The Phuket News April 3, 2020

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

thephuketnews thephuketnews1 thephuketnews.com

Friday, April 3 – Thursday, April 9, 2020

Since 2011 / Volume X / No. 14

20 Baht

PATONG URGED TO SELF-QUARANTINE > PAGE 3

LAST CALL

NEWS

Panic strikes as bridges ordered closed

LIFE Ground staff wave as the last THAI flight out of Phuket until further notice lifts off at Phuket airport last Sunday (Mar 29). Photo: THAI Airways

PAGE 2

PAGE 9

Fears rise over elephant care in COVID crisis

TOURISTS HEADING HOME URGED TO HUSTLE BEFORE AIRPORT CLOSES FOR LOCKDOWN Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter2@classactmedia.co.th

P

huket International Airport General Manager Thanee Chuangchoo is urging all foreigners wanting to leave the island before the airport shuts down on April 10 to contact their embassies and make travel arrangements urgently.

The airport will remain closed until at least April 30 following a formal request by Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana in the latest move to try to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Airports of Thailand (AoT), which operates Phuket airport, published the official notice of the closure on Monday afternoon (Mar 30). The closure will begin at 00:01am on

April 10, the notice confirmed.

It further explained that the purpose of the formal notice was to inform the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and other tourism-related offices so they could make preparations for the closure.

“If tourists do not leave by April 10, they will likely have to stay here until the closure is lifted,” Mr Thanee told The Phuket News on Wednesday (Apr 1).

However, Mr Thanee did confirm that emergency flights to have tourists airlifted home may be organised by the government at a later date.

“Flights such as these will be allowed during the closure, but permission must first be granted by the government,” he said.

“The only other flights allowed

at the airport during the closure will be authorised flights for government and military officials, and flights transporting emergency medical patients,” he added.

Mr Thanee urged tourists to make travel arrangements as quickly as possible. “Many airlines are no longer operating flights to Phuket, and domestic flights are already being suspended,” he said.

No special preparations are being made at the airport ahead of the closure, as Mr Thanee expects only 600 to 1,000 tourists to depart the island by plane by April 10.

“There are nearly no tourists here anyway, and all our standard procedures are in place, so no special preparations are needed,” Mr Thanee said.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

@thephuketnews

For those staying on the island, Mr Thannee urged people to stay indoors at their homes or accommodation as much as possible.

“The best thing to do is to just stay at your home or accommodation to protect yourself from contracting COVID-19,” he said.

SHUTTING DOWN The closure of the airport follows Phuket Governor Phakaphong last Sunday closing the bridges onto and off the island to all persons except those operating emergency vehicles and vessels, and vehicles delivering essential consumer goods and medical equipment and supplies, a move that caused panic among those wanting to get home – in Phuket or off-island – before the “lockdown”.

SPORT

PAGE 24

Laguna Phuket Marathon set for December

News 2

PHUKET NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

execeditor@classactmedia.co.th

Closures send island into shutdown mode Continued from page 1 All boats expect those performing essential services or delivering essential goods were likewise banned from arriving in or departing Phuket in the same order.

The closing of the bridges came just one day after Governor Phakaphong ordered all beaches closed in the hope of preventing COVID-19 from spreading.

The order, following the decision of the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee, came after 8pm last Saturday night (Mar 28).

The order became effective immediately, and will remain in effect until at least April 10.

In a separate order, one of several issued last Saturday night, the committee also ordered Bangla Rd in Patong closed to all persons and traffic, except local residents, also effective immediately.

Patong Municipality was designated the authority to work with the Phuket Provincial Health Office to test for the virus in the Bangla area and to clean and sanitise any risk areas in the vicinity.

The move to close the beaches follows Governor Phakaphong earlier issuing an order that “kindly asked and sought the collaboration of local residents and tourists (both Thai and international) in the Province of Phuket to remain in their residence from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., with the EXCEPTION of urgent errand.”

The order also called for the Provincial Labour Office and DEPA to collaborate and

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Price gouging on sanitiser nipped in the bud > p4

Order to close bridges spurs last-ditch scramble The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

Workers install a sign closing Loma Park at Patong Beach.

Photo: Patong Municipality use an app to help with disease control surveillance of workers from Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia who are unable to return home due to travel restrictions It also repeated the warnings of overcharging for face masks, hand sanitiser and other essentials, and for spreading fake news.

All zoos and other places where all kinds of animal shows are shown were also ordered closed last Saturday.

Any person who violates the order is to be punished under the Emergency Decree Act, the orders warned.

People organising any social activities or ceremonies, “such as traditional ceremonies, auspicious ceremonies, charity ceremonies, funerals, Songkran ceremonies or family activities as well as activities or ceremonies organised by the government or in accordance with the official requirements”, were urged to follow the government’s guidelines to ensure such activities were appropriate and in accordance with disease prevention measures as stipulated in Article 11 of the Emergency Decree Act.

N

ational police chief Gen Chakthip Chaijinda visited the Phuket Check Point on Tuesday (Mar 31) to “encourage” the officers there, who have been inundated with at least hundreds people either wanting to come back home to Phuket or leave Phuket to get back home since the order to close the bridges linking the island with the mainland was issued last Sunday.

Joining Gen Chakthip was national police deputy Lt Gen Damrongsak Kittipraphat, with both top-ranking police officials being welcomed by Police Region 8 Commander Lt Gen Jirawat Thippayachan, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Rungrote Thakurapunyasiri and Tourist Police Region 3 Commander Maj Gen Kritsak Songmoonnak, among other officers.

“We came to encourage all officers, not only police, and to see the preparations for this tough situation,” Lt Gen Damrongsak said.

“From the Phuket Provincial Commander’s explanation, the management and working plan is quite good, but we want officers to take more proactive action to solve the problem of the [COVID-19] virus spreading as soon as possible,” he added.

“Currently, there are a high number of infected in Phuket. We want to suggest that those who violate the notice should be warned first, and any repeat violations met with law enforcement. I also want police to facilitate those catching flights out of Phuket, which are still available until April 10,” he added.

During the visit, officials at the checkpoint were handed personal protection equipment, including face shields, face masks, groves and hand sanitiser.

While the officers were working,

Governor Phakaphong and Vice Governor Supoj were both at the checkpoint in person in the middle of last Sunday night to quell the panic and oversee operations. Photo: PR Dept regular citizens were still queuing up to be allowed through the checkpoint in the hope of being allowed through.

Some were, others weren’t.

Confusion and panic followed after the order to close the bridges was issued on Sunday night, announcing that only emergency vehicles and personnel, and those delivering medical equipment and supplies will be allowed through the checkpoint from midnight Sunday night.

Hundreds of people massed at the checkpoint, with scores of people wanting to leave the island to get home, and scores of people wanting to get back on the island to come home.

The confusion saw Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana and Vice Governor Supoj Rotreuang Na Nongkhai arriving in person in the middle of the night on Sunday to quell the situation, with many people demanding the officers to let them through.

“Many of the people explained that the order was issued so quickly that they had no time to prepare,” V/Governor Supoj explained.

“We explained why we need to close the bridge to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The number of people infected in Phuket is quite high, so we have to close the bridges for safety,” he said.

A compromise was reached, with many people who could prove they need to get off the island to get home, or back on the island because they lived or worked here, being permitted to pass.

“But every single one of them was screened for possible infection,” V/Gov Supoj said.

At last report, and even during Gen Chakthip’s Tuesday visit, that comprise was still being upheld.

Additional reporting

by Eakkapop Thongtub

Chinese tourists ignore PPHO rules, detained by police FOUR CHINESE TOURists visiting Phuket were detained by police last week after neglecting to inform authorities of an address change during their stay.

The Chief of Saku Police Station, Lt Col Kaken Nikrahatchai, told The Phuket News last Friday (Mar 27) that the four Chinese nationals had originally declared they would be staying at an address in Patong but, unable to secure this address, had decided to move on.

However, they did not notify the change of accommodation address with the Phuket

Public Health Department (PPHO) which resulted in the police undertaking a search to track them down.

“We were advised by the PPHO on Wednesday [Mar 25] of the situation,” said Lt Col Kaken.

Police embarked on a search after a tip off by another group of Chinese tourists staying in Phuket Town who had seen the news and were familiar with the conditions of foreigners staying here, especially in the current climate with health precautions around COVID-19 being so important.

Two of the Chinese tourists were tracked down to their villa accommodation. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub “We managed to track all four down yesterday [Mar 26],” Lt Col Kaken commented.

“Two of the Chinese were

found to be staying in a villa in Phuket Town and the other 2 were in a villa in Cherng Thalay. I am unaware of the

names of the villas they were found at,” he added.

Having located the four tourists, police conducted temperature checks to ensure there was no health risk.

“Initially one of the group registered a high temperature reading but we decided to wait and test again as clearly the individual in question was stressed and uncomfortable,” Lt Col Kaken said.

After checking again the temperature reading was confirmed as normal and carrying no health risk.

Lt Col Kaken also confirmed all four were carrying

valid medical certificates stating they had no prior illness and certifying no diseases had been detected.

All four were detained by police and taken to Saku police station where they met with Phuket PPHO officials to understand and acknowledge the ramifications and possible charges and penalties of the Disease Control Act,” said Lt Col Kaken.

Asked whether they were likely to be charged, Lt Col Kaken replied he was unsure and it would depend on the outcome of further discussions. The Phuket News thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

3

Patong urged to self-quarantine

Hotel to house people with symptoms, door-to-door checks begin Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter2@classactmedia.co.th

P

atong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup has called for all people in Patong to selfquarantine for 14 days as health officials in the tourism town this week began door-to-door checks to identify people with symptoms of COVID-19 as well as risk areas and households.

As of Wednesday (April 1), 37 of the 75 confirmed cases of people infected with the virus as announced by the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee had either worked in or visited Bangla Rd, which has become the epicentre of Phuket infections .

“I want people who live in Patong to quarantine themselves for 14 days starting right now,” Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup told The Phuket News on Monday (Mar 30).

“Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana has already issued a notice asking people to stay off the streets and away from public areas from 8pm to 3am each night [see but this is an additional requirement from me,” she said.

“Most confirmed cases of infection [in Phuket] have come from Patong, but now it’s not just the

Bangla Rd is blasted in a mass cleansing drive this week. Photo: Patong Municipality Bangla area, it is now spreading everywhere,” Mayor Chalermluck noted.

“Please stay at home all day. I am not banning people from going outside. If it is necessary to go out, you must wear a face mask and finish your business quickly and

return home. This is the best way to keep yourself and your family safe,” she said.

Mayor Chalermluck warned that people caught f louting the health regulations issued under the Emergency Decree may face legal action.

Illegal Russian taxi driver arrested A RUSSIAN MAN WHO had overstayed in the country illegally for 163 days has been arrested for working as an illegal taxi driver, picking up tourists from Phuket International Airport.

The arrest was made after a formal complaint was filed by the Phuket International Airport Taxi Association, Immigration officers explained at a press conference attended by Immigration Bureau chief Lt Gen Somphong Chingduang in Bangkok last Friday (Mar 27).

Acting on the complaint, and working with officer from Sakhu Police, Immigration Division 6 officers began their operation by first checking the website GoTripPhuket.com, which they were told is operated by a group of Russians providing professional drivers to transport other Russians.

One officer who can communicate in Russian made a request through the website’s contact page, and soon was contacted by a “foreign woman communicating in Russian” through WhatsApp, the press conference was told. @thephuketnews

The Russian driver was hired through the website GoTripPhuket.com. Photo: Immigration Bureau The officer then requested a car to pick up a Malaysian tourist from a hotel in the Sakhu area to take the tourist to the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall. After agreeing a fare of B800, the officer was sent photos of the car and the driver who would arrive to pick him up, and given a contact phone number.

The car and the driver arrived, and the officer continued the charade of being a Malaysian tourist.

While en route, the officer sent a message letting his fellow officers know to intercept the car and check the driver’s credentials.

The driver was initially unable to present his passport or work permit, and was

taken in for questioning.

Officers later confirmed that he was indeed Russian national Konstantin Morozov.

Further checking revealed that Morozov had already overstayed in the country 163 days, the press conference was told.

