24-02-2017

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

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BANGED UP ABROAD

NEWS

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Police hunt man for setting ex-wife on fire

LIFE

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Deena vies for Miss England

Russian tourist Olga Smirnova (left), 53, arrested for feeding fish at Koh Racha Yai, was released after a ‘friend’ posted B100,000 bail for her. Photo: DMCR

RUSSIAN WOMAN LOCKED UP IN POLICE HOLDING CELLS OVER B100K ‘BAIL’ RANSOM FOR FEEDING FISH AT RACHA Premkamon Ketsara thaiassist@classactmedia.co.th

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53-year-old Russian woman this week spent two nights in police lockup after she was caught feeding bread to fish at Racha Yai Island, south of Phuket, last Sunday (Feb 17).

The tourist, Olga Smirnova, was released by Phuket Provincial Court on Tuesday (Feb 21) after a “friend” arrived and posted the required

B100,000 bail for her.

Lt Sakkarin Sangjaroen of the Chalong Police explained that Ms Smirnova was unable to pay the B100,000 bail – as set by the police.

“She didn’t have enough money, so we had to keep her at Chalong Police Station for two nights until we handed her to the Phuket Provincial Court on Feb 21,” he said.

A confused Ms Smirnova was taken into custody on Koh Racha Yai last Sunday for the heinous act

of feeding bread to fish close to a coral reef, then taken to Chalong Police Station to be charged. Unable to post bail, she was incarcerated in the police cells at 7:30pm.

Ms Smirnova was presented to Phuket Provincial Court at 3pm on Tuesday, when Ms Ratree Raksaart, who nominated herself to the court as a “friend” of Ms Smirnova, arrived with Tourist Police and posted bail on the Russian woman’s behalf.

However, Lt Sakkarin confirmed

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

@thephuketnews

on Wednesday, “Ms Smirnova is not permitted to leave the country while waiting for her trial to begin… She must report herself to the court on March 6.”

Sirawee Waloh, Director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Phuket office, told The Phuket News on Wednesday that she was unaware of Ms Smirnova’s predicament.

“But I will look into it,” she said.

However, Ms Sirawee’s focus will not be on the high amount of bail...

SPORT

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Bay Regatta races to picture perfect finish

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Tourists injured as airport taxi driver falls asleep at the wheel > page 4

Cargo boat sinks

5,000 litres of fuel recovered from the sea Eakkapop Thongtub editor@classactmedia.co.th

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The tour speedboat (left) started taking on water after it rammed a submerged mooring block off Koh Siray, east Phuket. Photo: Thanphon Phongphetwiset

Tourists rescued as boat slams mooring A TOTAL OF 44 ITALIAN and French passengers departing Phuket were rescued from a sinking speedboat after the boat slammed into a concrete mooring block 500 metres from shore off Koh Siray last Friday morning (Feb 17).

The tourists boarded the boat, the Al Ja Sira 1002, at Leam Pub Pa, a pier at the sea gypsy village nearby, at about 10am.

Boat captain Thawit Lakkoh told Phuket Marine Office officials that he did not see the mooring block, even though

it was marked with a buoy.

“I tried to drive the boat carefully but the boat hit the mooring very hard. Water started coming into the boat.

Luckily, it started sinking only 500 metres from shore,” he said.

Another boat, the Anurak 9, rendered assistance in getting the tourists safely back to shore.

Surat Sirisaiyat, Chief of Marine Office Region 5 in Phuket, ordered officials to begin salvage operations.

Eakkapop Thongtub

cargo boat carrying 5,000 litres of diesel and food sank off Koh Kheaw (Green Island) last Thursday (Feb 16). All people on board were rescued and no injuries were reported.

“The boat was heading to a hotel on Phi Phi Island and sunk at around 3pm,” said Lt Col Prasert Srikhunnarat from the Phuket Marine Police after questioning 35-year-old Phang Nga native Thanee Martchay, who is the captain of the stricken boat, the Chocksutthida 2, and his Burmese crewman named only as “Mr Tone”, who were on board the vessel when it sank.

“The boat was carrying fresh and dried food and 28 tanks of diesel totalling 5,000 litres,” Col Prasert added.

“Luckily the Pichamon 2009 tour boat was nearby and went to assist when they saw the boat in trouble. All of the containers with diesel inside were removed from the

‘Chocksutthida 2’ cargo boat captain Thanee Martchey and Burmese crewman ‘Mr Tone’ are questioned by police. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub water and onto the rescuing boat before Mr Thanee and Mr Tone were brought back to shore,” he said.

Mr Thanee said, “I took off from Jearawanit Pier in Rassada and was heading to Phi Phi Island. A big wave about two to three metres

high hit the front of the boat, which already had a crack, and the crack became bigger and started to let in water.

“I could not control the boat so I decided to call my boss to inform him what had happened, I also contacted a friend who was nearby to see

if they could come and help us,” he said.

“My crew and I were wearing lifeguard jackets and after the ship sank we were in the sea. A passing boat, Pichamon 2009, came and rescued us and helped pull the diesel containers from the sea,” he added.

Portuguese man hospitalised by wall collapse Bail, law leveraged

for legal ransom

Continued from page 1 ...set for what seems to be an individual petty offence.

“Being a tour guide is an occupation reserved for Thais only. Apparently the tour guide in this case was a Russian national,” she said.

The forced detention of Mrs Smirnova and her required extended stay in the country comes as Australian tourist Thomas Keating remains forced to stay for a court hearing for a charge that he has already entered a plea of guilty for. (See page 3).

Also, the B100,000 cash bail matches the fine levied on 35-year-old Chinese tourist Huang Yongjia, who three weeks ago was caught catching baby parrotfish in a water bottle as he sat by a rock pool only metres away from a main tour group at Koh Racha Yai. The tour guide – and tour

Officials have yet to reveal any charges against Mrs Smirnova’s tour guide or the tour company. company – in Mr Huang’s case suffered no punishment despite officials only days earlier posting signs at Koh Racha’s three main bays warning tour guides and tourists of the consequences of breaking any environmental protection rules laid out that same week.

The warnings stated that any person found breaking the regulations would face legal action and be punished with not more than one year in jail or a maximum fine of B100,000, or both.

A 56-YEAR-OLD PORTUguese man sustained an injury to his leg last Sunday (Feb 19) when a concrete partition wall in his property collapsed on top of him.

Police believe poor building standards are what caused the wall to collapse.

Chalong Police were informed at 7:17pm that a wall in a house near the Rawai Health Promoting Hospital had collapsed leaving a foreign man injured.

