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Did anyone manage to book a visit? The Amerigo Vespucci website has a label under the tour schehule saying "Sold Out". A pity that Phuket News only published this opportunity after it had already begun!

Parachute Boat.mp4 Karon Beach, January 2024. A parasail boat speeds through the swimming zone close to the beach. No segregation of speedboats and swimmers. Only one boat driver has to look above and behind at the parachute, and below and in front for the swimmers. An accident waiting to happen.

Phuket light-rail bids set for mid-2020 PHUKET: Bidding for construction of the light-rail system in Phuket is likely to take place in the middle of next year, according to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA). transporttourismconstruction By The Phuket News Monday 2 December 2019, 09:37AM image: https://www.thephuketnews.com/photo/listing/2019/1575254277_1-org.jpg Bids to start building Phase 1 of Phuket’s light-rail system are expected to open mid-2020, says MRTA Governor Pakapong Sirikantaramas. Image: OTP

The next marine tragedy waiting to happen: Speed boats pulling parachutes operate dangerously close to swimmers near the shore at Karon Beach. Shouldn't these boats (i) operate at a safe distance from the shore - say 300 metres, (ii) be fitted with propeller guards and (iii) have at least two crew, one to look forward for swimmers and another to watch the parachute? A swimmer snorkelling with his head underwater is at great risk. Parachute Boat2.mp4

The OP claims that the black effluent crossing the beach from 'the pool' was 'unexpected', something new. Google Earth takes an aerial photo every year or so, and this black stream appears in many of them. See for example, this image from February 2014.

The Mayor omitted to mention that 'the pool' that forms as the effluent reaches the back of the beach is fed from two sources: 1. the outflow from Nong Han Lake 2. A drainage sewer that originates in the foothills and runs through Karon, in a conduit down the main street and emerging as an open ditch around Nong Han Lake. At the time of the image, the tide appears to be about half height and the outfall of the lake is filled with water. The route of the open sewer is shown on the image as a red line. The attached aerial view from December 2022 shows the black effluent from 'the pool' spreading along the beach in front of a big hotel. It's a frequent occurrence. In the rainy season the sewer is flushed continuously by rain water and is dissipated by the waves. In the dry season the 'sediment' accumulates in 'the pool' until it is flushed out by a rain shower in a high concentration, is slow to dissipate and more visible and smelly.

Anyone familiar with Bangkok in the 1990's, before the urban railways were built, will recognise the strategy of 'self-limiting congestion' (or 'do nothing') that Phuket is now experiencing. It's the inevitable result of decades of propulation and income growth with no increase in transport capacity. 'Self-limiting' means that congestion was the main restraint on car use. When it might take several hours to drive a few kilometres only essential trips will be made. In Bangkok, the government made no serious attempt to manage the gridlock at ground level and instead embarked on a strategy of building elevated roads and railways above the chaos. For various reasons, building new infrastructure is much more attractive than trying to manage the chaos which would have required intensive traffic management and enforcement. and restraints on car use. Lacking capability and political will to manage traffic, and with severe constraints on building elevated highways, 'self-limiting congestion' in Phuket is now inevitable. The proposed new roads and LRT cannot provide significant relief while demand continues to escalate. As traffic density increases more junctions lock up and the installation of simple fixed-cycle traffic lights without vehicle actuation increases delays in every case . The Governor clearly does not want to acknowledge these uncomfortable truths, and he resorts to token measures such as diverting main road traffic 'to small roads'. The consequences of such a strategy are very negative, spreading danger, noise, pollution and congestion to sois and residential streets and creating more junction conflicts.

It's not only coconuts that can drop on you in Phuket. This part of an Indian rocket made of carbon fibre, washed up this morning on Karon Beach, but, judging by the barnacles, it came most of the way by sea.