Morozov was charged at Sakhu Police Station for working illegally and for illegally staying in the country.

It was not repor ted whether or not Morozov will be deported or detained in Thailand while awaiting deportation.

It was also not reported whether any further investigation into the services provided by GoTripPhuket. com would be investigated.

The Phuket News

“People should not ignore this, we want to stop the virus from spreading. If any person ignores the regulations, officials will enforce the law,” she said.

Health officials on Tuesday began door-to-door checks on people in the hope of identifying any more

possible infections before the virus can spread further.

Any persons found suspected of being infected will be taken to Patong Hospital and then asked to spend a 14-day quarantine at the Sleep With Me hotel, where 200 rooms have been dedicated to accommodating “persons under investigation” (PUIs) – free of charge.

“People cannot just turn up at the hotel and ask to stay for free,” Mayor Chalermluck explained.

“People must be screened by Patong Hospital first, and if the hospital requests it, the person can stay at the hotel,” she said.

Eight rooms are already accommodating such PUIs, she added.

Patong Municipality already has been providing free meals for people under self-quarantine, Mayor Chalermluck added.

People who have registered with the municipality project have three meals a day delivered to wherever they are staying.

The project was originally budgeted to provide three meals a day to 300 people, but officials are trying to stretch that even further, Mayor Chalermluck said.

“We will try to cover everyone who needs meals delivered by us,” she said.

4

PHUKET NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM PHUKET SEVEN DAY WEATHER FORECAST SAT APR 4

SUN APR 5

MON APR 6

TUE APR 7

WED APR 8

THU APR 9

High: +36° Low: +28°

High: +37° Low: +28°

High: +36° Low: +28°

High: +36° Low: +28°

High: +36° Low: +28°

High: +36° Low: +28°

High: +35° Low: +28°

Wind 2 m/s

Jason Beavan 086 479 7471

gm@classactmedia.co.th

SALES SUPPORT Siriporn (Nok) Seangmas 086 479 7470 sales@classactmedia.co.th

SALES REPRESENTATIVE Kanokwan (Meo) Rungseang 088 754 1371 sales1@classactmedia.co.th

www.foreca.com

FRI APR 3

The Phuket News offers flexible advertising options both online and in print.

GENERAL MANAGER

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Wind 2 m/s

Wind 2 m/s

Wind 2 m/s

Wind 2 m/s

Wind 2 m/s

Wind 3 m/s

Lakes to boost water supply as Bang Wad reservoir drains low Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter2@classactmedia.co.th

T

hree private lakes have been dedicated to feed the island’s mains water supply to help homes struggling with low water supply, or no supply at all.

Phuket Vice Governor Wongsakorn Nunchukan last week led an inspection of the small lakes, located in Srisoonthorn and Koh Kaew.

Joining Vice Governor Wongsakorn were Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) Chief Graisorn Mahamad, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office Chief Prapan Kanprasang, and other officials.

Water from the lake in Srisoonthorn will be pumped to the water-production facility in Bangjo, while PWA workers are now installing pipes to draw water from a lake owned by Boat Pattana

Bang Wad reservoir pictured last Wednesday (Mar 25). Photo: PWA Co Ltd, explained V/Gov Wongsakorn. Boat Pattana Co Ltd operates Phuket Boat Lagoon.

“We also went to Wanit lake in Koh Kaew to talk with its owner, in order to use the water. The owner responded very well and agreed to let the government use the water to

help people,” V/Gov Wongsakorn added.

“I would like to thank the lake owner for good cooperation with the government,” he said.

Uthai Saejew, head of the PWA’s Water Supply Division, said that the water from the three lakes may help water

supply to last “possibly until May, when the rains will start to refill the main reservoirs”.

According to PWA records, as of Mar 24 Bang Wad reservoir, the island’s main water source, contained just 850,000 cubic metres of water – or 8.3% of its full capacity.

At usage rates at the time,

that was enough water to last just 17 days, the PWA noted.

The additional supply from the three lakes is hoped to stretch that further.

Meanwhile, Bang Neow Dam reservoir in Srisoonthorn contained some 418,000m3 of water, or 5.8% of the reservoir’s capacity.

However, as there was so little water left in the Bang Neow Dam reservoir earlier this year, officials marked whatever water the reservoir contained “for emergency only” as what water it did contain was deemed too murky and unfit for household use.

It has not yet been clarified whether circumstances are currently dire enough for officials to start drawing water from the reservoir.

Meanwhile, Khlong Katha reservoir contains 818,000m3 of water, or 18.6% of the reservoir’s capacity, which the PWA rated as enough to last 47 days.

Vendor charged for price Phi Phi drug bar owners busted, gouging on sanitiser police seize B23mn in accounts

SALES REPRESENTATIVE Katherine (Kat) Jones 081 841 3703

sales2@classactmedia.co.th

POLICE A R R EST ED A man last Thursday (Mar 26) for charging illegally inflated prices for bottles of alcoholbased hand sanitiser at the Phuket Grocery supermarket centre in Phuket Town.

Lt Col Sakchai Soonyong of the Phuket City Police along with Commercial Affairs Phuket office chief Sasiwimon Mongkhon and other officers arrived at the popular mall at about 10:30am.

The inspection followed police receiving a formal complaint filed by Jiraporn Mark, 38, who said she bought two bottles of alcohol which were priced at B309 each.

Lt Col Sakchai and Miss Sasiwimon found the offending stall and confirmed that the bottles of hand sanitiser were being sold at B309.

The regular price for the same size bottles of alcoholbased sanitiser was around B55-60 each, Lt Col Sakchai noted.

The shop owner, who police did not name, was charged

Police question vendors at the Phuket Grocery mall in Phuket Town. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub with violating Section 29 of the Price of Goods and Services Act B.E. 2542 and will be punished under the Section 41 of the same act, Lt Col Sakchai said.

Section 41 of the act mandates a penalty of up to one year in prison or a fine of up to B140,000, or both.

The bottles of hand-sanitiser were seized as evidence.

Police and Commercial Affairs officers inspected other products at the store, and at other shops and stalls at the mall, but no other offences were announced.

Eakkapop Thongtub

TWO PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED for selling drugs at a bar on Phi Phi Island, and officers have seized more than B23 million in funds in bank accounts, Immigration Bureau Chief Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang has announced.

Lt Gen Sompong revealed the news at a press conference in Bangkok last Friday (Mar 27).

A tip-off to police led officers to raid the “Barnana bar” on Phi Phi Island on Mar 1, he said.

Officers arrested the bar’s owner, Piyawat Khunbunthreng, after they found him in possession of a cache of drugs, he said.

Officers seized 18 pills of ecstasy, with an estimated sale value of B1,500 per pill, Lt Gen Sompong said.

Also seized were packs of marijuana weighing a total of 875 grammes, worth an estimated B100,000, and 534 hand-rolled cigarettes of marijuana mixed with tobacco which sold for B200 each, he added.

“Officers also seized B280,470 cash,” Lt Gen Sompong noted.

“They also seized bank accounts containing more than B23 million,” he added.

Piyawat confessed that drugs were smuggled onto the island so they could be sold to tourists, Lt Gen Sompong said.

Officers continued their investigation, which led them to track down Piyawat’s partner in

Ms Supranee was brought back to Phuket from a homestay resort on Koh Yao Yai, east of Phuket. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub the bar, who Lt Gen Somphong named only as “Ms Supranee”.

Armed with an arrest warrant issued by Krabi Provincial Court on Mar 2, officers began their search for Supranee.

The telling clue came on Mar 14, when she withdrew B2.08 million from one of the accounts at the Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) branch at the Jungceylon shopping mall in Patong.

Working with Tourist Police, Krabi Police and Phang Nga Police, and by using CCTV footage, officers tracked down and arrested Supranee at a homestay resort on Koh Yao Yai, east of Phuket but technically in Phang Nga Province, Lt Gen Somphong explained.

Both Piyawat and Supranee have been charged with possession of drugs with intent to sell, and will be prosecuted according, Lt Gen Somphong noted. Eakkapop Thongtub thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

PHUKET NEWS

5

Arrested for posting online

Human Rights Watch blasts arrest over airport scan comments The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

T

he international rights organisation Human Rights Watch has blasted the arrest of a Phuket artist for posting comments about COVID-19 screening measures at Suvarnbhumi International Airport in Bangkok.

Danai Ussama, better known by his artist name “Mr Zen” and as owner and founder of the Wua Art Gallery on Phang Nga Rd in Phuket Town, was arrested at his home in Phuket on March 23.

Although Mr Danai was still under self-quarantine, officers flew him to Bangkok, where he was taken to the Crime Suppression Division headquarters and charged with violating section 14(2) of the Computer-Related Crime Act for “putting into a computer system false computer data in a manner that is likely to cause panic in the public.”

If found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to B100,000.

The charge is based on a complaint to Airports of

An AoT staffer points to a thermoscan checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi airport in a post on Facebook on Mar 25. Photo: AoT Thailand PCL (AoT), which operates six international airports in the country, including Suvarnbhumi and Phuket International Airport.

The complaint was based on a Mar 16 post on the “Zen Wide” Facebook account where Mr Danai wrote that upon return from Barcelona, he and other passengers on his flight did not encounter any COVID-19 screening at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

AoT alleged his post is not factual and caused public panic, and misled people into thinking that Suvarnabhumi

Airport had failed to effectively employ COVID-19 screening.

Human Rights Watch blasted the arrest.

“Thai authorities should immediately stop using ‘antifake news’ laws to prosecute people critical of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the New York-based human rights organisation in a release issued last Thursday (Mar 26).

The state of emergency, which came into effect today, heightens concerns of greater repression of free speech, the statement noted.

Immigration touts anti-crowding measures PH U K ET I M M IGR AT ION H A S announced its measures to prevent crowding at its main office in Phuket Town among its measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The announcement came after days of crowds of tourists and other foreigners arriving at the office in the hope of extending their stay during the state of emergency “lockdown”.

The new anti-COVID measures include body-temperature screening of all staff, visitors and detainees awaiting repatriation at the office, Phuket Immigration Chief Col Narong Chanaphaikul said last Thursday (Mar 26).

“No exceptions, all staff must wear a mask while performing their duties, and we request cooperation from all visitors to wear a mask,” he said.

@thephuketnews

The scene at the main Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket Town last Wednesday (Mar 25). Photo: Supplied Three tents have been set up in front of the building where visitors can wait in the shade, he added.

“There are ventilation fans in every tent… and every day after work, all areas of the building are cleaned with disinfectant,” he said.

Eakkapop Thongtub

“Thai authorities seem intent on shutting down critical opinions from the media and general public about their response to the COVID-19 crisis,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Emergency Decree provides the government a free hand to censor free speech.”

In the report “Human Rights Dimensions of the COVID-19 Response,” Human Rights Watch expressed concerns that Thailand was clamping down on free speech amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Whistleblowers in the pub-

lic health sector and online journalists have faced retaliatory lawsuits and intimidation from authorities after they criticised government response to the outbreak and reported alleged corruption related to hoarding of surgical masks and other supplies and black-market profiteering, the report noted.

“Thai authorities also threatened some medical staff with disciplinary action, including termination of employment contracts and revocation of their licenses, for speaking out about the severe shortage of essential supplies in hospitals across the country,” the rights group said.

Concerns about government restrictions on free speech significantly increased when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha declared a state of emergency on March 24.

During a news conference, he said, “After a state of emergency is announced everyone must be careful about social media misinformation… the media and all of those who use social media to distort information will be scrutinised.”

“Reporting or spreading of information regarding COVID-19 which is untrue and may cause public fear, as well as deliberate distortion of information which causes misunderstanding and hence affects peace and order, or good moral of people, are prohibited. In that case, officials will suspend or edit such piece of news. If the case lead to severe impacts, the Computer-Related Crime Act or Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation will be enforced for prosecution,” he said.

“Access to information and freedom of expression are among the integral components of the right to health, especially in the context of a global pandemic. Access to information includes the right to seek, receive, and share information, which is especially relevant in the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure that everyone is informed about the disease as well as the government’s response, Human Rights Watch said in its statement.