Police arrived at the scene, a house in Moo 2, Rawai, together with Rawai rescue workers to find a concrete partition about 3.5 metres tall collapsed on the floor.

Nearby was 56-year-old Mr Abel Eduardo from Portugal with a large gash on his right shin and scratches to his head.

Mr Eduardo was taken to Dibuk Hospital for treatment for his injuries.

From their initial investigation, police believe that poor

Police said the wall collapsed because it was poorly built.

Photo: Rawai Resue Foundation

building standards are what caused the wall to collapse, however, they will investigate

further to find if this is the true cause.

Eakkapop Thongtub

Tourists flee as power cables catch fire POWER CABLES ABLAze overhead on a busy road in Kata sent tourists scurrying for cover last Sunday evening (Feb 19).

The fire broke out on the small road linking Kata Beach with Kata Noi Beach at about 6:30pm.

As the fire started to spread along the cables over the street, some people at-

tempted to douse the flames with small fire extinguishers, but to no avail.

Karon Police soon arrived and blocked the road and firefighters from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Karon office also soon arrived.

While firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire, a small transformer over the

road exploded, showering sparks down onto the road.

Firefighters took about 20 minutes to bring the fire under control.

There was no injures reported from the incident.

At last report Karon Police said they were still investigating the cause of the fire.

Eakkapop Thongtub

The power cables on fire sent tourists running for their safety. Photo: Sulaiman Yomdee thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Police hunt man for setting ex-wife on fire Eakkapop Thongtub editor@classactmedia.co.th

P

olice are hunting the ex-husband of a kindergarten cleaner who he set on fire in a jealously -fuelled attack on Monday (Feb 20).

Rungruedee Sithibut, a 43-year-old cleaner at Thepkrasattri Municipality Kindergarten in Thalang, suffered burns to her left arm, left shoulder and back. She was taken to Thalang Hospital after the attack at about midday.

Capt Kraisorn Boonprasop of the Thalang Police said police were hunting for Somkuan Jongsuk, 50.

“Mr Somkuan came to Thepkrasattri Municipality Kindergarten to meet with Ms Rungruedee at about noon,” Capt Kraisorn said.

“Ms Rungr uedee was working when Mr Somkuan turned up on a motorbike. He shouted for her before he went inside the building. He poured fuel on her from a glass bottle and lit her on fire.

“Ms Rungruedee ran into the teachers’ room and doused

Somkuan Jongsuk, 50, is wanted for setting his exwife Rungruedee Sithibut on fire. Photos: Thalang Police herself with water from the bathroom, but Mr Somkuan followed her.

“There were five teachers inside the room, but they were too frightened of Mr Somkuan to restrain him. Instead, they called the police and after Mr Somkuan left they helped Ms Rungruedee,” Capt Kraisorn said.

“Luckily all children had already gone home at that time,” Capt Kraisorn added.

Ms Rungruedee and Somkuan have a history of violent arguments, Capt Kraisorn noted.

“They have had serious arguments before, and some of those argument have even ended up at the police station,” he said.

“Her ex-husband is still jealous even though they broke up a year ago, but she still helps him from time to time.

Not long ago Somkuan was

Aussie tourist Keating pleas guilty to jet-ski crash charge AUSTR ALIAN TOURist Thomas Keating attended Phuket Provincial Court last Friday (Feb 17) to acknowledge his charge of reckless driving causing death for the jet-ski accident that killed his girlfriend of two years, Emily Collie.

Howe ve r, it wo u ld still be a further four or five days until the court reaches its verdict on the case, Karon Police told The Phuket News.

On Feb 9, Mr Keating accepted a plea of guilty to the charge of reckless driving causing death for the jet-ski accident in a move that police said would expedite proceedings against him.

Mr Keating was formally charged at Karon Police Station on Feb 9 with strong support from his family as well as from the family of Ms Collie.

Speaking to The Phuket News on Monday (Feb 20), Maj Patiwat Yodkwan of the Karon Police confirmed that @thephuketnews

Mr Keating (right) arrives at Karon Police Station on Feb 9. Photo: Premkamon Ketsara Mr Keating had presented himself in court on Friday (Feb 17) and acknowledged the charge of reckless driving causing death made against him.

“It will still take a further four or five days for the court to reach a decision in

this case against Mr Keating as judges still have to examine all documents and evidence relating to the case,” Maj Patiwat said.

“During this time Mr Keating still cannot leave the country,” he added.

Yutthawat Lekmak

arrested for physical abuse while being drunk, and she bailed him out,” he said.

“Ms Rungruedee has not filed any formal complaint as she is still in hospital, but because of the nature of this attack police must take action,” Capt Kraisorn said.

“Police are now tracking down Somkuan to face legal action. He is a Phuket native and we believe he is still on the island,” he added.

PHUKET NEWS

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NACC orders probe into Phuket corruption NAT IONA L A N T ICorruption Commission (NACC) Secretary-General Sansern Poljeak has ordered the NACC Phuket office to investigate eight areas of alleged corruption as identified by Phuket Governor Chockchai Dejamornthan.

Governor Chockchai last Tuesday (Feb 14) called an emergency meeting of top police, law enforcement officials and department heads on the island to order them to investigate a slew of corruption allegations against officials, mostly branches of the Royal Thai Police, and to report to him by last Friday (Feb 17).

At the meeting Gov Chockchai identified eight key areas to be investigated for corruption, as alleged by the National Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand.

The reports due last Friday have yet to be made public.

“You do not have to wait to receive complaints from people to launch investigations. This is your job,” Mr Sansern told national news web portal Spring News.

NACC Secretary-General Sansern Poljeak ordered the NACC Phuket office to investigate eight areas of alleged corruption.

“If your initial investigations find any evidence of corruption or wrong doing, you can launch a formal inquiry yourself,” he added.

Mr Sansern said the public can report corruption or file specific complaints by calling the NACC hotline 1205 or by informing the NACC Phuket office directly.

The NACC Phuket office is located at Phuket Provincial Hall.

Tel: 076-680054-55 Fax: 076-210405 Email: area55_nac@nacc. go.th Website: NACC_Phuket Facebook: phuket.anticorruption The Phuket News

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

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Police seized 1,398 meth pills in the one arrest.

Police nab meth mule POLICE CONDUCTING a random check seized 1,398 methamphetamine (ya bah) pills from a man arriving heading onto the island on a bus from Su-ngai Kolok, on the Malaysian border in Narathiwat, last Friday (Feb 17).

