Andaman News Tues. 19 Feb. Incl Phuket Rabies Free;

[NBT TV Phuket]

MiniVDO: Phuket gets prepared to welcome Princess Ubol Ratana.

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Princess Ubol Ratana is scheduled to preside over the To Be Number One contests for the southern region at Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket on March 14th. The Phuket Vice Governor Worapote Ratasrima held a meeting with local officials concerned and officials from the Royal Household Bureau yesterday afternoon in preparation to welcome the princess. The Princess who graciously chairs the ‘To Be Number One Program’ will present awards to winners in 4 categories. They are provincial level, club, education institutes, community and work places categories. The ‘To Be Number One’ program is initiated by Princess Ubol Ratana aiming at creating positive activities to steer youth away from unwanted or negative activities.

MiniVDO: Phuket is announced as Thailand’s first rabies free province.

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The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on December 26th 2007 announced and designated Phuket province to be a Rabies Free zone. This covers both dogs and cats. The announcement will take effect after it is endorsed in the government Royal Gazette which is expected around March 26th, this year. The Phuket provincial chief of Livestock Development Sunart Wongchawalit said the announcement makes Phuket the first province to be certified rabies free in Thailand. The province has been actively campaigning against the disease and encouraging use of vaccinations for the past five consecutive years. He stresses that the office will take the next step by asking local governments to come out with regulations to have dogs and cat owners in their respective areas register for animal passports and have micro chips installed. Phuket currently houses around 13,000 dogs, among them about 1,000 are still strays. Most stray dogs are being neutered while around 300 dogs have already had micro chips put in them.

MiniVDO: Villagers in Paklok pursued with their objection against a marina project and called for the government to announce Paklok Bay a protection area for marine ecological diversity.

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Around 30 villagers of Haad Thalah in Paklok village yesterday morning submitted their petition against the marina project of The Yamu company to the Paklok sub-district Administration Office president. They also demanded that the public path at Yamu Cape be returned to the public. The local government leader told villagers that he would pursue the request according to the law. The villagers then went on to submit a letter to the Thalang district chief. They requested four main points, the first being the Phuket authority must not give permission to the construction of the marina project; Secondly, the public path must be clearly designated for public utilization; Third it must take legal action against people who trespass or possess the public path; and lastly the authority announce the area from the Bangrong cape to Yamu cape in Paklok as a protective zone for marine and coastal ecological diversities and that local lifestyle be reserved. The proposed marina under the Yamu project has been opposed by local residents since last year. Just recently the company’s executive sought a meeting with the governor to ask for concise direction for the license. The governor then suggested a public hearing session with local residents. The villagers see the move as a signal to let the project proceed and this led to another round of objections.

MiniVDO: The Phuket authority called a meeting with responsible agencies to ensure efficient operations for the one stop service at Phuket Port Control Center in Chalong.

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A working committee on Port Control Centre comprising Customs, Marine officials, Marine Police, immigration, provincial Administration Organization and the Chalong sub-district Administration Organization met and discussed problems and possible solutions for the operation of the centre. The Port Control Centre is located at Chalong pier on the south side of Phuket and the authority wants to make it a one–stop-service centre for yacht skippers entering or leaving the island. Chairing the meeting, Phuket Vice Governor Worapote Ratasrima said he expects to see all related agencies work together and in a more international standard, including the registration or entry forms for yachts. They also laid out measures to control and oversee vessels coming in to moor in Phuket waters, as well as using the IT system to support the government’s data.

MiniVDO: Thanachart Bank, Phuket branch targets loans for automobiles as the island has very high automobile sales each year.

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The Director of Thanachart Bank, Phuket Branch Poonsin Sinthanaphat said this year his bank is focusing on automobile loans. This is due to high sale volumes of automobiles at around 20,000 per year, among these over 10,000 belong to the bank’s clients. Mr. Ponnsin went on to say that 50 – 60% of the bank’s market share is in Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi. The automobile loan stands at around 12,500 million baht. The bank also hopes to have market share of around 5-10% or 1,000 million baht for the housing loan. It also expects to increase saving volumes by 8% this year.

MiniVDO: Hotel and business operators in Phuket are educated on preventive measures against Legionnaires disease.

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Around 50 hotels and accommodation operators in Phuket were educated and briefed on how to keep away from generating or spreading Legionnaires disease, or bacteria in water which may cause pneumonia. The session was conducted by the Medical Science Department with an aim to raise awareness among hotel and accommodation operators about the danger and effects the disease can cause, especially to the tourism sector. Last year, the European Centre for Disease Control or ECDC reported that 5 tourists from Scandinavian countries contracted the disease after they had stayed in a hotel in Phuket. The news spread and damaged the island’s tourism. The Legionnaires or Legionellosis is caused by a bacteria type found in central air conditioners, showers and water spray etc.