Opinion 6

OPINION

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

editor@classactmedia.co.th

CONTACT US

editor@classactmedia.co.th 076 612 550

PURIYA BEAVAN Editor

CHRIS HUSTED

Executive Editor

084 307 7408 execeditor@classactmedia.co.th Fifteen years working in news and covering local issues and events in Phuket, with 18-month hiatus spent working for the Brunei Times on Borneo. From Queensland, Australia; 10 years living in the UK before moving to Phuket in 2000.

Degree in business management.

Spare time spent sailing or with family.

BEN TIREBUCK

News / Sport Editor

061 806 8132 editor3@classactmedia.co.th UK born and bred but living and working overseas for 20+ years.

A career working in sales, marketing, news and media has seen him based in Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, San Diego and Singapore. Most recently with Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg, both in Singapore.

Ambition in the heart, not in the head.

TANYALUK ‘MANGO’ SAKOOT

Chief Reporter

091 165 0260 reporter2@classactmedia.co.th

KHUNANYA ‘FON’ WANCHANWET

Reporter

091 165 0259 reporter1@classactmedia.co.th

KIATTIKUL ‘JOM’ CHUMANEE

Translator

082 729 0270 translate@classactmedia.co.th

NIRAVIT ‘MOS’ VORAVANITCHA THANAPONG ‘OAK’ KHAO -AMPHAIPHAN Graphic designers

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

ADVERTISING 076 612 550 ext. 605 Fax: 076 612 553 info@classactmedia.co.th thephuketnews.com

99/7 Moo 1 (Billion Plaza), T. Kathu, A. Kathu, Phuket 83120

I

EDITORIAL

The responsible ones

t’s been a busy week as the island has been shut down bit by bit, and yet to culminate with the shutdown of the airport come April 10, a move many people say is already too late. But by that time, what happens in Phuket, stays in Phuket – literally.

The moves to shut down businesses and venues that naturally create people traffic flow has been well supported, yet several other moves have been branded as overkill, such as the closing of public recreation areas and the beaches. This has not yet had any consequences, but leaving a house-bound population nowhere to go for mental reprieve other than a likely high-risk 24-hour convenience store can within weeks can turn people stir crazy. Other countries, the UK and Sweden for example, have recognised this and allow people to go to parks and other

public areas, as long as they are not in groups.

Yet that common-sense approach will not work when the very people you are trying to protect could not be bothered to even protect themselves – and what makes the crowd on Patong Beach last week so despicable.

It’s not that the single mass congregation was most likely responsible for inspiring the move to close our beaches at the expense of any other common-sense folk, it was the sheer lack of responsibility for the care of others. If people want to risk themselves, that is their concern, but those people on Patong Beach last week had no regard for whoever the disease might reach.

A couple of young friends might become infected, fall ill for a few weeks and then recover, leading them to think, “So what?” But down the

line they have no idea whose mother or grandmother might die from exposure to the same disease. That’s how simple this is.

As anyone who has completed basic food hygiene training knows, fully preventing any form of cross-contamination in general conditions is nigh impossible. The best you can do is reduce your chances, and that is what this is all about. Yes, you can go outside; yes, you can go to the shop or your favourite cafe or restaurant and pick up a takeaway – it’s the handling of any transmission that falls as a personal responsibility for yourself and others.

So as the island enters a shut down for the coming weeks, if you want to know exactly who should be held most responsible for trying to prevent the spread of the disease, just look in the mirror.

TOP 10 STORIES ON thephuketnews.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10

All Phuket beaches closed Phuket Governor ’asks’ tourists to self curfew from 5pm to midnight Confirmed! Phuket Airport to close Russian arrested in Phuket for overstay, working as illegal taxi driver 52 hotels in Phuket announce plans to close: THA President State of emergency starts tomorrow PHUKET XTRA: 100 people denied entry to Thailand?

Phuket coronavirus cases reach 29 Thai Airways prepares to ground fleet No drinking on Phuket beaches, order officials Phuket bridges and ports closed

Visit thephuketnews.com for all the latest news

HAVE YOUR SAY Virally yours

Re: Phuket Opinion: The Last Stand The official statistics tell us that more than 70 people die on Thailand’s roads every day yet no one bats an eyelid over that.

In three months of ‘infection’ 5 people have died from the virus. I’m sorry, where’s the logic here? And if everyone is ignoring the stay-in-place guidelines anyway then why wreak so much havoc closing borders and destroying so many peoples businesses and lives?

CaptainJack69 Re: Five more COVID-19 cases in Phuket, including police officer: official total hits 34 Surgical masks do not protect the wearer against any viruses. They will protect others if being worn by someone with a virus. As with the common cold, very few under 55 die from COVID-19.

They get sick. They get better.

Without an underlying health problem, if you’re under 55, there’s little chance of death.

Foot Re: Stay home or face curfew, says defence chief

“We should control ourselves instead of being forced to by the state,” he said. Alas, humanity… 10,000 will be 100, 000 in less than a week, then it's exponentially uncontrollable. Lock It Down Now, Please.

Christy Sweet Re: Phuket Opinion: The Last Stand Safest place in Asia? We have seen lying, prevaricating and the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

Taking ‘action’ this week is far too late – profit has conquered sense yet again. There should have been real action taken at the end of January instead of encouraging Chinese visitors.

As ye sow so shall ye reap and does anyone really believe the Gov't figures?

Fascinated I think that closing the beaches would be a big mistake as the hot sun, dry sand and salty water would make it very hard for any virus to survive, so likelihood of transmission is low. To maintain their health and wellbeing people need to a place to go out and get some air and some exercise (In UK parks are still

allowed). People just need to be sensible and not gather in big groups. jamstock This from a controlled study… “High relative humidity (>95%) at comparatively low temperature (28°C and 33°C) did not affect the virus infectivity significantly”, so currently Thailand's weather has little affect. What is keeping it down is “rubbery” figures, and an increase in “viral” pneumonia.

Rorri_2

Running dry

Re: Private lakes boost Phuket water supply as Bang Wad falls to 8.3% capacity Hang on a minute… What about the B227.3 million paid out to suppliers of "private water sources"? One guy alone was paid B109mn. Those were supposed to be five-year contracts. Oh don't tell me that water ran out already…

Maybe it's time to ask Laguna to give back a little to the island. All their lakes are completely full. Fat chance of that happening.

Timothy

Red-handed

Re: Phuket Town vendor charged for price-gouging on hand sanitiser I would fine him the difference in price for each bottle in his possession, this is a time to help each other not screw each other. I hope the law comes down heavily on him.

Jimmy Pop

Flag fall

Re: Russian arrested in Phuket for overstay, working as illegal taxi driver Good news and now close down the whole company.

DeKaaskopp Why is their www. still open?

Mj

Return to sender

Re: Four Chinese tourists neglect PPHO rules, detained by police I would fine them heavily and get them on the next flight to China. They are high risk.

You try doing the same in China and you are locked up for a long time then deported never to return.

Jimmy Pop

Have an opinion? Comment on stories at thephuketnews.com thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

THAILAND NEWS

7

handout 90% cut in travel targeted Stimulus may see 20mn apply to contain virus spread THAILAND

THAILAND

Bangkok Post

T

he government has come up with a goal to cut public journeys by as much as 90% in order to “flatten the curve” of new coronavirus infections, it has been announced.

The plan was proposed by army chief Gen Apirat Kongsomgpong at a meeting on Monday (Mar 30) of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), according to CCSA spokesman Tawee­sin Visanuyothin.

Compared to March 21, the number of journeys made by the public one week later on Saturday (Mar 28) had decreased by 46% after the government began implementing measures to encourage members of the public not to take unnecessary trips, Dr Taweesin told media at Government House after the CCSA meeting.

Personal car use fell by 41% while the number of electric train passengers had fallen by 59% during the same period, he said.

The number of inter-city train passengers had dropped by 65% while the number of boat passengers had come down by 40%, he added.

“We will have to continue asking for more public cooperation to achieve the 90% travel cut goal to flatten the curve of new infections. So far we’ve

@thephuketnews

The government aims to “flatten the curve” of new coronavirus infections by restricting public travel by as much as 90%. Photo: Bangkok Post only achieved a 40% cut on average,” Dr Taweesin said.

“The key to success in communicating with members of the public during this crisis is keeping them well informed and updated about the outbreak situation in the country via social media.”

‘Public cooperation’ Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had stressed the importance of strengthening public cooperation to contain the spread of the virus which has now reached as far as Phuket, Yala, Pattani, Chon Buri, Ubon Ratchathani and Sa Kaeo, said Dr Taweesin.

The accumulated number of confirmed cases, however, remained significantly

lower than in the US, Italy, China, Iran and neighbouring Malaysia, he said.

“The number of patients in other provinces is growing faster than Bangkok… Cases in Thailand are increasing at a similar pace to Malaysia… People must cooperate with disease control measures,” Dr Taweesin said.

He said that the government was maintaining restrictions on people’s movements in four southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Phuket and Yala.

Meanwhile, Bang Len Hospital in Nakhon Pathom has been closed for 30 days and 24 medical personnel and patients put under quarantine after they were found to have come into contact with a COVID-19 patient.

MOR E T H A N 17.2 M I L lion people have applied for the B5,000 financial aid granted by the government to ease the impact of the COVID-19, according to Fiscal Policy Office director Lavaron Saengsanit.

That was the figure registered on Sunday (Mar 29) as people registered on www. .com, the only official channel, which began accepting applications at 6pm on Saturday (Mar 28), Mr Lavaron said.

The Thai web address means: “You will never be left behind.”

He added that registrations had peaked at two million per hour at 10pm on Saturday, an unexpected volume considering the total number of informal workers affected by the COVID-19 is believed to be about 10 million.

It is likely that many people who are not eligible for the aid took a chance and registered anyway, Mr Lavaron said.

Including those ineligible registrations, his team may

The government has rolled out a series of stimulus pac kage s to ea s e the impact of COVID -19 on worker s . Photo: Arnun Chonmahatrakool have to process up to 20 million applications, he said.

T he gover n ment ha s rolled out a series of stimulus packages to ease the impact of COVID-19 on workers.

Among them is a B50-billion government fund that provides B5,000 per month for three months to three million virus-affected temporary employees and self-employed workers.

Previously, a broad range of financial and fiscal relief measures was issued to help companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, alleviate negative impacts from the COVID-19 crisis.

Bangkok Post

8

BUSINESS NEWS

87% of hotels to close TOURISM THE NUMBER OF HOtels in Phuket intending to temporarily close in April to comply with the one-month lockdown has risen to some 87%, reports Kongsak Khoopongsakorn, President of Thai Hotels Association (THA) southern chapter.

Mr Kongsak said there are no tourists in the province at this point. It is possible the closure could extend beyond April if the outbreak remains uncontrollable, he told the Bangkok Post on Monday (Mar 30).

Phuket Tourist Association Pre­sident Bhummikitti Ruktaengam said he agrees with the lockdown. The association has suggested the measure to Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana since Mar 15, and suggested to Governor Phakaphong on Monday to issue an order for hotels on the island to close. Phuket has around 400 registered hotels.

Mr Bhummikitti said most of the 3,000 foreign tourists now in Phuket are expected to leave before the

Bangla Rd in Patong remains closed. Photo: Patong Municipality airport is sealed under the full lockdown from April 10-30.

Over 30,000 hotels are set to lose all revenue in April as the lockdown intensifies in provincial areas, while hoteliers in Phuket are bracing for the greatest losses, said the Bangkok Post report.

Of the 32,564 hotels registered in Thailand, some 95% or 30,936 expect to have zero income in April when they temporarily stop operations, said the THA. Surapong Techaruvichit, an adviser to THA, said the number of hotel closures is growing every day as more provinces have imposed stricter lockdown policies.

The Phuket News

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Return of the Black Swan THE PHUKET PROPERTY GUIDE

Thai Residential phuket@thairesidential.com

N

ovember 17, 2019 – the date may never make it into history books alongside the Fourth of July or the year 1066, but given what the world is currently going through, its significance cannot be understated. It was on this day in the Wuhan Province of China that the first case of COVID-19 was identified.

COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus, which belongs to a family of zoonotic viruses.

Zoonotic means it is transmitted to humans from animals, and while health experts suspect the virus originated with bats, it is highly unlikely that the virus would have been transmitted to humans directly from bats. Scientists are still unsure which animal was directly responsible for the first transmission to humans.

The current siege on Phuket’s property market is just yet another ‘black swan’ passing by. Image: Holger Detje / Pixabay

By January 2020 the health concerns had already made the front pages, and the global economy and stock markets were suffering on news of the spreading virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) would only give it the name “COVID-19” in February, and on March 11 the same organization would officially designate the virus a pandemic.

This pronouncement sent investment markets into turmoil.

So what, you may ask, has any of this got to do with Phuket property?

The COVID-19 Pandemic is an example of a Black Swan Event. The term “Black Swan” was coined by author Nicholas Taleb in Fooled by Randomness. This best-selling book explains that we often attempt to assign logical origins to what are unforeseeable, and sometimes calamitous events.

Far from being predictable, these are random occurrences.

You’ve probably seen Taleb’s extremely academic premise summed up on internet memes or bumper stickers (rather less eloquently) as: “S**t Happens”.

Over the past two-anda-half decades, Phuket has certainly seen its fair share of sh**, err… black swans, and each one brought with it financial challenges for the island’s economy and its property market to overcome.

In 1997 there was the Asian Crisis. Phuket’s tourist economy was not nearly as developed as it is now, but the impact on the island was still felt. The terrorist attacks on 9-11 were just four years later, and that was roughly the same

time as the dot-com bubble burst on the stock markets.

The year 2002 brought bird flu, followed by SARS (also a coronavirus) in 2003.

On Boxing Day, 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami decimated the Andaman Coast, and in addition to the cost in human lives, left Phuket’s tourist sector in tatters. Four years later, in 2008, it was the global financial crisis which brought tourism to a grinding halt in Thailand.

A Black Swan specific to Phuket, was the tragic sinking of the Phoenix tour boat in July, 2018. A storm unleashed five-meter high waves, which capsized and sank the Phoenix, and also sank another boat, the Serenita. All 42 people aboard the Serenita were rescued, but 47 Chinese tourists from the Phoenix were killed.

Tours from China were cancelled almost immediately, the market already felt the pinch by early August, and it took diplomatic effort on the part of the tourism ministry and national government to woo Chinese tourists back to Phuket. By the time highseason wound down in March 2019, Chinese tourists had returned, and sales of properties to Chinese buyers were back to normal.

It is no secret that the growth or contraction of the Phuket property market is inextricably linked to tourism.

The vast majority of people who buy condos or villas in Phuket do so because they came here as tourists, and loved it – not because they randomly selected Phuket from a map and decided to invest here. It should also come as no surprise that each of the Black

Swan events mentioned above had negative repercussions for property sales and rentals.

What may come as a surprise, however, is how quickly Phuket recovered from each of these events. This has actually been a feature of most Black Swans to affect Phuket – they have been a mere blip, not a long-term trend.

And even where the broader economy was a factor, there were no widespread foreclosures or “fire sales”. In fact, if you look at the Asian Crisis or global financial crisis (the most analogous events to what we are seeing today in terms of financial impact), the weakening of the Thai baht against most major Western currencies actually made property purchases in Thailand more attractive.

Phuket is a rather unique property market, different even from that in Bangkok, a topic we have discussed previously on these pages. There are different scenarios which could play out, and we will expand on these in a future article.

But for now, using history as our guide, this is a consolidation period for Phuket property, not the beginning of a massively discounted market.

If you want a discount, the currency markets are already doing that for you. The baht is down 10% against the US dollar since Christmas, which already represents a sizable discount for anyone contemplating a property purchase in Phuket.

For more information, or to download our 2019/2020 Phuket Propert y Guide, visit: thairesidential.com/ phuket-property-guide or call +66 9484 11918. thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Post-crisis theatre always bounces back

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

FORGOTTEN GIANTS

12

Keep Fido happy under COVID-19 lockdown

13

Fears raised for elephant welfare as trekking camps fold Keeping elephants healthy and fed is now a priority. Photo: Elephant Nature Park

The Phuket News editor1@classactmedia.co.th

D

ire fears for the welfare of thousands of elephants throughout the country have been raised with elephant trekking camps being forced to close due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The order issued by Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana last Saturday (Mar 28) to close all zoos and other places where all kinds of animal shows are shown on the island affected about 180 elephant camps in Phuket, explains Louise Rogerson, who was instrumental in setting up the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, the island’s first full no contact elephant reserve.

“The mass closure of the elephant camps in Phuket has left hundreds of elephants in danger of being chained up continuously at the camps,” says Louise, who has also worked with captive elephants in Thailand and Cambodia for

@thephuketnews

over a decade and successfully spearheaded campaigns for their welfare and release and established the Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival (EARS) Foundation. She is now the Project Director of newly founded Tree Tops Elephant Reserve in Phuket.

More dire is the concern that many elephants will suffer severe malnutrition from lack of food as owners will not be able to buy food for them, with no tourists paying for the privilege of feeding the majestic animals, she adds.

In Phuket alone, the order to close the camps and the lack of tourists has placed about 280 elephants at risk, she says.

“About 100 elephants from Phuket have already been taken to Phang Nga as there is more food there for the elephants,” Louise explains.

“We are very worried about the coming months. We rely solely on tourism for our financial income to feed our seven elephants at Tree Tops Elephant Reserve, and we are worried about the

elephants at other camps, too,” she says.

“All the elephant camps and sanctuaries are now closed. Most of the camps that cater to Chinese visitors have been closed since early February.

“The elephants will now have time to rest from giving rides but this is bittersweet as most elephants will now be chained for long periods as there aren’t any customers and therefore no work,” she adds.

“It a very difficult and worrying situation for all the animal projects that rely on tourism for their income to feed their animals, pay their mahouts, tour guides, and staff.

“It’s expensive to feed elephants.

The main source of grass is pineapple grass, most of which is brought from the mainland. The mahouts also go out to cut grasses, but it is getting scarce as the land is very dry. There is a shortage of water, and we are in a drought.

“At the moment we must focus on feeding our elephants at Tree Tops but we definitely would like to help the

situation for all the elephants in Phuket too,” Louise adds.

The Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival (EARS) foundation has set up a fund to help provide provisions and care for elephants at risk, and Louise urges people to make donations through the foundation’s website: https://www. earsasia.org/donate Meanwhile, Saengduean “Lek” Chailert, owner of Elephant Nature Park and founder of Save Elephant Foundation, believes many of the closures of elephant camps will be permanent.

“I have been to visit many of the camps and the situation is very serious,” she says.

The Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai – and many other camps in Thailand – have closed their doors due to the current situation, which apart from resulting in unspeakable hardship for the elephants, could seriously hurt Thailand’s tourism industry in the future if no support is forthcoming soon.

Continued on page 10

10 ENTERTAINMENT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Hollywood’s darkest days David Griffiths

T

hey say that the lights never go out in Hollywood. Well if they aren’t fully out at the moment then they are certainly very, very dim.

As the COVID-19 virus goes on its deadly wave right across the planet, Hollywood and the world’s film industry has become one of its biggest victims.

Right now as I write this this most of the world’s cinemas are in darkness – the projectors have stopped and the doors are closed. In Thailand cinemas were initially closed until at least April 1, but now likely much longer, while in America the cinemas are closed indefinitely. In Australia the cinema chains desperately tried to keep the doors open, but finally the week came where only one new film opened in cinemas and as people had started to fear going out in public the film was playing to empty cinemas.

When you consider that film was The Current War starring the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Tom Holland, the fact it wasn’t drawing an audience just went to show how afraid people really were. Luckily the nation’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the decision for the cinema bosses when he included cinemas in the list of non-essential services that had to close as the nation went into a Stage One lockdown.

For the rest of the world the first inkling that COVID-19 was going to hit the cinema industry hard was when Sony Pictures made the announcement that they were postponing the release date of the latest Bond film No Time To Die. Sony, it seemed, made the right call, especially after we all saw the hit that the much-hyped Bloodshot starring Vin Diesel took upon its released. Its studio decided to brave the COVID-affected cinema numbers and released the film amidst the chaos – the result was taking just US$9 million (B296mn) at the box office in its first week of release in the US. Desperate not to see the same fate happen to Diesel’s other blockbuster – Fast & Furious 9 – its studio decided to push its release back to 2021.

Some companies decided to get creative. Realising that they were going to have a captive housebound audience for potentially the next few months Universal Pictures have decided to chance its arm and in some territories has released potential blockbusters The Invisible Man and Trolls World Tour onto streaming services. It now seems likely that Disney

A health worker douses an empty cinema with disinfectant. Photo: AFP will do the same with the eagerly anticipated Pixar animation Onward.

While the release dates of some of the year’s biggest films seem to be moving around like chess pieces on a board it leaves us with one big question – when Thailand’s cinemas do re-open, what do audiences have to look forward to? While films such as Daniel Radcliffe’s all action affair Guns Akimbo and new horror film Fantasy Island are still slated for release soon, after the cinema doors open for several months audiences will have to watch locally made films and smaller international films while Hollywood prepares to re-launch itself with their all-conquering blockbusters. That is not necessarily a bad thing though as it means for awhile locally made films will have very little competition at the box-office for awhile.

Of course, box office aside, COVID-19 has also had catastrophic affect on the people of Hollywood and film industries right around the world. At the moment every major studio in America has shutdown production meaning that hundreds of thousands of people are currently out of work – many not knowing when those studio doors will open again.

The human side of COVID-19 in Hollywood became even more apparent when two of its biggest

stars tested positive to the deadly virus. In Australia working on a new movie about the life of Elvis Presley, Oscar winning actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson contracted the virus resulting in Australia’s Nine Network television network having to place some of their on-air talent in isolation after they had come in contact with the pair. It was later proven that Nine’s head Entertainment Reporter Richard Wilkins had actually contracted COVID-19 after interviewing Wilson.

The next Hollywood celebrity to test positive to COVID-19 was Thor: Ragnarok and Star Trek Beyond star Idris Elba and only hours later it was confirmed that former Hollywood producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has tested positive to the virus in prison.

Globally nobody has been able to safely predict when the COVID-19 crisis might be over but the one thing we do know is it is going to take a long time for Hollywood to recover from cinema’s darkest days.

David Griffiths has been working as a film and music reviewer for over 20 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. You can follow him at www.facebook.com/subcultureentertainmentaus

COVID-19 fallout puts jumbos in danger Continued from page 9 “The elephants have been chained up since the tourists stopped coming. They are very stressed and upset. Some have started to attack each other from being chained up all day and several have bite wounds as they are fighting over food. The pregnant elephants are also stressed and not doing well at all,” says Khun Lek, who was also heavily involved in the founding of the Phuket Elephant Sancturary.

“If there is no support forthcoming to keep them safe, the elephants will either starve to death or may be put onto the streets to beg. Alternatively, some may be sold to zoos and some may be returned to the logging business (which officially banned the use of elephants in 1989 due to its cruel nature). It’s a very bleak outlook unless some financial help is received immediately,” said Lek in a release earlier this week.

At Elephant Nature Park,

elephant camp owners to help them find a way out. My ability to help these animals is an extension of your generosity, I cannot do it without your help. There is no amount too big or too small to impact the lives of these animals. 100% of each donation is tax deductible and goes directly to Elephant Nature Park. I will share these donations with elephants in other camps as appropriate.”

Saengduean ‘Lek’ Chailert believes many of the camp closures will be permanent. which houses more than 3,000 animals, many disabled or emotionally unstable, a frantic fund-raising effort is underway for food and medical needs. Some of the elephants need intensive, regular veterinary care.

On her Facebook post, Lek thanks donors, saying, “I have been in touch with more than 30

HOW TO DONATE: TRUNKS UP (https://jointrunksup.org) is a certified supporting organization which is currently MATCHING all donations, dollar for dollar, up to US$45,000. Donations can be made via the site.