The haul was netted at the Tha Chatchai Checkpoint, at the northern tip of the island, at 7:30pm.

“Officials randomly check buses and vehicles entering Phuket,” said Lt Col Thawat Tansakun of the Tha Chatchai Police.

“We found one passenger, Rpeesee Ya, 26, acting suspiciously, so called him off the bus for questioning and searched his belongings,” he added.

Rpeesee, was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug with intent to sell, Col Thawat confirmed.

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How’s your syphilis?

Mandatory tests needed for work permits still needs to be controlled.

Syphilis is a contagious disease.

Foreigners found to be infected with syphilis will be denied a work permit until they can present a medical certificate confirming they are no longer infected with the disease.

– Kattiya Pandech, Chief, Phuket Labour Office.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

QUESTION

I have lived in Phuket since 2006 and worked for a major hotel before setting up my own company at the end of 2007. From then on, I have extended my visa and work permit every year.

Each year among the required papers needed for a work permit is a medical certificate, which includes the results of a fresh blood test to confirm whether I have syphilis. I am running a hotel, not a brothel, and my friend who runs a building company also has to provide the same.

I called the Labour Office but nobody could tell me why this is required, or what was the relationship between a work permit and syphilis. I tried to find an answer on the internet, but all I found was a post by a lawyer saying that this is

Syphilis may be hard to get rid of, but getting the syphilis test off the work permit requirements may prove impossible. required in some provinces, but not others.

I honestly find it denigrating to have to go to see a doctor and ask for that type of certificate. In my opinion it would be more interesting to test all those guys sitting in the karaoke bars every night while their wives are waiting at home, as some of them might bring that disease home.

If they asked about HIV you could understand, or if you were applying for the first time, I could understand. I think officials in New Zealand and

Australia require a HIV test when applying to live and work there, but syphilis? Do officials in Thailand think foreigners are jumping on everyone and everything?

I am sure many foreigners have the same question and feeling.

– ED, Bang Tao

ANSWER

The syphilis test is required by law. This disease was found among foreigners in the past.

It is still required by law to get a work permit as this disease

Syphilis tests for work permits have been required by law for a long time, even though syphilis is now not seen much in Thailand, or in Phuket. Medical services here are much better than in the past.

I have no idea why specifically syphilis tests are required for work permits. It is ministerial decision, not mine We do keep records of people found to be infected with syphilis, but we will not reveal private information to the public. There are not many anyway.

– Dr Jirapan Teapan, Chief, Phuket Public Health Office.

Tourists injured as taxi Brit in hospital after deadly crash driver asleep at wheel A 32-YEAR-OLD BRITish man is in hospital and may yet face charges for a fatal collision that killed a 67-year-old Thai man in Nai Yang on Monday (Feb 20).

Capt Kraisorn Boonprasop of the Thalang Police was notified of the accident, at the Phru Somphan five-way intersection on the Mooddok Khwaw-Nai Yang Rd, at 6:30pm.

Kusoldharm rescue workers arrived at the scene to find a badly damaged black Honda Wave and a red-plate Yamaha big bike with its front also badly damaged.

Nearby was a foreign man, later named by police as Adam Howard, with scratches all over his body and an elderly Thai man, named by police as 67-yearold Chawalet Srita, who had sustained multiple injuries.

Both men were taken to Thalang Hospital where

The red-plate Yamaha big bike was being ridden by 32-year-old Brit Adam Howard.

Mr Chawalet was later pronounced dead.

A resident who saw the incident told police that the Thai man driving the Honda motorbike came out from a small soi when the big bike, which was heading from Nai Yang towards Thepkrasattri Rd, came at high speed and hit the Honda from behind.

“We are still making investigations into this ac-

cident,” said Capt Kraisorn.

“I have to press any charges as the accident is still under investigation,” he told The Phuket News on Wednesday (Feb 22).

Meanwhile, Mr Howard is recovering at Vachira Phuket Hospital, he added.

“He has soft splints on both arms,” Capt Kraisorn said.

Eakkapop Thongtub

THE DR IVER OF A Phuket taxi and his two Chinese passengers were injured on Monday (Feb 20) when he fell asleep at the wheel causing him to crash into the pillar of a footbridge on Thepkrasattri Rd. Lt Sunan Petchnoo of the Thalang Police was informed at 4am of an accident in front of Muang Thalang School on Thepkrasattri Rd northbound.

Police arrived at the scene with Kusoldharm rescue workers to find a gold-coloured “green-plate” (commercial passenger vehicle) Toyota Altis taxi crashed into the base of a footbridge pillar.

Three injured people were still at the scene when police arrived, they were named as taxi driver Theerapol Seewan, 31, from Prachinburi, and his two passengers, Chinese tourists Ruan Huiqiang, 22, who had suffered injures to his chest, and Ying Leyan,

The driver of the taxi fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle, causing him to crash into the footbridge pillar.

22, who suffered injuries to her head.

All three were taken to Thalang Hospital to receive medical treatment.

Mr Theerapol later told police that he was taking the two tourists from Patong to Phuket International Airport.

“I fell asleep at the wheel, lost control of the vehicle and hit the pillar,” he said.

Police have confirmed that Mr Theerapol has been charged with reckless driving causing injury.

Eakkapop Thongtub thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Red light districts

PHUKET NEWS

5

Traffic cameras to catch violators red-handed

The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

R

ed light cameras at five of the island’s main traffic junctions were put into operation last week to catch drivers who break traffic laws.

Governor Chockchai Dejamornthan together with the commander of the Phuket Provincial Police Maj Gen Teeraphol Thipjaroen and Vice President of the Phuket branch of the Thai Road Safety Network Mr Wiwat Sritamanot announced the new cameras, provided by the Safer Roads Foundation, at press conference at Phuket City Police Station last Wednesday (Feb 16).

“We want drivers to change their driving habits and reduce the amount of drivers who break traffic laws. This is especially the case when it comes to motorcycle riders not wearing helmets. We want to make Phuket 100% helmet wearing,” Gov Chockchai said.

“Moreover, the new red light cameras will also be part of our Phuket Smart City campaign. In six months, we will

Left: The hole left in the noodle shop ceiling. Right: Bernhard Schartl recovering in Hospital. Photos: Patong / Tourist Police

German tourist falls eight stories from Patong hotel roof The cameras can read licence plates and trigger automatic fines. Images: PR Dept also have technology which will allow us to check vehicle licence plates and driver’s faces as they pass through the Phuket Checkpoint.

