
Phuket Island - June 2008
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by Rungtip Hongjakpet Izmen
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Phuket to get seventh golf course
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| Blue
Canyon Country Club |
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By early 2009, Phuket is expected to have a seventh
golf course, designed by Jonathan Morrow, who also
created the islands Red Mountain golf course,
which opened to acclaim in May 2007.
Work began on the 1.2-billion-baht Phunaka Golf Club
in mid-1997 on 200 rai (37 hectares) of land off Chao
Fa West Rd, near Wat Luang Phu Supa.
When completed, the club will have a nine-hole golf
course, a driving range, and a clubhouse with restaurant,
golf equipment shop and fitness center. It will be
part of an extensive housing development.
The existing golf courses
in Phuket are: Blue
Canyon Country Club (2 courses near the airport),
Phuket
Country Club (18 holes and nine holes), Loch
Palm and Red
Mountain in the Kathu area, Laguna
Phuket on the west coast and Mission
Hills on the east coast (all 18 holes).
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Phuket's Cricket Sixes
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| Phuket's
Cricket Sixes |
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Phuket's Cricket Sixes held at Karon stadium 16th
to 20th of April was a resounding success. In all,
23 teams from 10 countries competed in the 'Cup',
'Plate', 'Bowl' and 'Spoon' leagues over four days
with extraordinary camaraderie noticed by all.
On the first day a light hearted beach cricket competition
warmed the players up to Phuket's unique atmosphere.
Overall the weather was condusive with only six of
the 42 matches shortened. One of the highlights was
a floodlit Twenty20 match played by the best players
from amongst all the teams.
Winners
Cup: Calcutta Cricket & Football Club
Plate: Toorak-Prahan Cricket Club
Bowl: Bounty Buccaneers
Spoon: Guwahati Town Cricket Club
Beach Cricket: Delhi Medical Association Club
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Phuket golf courses receive accolades
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| Loch
Palm Golf Club |
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Three of Phukets six golf courses have received
Laureate Course Status from the International
Golf and Life Foundation (IGOLF). The accolade recognises
golf courses around the world that show a dedicated
commitment to environmental and social responsibility.
The Laguna
Phuket Golf Club was recognized for excellence
in both environmental and social sectors while the
Loch Palm Golf Club and the affiliated Red Mountain
Golf Course received awards for restoration ecology.
Laguna Phuket is an example of a golf club
which takes both its environmental and social responsibilities
seriously, with a variety of innovative actions,
said IGOLF Chairman Paul Sochaczewski.
Loch
Palm and Red
Mountain, like most of the Phuket golf courses,
were built on abandoned tin mines, and were an act
of ecological restoration, Mr Sochaczewski
explained. What was wasteland is now a productive
ecosystem and successful business that generates income
and jobs, and pays a substantial amount of taxes,
he noted.
IGOLF is a not-for-profit organization registered
in Bern, Switzerland, which aims to establish norms
of excellence based on environmental and social responsibility
for golf courses around the world. There are just
five IGOLF Laureate courses in Thailand.
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Creation of new dive site postponed
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| One of
the Douglas C-47's |
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A project to sink ten decommissioned Thai military
aircraft in the sea off the west coast of Phuket has
been postponed until later this year because of rough
weather. Four Douglas C-47 Skytrain military transport
aircraft and six Sikorsky S-58T helicopters are to
be sunk about a kilometer off Bang Tao Beach, creating
the largest artificial reef in Thailand.
The disassembled aircraft arrived in Phuket on April
20 after a long journey by road from Lopburi Province,
where they had been stored at a military base. They
have since been reassembled and will be kept at Layan
Beach until a new date for dropping them in the sea
has been set, probably in November.
The four-million-baht project, financed by the Cherng
Talay Tambon Administration Organization, was organized
by the For Sea Foundation, a Bangkok-based non-governmental
organization, with the help of the Thai Diving Association
and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
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Royal Phuket Marina health club opens
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| Royal
Phuket Marina |
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The RPM Health Club at the Royal Phuket Marina marked
its grand opening recently, at a party attended by
founder members, Phuket dignitaries and invited guests,
including Maggie Quigley, star of the movie Mission
Impossible III.
Declaring the Club officially open, Gulu Lalvani,
developer of the Royal Phuket Marina, said, The
opening of the RPM Health Club is an important milestone
in making the Royal Phuket Marina part of the social
fabric of the Phuket community.
George Foose, Executive Director of Sports Engineering
& Recreation Asia Ltd, the developer and operator
of the club, said, We are pleased to extend
our business commitment and presence in Phuket and
we cannot think of a better place in which to share
our commitment to high quality products and services
than here at the Royal Phuket Marina.
The club provides a luxurious environment for personalized
wellness programs, personal training, group exercise,
pilates, yoga, tennis, relaxation and socializing.