WHERE THE MONEY WILL GO: US$30 will feed an elephant for a day US$20 will feed a dog or cat for one week US$10 will feed a pig, cow or buffalo for one week US$8 will feed a monkey for one week US$5 will feed a rabbit for one week thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

HEALTH 11

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Pose one.

Pose two.

Pose three.

Pose six.

Pose five.

Pose six.

The benefits of Vinyasa LET’S GET BENT

Kim White info@kimwhiteyoga.com

H

ello and welcome to April, a little bit of a crazy time in this world but that does not mean that everything has to fall apart. We can do the best we can to keep ourselves in a happy and healthy frame of mind. One way of keeping yourself happy, healthy and occupied is to play around with yoga. This month I want to share with you a deeper look at Vinyasa yoga. What is it and how do you practice it?

The stock standard answer you will get when wanting to know what the word Vinyasa means will read something like this: “Vinyasa is a Sanskrit term often employed in relation to certain styles of yoga. The term vinyasa may be broken down into its Sanskritic roots to assist in decoding its meaning.

Nyasa denotes ‘to place’ and vi denotes ‘in a special way’.”

However, I like to describe it as moving meditation. Vinyasa yoga is the joining together of two or more yoga asanas to create a sequence. The bodies movements are integrated with the movement of breath through the body.

This sequence can be repeated multiple times. The sequences usually has a right flow and a left flow. “Flow” is another modern word that is often used to replace the word “vinyasa”. Giving you the instruction in the title, flow from one yoga posture to the next. Trying to make the sequence as fluid and as accurate as possible. This does not however mean that the sequence has to become faster. I find that many vinyasa classes these days are too fast and have lost the true sense of holding a yoga pose and reaping the benefits of each. @thephuketnews

What are the benefits of Vinyasa: • Building a better connection to your breathing patterns • Strengthening your skills in mindfulness • Building better relationships with your neural receptors (hand eye coordination) • Improves your stability and balance • Allows you to be creative with body movements • The flowing sequence of the postures and the expressions you put into it, can help to bring emotions you want to deal with to the surface.

• Vinyasas are a great way to challenge yourself and progress towards yoga goals • The dedication and repetitious nature of the practice helps to build the skills to deal with everyday issues off of the yoga mat.

• A great aerobic workout for the body • Increases the circulation and internal massage of the body and organs.

• A great way to start to build a daily routine.

I have kept the postures in this vinyasa very simple but with a little bit of a challenge for some of you to work towards. My suggestion is to join the postures in photos one through six together try to hold each posture for about five seconds each, repeat the sequence five times.

1. Standing forward fold 2. Plank 3. Side plank right 4. Side plank left 5. Back to standing.

Keep a steady inbreath and outbreath and move at an even steady pace. I have also included a video of the above vinyasa with a beginner variation as well as the regular variation for the online version on

ThePhuketNews.com Enjoy your alone time, there will come a time when all the craziness will

come back and you will long for alone time to start again.

Happy stretchng Metta kim oxo

12 ENTERTAINMENT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

And the Phoenix Shall Rise

The Theatre’s Indomitable Spirit THE PLAY’S THE THING! Joel Adams

W

hen a theatre is closed, usually on a Monday, it is said, “The theatre is dark tonight.” No actors illuminated on the stage, no audience held enrapt in the hall. But there have also been a few times when the theatre has been closed for longer than that one rest day like in today’s world, sometimes for the selfsame reason.

During Shakespeare’s time the theatres were closed in response to the bubonic plague. Yet there are good things that came out of that time, as I will tell you below. What will come of this time?

The theatres in New York’s Broadway, London’s West End, and all round the world are dark now. And for how long?

And what will they be like when they reopen? One thing for sure is that they will reopen, and the theatre, like life, will go on.

The light of the theatre, like the indomitable spirit of humankind, will never go out for long. Caught now in the midst of a crisis unprecedented in the last 100 years, each of us must know and believe that this also will pass and humankind will rise again, hopefully better for the experience, nobler, kinder, and wiser. And I hope and believe the same for the living theatre, which cannot be killed or destroyed. The theatre in the last 2,000 years has undergone several “deaths” followed by resurrections in which it has risen again like the Phoenix from the ashes of its defeat.

Western theatre was born in the Golden Age of Greece, 500 years BCE, and though we only have a small fraction of the hundreds of tragedies and comedies produced during that glorious time, they are some of the most marvelous plays ever written, plays like Oedi­ pus Rex, Medea, Trojan Women and the Oresteia trilogy.

Rome, as it became the leading power on earth, adopted the forms of Greek theatre and added little to it. However, during the decline of the Roman Empire, the plays became shockingly

Even the Globe had to survive plague lockdowns. bawdy and vulgar, including real fights to the death and sex acts on stage to the point that even the emperors were ashamed of them but felt they had to allow them due to their policy of giving the people bread and circuses to keep them happy.

Most of the intelligentsia were sick of the theatre, but it was the Catholic Church that finally put a stop to theatre altogether somewhere around 700 ACE, and it took the theatre 300 years to raise its head again.

When it did, it was within the confines of the church itself, Bible stories told by priests, monks, and even some nuns. As you can imagine in a church where everything was in Latin, a language that the common people did not understand, these plays in their own vernacular became immensely popular; the plays grew more and more elaborate until they burst out of the confines of the church, resulting in guilds of bakers, butchers, carpenters, and every profession mounting plays. During festivals and feast days, the guilds performed plays on wagons that went from village to village in cycles of one play after another from dawn to dusk during festivals.

In time this led to professional theatres being born in England, Italy, Spain, France and other nations. It led to the rise of the greatest English-language playwright in all of history, none

The Restoration comeback. other than William Shakespeare.

In the summer of 1606, the theatre of Shakespeare’s day was in the middle of arguably one of the greatest seasons in theatre history – Macbeth, King Lear, Ben Jonson’s Volpone, and Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy were playing – and when the bubonic plague closed the theatres for the rest of the year. Two notable benefits from this time come immediately to mind: first of all, during this time Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and several long poems, such as Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece; also, after the plague, indoor playhouses became the norm.

The theatres were closed yet again in 1642 by Oliver Cromwell’s religiously sober Long Parliament, labelling the plays immoral and lascivious and the players rogues. With the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660, the theatres opened in force with unforgettable plays that are still performed today, most notably Restoration comedy that celebrated the return of freedom of expression in bawdy, risque comedy classics, such as The Way of the World and The Country Wife. And, for the first time, women took to the stage as actors.

Today, once again, the theatres have closed, but just as humankind will come through this, the theatre will survive.

It is exciting to imagine what changes the closure and subsequent reopening will bring this time.

When theatre resumed after the closure of Roman theatre, it led to mobile theatre, theatre festivals, traveling troupes, the earliest community theatres, and finally professional theatre with some of the greatest plays ever written.

The closure in Shakespeare’s day gave us Shakespeare’s great, nontheatrical poetry, and the reopening brought us indoor theatre with more

Theatre mystery plays. sophisticated audiences and some great, enigmatic Shakespearean plays such as The Tempest and A Winter’s Tale.

The restoration of the monarchy and the theater in 1660 gave us women on the stage for the first time in English language theatre and a great new period of comedies full of clever satirical and sexual innuendo, taking a good, healthy comic poke at both the religious stuffed shirts and the extravagant aristocracy. It was a true open season.

So what will our present crisis bring us? Well, let’s wait and see. But, rest assured, the theatre will survive and thrive!

One positive thing has already happened for me. Since stopping all my public classes and rehearsals, I have just begun teaching a variety of classes online and am discovering it’s a great way to redeem the time with something valuable, to break the monotony of staying at home, and invest in the future at the same time. If you or your children are interested in theatrical classes, you can contact me at the phone numbers and addresses below. Stay safe and healthy. Stay positive and hopeful.

Joel Adams is building a vibrant thea­ tre community right here in Phuket.

You can contact him at theatrixphuket@ gmail.com or by phone on 093 6490066.

Facebook: Theatrix Group thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Dog day afternoons

PETS 13

A lone pup on a boring afternoon. Photo: Roberto Nickson / Unsplash

I

n case you’ve missed it, there’s a bit of a global pandemic about at the moment. Countries in lockdown, people staying home and life is certainly anything but normal. And whilst Russell D Russell there are obviously some serious things to be info@k9pointacademy.com concerned about right now, and following the advice of health professionals and governSo no, just ments is a clear priority, it’s also important because to remember our dogs have no idea what’s going on, but they know something is different. you’ve Over the last few days and weeks I’ve had a lot loads of time on of calls and emails asking about what people can do your hands possibly with their dogs to stop them going round the bend, or destroying the house. I was also asked if this was right now - this is a a good time to get a new dog, surely it is, we’re all really bad time to stuck at home with loads of spare time to engage get a dog. with the newbie. What could go wrong?

So let’s deal with the newbie question first. I always advise people that getting a new dog, be it a puppy, rescue, doesn’t matter – do not get it at the start of the school holidays. Get the dog in the middle of a school term, or in the middle of a normal routine for you. Dogs need routine, structure, and above all, consistency. Getting a dog during the holidays – or a pandemic-imposed isolation, for example – means you’re going to be spending pretty much 24/7 with the new dog. So this, for him, becomes normal. Then, when we go back to school – or are allowed out the house again – our world becomes normal, but it turns upside down for the dog. The routine, the energy, everything changes and it can be quite overwhelming. So no, just because you’ve loads of time on your hands possibly right now – this is a really bad time to get a dog.

As a caveat, I would suggest offering to foster a dog. There are issues of course with this, and there should be some structure in place, but that aside, for a few weeks and so on if it helps local rescue shelters and gives the dog some love for a few weeks, then crack on.

So what about the dogs we already have at home?

What can we do to keep them engaged, entertained and prevent them from turning to excessive boredom behaviours and becoming destructive?

Firstly, there are some fun games we can play at home to keep our dogs engaged. A lot of people shun away from “trick” training as they find it a useless behaviour. I understand the point, it might be cute that you can get your dog to roll over, but other than impressing your friends, what practical use does that have? For me, its not about the “use” of the behaviour – it’s the work that goes into getting your dog to do it in the first place. It takes time, patience and practice, all of which helps to really build bonds between you and your dog. How this translates to the longer term, is that your Your best friend. Photo: Allie Smith / Unsplash dog is likely to be that much

UNLEASHED

@thephuketnews

more tuned into you, as working with you is fun and rewarding, so you’re also likely to see stronger obedience skill responses.

For a dog, roll over or sit makes no difference, it’s a behaviour that may bring reward, so I’ll try it. If your dog starts to work out that lots of different behaviours bring reward from you, they’re more likely to try it, which means they’re focused on you and not the other dogs or the neighbourhood cat!

Secondly, for the here and now, try playing a couple of games with your dog around the house. Hide and Seek is always fun. Have one person hold your dog, another person tease him

with a treat or a toy, then run and hide. Keep it super simple to begin with, like around a corner or behind the sofa. Then release the dog to come find you, and he gets his treat or toy for doing so. Keep going, just make the hides a little harder each time.

If you would like some more ideas for keeping your dogs engaged during this trying time, then please to contact us on 091 654 1960, email info@k9pointacademy.com, or check our website www.k9pointacademy.com. CPA is accredited with the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT), and as an American Kennel Club (AKC) Evaluator.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

EVENTS 15

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

SAT

FRI

4 APR

22 MAY

PO NE D

FRI

3 APR

ST

Rock Salt 4th Anniversary Celebration

PO

SAVE THE DATE APRIL 17, 2020 FREE ENTRYROCK SALT invites you for a special night to celebrate our 4th year anniversary! From 5.30 - 6.30 pm complimentary selected beverage and snacks will be served. Seats are limited in the bar area and strictly on a first come first served basis. For dining, please make a reservation at fbreservation@thenaiharn.com or call +66 7638 0200

Take away and delivery only from 11.30 AM until 10 PM

Take away and delivery only from 11.30 AM until 10 PM

Mussels night @ Shakers

All you can eat BBQ night

1.2kg mussels served with French fries, your choice, your style: natural, marnière, Provençale, garlic and cream or Thai style.