“We are also to receive a budget of B131 million to help us expand Phuket Checkpoint to eight lanes and this will be finished in October,” he added.

Gen Teerapol noted, “Between 1997-2007 there were approximately 200 people dying on Phuket’s roads per year, and the number of road injuries was 4,952.55 per

100,000 of the population.

“Between 2008-2015 the number of deaths was reduced to around 100 per year,” he said.

“Running red lights is the main cause of accidents, but unfortunately there are not enough police officers to catch all of the law breakers so we want to reduce accidents by using these red light cameras we received from the Safer Road Foundation,” he added.

The junctions where the red light cameras have been

Man shot in head in Phuket Town POLICE ARE TRYING to track down the assailant who shot a man in the head in a quiet street in Phuket Town early Wednesday morning (Feb 22).

The bullet entered the victim’s right temple and exited his left temple. The victim, who remained unidentified as of Wednesday, was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital, but hospital staff declined to confirm whether or not the man was still alive.

Police were alerted to the shooting, in Soi Tummasopa, off Phuket Rd in the heart of Phuket Town, at 3:39am, said Capt Ronnaphum Permpoon of the Phuket City Police.

Officers arrived at the scene with Kusoldharm rescue workers to find the man on the ground with blood flowing from his head wounds.

Rescue workers confirmed that the man still had a pulse and his breathing was audible when he was taken hospital.

“We have yet to be notified by the hospital of any change in the man’s condi@thephuketnews

Police question local residents about the shooting in the quiet Soi Tummasopa area in the heart of Phuket Town. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub tion,” Capt Ronnaphum told The Phuket News on Wednesday.

“We didn’t find any identification card on him. The man is 170-175cm tall and about 25-30 years old,” he said.

Under the seat of a black Honda motorbike found nearby was a document from a motorbike shop issued to a Khajornsak Saeuang, resident of Soi Talingchan in Phuket Town.

“However, we are yet to confirm that this is the victim,” Capt Ronnaphum said.

“Police didn’t find any cartridges or bullet casings in the area,” he added.

“We believe that the man might have argued with someone and later drove the motorbike here, and his assailant – or assailants – followed him. Unable to resolve their conflict, the suspects shot him and ran away,” he said.

“Police are continuing their investigating and searching for the suspects to bring them to justice,” he said.

Eakkapop Thongtub

installed are: • the intersection of Chao Fa West Rd and Kwang Rd in Wichit.

• the intersection near the Caltex petrol Station in Kathu.

• the main traffic lights intersection in Kamala.

• the Komaraphat Intersection (Komaraphat Rd and Thepkrasattri Rd) in Phuket Town.

• the intersection of Route 4015 and Route 3028 on Thepkrasattri Rd, south of Tesco Thalang, in Srisoonthorn.

POLICE ARE INVESTIgating a German tourist falling eight stories from the roof of the small hotel where he was staying in Patong on Monday evening (Feb 20), sustaining serious injuries as he slammed into a noodle stall below.

Staff at the Orchid Resortel in Soi Sansabai reported the incident to police at 5:35pm.

Police arrived at the scene with Kusoldhar m rescue workers to find German national Bernhard Schartl, 53, on the floor inside the noodle shop. Above him was the hole in the ceiling he had just plunged through.

Mr Schartl was conscious

and talking with emergency responders at the scene.

“He suffered some serious injuries, including a broken arm,” said Lt Col Weeraphong Rakhito of the Patong Police.

Mr Schartl was taken to Patong Hospital for treatment.

“Staff at the hotel told police that Mr Schartl liked to drink alcohol and got drunk every day. He was staying at the hotel with his Thai girlfriend,” Col Weeraphong said.

“Our investigations lead us to believe that Mr Schartl fell from the roof, which is eight stories high. However, we are continuing our investigation,” he said.

Eakkapop Thongtub

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PHUKET NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Driver, 26, faces charges for Krabi horror wipeout The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

The man died while snorkelling in front of a resort at Natai Beach in Phang Nga province. Photo: Mark Lehmkuhler/Flickr

Chinese tourist, 35, dies while snorkelling A 35-YEAR-OLD MALE Chinese tourist died last Sunday (Feb 19) while he was snorkelling off Natai Beach in Phang Nga, north of Phuket.

Maj Sutthiphong Rodsong of the Khok Kloi Police was informed at 2pm that a Chinese tourist had been found floating in the sea in front of a resort at Natai Beach.

Police arrived at the scene with a doctor from Takua Thung Hospital to find an unresponsive Chinese man lying on the beach. The man, later identified as Xi Li from Shanghai, was wearing a dive suit and a snorkel was nearby.

A member of the hotel’s security told police that he

had seen Mr Xi snorkelling alone about 50 metres from the beach.

“I was watching him snorkel when all of a sudden he went out of sight. Myself and other hotel staff managed to find him and he still had the snorkel in his mouth. We brought him back to shore but he wasn’t breathing,” he said.

“We tried to help him and administered first aid but it didn’t help so I informed the police,” he added.

A doctor f rom Tak ua Thong Hospital confirmed that there were no signs of assault on Mr Xi’s body and that the man had died from drowning.

Eakkapop Thongtub

T

he 26-year-old driver of the truck that wiped out a Toyota Fortuner south of Krabi International Airport last Wednesday (Feb 15), killing mother and daughter French tourists, will face charges of reckless driving causing death, say police.

The accident, on Phetkasem Rd in Nuea Khlong district, south of Krabi Town, happened at about 12:45pm, when the 10-wheeled truck tipped onto its side while rounding a bend.

The tr uck slid across the central reservation and slammed into the SUV, which was carrying the French tourists from Koh Lanta to Krabi Airport.

The force of the impact threw two of the French tourists onto the road. The driver of the truck, Boonlit Sangsaen, was also thrown clear of the cab of the truck.

“Right now, Mr Boonlit is in Krabi Hospital,” Lt Col Piroat Chanachai of the Nuea

Boonlit Bangkwan, the 26-year-old driver of the truck, will be charged with reckless driving causing death, said police. Photo: Krabi Pitak Pracha Rescue Foundation Khlong Police told The Phuket News last Thursday (Feb 16).

“I don’t know details of his condition, we have to wait for the hospital for that – but he will be charged with reckless driving causing death and injury, and damage to other people’s property,” he said.

Col Piroat confirmed that Betrice Brigitte Bureau, 55, and her daughter Victoria,

18, died as a result of their injuries from the collision.

“Mr Alain Nicoles Bureau, 52, suffered minor injuries, hospital staff confirmed,” he added.