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Local hospitals expanding
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| Phuket
International Hospital |
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Phuket International Hospital, near the Big C supermarket
in the bypass road, has completed a 350-million-baht
expansion, consisting of a new building with 57 inpatient
rooms including two VIP suites, each with an adjoining
living room and large bathroom. Six more beds will
be provided for ICU patients, along with 10 beds in
the new haemodialysis centre, raising the total number
of beds in the hospital from 92 to 165.
Piyarat Kulvanich, the hospitals marketing
manager, told Phuket.com that the new building also
houses an aesthetics center, a dental center, a cheerfully-decorated
childrens clinic and indoor parking for up to
40 cars.
We currently employ more than 500 staff of
whom 30 are full-time doctors. The hospital is continuing
to recruit new doctors and staff from a variety of
fields to support an increasing range of medical and
hospital services, Khun Piyarat explained.
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| Childrens
clinic |
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Meanwhile, Phukets other major private hospital,
the Bangkok Hospital Phuket (BHP) is investing 200
million baht to add three floors to its existing five-story
inpatient building, in response to an increasing number
of patients. This is scheduled for completion in late
2009.
BHP opened its doors on Yaowarat Rd, Phuket City,
in May 1995. At the time it had 50 beds. Today it
has almost 200, and the new floors, when completed,
will take the total up to 350. The hospital has about
750 staff, including 73 doctors. Investment to date
totals more than 800 million baht.
The hospital is part of the Bangkok Hospital Group,
the largest private healthcare provider in Southeast
Asia with a network of 15 hospitals.
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Improvements for Patong
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| Tuk Tuks
on Patong's Beach Rd |
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By the next high season, tourists can expect a number
of changes and improvements to Patong, the towns
deputy mayor, Chairat Sukban, has told Phuket.com
Firstly, in a bid to improve traffic flow along Thaweewong
Rd (the beach road), new traffic and parking regulations
are to be introduced. Under these new rules, all cars
will be directed to a new road, Pang Muang Rd, where
ample parking space will be available. This road,
currently under construction, is expected to be complete
by the coming high season, which starts on November
1.
Tuk-tuks will still be allowed to drop passengers
off on the beach road, but will no longer be allowed
to park all along the road waiting for custom, as
they do at present. Instead, there will be passenger
pick-up points big enough for two tuk-tuks at a time.
Tuk-tuk organisations will use walkie-talkies to bring
in more tuk-tuks as those at the pick-up point drive
away with passengers.
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| Showtime
on CCTVs! |
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Secondly, Khun Chairat said, ten more closed-circuit
TV (CCTV) cameras will be installed in the town at
a cost of 4 million baht. The town already has 16
CCTVs installed over the past year.
The cameras not only enhance security for tourists
and inhabitants alike, but are also very useful to
police for monitoring and controlling traffic on the
towns three main roads the beach road,
Rat U-Thit 200 Pi Rd and Phrabaramee Rd.
Finally, Phuket.com asked Khun Chairat about the
latest rumours exercising the imagination of Patongs
people word that the proposed road tunnel from
Kathu to Patong, under Patong Hill, is finally going
ahead. The rumours have been fuelled by a mushrooming
of billboards on the topic.
Khun Chairat said that he and Patong Mayor Pian Keesin
are trying hard to move the project along and to convince
potential investors of the value of the tunnel, which
would supplant the current dangerously steep road
over the hill.
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| Signboard
promoting Patong's Tunnel |
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Currently, the plan is to hire a team of experts
from a Thai university to study the project in greater
depth. This study is expected to cost about 40 million
baht.
It is important that we study the project and
get all the necessary information to present to the
[central] government in order to get the budget from
them, Khun Chairat said. Once everything
is agreed, the project can be completed within four
years [two year for the studies and two years for
construction]. We have to think about peoples
safety; the Patong-Phuket City road has seen so many
accidents over the years, he added. We
do need a better road.
The tunnel concept was first mooted a decade ago.
Last year the governor of Phuket, Niran Kalayanamit,
presented three proposals. At that time, he said he
was in favour of the project but ordered researchers
to get additional details. He also stressed that stakeholders
and the public must be thoroughly consulted.
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Cruise lines head for Thailand
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| Star
Cruise boat |
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Five major cruise lines have notified the Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT) that they plan to include
Phuket and Laem Chabang in their regional itineraries
by the year 2009.
Holland American, Seabourn Cruise Line, Star Clipper,
Oceania Cruises and ResidenSea told representatives
of the TAT New York Office of their decision during
the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention, held between
March 10 and 13 in Miami, Florida.
The TAT sees cruise-ship travellers as a high-end
market group with high spending power. At present,
12 cruise ship calls a year bring about 7,000 such
tourists to Thailand.
According to the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association,
the number of cruise passengers worldwide in 2007
totalled about 12.6 million, of whom 10.6 million
were from North America. Their destination was usually
the Caribbean islands.
Seatrade is one of the worlds largest cruise
industry events. It was attended this year
its 24th by 11,000 participants from 80 countries
worldwide and 903 exhibitors from 71 countries, 11
of them in Asia.
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By
Rungtip Hongjakpet Izmen
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