Reservations recommended B295 P/P. shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

6pm – 11pm: Beef, Pork, Chicken, Burgers, Sausages, Prawns and Squid, Salad buffet, Choice of potatoes and sauces, bread, buns and garlic bread. Reservation recommended. B395 P/P. shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

THU PO NE D

Take away and delivery only from 11.30 AM until 10 PM

ST

Phuket Cricket Week 2020

PO

ACST Phuket Cricket Week 2020 at the Alan Cooke Ground, Thalang, Phuket. Featuring the 17th Phuket International Cricket Sixes from Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th and the 9th Thaland International Cricket 7’s from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th April.

Admission is free and refreshments are available. Come and enjoy Fun in the Sun and make Friendships Through Cricket.

FRI

17 APR

La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Phuket Dinner - April 2020

Location - Suay Restaurant, Baan Wana.

For more details - www.facebook.com/ laChainePhuket

@thephuketnews

All you can eat Sunday Roast Buffet

Beef, Pork and Lamb – Cauliflower, Broccoli, Peas, Carrots, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes – Yorkshire pudding – roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes – gravy, mushroom sauce, mint sauce.

Reservations recommended. B350 P/P. shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

MON

20 APR

Take away only

PO NE D

DAILY EVENT UPDATES ON

The 5th annual Phuket Hospitality Challenge 2020 is open for registration. The event brings together the Industry’s top professionals for an enjoyable day of golf and sampling of some of the finest food and beverage anywhere on a golf course. Once again the aim is to raise vital funds for the Children’s First Fund Charity, which looks after orphaned children all over Phuket with education and sustenance. Contact Mark at mark@asean-events.com or Laguna Golf Phuket for further information.

EVERY DAY

ST

PO

ST

PO NE D

** POSTPONED ** The Grow Boating Networking Evening for April 2020 will be held at The Dock A Café, at The Phuket Boat Lagoon Marina on Friday the 3rd of April from 5pm onward. We are very pleased to announce that Sky Marine Group will be the drinks sponsor for the evening. See www.skymarinegroup.com There will be a light buffet sponsored by the Dock A Café and special prices on your favourite beverages. Come and join in the fun, everyone is welcome. There is no entry fee, just drop your business card or register at the bar.

We hope to see you there and if you know anyone you think would be interested in coming please invite them along. To join our mailing list please send an email to growboatingphuket@gmail.com The Grow Boating Networking Evening is organised by the Thai Yachting Business Association.

Find us at www.facebook.com/groups/ GrowBoatingNetworkingEvening/ or our Website www.thaiyachtingbusinessassociation.com/grow-boating-networkingevening Grow Boating is kindly supported by our media partner The Phuket News, Live 89.5 radio and Phuket News TV. See www.thephuketnews.com

9 APR

PO

The Grow Boating Networking Evening - April

SUN

19 APR

The 5th annual Phuket Hospitality Challenge 2020

SIZZLING ANDAMAN PRAWNS

Take away and delivery only from 11.30 AM until 10 PM

All you can eat BBQ Ribs night

6PM – 11PM: All you can eat BBQ Ribs served with salad buffet, potato salad & choice of sauces. Reservation recommended. 295 baht P./P. shakersphuket@gmail.com, 081 891 4381.

Experience the king of the Andaman with the sound of a sizzling hot plate.Bodega & Grill brings you a Sizzling Andaman Prawn platter served with roasted portobello mushroom, rosemary potatoes, cherry tomatoes, lemon garlic sauce and aioli.

Enhance the flavour of your favorite dish with a perfect choice of premium beverage.

THB 1,800++ per set serving for 2 persons Open daily from 06:00 - 10:00 PM For more information please contact: 076-358500 or FBRESERVATION-LAGUNAPHUKET@ ANGSANA.COM

16 TIME OUT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Crossword by Myles Mellor & Sally York 1. Who committed the first murder in the bible?

2. Hollywood actor Gerard Butler was born where?

3. In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, what name is given to the Bengal tiger?

4. What animal represented the Chinese year of 2019?

5. Who is the oldest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history?

Answers below, centre

SUDOKU

Medium

Across 1. Grumpy companion 4. “X-Files” character 8. Hospital unit 11. Promising words 13. Provoke 14. Notes that follow do 15. Country reps 18. Agents making busts 19. Summer tops 20. ___ man 22. Beauty products provider 23. Rumba relative 27. Excite 31. Depleted 32. Dr.’s orders 33. Suffix with “Boston” or “Paris” 36. HQ for the US abroad 40. Colo. clock setting 41. Has ___ with 42. Cleans up, in a way 43. Beauty brand, Elizabeth ____ 44. Wish-granting spirit 45. Soybean extract 48. Wonder 50. In a virtuous manner 53. Five-time All-Star second baseman Chase ___ 57. Spokesperson for Versace, for example 61. Book of the Bible 62. Desktop pictures

25. Convene 26. Small bit used in dentistry or surgery 28. Cookie Monster cohort Down 29. European city that 1. “How ___ this is a musical and happen?” artistic center 2. Norse war god 30. Mil. branch 3. Manilow song 33. ‘’Beauty ___ the setting eye ...’’

4. Life basic 5. It’s the law 34. Goes with 6. Ravel’s “Gaspard Spumanti de la ___” 35. Wall St. letters 7. Segments of a 37. Bug circle 38. Sires 8. “It ain’t over till it’s 39. “Lemon” or over” speaker “orange” ending 9. Drain 43. “____ Lang Syne” 10. Speak to rudely 45. Medieval light 12. Snapper’s 46. Hold the floor selection 47. Clappers 13. The Pointer 49. Coward Sisters’ “___ Excited” 50. Budding 14. Badger entrepreneurs, for 16. Sushi bar short selections 51. Stretched out 17. When doubled, it 52. Pool site, maybe means ‘’quickly’’ 54. Time delay 21. Antonio Banderas, in “Interview With 55. Bart’s teacher Krabappel the Vampire” 56. FYI part 23. ‘’Just the facts, 58. Gaudy scarf __’’ 59. Taylor of fashion 24. Modern mall 60. Alphabet segment features 63. Bearded herd 64. That woman 65. Asian staple 66. Getty Museum pieces

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s Pop Quiz:

1) Cain; 2) Paisley, Scotland; 3) Richard Parker; 4) Pig; 5) Roger Milla, 42 (Cameroon, against Russia in 1994).

GOT YOUR NUMBER

ISLAND VIEW

1

in every 10,000 chickens can change their gender.

8

of the top 10 largest stadiums in the world are university football stadiums in the United States.

20

months is how long the average Brit will spend of their life in a bad mood, reports a recent study of 2,000 people.

276

At home. Photo: Tony Edwards Got an unusual or particularly beautiful picture of Phuket? Email it to execeditor@classactmedia.co.th

is the last recorded population of Pussy, France (taken in 1976).

60 million years is how long ago the earliest relative of the penguin can be traced back to – meaning they survived the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs.

This week in history April 3, 1888 Jack The Ripper: The first of 11 unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London occur.

April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray, a fugitive already on the run.

April 5, 1614 Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe, some seven years after saving him from being beaten to death.

April 6, 1782 King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Sima founds the Chakri dynasty after defeating a rebellion which had deposed King Taksin of Thonburi.

of the second fall of Ayutthaya”, which lasted from 1765 to 1767.

Pocahontas saving John Rolfe’s life.

Painting: US Library of Congress April 7, 1767 End of Burmese–Siamese War, kown colloquially as the “war

April 8, 1924 Sharia courts are abolished in Turkey, as part of Atatürk’s Reforms.

April 9, 2005 Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor’s Guildhall.

Source: Wikipedia thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS 17

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Jobs

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

Class Act Media is southern Thailand’s most comprehensive media company, incorporating Phuket’s leading English weekly newspaper “The Phuket News’’, Russian Language newspaper “Novosti Phuketa’’, the Thai language “Khao Phuket’’, Phuket’s leading English radio station “Live 89.5", “Phuket News TV” and a host of publication & services.

Radio and Television Production Editor Class Act Media is seeking an experienced Audio/Video production editor to join our broadcast media team. Duties include: ● Production of Radio and Television Commercials ● Filming and editing Television Content ● Managing the Radio Playout System The ideal candidate will be highly creative and motivated individual with a strong teamwork abilities. If hired you will join a small team of both Thai and Foreign staff, however this position is for Thai Nationals only.

What We offer: ● Competitive salary ● Five day work week (Monday-Friday from 8:30am to 6:00pm) ● Social Security, of which our company pays 100% of the cost Interested candidates are invited to fill out an application and attach their full resume in English indicating qualifications, experience and expected salary, with a recent photo on: thephuketnews.com/job.php

Class Act Media Co., Ltd.

99/7 Moo 1 T. Kathu A. Kathu Phuket 83120 Tel: 076 612 550 Fax: 076 612 553

NT GE UR Good staff required

(Thai)

Staff required for popular hotel in Patong. We have several positions available. Great starting salary and lots of extras including commissions. Potential to grow and develop with the business. Must speak English. Great career oppurtunity. Tcooper8765@gmail.com

@thephuketnews

GE UR

NT

Admin assistant wanted - Part Time

1. Social Media Officer - No need experience 2. Senior Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 3. Google Adverting 4. Social Media Specialist 5. Real Estate Sales Agent (Based on Kamala Full time) 6. Financial Officer 7. Project Construction Supervisor (Expat) 8. Quantity Surveyor 9. Personal Assistant to CEO and COO 10.

Senior Associate Attorney – Real Estate 11. Marketing 12. Architect HRBluehorizon-thailand, recruitment@bluehorizon-thailand.com, 061 149 3233.

18 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Trades & Services

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

CLEANING SERVICES

CORPORATE SERVICES

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

MARINE SERVICES

MARINE SERVICES

MARINE SERVICES

MARINE SERVICES

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS 19

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Trades

PERSONAL SERVICE

@thephuketnews

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

PERSONAL SERVICE

OTHER

20 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Buy & Sell BOATS, YACHTS FOR RENT 24m Live-aboard sleeps 22 Divers with all extras for diving included Dingy Tanks compressors Now running with Guest Joseph Hue, 48/13 Thai Mueang Phang-Nga, joe@ similan-divers.com, 0878918912.

UR

Investor With 90 million THB of Clean Funding to Invest In Deep Sea Fisheries Project Required

Investor With 90 million THB of Clean Funding to Invest In Deep Sea Fisheries Project Required Project would be eligible for Thailand Board Of Investment approval with 5 year tax breaks. Project calls for the importation / Thai FlaggingRegistration of 2 fully operational Pelagic Tuna & Swordfish Longline Vessels currently operating successfully in the Indian Ocean Fishery. Thailand Domestic & Japan Fresh-Chilled Auction Floor Export Markets targeted. Thai Captains / Australian-NZ Pelagic Longline Fishing Masters-Crew Trainers on each vessel with minimum 50% Thailand National Crew. Writer is Australian National Fishing Vessel Manager / Pelagic Longline Fishing Master / Marine Engine Driver / Crew Trainer who has been catching & exporting sashimi grade fish killed by the Ikijimi method to the Japanese Auction Floor since 1978. Advertiser has previously been employed as Chief Engineer on 1 of the vessels to be purchased & been employed as Captain/Fishing Master on the other Vessel to be purchased. It is time to develop the totally undeveloped Thai Flagged Pelagic Longline Fishery.

Qualified Investors Post Your Confidential Register Of Interest to; Capt. Brad Durkin - PESCADOR SEAWAY Co., Ltd - P.O. BOX 144, Phuket Post Office, Phuket 83000. Capt. Brad Durkin, P.O. BOX 144, Phuket Post Office, Phuket, 83000

UR

CARS, TRUCKS FOR SALE Toyota Corolla Altis

Toyota Corolla Altis 1600cc Just one Lady owner from new. Replacement 1800cc Engine approx 50,000km ago. Air Conditioning. Extra Dark Tinted Windows. Full Leather interior. Drivers Airbag. Power Steering. Remote Central locking. Full Infra Red Alarm. Alloy Wheels with 4-good Pirelli’s. Electric Windows and Mirrors. 4-speed Automatic. Drives Great. Road Tax paid until 25.10.2020.