“But Julien Remy Viallet, 18, suffered much more serious injuries. He has undergone surgery at Krabi Hospital for bleeding on the brain and he suffered extensive facial

injuries,” Col Piroat said.

Thanat Bangkwan, the 40-year-old driver of the SUV the French family was travelling in, was dead at the scene, he added.

“The French consulate has contacted me about this case already,” Col Piroat said.

“I am sorry, I can’t explain much more information than this,” he added.

Break-ins plague Rawai residents

A N EX PAT I N R AWA I is appealing to the public for help in apprehending a thief who broke into his home and stole B3,000 while his wife and 6-month-old baby were still sleeping in the bedroom.

The expat, who asked to be identified only as Felix, reported the break-in to the police, who he says have yet to make any progress in the case.

Felix was still sitting at the computer late when the thief broke into the home in Soi Sylvia, in Samakee 2, Rawai, at about 2am, last Wednesday (Feb 15).

“Of course, I’m very concerned about my family’s safety now,” he told The Phuket News.

“In the five years that I have lived here there has not been one single incident in the whole neighbourhood, and now in a few months there have been multiple incidents,” he said.

“Two months ago the police arrested somebody who stole a wheel from one of our motorbikes parked outside, so I feel like there is something going on that needs to get brought to attention,” he added.

The break-in was caught

The motion-activated CCTV caught the thief breaking into the home. Image: Screengrab on CCTV at the home, which is activated and records by motion detection. The footage shows a young man wearing a white T-shirt and wearing glasses pulling up outside the home on a motorbike and entering the home by climbing over the gate.

“In the house were my two dogs. The dogs heard him pretty soon and started barking, so he escaped soon after. Basically it’s safe to say the dogs saved us,” Felix said.

“When I ran outside he was just escaping with his motorbike, which was a red Honda Click,” he added.

“It shouldn’t be too hard to find the guy who made that tattoo as there are only so many tattoo shops on the island - it seems very unique,” Felix told The Phuket News.

“In the footage you can

see that the guy knew exactly where he wanted to go. All we know is that the break-in was targeted,” he added.

Chalong Police Chief Col Chukiet Imjaitham played down the incident, saying crime in his area was decreasing, while at the same saying that Chalong Police Station receives break-in reports every Tuesday.

Also, in response to crime apparently decreasing, he added, “We have patrols in Chalong and Rawai 24 hours a day, and patrol officers can be at the scene in five minutes.”

Col Chukiet urged people to report crimes by calling the national police hotline 191 or Chalong Police Station directly. However, he was unable to recite the station’s number. It is 076-381930.

“If the Chalong Police Station line is not answered, the line will be automatically transferred to Phuket Provincial Police, who will contact Chalong Police directly by radio,” he said.

Readers who believe they have any information that may help Felix identify or apprehend the thief are urged to email butter_cookie_4ever@ hotmail.com The Phuket News thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Walking the walk

PHUKET NEWS

7

Officials take strides to help aged, disabled

The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

P

huket is pushing forward with a “Friendly Design City” project aimed at improving the lives of the disabled and elderly by making the island’s facilities more disabled and elderly friendly.

The Friendly Design City project was discussed during a meeting held on Feb 14 with Phuket Vice Governor Siwaporn Chuasawad, Phuket Social Development and Human Security Office representatives Mrs Pimporn Khorsantiwichai and Mr Sunit Sukjem, President of the Phuket Association of the Physically Handicapped Mr Phinyo Udom, and Friendly Design Ambassador Mr Thanatch Upattisaring.

V/Gov Siwaporn said, “It is necessary to improve all the island’s facilities to make them more disabled and elderly friendly. By doing so we will also attract more disabled and elderly tourists to the island.

“Some government offices already meet a certain standard for disabled person and have

The road will take two months and a budget of B1.3mn to fix. Photo: Rawai Municipality

Bridge collapses at popular Naiharn lake The yellow Braille block paths, also called ‘tactile paving’, will help the visually impaired safely navigate their way through the sights of Phuket Town. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot wheelchair access, disabled toilets and Braille blocks used on footpaths (‘tactile paving”).

“We also already award certificates to places that reach a certain standard when it comes to being disabled friendly and we want more places to reach this standard including more government offices.

“The Friendly Design City will be useful to support the health and quality of life of the island’s elderly and disabled,

also elderly and disabled tourists who visit Phuket now and in the future.

“Moreover, the Friendly Design City will also help to improve the lives of those who are pregnant or obese, those who have young children, and women and ladyboys who wear high heels or short skirts,” she added.

Mr Phinyo said, “Phuket is a tourist city and it is necessary to have facilities which support disabled and the

Koh Khai Nok restaurant caught dumping untreated wastewater THE OWNER OF A REstaurant on Koh Khai Nok, off the east coast of Phuket, is to face legal action after officials from the Marine and Coastal Management Office 6 (Phuket) discovered untreated wastewater from the restaurant being released into the sea.

Director of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Phuket Marine and Coastal Management Department, Watcharin Thinglang, last Wednesday (Feb 15) ordered fellow Phuket DMRC officer Nared Choophueng to report to Koh Yao Police Station in Phang Nga province and file charges against the owner of the Nonthasak Marine Restaurant, Sansearn Sringam, after it was found on Feb 7 that untreated wastewater from the restaurant and its toilets was being released into the island’s surrounding waters.

The island is one of the most popular snorkelling areas for Phuket day-trippers, mainly Chinese tourists. @thephuketnews

The untreated wastewater being released into the sea at Koh Khai Nok. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub However, marine officials in May last year ordered the removal of facilities and structures used for tourist activities from all three of the Koh Khai islands: Koh Khai Nok, Koh Khai Nui and Koh Khai Nai. On May 24, 2016, Suchart Rattanareangsri, then Director of the DMCR’s Conservation division told The Phuket News that offi-

cials were clearing all beach umbrellas and beach chairs in the area.

In addition, shops and restaurants on the Koh Khai islands were to be removed and that the Royal Forest Department had been contacted to carry out the removal of these structures.

Yet Nonthasak Marine Restaurant remains.

Eakkapop Thongtub

elderly. By 2020, statistics show Thailand will be an aged society with 17.5% of the population – around 12 million people – being elderly.

“The Friendly Design City is not only aimed at the disabled but also the elderly, and the project will not only focus on beauty but also the usefulness of the design,” he said.

Mr Thanach added, “Moreover, as Phuket is a tourist city we expect it to be equally accessible for everybody.”