MiniVDO: Phuket gets a new sports association president.

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Mr. Chettawit Tantiphanvadi was elected as the new president of the Phuket Sports Association to replace Tosaporn Theppabutr who ended his term and was recently voted in as a Member of Parliament for Phuket. The sports election took place recently. The new president vows to push for Phuket’s proposal to host the National Youth Games in the year 2010 as well as promoting and supporting sports development on the island.

The Phang-Nga Governor speeds up the building of a new provincial government centre for better services to the general public.

The 200 rai plot of land located in Tham Nam Pud sub-district in Muang Phang-Nga is being resurfaced and prepared to be a building site for the Phang-Nga provincial government centre. The governor Mr. Wichai Praisa-Ngob inspected the site where tractors belonging to the provincial Administration Organization are working. The governor points out the need for a new centre stating that the existing provincial hall compound is too small to house other government agencies. This has lead to over 20 government offices renting private buildings for offices, which results in inconveniences for the general public who wish to contact the public service units. Apart from the centre, the governor also plans to build a pier or marina in Phang-Nga in support of its tourism potential.

Krabi sets up a forest fire fighter team in combating any possible fires in this dry season.

In preparedness to handle any possible fire, likely to occur during the dry season, the Krabi authority is establishing a fire fighting team on stand by 24 hours a day. Krabi Governor Siwa Sirisaowalak said he also instructed all local governments to map out water consumption plans appropriately as well as making surveys and repairing water jars or containers to reserve water for this dry season. He asks residents, especially farmers, to be especially careful with any fire activities, as they may spread quickly to damage other people’s property. Any one finding a fire incident is urged to report it to the Krabi Forest Fire control centre.

MiniVDO: An Orchid Fair was held in Krabi.

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Great varieties of Thai orchids were displayed at the annual Orchid Fair held during February 12 – 16th at the ground in front of the provincial hall. The fair featured different types of orchids, with the famous wild orchid of Lady Slipper being highlighted. The fair was organized to promote awareness among local residents for the conservation of the wild orchid in response to HM the Queen’s initiative and to promote tourism in the area. Apart from orchid displays, the fair also featured exhibitions, sales of flowers, and many other agricultural products. Contests about the Lady Slippers were also held. HM the Queen of Thailand paid her interest in the breeding of Lady Slippers, encouraging its breeding and putting it back in the wild for natural growth.

MiniVDO: A concert ‘Pass the Love Forwards’ was held in celebration of Valentines Day.

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‘Pass the Love Forwards’ was the name and theme of the mini concert, arranged by the Christian church on Thursday February 14th, Valentine’s Day. The Navamind Square in the heart of Phuket City was filled up with young people and their families who came to join in the activities, good for all, young or adults alike. They were mostly Christians from different churches in Phuket including the one near Suan Laung or Rama 9 park. On this occasion, many young talented musicians showed off their music skills.

Three foreigners were arrested in Phuket with fake ATM cards.

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Two foreign men, Mark Hubert Veerasawmy, aged 44 and Sonny Veerasawmy, aged 19, were questioned by Phuket police after they were arrested with electronic cards looking like credit or ATM cards in front of an ATM machine of Thai Farmers’ Bank on Chanacharoen road in the city. They are both British passport holders. The two men were arrested after police received reports of suspicious men who had pieces of cloth covering their faces with safety helmets on in front of the ATM machine. When police arrived, one man managed to flee on a motorbike. The two men are alleged to have possessed or used the fake ATM cards. Further investigation led to the detainment of another British passport holder Jennifer Anne Chapman, age 31, who stayed at a small hotel in Phoolpol area. The suspects denied all charges.

Interview - Suwalai Pinpradab, the Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand region 4

To see or download mini-video, go to http://news.prd.go.th/news_detail.php?newsid=216300

Our interview is with Suwalai Pinpradab, the Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s region 4 overseeing 3 Andaman provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga & Krabi. She talks about figures for 2007, a Marketing plan for 2008, including a visit to the International Tourism Bourse or ITB Germany in March & policies of the new government, but first about Marine Tourism, following last year’s award for Phuket as Asia’s Maritime Capital: ……. Contact: Tel 076-212213 Fax 076-213582

[email protected] www.tourismthailand.org

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from Andaman News TV11 (VHF dial) at 8.30am & local Cable TV channel 1 + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand 6pm, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, & possibly FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket, Tuesday 19th February 2008 & http://news.prd.go.th