Priced for fast sale THB 99,000. 99,000, stephentroup@btinternet.com, 0835237092.

Nissan X-Trail SUV 2012

TOP DEAL - XTRAIL 2.0 - Only 49000 km, Automatic gear, leather, Top condition, 2nd owner, electric chairs, 10/2012, petrol motor B549,000, 0867479292, claudstrey@gmail.com

UR

N GE

T

2017 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport

Only done 12,000kms, very clean inside out. 2017 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 2.4GT, just registered and insured to August 2020.

Tinted with electric fronts seats and video screen for back passengers. No dealers!

Baht1.1M, Terry, 063 078 7808

MEMBERSHIPS Golf Memberships

Loch Palms and Phuket Country Club 200,000 baht plus transfer fee each.

Don Morris, discobamboo9309@hotmail.com, 081 597 7442

Family membership

Blue Canyon Country Club for sale B550,000 I will pay the transfer.

Lars 06-5758-2520 or email info@laliinvest.se

PROPERTY WANTED Superlai Park@Downtown Phuket

Wanted : Studio, 1 or 2 bed. Preferably high floor. South facing. Must be attractively priced for quick sale. Tel/SMS 0840541476 e-mail clive@clivetown.com

NT

Super sale!

GE

S NT

AL

E

Superb large Laguna Townhouse

Beautiful and completely renovated villa, new windows, doors, plumbing, air conditioning and much more situated on a large plot of 910 sq. metres in the heart of Laguna in a quite cul-de-sac of just 8 properties and walking distance of 5 minutes to Boat Avenue, Central and all Laguna amenities and superb beaches of Bangtao and Layan. 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, large office/5th bedroom, fully fitted European kitchen, large lounge and dining with high ceilings, pool, relaxation sala , outdoor dining and wonderful gardens. Fabulous example of a Laguna Home and includes free membership of Laguna Golf Club for 2 adults and 2 children and discounts on all F and B and services throughout Laguna Phuket. 23.5 million Baht, ceopaulm@hotmail.com, 0898737075.

Restaurant for sale

T

GE

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Thai food, Sea food restaurant at Karon beach for urgent sale. 1M, George, Karon Beach, georgio spolyno@gmail.com, George 081 088 1451. May 061 891 0243.

EN

@thephuketnews

A used road bicycle for sale: PIN ARELLO DOGMA 2014. Details: - Handle bar (Ritchey Carbon) Size 42 c/c Stem UNO 90 mm - Crankset SHIMANO ULTEGRA MD.6800 50 -34T,170 mm - Front and Rear DERAILLEUR SHIMANO ULTEGRA MD 8000 - Cassette SHIMANO ULTEGRA 11-28 T - Wheels Set S-Fight ALU 33 mm (include tire) -Shifters Lever Set SHIMANO 105 MD 7000 - Caciper F& R SHIMANO ULTEGRA MD 8000 - Pedals LOOK KEO Carbon - Saddle SELLE ITALIA SLR Carbon - Chain SHIMANO ULTEGRA Contact K.Pom, 081-901-8577

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

G UR

The Phuket News

SPORTING GOODS, EXERCISE

Fully equipped Liveaboard 4 sale

BUSINESSES FOR SALE

U

E RG

S NT

AL

E

4 Rai land for sale in Pa Khlok

G UR

SA

LE

Superb sea views Cape Panwa

Unbelievable views over Cape Panwa from every room in this 4 Bed/6 Bath pool villa.

Truly a magnificent large property with superb pool deck and entertaining facilities.

Elevator installed and newly completely renovated. Must be viewed. 63MB, ceopaulm@hotmail.com, 0898737075.

PROPERTY FOR SALE Price Reduced Rawai Pool Villa

Secluded Rawai Pool Villa on 1600 sqm land plot A good opportunity to buy a furnished, well constructed and maintained three bedroom, two bathroom pool villa in large mature gardens in a very quiet, peaceful cul de sac. This private home of 172 sqm sits on a large plot with a Chanote land title. It is within walking distance from a busy main road with numerous restaurants, bars and assorted retail outlets. Enter through the remote controlled front gate up the 70 m long picturesque drive to park in either the double sized covered car port, or double garage, which also has a remote controlled electric door. The teak front door opens into a spacious main living dining area of over 80 sqm. There are marble floors throughout the property.

The master en suite bedroom is 27 sqm, the second bedroom is 15 sqm and the third bedroom is 14sqm. The modern, western style kitchen / utility room of 14sqm has a Hafele oven and extractor hood and Smeg electric/gas hob. The room includes a very large side by side fridge freezer, wine fridge, plus a front loading washer drier. At the front of the villa is a 10m x 4m salt water chlorinated swimming pool with LED lighting. One end of the pool is a Sala with a table and 4 chairs, while at the other end is an outdoor Jacuzzi complete with an ornamental water feature. The properly is conveniently located close to the following locations:- Saiyuan Road 2 minutes, Friendship Beach 5 minutes, Nai Harn Beach 10 minutes, Ya Nui Beach 10 minutes, Central Festival Mall 30 minutes. 21,900,000, Paul, ptd2505@yahoo.co.uk, 0848384607.

Seaview Condo for sale Karon

Beautiful, flat and all services available.

Situated on a side Soi just 400 metres from the main road to Cape Yamu/Ao Po Marina in 7 minutes and Heroines monument in 5 minutes and 10-15 minutes from the airport/Blue Canyon/Laguna/Boat Lagoon and Royal Phuket Marina. An oasis of peace and quiet yet in a superb location. Almost square piece, perfect for large villa and extensive grounds or quality development. ceopaulm@ hotmail.com

Sea View Villa on East Coast

Luxury Condo for sale 300 m. from the beach.

100 sqm., furnished, parking, 4th floor, foreign freehold, 1 bedr. Long-term rent. Claudio, claudstrey@gmail.com, 0867479292

Villa in Patong prime location

Villa in Patong , top condition. Can generate 1.3 MB tourist rental income/y . 3 bed, 3 bath, 160sqm living. Furnished, 12.9 MB o.n.o.. Ms. Manatchanok, 0800409411.

PROPERTY FOR RENT

3,200 sqm land in a gated community, 4 bed, 4 bath, 1 maid room, European kitchen, office, gym, sauna, pool 4.5 x 10m, jacuzzi, laundry room, well water, carport for 3 cars. 39MB, konilion@hotmail.com, 083 633 1910.

2-Bed Furnished Kathu House for Rent

2bd/2bth furnished house for rent in Kathu near Loch Palm Golf Course. See link for more photos and details. www.kathuhouseforrent.com B13,500, May or Wes, wes@pillarmarketing.com, 0899733276

Luxury Bangla Road

Freehold 60 SQM in Absolute Bangla Suites, very quiet. Rooftop swimming pool, bar, restaurant and panoramic view of Patong Bay. Bought 8.5MB, sell at 4.5MB. sfrkata37@gmail.com or 081 894 8446.

Large Detached House

Property for Sale

Ocean View Kata. Fully furnished 1 bedroom condo 44.2.s.q.m. Sea & Sunset views over Kata bay. 3.9MB o.n.o. For details email ianscondo21@gmail.com

PROPERTY FOR SALE T EN

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Beautiful Phuket condo with a view of the islands

Very close to Ao Por Pier and Ao Po Grand Marina. 3 rooms 132 m / 2 with private terrace, 22m pool, 2 bath, aircon, security service, good shopping, private parking and sunrise over the islands every morning. Fully furnished. Direct From Owner at only B5.3M, jensclausen@yahoo.de +66 0804746609 +49 01738742350.

Detached House available April 1st to Oct 31st 2020. 3 en-suite bedrooms. Private Pool. Nice views.

Contact Paul 0937934258 or email pwhittall@aol.com for details. 30000 pcm, PAUL WHITTALL, Phuket Private Lagoon, Moo 6, Chao Faa West Road. Chalong. pwhittall@aol.com, 0937934258

New House for LongTerm Rent

Single house close to shopping mall, quiet area, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, furniture, 3 aircons, parking space, garden, shared pool.Wan, ไทย – English – Deutsch, Chalong, 0989724852

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

SPORT 21

New date for Tokyo Olympics

Prompt action after this summer’s Games were postponed OLYMPICS AFP

T

he Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 next year, organisers said on Monday (Mar 30), after the coronavirus forced the historic decision to postpone the Games until 2021.

“The Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The Paralympics will be held from August 24 to September 5,” Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference.

Only hours earlier, Mori had said he expected a decision from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the course of the week.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were due to open on July 24 this year and run for 16 days, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the first peace-time postponement of the Games.

The IOC and Japan had for weeks insisted the show could go on but the rapid spread of COVID-19 prompted growing disquiet among athletes and sporting federations.

The Olympics was the highestprofile sporting casualty of the coronavirus that has wiped out fixtures worldwide and all but halted professional sport.

@thephuketnews

The Olympics will now be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021 and the Paralympics from August 24 to Sept 5. Photo: AFP

There was some speculation that Japanese organisers could take advantage of the blank canvas to shift the Games to spring, avoiding the heat of the Tokyo summer that had been their main concern before coronavirus struck.

Due to the heat, the marathon has been moved to Sapporo, a city some 800 kilometres to the north of Tokyo where the weather is cooler even at the height of summer.

The postponement has handed organisers the “unprecedented” task of rearranging an event seven years in the making, and Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto has admitted the additional costs will be “massive”.

According to the latest budget, the Games were due to cost US$12.6 billion (B413.1bn), shared between the organising committee, the government of Japan and Tokyo city.

However, that number is hotly

contested with a much-publicised government audit suggesting the central government was spending several times that amount – on items organisers claim are only tangentially related to the Olympics.

‘Mankind’s victory’ The postponement affects every aspect of the organisation – hotels, ticketing, venues and transport being among the major headaches.

Hotels have had to cancel bookings, dealing them a bitter blow at a time when tourism is already being hammered by the coronavirus.

Some venues that had booked events years in advance will potentially have to scrap them to make way for the rescheduled Olympics and there is still uncertainty about whether ticket-holders will get refunded.

Another thorny issue is the athletes’ village, which was due to be converted into luxury apartments after the Games, some of which have already found buyers.

The Japanese government had touted the Games as the “Recovery Olympics”, designed to show how the country had bounced back from the 2011 triple disaster of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in the northeastern Fukushima region.

The Games are now being billed as the expression of humanity’s triumph over the coronavirus.

“We are embarking on an unprecedented challenge,” said Mori.

“But I believe it is the mission of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee to hold the Olympics and Paralympics next year as a proof of mankind’s victory” against the virus.

22 SPORT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

Mercedes F1 join virus fight Collaboration with medical experts to design breathing aids FORMULA ONE AFP

M

edical researchers and engineers have teamed up with Formula One outfit Mercedes to adapt a breathing aid for mass production that could keep coronavirus patients off much-needed ventilators.

University College London said UK regulators had approved its adaptation of the continuous positive airway pressure device (CPAP), which helps patients with breathing difficulties.

A version of the equipment, which increases air and oxygen flow into the lungs, has already been used in hospitals in Italy and China to help COVID-19 patients with serious lung infections.

Teams at UCL and Mercedes have reverse-engineered the device and say they can make them quickly “by the thousands” and provide hospitals across Britain, as pressure builds due to more confirmed cases.

Reports from Italy indicated about 50% of patients given CPAP did not need mechanical ventilation, which requires sedation and a tube placed into

The Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) breathing aid. Photo: AFP

Mercedes engineers behind the latest F1 car have lent their expertise to help combat the coronavirus threat. Photo: AFP the patient’s windpipe, UCL said.

Clinical trials with 100 of the machines are to be carried out at University College London Hospital, it added in a statement last Sunday (Mar 29).

“These devices will help save lives by ensuring that ventilators, a limited resource, are used only for the severely ill,” said UCLH critical care consultant Mervyn Singer.

“While they will be tested at UCLH first, we hope they will make a real difference to hospitals

across the UK by reducing demand on intensive care staff and beds, as well as helping patients recover without the need for more invasive ventilation.”

Britain’s state-run National Health Service currently has some 8,000 ventilators and the government has ordered 8,000 more. But there is concern there will be a shortage as the virus peaks.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has put his government on a war footing, appealing to major manu-

facturers and industry to repurpose their production, including for medical devices.