RAWAI MAYOR AROON Solos has confirmed that it will take at least two months to fix a collapsed bridge at Naiharn Lake. Motorists are advised to take alternative routes while the work is being carried out.

Speaking to The Phuket News on Tuesday (Feb 21) Mayor Aroon said, “I have been trying to find out who is responsible for repairing this bridge and I have still not been able to find the relevant government agency.

“However, as this is urgent Rawai Municipality have prepared a budget of B1.3 million for the repairs,” he said.

“I have made sure that the area is now closed off to the general public as a matter

of safety and drivers should now avoid this route.

“Motorists needing to use this area should now use Naya Rd as an alternative until the repairs are complete.

“Motorists should now turn left at the junction at the Reggae Bar and drive all the way around the lake and exit via Naya Rd,” he added.

Somsong Saetang, Head of Public Works Division, Rawai Municipality, added, “We are now removing the collapsed bridge before rebuilding it.

“We closed the road at 9am today and it is going to take at least two months to complete the reconstruction,” he said.

Tanyaluk Sakoot

Opinion 8

OPINION

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

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EDITORIAL

Adding insult to injury

or Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan to recently declare that there are no corrupt officials on the island must have come as quite an insult to those who have lived in Phuket for any length of time.

Then for Gov Chockchai to appoint those very officials accused of being involved in corruption to investigate themselves just further insults the intelligence of Phuket residents.

However, that insult has been slightly lessened – not with regards to Gov Chockchai mind you – with the most recent announcement that National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) SecretaryGeneral Sansern Poljeak ordering the NACC Phuket office to investigate alleged corruption on the island.

It may come as some surprise to Gov Chockchai, but certainly not for those who

have been living on the island for any length of time, that yes Governor Chockchai, there is indeed corrupt officials under your watch.

Sadly the corruption has been there under many of the previous governors’ watches, as well.

To come right out and say it now, this writer has been involved in one aspect of corruption, and yes he did know it from the very off, and the very tourist police who gave this writer the option of either paying an 90-day overstay with or without a receipt to immigration officials – B2,000 or B1,000 respectively – knew full well about it, too.

Yes, Governor Chockchai, corruption is rampant on Phuket, or as a previous writer described it, “rotten to the core”.

Asking Phuket officials whether they have accepted

payments or been involved in corruption is likely to be met with a single word answer, “No”.

But how about asking the average Joe, say like a Bangla Rd bar owner, whether he has ever made a payment to officials for their bar to stay open a wee bit longer than the law stipulates and you might well get a different reply.

Yes it is fantastic news that the NACC has now been asked to investigate those corruption allegations. However, for that to mean anything then the investigation must be transparent and involve all levels of power with the ranks.

Officials’ bank accounts should be checked, their assets should be checked, if it has to be then their families accounts and assets should also be checked. If this does not happen, then the investigation is just adding insult to injury.

TOP 10 STORIES ON thephuketnews.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Female Russian tourist arrested for feeding fish off Phuket Driver dead, French tourists ‘critical’ after 10-wheeler slams SUV in Krabi Payment for luxury car in spotlight Police to grill racer Akarakit again Driver, 26, faces charges for French family horror holiday crash German tourist plunges eight stories from Phuket hotel roof 30 Pattaya hotels closed for not having licences Phuket Opinion: The Bangla ballet Army warns taxi, van drivers at Phuket Airport Phuket’s red light cameras now in operation

Visit thephuketnews.com for all the latest news

HAVE YOUR SAY Biting the hand that feeds fish

Re: Female Russian tourist arrested for feeding fish off Phuket Ludicrous and shameful. Thai officials…and Thailand in general, should be ashamed.

This lady obviously had no idea what she was doing was illegal, and the responsibility should rest 100% with the moron tour guide (who probably sold her the bread).

BenPendejo …and while the fate of the tourism industry hangs in the balance, a bunch of buffoons hammer another nail in the coffin that was “tourism”. The Chinese and Russians are the “last hope” of a dead industry, together with the abolition or “zero profit Chinese tourists” which saw a reduction of 70% in Chinese hotel/ f light bookings, a swiftly rising Chinese death rate in Phuket and the locals fleecing Chinese and Russians... Well, “God help” Phuket because the Thais don’t! A Russian tourist being detained in a Thai jail for feeding fish will do wonders for Chinese and

Russian tourists considering coming to Phuket when it’s posted on Chinese and Russian TV and the social media outlets. Well done, Thailand! skip ....................................................

Dancing around the problem

Re: Phuket Opinion: The Bangla ballet It seems everyone and their dog know about these corrupt payments except the few people who could actually do something about stopping them happening, and change it to a legal system of payments where everyone benefited from them, not just the corrupt few who currently do.

Peter, Rawai Very astute article. As an expat, I applaud all methods of reducing corruption. Thailand is a nation of royalty and laws, not corruption. As soon as the police realize that, their lives may improve as well.

USNA2008 ....................................................

The greener side of life

Re: Six Thais, foreigner arrested in Phuket for possession of drugs, guns and ammunition The streets of Phuket will be much safer now that Mr Axel Vanlang Nhove and his marijuana totalling 7.69g have been apprehended.

Paddy Bushwacker ....................................................

Going up? Or going down?

Re: AirAsia to launch Phuket-Pattaya direct, daily flights Terrific idea! Now, tourist can go and enjoy the things Phuket doesn’t offer: 4am closings and the beach with chairs for comfort and umbrellas for protection.

Foot ....................................................

Fee dispensers

Re: Move to unite ATMs gains momentum Well I am sick of the banks funding their ATMs on the backs of foreign ATM cards.

Much like the 10-fold fees for parks, zoos and the like. No doubt the new scheme will not reduce card fees. What goes up must stay up. Sad. KCPhuket

Blazing safety

Re: Phuket tourists flee as power cables catch fire All those wires like birds nests and spaghetti hanging everywhere are mind-boggling.

Surprised that serious fires have not broken out before, or have they? More and more added all the time, needs urgent attention before large parts of Phuket go up in flames and spreads to buildings, hotels and markets, and leads to many deaths and major disasters here as well as other parts of Thailand.

Yvonne ....................................................

Feel the shame

Re: Phuket jet-ski crash: Aussie tourist Keating attends court to acknowledge charges This story makes me very sad.

