Andaman News Stories Today

[NBT TV Phuket]

Valentine’s Day was celebrated actively in Phuket with 150 couples registering their marriage at the Phuket Town district office.

<p> Yesterday morning, the marriage registration office was packed with around 50 couples who were queuing to register for their marriage certificates. The first couple of the day was Davanan Jarernpakdee, aged 27 and Jarassri Kaimook, aged 26, both Phuket residents. They told us the reason why they chose to come yesterday was because it was also Jarassri’s mother’s birthday. The oldest couple was Arnan Yomna aged 57 and Soyee Tongkeaw aged 58 who have been together for almost eleven years. After the whole day, the Phuket Town district office received 150 couples. Every couple received souvenirs as well as a chance to win a lucky draw for which the prizes were a one night package at a five star hotel, spa gift voucher and color TV as well.

A florist in Smakong was also crowded with customers while the best selling flower this year was still the rose but there were few differences in the taste of Thais and foreigners, as the white roses were the best sellers among Thais while red was popular among foreigners.

Some Valentines and Chinese Pigs are being displayed in Patong

<p> On the eve of Valentine’s Day, Jungceylon Department store invited many local artists to come and paint some pig sculptures under the themes called Valentine’s Pinky piggy and Chinese Piggy.

The painting started at 5 pm as nine pigs were placed in front of the department store. The first finished piece named ‘lovely black piggy’ took only 15 minutes by a Korean artist name Hack Pyo, who said that he used string as a substitute brush. Another piece of work called ‘forest in a pig’ was painted by Wacharin Rodnit, a local Thai artist. His wife Jay-Da painted a pig named ‘love Ja-Da’ & said she brought her young art students along to help, as she also wanted know what the children’s definitions of love are. Not only the artists but also tourists joined this painting activity, and all visitors can take pictures of these pigs until the end of this month.

To welcome Chinese New Year more activities will start today until the 18th of this month with a parade of Chinese dragons on the 16th starting from Bangla road to Jungceylon, as well as Chinese gymnasts on show from Hang Chou in China.

A honeymoon couple’s house was burgled while they were away for a Valentine’s Day celebration

<p> Phang-Nga police inspected a house in Thai Chang sub-district in town after it was reported to be burgled while the owners were away to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The house is reported to belong to a newly wed couple, Paisarn Karachad, age 30 and Sumontha, his wife, who just got married recently. The theft took place while the couple was away on their Valentine’s celebrations in Surat Thani. Several items of valuables, including their wedding dowries like gold necklace and rings, were taken. Police also found that the thieves drank water from their refrigerator before fleeing the house. Police are still searching for the thieves.

The Old Phuket Town Festival will be held during February 23 to 25.

<p> The Old Phuket Town Festival is scheduled to be held during February 23rd to 25th in the heart of Phuket town which comprises the historical Thalang and Krabi roads and Soi Rommani, as well activities at the Queen Sirikit Park near the local Tourism Authority of Thailand office. The annual event, organized by the Office of Phuket City, aims at promoting the local heritage and culture among residents, especially the younger generation as well as to promote tourism in town. The three day festival will feature charms of civilization, a pathway to the glories for Phuket citizens, an exhibition on the charm of the old town, traditional gourmet and the old time lifestyles which the participants can be brought back into, when entering the roads. Highlights will include light and sound presentations on each evening showing the rich historical background of Phuket. The show will be taking place at the Queen Sirikit Park.

Two billion baht is expected to circulate during Chinese New Year

<p> Around 15 charter flights are estimated to fly from China to Phuket during the Chinese New Year period, according to Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s southern office region 4 Suwalai Pinpradub. She estimates around 2,000 million baht or 2 billion cash will flow from the expenditure of tourists among three Andaman provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi during the period. A special package called Nine Plus will also be offered with ten historical routes tour program. On 20th – 21st February there will also be special shows and drama from 4 precincts of China. Suwalai also points out that hotel bookings for Phuket and Krabi are fully booked until March as there are a large number of frequent flights and charters, with longer estimates of 4.7 million tourists visiting Phuket this year.

A foreign passenger and Thai driver were killed in a road accident in Sam Kong yesterday.

<p> The accident occurred yesterday afternoon on Yaowarat Road in front of Steak Samkong restaurant when a brand new pick up truck crashed head on to an on-coming Tuk Tuk. The accident caused the death of the 62 year old Tuk Tuk driver and a foreign tourist. Three other people were injured and sent to Wachira and Bangkok Phuket hospitals. Eye witnesses said the Tuk Tuk driver was taking his 3 passengers out of town, when a new pick up truck driven by a female driver smashed into it head on. Police reports indicated that the foreigners held Finnish nationalities.

What are the cakes and sweet that are used for celebrating Chinese New Year? Want to know more? Check this out…

<p> The process of producing Chinese cakes and sweets has been passed on to students of the Phuket Technology College under cooperation between the college and the Internal Trade Office which aims to encourage students to keep old cultures alive and combine them with local knowledge.

The Phuket Technology College showed us how their students are celebrating the Chinese New Year by making traditional cakes and sweets to sell at the Internal Trade Office in Phuket City opposite Seng Ho bookstore, starting from yesterday February 14th. The students are also gaining experience about running small businesses according to the philosophy of sufficiency economy encouraged by His Majesty the King. Jintana Krittasin, the Principal of Phuket Technology, told us more about the purpose of this project:

"The purpose of this project is to teach & learn the ability to sell our products at reasonable prices which the buyers can also enjoy as quality goods during the festival.”

The Cakes and sweets used for celebrating Chinese New Year are Ka Nom Keng or what the Chinese people called Tee Kuai; next is Ka Nom Taui &lt;deleted&gt; or the Chinese muffins using the old tip of making the muffin nice & fluffy by adding one table spoon of lime juice; and also a Thai combination sweet called Kao Neiw Keaw or sweet sticky rice. The tip for making sweet sticky rice is to drop 2-3 coins in when stirring in a pan, because coins will keep the hot temperature steady.

Most of the cakes consist of flours, eggs, sugar, coconut milk, pandan leaves, natural coloring and some safe artificial flavors.

All these cakes are made according to the Chinese beliefs as the Phuket Technology College support this campaign because they want to keep the beautiful Chinese traditions & to last longer. The Chinese cakes such as Ka Nom Keng represent family unity as they have a sticky texture, while Taui &lt;deleted&gt; or Chinese muffins stand for prosperity.

Patinya Wassanarungruankit, a student there, told us how she can apply this knowledge to sell things in the future.

From this project students will surely gain some experience which they can adapt to use for their lives, and enjoy eating and celebrating this Chinese New Year.

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All from Andaman News TV11 (VHF dial) + Radio Thailand FM90.5 Phuket City, both broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, 8.30am & later on Phuket Cable TV channel 1, Thursday 15 February 2007.

Our normal website ThaisNews.com is not available at the moment.

{Our news text and videos can be freely copied, but please give credit to Andaman News TV11 Phuket}

[NBT TV Phuket]

www.Thaisnews.com is open again today Friday with mini-videos of some of yesterday & todays stories online, but not sure for how long site stays open:

or look on video.google.com search under TV11 Phuket

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=TV11...o=1&start=0