Tim Baker, from UCL’s mechanical engineering department, said the process took days instead of years and improvements were made to the devices using computer simulations to help mass production.

UK-based Formula One teams and their technology partners have been involved in a variety of schemes to meet medical needs in a partnership called “Project Pitlane”.

With the season suspended due to the outbreak, they say they are well-placed to help because of their engineers’ expertise in rapid design, making prototypes, testing and assembly.

Andy Cowell, managing director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, said: “We have been proud to put our resources at the service of UCL to deliver the CPAP project to the highest standards and in the fastest possible timeframe.”

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon. Photo: AFP

Red Bull official wanted drivers to deliberately catch coronavirus FORMULA ONE R E D BU L L MO T ORsport consultant Helmut Marko has admitted that he wanted the team’s Formula One drivers to deliberately contract coronavirus before the potential start of the new season.

The 76-year-old said his idea was to bring the team’s senior drivers, Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon, together with the junior drivers in a training camp.

“The idea was that we could organise a camp where

we could mentally and physically fill this dead time,” Marko told Austrian television channel ORF. “ T he n of c ou r se it would’ve been ideal for the infection to come.

“They are all young, strong men in good health.

Then you would be prepared for whenever you start, and you would be ready for a very tough world championship.”

Marko admitted that his plan was “not well received”.

The 2020 Formula One season has been thrown into disarray by the coro-

navirus pandemic, which has claimed close to 38,000 lives worldwide.

So far, Grand Prix races scheduled for Bahrain, Vietnam, China, Netherlands and Spain have also been postponed while the iconic Riviera showpiece in Monaco and the season-opening Australian race were cancelled.

F1 chairman Chase Carey last week said he hoped the campaign would start in the summer with a revised calendar of “15-18 races”, down from an original 22.

AFP

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

SPORT 23 English Premier League 2019 - 2020 Table correct as of Friday (Apr 3) Team

The Premier League could be finished behind closed doors. Photo: AFP

Big decisions for Premier League FOOTBALL

Steven Griffiths

E

nglish football’s major stakeholders will meet today (April 3) to discuss their options to rescue a season derailed by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Premier League campaign has been postponed until at least April 30 because of the pandemic, but the chances of a return in May look bleak.

AFP Sport took a closer look at the various scenarios that are likely to be considered in the talks over if and how to finish the season: Go behind closed doors One option is for clubs to converge on a neutral location in which all remaining games are played behind closed doors, with only essential personnel and broad-

@thephuketnews

casters allowed to attend.

There is believed to be growing support among clubs for this plan, with nine rounds of matches potentially in line to be staged in June and July.

Fixtures would reportedly be played in one or two locations in the Midlands and London.

That could mean players and coaches being quarantined away from their families in World Cup-style camps to avoid infection, with stadiums, hotels and training facilities undergoing a deep clean.

A radical upturn in testing for the virus in the United Kingdom over the next two months is the key to this plan for a number of reasons.

Firstly, to ease players’ concer ns of cont racting COVID-19 while playing, but also to avoid criticism of privileged professional

players being tested with mild or no symptoms if that is not available to the general public and in particular frontline workers.

If the curve of cases is not significantly flattened come the summer the optics for the Premier League to have medical officials at non-essential events would also not be good.

Play the waiting game Given the massive impact of the virus on society in general, it is seen in some quarters as morally inappropriate for football to return too soon.

Instead of rushing back to action, waiting until the virus is completely under control before play resumes is the preferred strategy in this scenario.

With the virus reportedly set to peak in the UK in June, that could mean remaining in sporting lockdown until

August or September.

Waiting would allow the current season to be completed in full, ensuring the Premier League does not have to repay an estimated £750 million (B30.2 billion) to television companies for breach of contract.

But it would have a huge knock-on effect for next season, potentially leading to a shortened schedule in 2020-21 in a bid to be ready for the delayed European Championship.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane believes the campaign should be cancelled if it cannot be finished by the end of June.

“Playing into July or August and pushing next season back, I don’t see too much benefit in that,” Kane said.

“Probably the limit for me is the end of June. If the season’s not completed by the

MP W

D

L

F

A GD Pts

1 Liverpool

29 27 1

1 66 21 +45 82

2 Manchester City

28 18 3

7 68 31 +37 57

3 Leicester City

29 16 5

8 58 28 +30 53

4 Chelsea

29 14 6

9 51 39 +12 48

5 Manchester United 29 12 9

8 44 30 +14 45

6 Wolverhampton

29 10 13 6 41 34 +7

43

7 Sheffield United

28 11 10 7 30 25 +5

43

8 Tottenham Hotspur 29 11 8 10 47 40 +7

41

9 Arsenal

28 9 13 6 40 36 +4

40

10 Burnley

29 11 6 12 34 40 -6

39

11 Crystal Palace

29 10 9 10 26 32 -6

39

12 Everton

29 10 7 12 37 46 -9

37

13 Newcastle United

29 9

8 12 25 41 -16

35

14 Southampton

29 10 4 15 35 52 -17

34

15 Brighton

29 6 11 12 32 40 -8

29

16 West Ham United

29 7

6 16 35 50 -15

27

17 Watford

29 6

9 14 27 44 -17

27

18 Bournemouth

29 7

6 16 29 47 -18

27

19 Aston Villa

28 7

4 17 34 56 -22

25

20 Norwich City

29 5

6 18 25 52 -27

21

end of June we need to look at the options and just look forward to next season.”

Cancel the season In what would be the worstcase scenario for the Premier League, some clubs reportedly want to abandon the current season immediately.

Senior figures in English club football believe there is “no place for sport at the moment”, according to a recent report in the Athletic.

FA chairman Greg Clarke reportedly told the Premier League earlier this month he does not believe the season will be completed.

Declaring the season over could trigger legal action from a host of clubs, regardless of whether or not the standings are allowed to count.

Liverpool need only two more wins to confirm their first league title since 1990

and hold a 25-point lead over Manchester City.

Cancelling the season would scupper their hopes of ending a 30-year title drought, unless it was agreed to declare them champions anyway.

Ma nchester Un ited , Wolves, Sheffield United and Tottenham, all currently outside the top four, would surely claim they had been unfairly been denied a chance of Champions League qualification.

Aston Villa would be relegated along with Norwich and Bournemouth, but Dean Smith’s team would point to the game in hand that would lift them above Watford to safety if they won it.

In the Championship, the current top two are Leeds and West Bromwich Albion and they would be furious if a ‘null and void’ ruling robbed them of a lucrative promotion.

Sport

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

editor3@classactmedia.co.th

Tokyo Games set for July 2021 > p21

SPORT RELIEF

Sporting world unites in fight against coronavirus ALL SPORTS The Phuket News editor3@classactmedia.co.th

A

s the novel coronavirus continues to spread in rapid and devastating fashion around the world, a growing number of sport stars and teams have stepped up to lend a helping hand by donating invaluable funds to help communities, hospitals and medical teams in their most urgent hour.

Football megastars including Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, Barcelona captain Lionel Messi and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo each donated €1 million (B35.5mn) to medical facilities and research efforts in Spain and Portugal respectively.

Portuguese star Ronaldo and his agent Jorge Mendes also jointly donated life-saving equipment to hospitals in Lisbon and Porto.

Tottenham Hotspur striker and

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

South Korea captain Son Heung-Min donated 100mn won (B2.7mn) to a non-profit organisation in his home country to “prevent COVID-19 infection.”

Superstar of the tennis court Roger Federer and his wife Mirka donated one million Swiss francs (B34mn) “for the most vulnerable families” in their homeland of Switzerland.

Meanwhile, UFC superstar Conor McGregor spent €1mn (B36mn) on protective equipment for hospital staff treating coronavirus patients in Ireland.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has teamed up with charity FareShare to help children in the Manchester area to ensure the youngsters continue to be served by food programs now that schools have been closed.

“We have got to the £100,000 (B4mn) mark, which means we get to feed 400,000 children so it’s been very positive,” he commented.

‘Most vulnerable people’ Several teams are also joining the fight, either via direct donations or by implementing voluntary pay cuts to safeguard non-playing staff.

AC Milan announced it would donate €250,000 (B9mn) to relief efforts tackling the virus. Fans of fellow Serie A team Atalanta announced that they would be making a donation of €40,000 (B1.4mn) to the Hospital of Bergamo in Northern Italy.

In the US, Augusta National Golf Club has committed US$2mn (B66mn) to help fight the pandemic in its region, with $1mn going to Augusta University for immediate expansion of coronavirus testing and $1mn to the emergency response fund for relief efforts to the area’s most vulnerable people.

In Pakistan, former cricket captain Shahid Afridi and his charity are distributing food supplies, disinfectant soap and other essentials to groups who need them.

Bangladeshi cricketers have also said they contributed half of their monthly salaries – a combined total of approximately $30,000 (B985,000) – to fund the fight against coronavirus.

Pay cuts Numerous teams have confirmed players will take pay cuts to ensure non-playing employees are paid in full during the state of alarm.

Barcelona’s players will take a 70% pay cut and other Spanish clubs are expected to follow suit in applying temporary cuts, as football’s hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic leaves a number of them fighting for financial survival.

In Italy, champions Juventus also cut their players’ and coach Maurizio Sarri’s salaries from March until June after all Italian sport was suspended. “The economic and financial effects of the understanding reached are positive for about €90mn (B3.25 billion) for the 2019/2020 financial year,” the

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi confirmed players will take a pay cut. Photo: AFP

club said in a statement.

In Germany, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and R B Leipzig have pledged €20mn (B716mn) to help Bundesliga rivals facing financial difficulty during the crisis.

NBA teams Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers and San Antonio Spurs are among many in agreeing to compensate hourly workers and stadium staff during the season’s hiatus.

The Golden State Warriors also pledged to donate US$1mn (B33mn) to a disaster relief fund.

Teams in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have also made similar gestures.

English Premier League football teams Brighton and Bournemouth became the first clubs to sign up to a campaign to make 100,000 free football tickets available to UK medical workers on the front line during the COVID-19 outbreak.

New dates set for Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon MARATHON

T H E WOR LDW I DE spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a broad impact on our daily lives. Health and safety are now of utmost importance during these turbulent times.

Virus containment and public health are the number one priority right now.

As a result, the announcement has been made to postpone the Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon from its scheduled date of June 13-14 at Laguna Phuket until later in the year when it is hoped

The announcement of the Supersports L aguna Phuket Marathon. Photo: Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon Facebook page. the virus has been contained.

“Together with our government, partners, and sponsors, we have made the decision to postpone the Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon to 5-6 December, 2020,” the organisers said in a Facebook post on Mar 26.

“We understand that this will be disappointing for so many runners who have been

looking forward to the event,” the post continued.

“There will be many questions from runners that we will try our best to answer in the coming days and weeks.

Please bear with us if we are unable to respond to everyone immediately.”

One of the first questions participants will no doubt ask surrounds entry fees.

“We can assure that all entries received for the original date remain valid and will automatically be transferred to the new date,” the organisers stated in the post. “No action is required on this.”

“Should runners be unable to participate in the event on the new date we will offer a transfer of entry to the following year or the option of transferring the entry to another person. This option will require a standardised online process which we will determine and set up in the coming days. An announcement of the exact procedure will be made in due course.”

With over 80% of runners coming from outside of Phuket and 20% travelling from overseas, the Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon is a leading destination marathon in Southeast Asia and an important event for Phuket island.

Contributing B291.58 million in 2019 alone, the event drives domestic and international travel to the island with visitors spending in the local economy on accommodation, food and beverage, and more.

With a strong family focus, the event has become a fun vacation for many and participants spend time enjoying the island and its attractions both

before and after the event.

Given the current situation with coronavirus, however, there was little choice but to postpone the occasion.

“In order for us to effectively manage participant enquiries, please contact us by email info1@phuketmarathon. com as the exclusive channel of communication,” the organisers added in the social media post.

“We thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this crisis situation and hope that the running community will unite in solidarity during this difficult time,” it concluded. The Phuket News thephuketnews