Not only has this poor guy lost his partner and will have to live with it for the rest of his life but the authorities insist on compounding his misery even more. If it were a Thai guy he would of fled the scene and then got a telling off. Thailand and Phuket are a disgrace and so are these corrupt officials... sateeb

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

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

THAILAND NEWS

9

Krabi project will go ahead Deputy PM: government will just ‘slow down’ on coal power plant BANGKOK

Police block about 200 protesters from entering Government House after the Energy Policy Committee decided to go ahead with a coal-fired power plant in Krabi. Photo: Thiti Wannamontha

Bangkok Post

D

eputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the government did not back down from the planned construction of a coal-fired power plant in Krabi but only “slowed down” its implementation.

Project opponents, meanwhile, demanded a pro-power plant billboard near Krabi airport be removed immediately.

“We’re slowing it down in order to proceed,” Gen Prawit said as he chaired an opening ceremony of a leadership development course at the National Defence Studies Institute on Monday (Feb 20).

“If we don’t build the coalfired power plant, the South will experience power outages because the power supply is not adequate.

“There’s no need to build it in the South but whether it will use other fuels such as palm oil to replace coal is another topic. In any case, we must build it.”

He claimed that today’s

modern coal-fired power plant technology ensured efficient and complete combustion while the use of high-grade coal would minimise any pollution.

“The government has not backed down and everything has been carried out according to procedural and legal steps,” the deputy premier said.

The government decided last Friday (Feb 17) to proceed

with a planned 800-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Nuea Khlong district of Krabi, saying the facility would help secure power supply for the southern region which consumes more power but has fewer plants than other regions.

About 200 opponents protested against the plan outside Government House during the weekend.

Huge drug haul, many arrests NORTH/ BANGKOK THE ROYAL THAI POLICE (RTP) on Monday (Feb 20) hailed a series of anti-drug operations carried out late last week as a success.

The anti-narcotics push netted drugs with a combined street value of more than B3 billion and resulted in the arrests of suspects allegedly linked to Lao drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha.

Chatri Saehoe, 24, a resident of Chiang Rai, was arrested last Friday (Feb 17) on Highway No.1048 with 5.8 million methamphetamine tablets (ya bah) and 20 kilograms of crystal meth (ya ice).

Prior to Chatri’s arrest, the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) was tipped off that a group of Mhong drug traffickers would smuggle drugs from Chiang Rai to other provinces, said Maj Gen Thanai Apichatseni, head of the NSB’s division on drug trafficking suppression.

The suspect refused to stop at a police checkpoint in Lampang and sped away in his pickup truck, sparking a chase which ended up with @thephuketnews

Anti-drug raiders show the results of three major drug seizures they made last week in the North and Bangkok.

Photo: Apichart Jinakul police shooting the vehicle’s tyres, said Maj Gen Thanai.

Last Thursday (Feb 16) Bangkok Police arrested a 17-year-old male youth from Samut Prakan, Nathaphong Thongsuk, 21, from Roi Et, and Thiwakon Panchandi, 23, from Samut Prakan, and seized 279,760 ya bah pills, 16.55kg of ya ice and ketamine weighing 3.2kg.

The teen was delivering some of the drugs, which he had received from Natthaphong, to Thiwakon near Phuttha Bucha Rd, said Maj Gen Wutthiphong Phetkamnoet, Chief of the NSB’s Division 3.

More drugs were seized during a search of Natthaphong’s house.

Maj Gen Wutthiphong said

the arrests were made following the capture of Natthaphol “Boy” Nakkham, who is believed to be linked to the Xaysana drug network. Police are looking to arrest more people, he said.

On Saturday (Feb 18), three suspects were detained in Klong Sam Wa district of Bangkok along with 80kg of ya ice and 7.2kg of heroin.

Those held were identified as Pramot Maibuakhiaw, 25, Somchai Thongpradit, 52, and Saranya Muangchan, 23.

National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said about 70% of all the seized drugs were destined for a neighbouring country. They would have fetched up to B3 billion had they reached their destination.

Bangkok Post

The protesters dispersed last Sunday (Feb 19) after the government agreed to re-do the environmental and health impact assessments (EHIA) of the project. It was expected to announce the revocation of the existing EHIA report on the contentious project on Tuesday (Feb 21) following the Cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, the Krabi plant opponents took to social

media and local online forums to express their resentment towards Krabi Governor Pinit Boonlert over a billboard on a T-intersection in front of Krabi International Airport in Na Khlong district. They demanded it be removed quickly.

The board has a message, dated on Feb 17, that reads: ‘Krabi residents thank His Excellency Prime Minster Prayut Chan-o-cha and the

Energy Policy and Planning Committee for passing a resolution to build a coal-fired power plant in Krabi”.

Many were angered by the use of the generic phrase “Krabi residents” despite ongoing protests by many locals and various groups.

They believed some provincial authorities were behind the installation of the sign last Friday – the same day a group of people showed up at the provincial hall to thank the prime minister for approving the energy scheme.

Kittichai Engchuan, who is on a tripartite committee vetting the construction of the Krabi plant, said the billboard was extremely inappropriate and should be taken down given the split opinions of the people.

He said if the governor kept the sign there, he could be viewed as being partial and urged him to be more neutral.

“A father must be impartial, not taking sides with any of his children; otherwise there won’t be happiness in the house like now,” Mr Kittichai said.

10 THAILAND NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Trolley pileup reveals problems with airport BANGKOK Bangkok Post

A tourist looks at his mobile phone while walking along Silom Road in Bangkok. Photo: Tanaphon Ongarttrakoon

Tourist SIM-tracking plan axed by NBTC BANGKOK PL A NS FOR SPECI A L SIM cards for tourists have finally been scrapped by the national telecom regulator after facing strong opposition from the government, which says the idea would do more harm than good.

The plan also drew heavy criticism at the first public hearing from participants who said it could lead to a potential threat to travellers’ privacy.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) initially approved in principle a requirement that foreign visitors to Thailand use special SIM cards in their phones that could be tracked by the authorities in the interest of national security.

The NBTC planned to force all mobile operators to embed location-based service software into their SIM cards to enable them to track the call history of the user in the event he or she became a criminal suspect.

Operators would be required to sell the special SIM cards to foreign travellers wanting to use local mobile services.

The regulator expected to roll out the special SIM cards in early 2017.

The initiative was originated at a regional-level meeting in Phuket in July last year, gathering telecom regulators from the 10 Asean countries.

Among the 10, only Malaysia uses special traceable SIM cards for foreign travellers.

“We have stopped all related processes [including public hearings] for the tourist SIM card plan,” said NBTC Secretary-General Takorn Tantasith.

