned down in front of their family home in Thung Thong yesterday afternoon amid a heated a dispute over continuing a lease for a local curry shop that sold sugarcane juice. Police arrived at the scene (map
Chaiyut Prayoonyong, 65, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, is the president of the Phuket Gold Shop Association. The owner of three gold shops on the island, Mr Chaiyut has over 40 years’ experience as a gold trader.
PHUKET: I operated very large trucks, buses, cranes and earth-moving vehicles for more years than I care to remember, in various countries including Austria – whose mountain passes make “monster” Patong Hill look like a pimple on an elephant – and Australia, in giant mines in the northwest. The cardinal rule for going downhill is: Let your engine help retard your speed
PHUKET: Speed cameras which had faulty infrared sensors are now in full working order on the bypass road in Phuket. “After installing cameras to monitor speeds on several major roads on the island, we found that the cameras on the bypass road were not reading speed levels at night,” Lt Col Rungrit Rattanapagdee of the Phuket City Traffic Police told the Phuket Gazette
PHUKET: Organizers expect over 3,000 people to gather in central Phuket Town today in support of the anti-government “shutdown” now going on in Bangkok. One group is already assembled on the grounds of Provincial Hall (map
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut today assured that the island’s authorities were well prepared to peacefully deal with a large protest planned for Monday in front of Provincial Hall. The protest will be held at Sanam Chai field (map
PHUKET: Political turmoil has forced Safer Phuket organizers to postpone the Coastal Waters Safety Summit, scheduled to be held at this year’s PIMEX boat show (story
PHUKET: A taxi driver and a tuk-tuk driver yesterday made two tourists very happy by returning over half a million baht and other belongings that had been left behind in their vehicles.