The NBTC earlier prepared to invite embassy representatives and ambassadors from China, the US, Britain and some European countries – all of which provide high tourist traffic to Thailand – to take part in a public hearing on the tourist SIMs. Mr Takorn said the government, especially the Tourism and Sports Ministry, is concerned that the tourist SIM would cause severe damage to the local tourism industry – a critical component of the country’s economic growth, contributing 17% of the GDP. The ministry reported that 19.06 million foreign tourists visited Thailand in the first half of 2016, an increase of 12% year-on-year.

An executive at a major mobile company who asked not to be named said the termination of the tourist SIM plan was for the good of the country.

Though the cost of requiring traceable SIM cards would create a small burden to mobile operators, the source said it might make foreign travellers unhappy or uncomfortable with the way local authorities handle personal information.

Bangkok Post

A

irports of Thailand Plc (AoT) says it has adjusted bidding requirements for new trolleys for Suvarnabhumi Airport, after a wild pileup of baggage carts that showed problems with moving luggage around inside the country’s top airport.

About 10 passengers and eight trolleys were involved in the accident that began when one of the carts tipped over and ended in a series of rear-end collisions at the top of one of the airport’s moving stairways.

After a meeting on Monday (Feb 20) of the airport’s operations department, its director said the accident had revealed several issues and would affect the imminent call for bids by trolley-making firms, and security personnel within the airport itself.

It also revealed a sign that has been in use for years, possibly since the airport opened in 2006, which had completely wrong instructions for passengers on how to use the baggage carts.

The incident was sparked on Sunday (Feb 19) by Suphaporn Plengmaneephan, 63, who had returned to Bangkok from a family trip abroad.

She and her daughter had loaded baggage onto two of the trolleys provided by Suvarnabhumi Airport for use by passengers inside the airport.

As they were ascending from the second to the third floor of the airport on the escalator, Ms Suphaporn’s cart lost traction on the stairs and tipped over, spilling her bags.

Her daughter, immediately ahead of her, turned to help, leaving her own trolley locked on the stairway but it began to roll backwards.

The family, their trolleys

The emergency button is at ground level at both ends of the stairs, but one security guard who could not reach it because of the pileup. Photo: via Bangkok Post and the spilt bags all arrived at the top, beginning a dominolike series of collisions.

In quick order, the six baggage trolleys of another six, following passengers, hit the original accident, in a domino pileup.

A security guard and the passengers worked to clear the top of the stairway. But Ms Suphaporn’s family was concerned the guard had not simply pressed the emergency button to stop the stairway and clear the spilt luggage.

The guard said, and Operations Director Piti Trikalanon confirmed, that there are emergency buttons at both ends of the long stairways.

He could not reach it last Sunday because the button is at ground level, on the stairway mechanism – and he couldn’t reach it because of the baggage cart pileup.

He told the family similar incidents occur frequently, and passengers have had to deal with the problem themselves.

Mr Piti said conditions for buying and maintaining a new set of trolleys, already begun by AoT, have been amended as a result of the trolley pileup. Sunday's accident showed there was clear need for security officers to be stationed at both ends of

every stairway.

The staff are supplied by the baggage-cart vendors.

He said last Sunday’s accident occurred at a relatively little-used escalator, compared with the heavy traffic between the first-to-second floor. AoT currently does not require any security guard at this spot, but will change that.

AoT also expressed full confidence in the Wanzl baggage trolleys used at Suvarnabhumi and “several” other airports around the world.

Mr Piti said there were few reported incidents of trolleys tipping over “when the front wheels fail to lock”.

The accident revealed an embarrassing instruction sign, which provides wrong details on how to lock the trolleys on the moving stairways. It shows and tells passengers to press the handle down, when in fact that will unlock the cart.

Mr Piti admitted the signage was wrong. He said the airport would change the signs immediately, with correct instructions.

The signage shown for years suggests that users press the trolley handle while using the moving stairway – the wrong action. A Facebook post

by Ms Suphaporn’s daughter got immediate replies from

previous travellers saying they had experienced similar problems on the moving stairway.

One user wrote that she had experienced the same situation – except that she was five months pregnant when the trolley in front of her toppled. She said she was lucky because she retreated back down the stairway, and there was no one close behind her.

She wrote that the airport should provide more lifts, sufficient to meet demand by customers who felt uncomfortable using the stairway.

Suvarnabhumi’s public relations team answered the Facebook post with comments that implied Ms Suphaporn had used the trolley wrongly – by pressing the handle.

The PR team claimed as well that Ms Suphaporn’s daughter “obviously” had overweight baggage.

In fact she had two bags totalling just 25 kilograms of the 40kg allowed by her airline, as well as a backpack gift from the airline.

The airport later stated the trolleys are guaranteed to operate properly with up to 200kg of baggage on flat ground, but there is no such guarantee on the sloped, moving stairway.

Villagers demand probe into temple’s finances CHAI NAT ABOUT 100 VILLAGERS FROM tambon Khung Samphao in Manorom district rallied at the city hall on Tuesday (Feb 21), calling for the province’s Damrongtham Centre to investigate the financial clerk of a temple in their community,

suspecting him of embezzlement.

Chanting “we want transparency”, the villagers said they want the Damrongtham Centre to investigate Banyat Niyomtham, the financial clerk of Wat Sithikaram.

They suspected Mr Banyat of embezzling the temple’s money and accused him of lacking transparency in handling the temple’s

finances. They demanded Mr Banyat explain where nearly B12 million in the temple’s coffers had gone.

An official from the provincial office of Buddhism told the villagers to calm down. He said his office was already auditing the temple’s financial account but had not reached a conclusion as

some more documents were being sought as evidence of possible wrongdoings.

The official expected the investigation result to come out in a week.

The villagers agreed to disperse, saying they would return in seven days for the answer.

Bangkok Post

The villagers show the document indicates that the temple should have almost B12 million. Photo: Chudate Seehawong thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

ASIA NEWS 11

The female rickshaw wallah

Meet ‘Crazy Auntie’, one woman doing all she can for her kids BANGLADESH AFP

A

s Bangladesh’s only known woman rickshaw wallah, Mosammat Jasmine may be a feminist icon but to the passengers she cycles around the streets of Chittagong, she is known as “Crazy Auntie”.

“I do it to make sure my sons don’t go hungry and they get a decent education at a good school,” says the mother of three as she takes a break at Chittagong bus station.

“Allah has given me a pair of hands and legs to work with. I don’t beg – instead I earn a living by using his gifts,” she adds.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh is one of Asia’s most conservative societies where the concept of a woman doing such a job had been unheard of before Jasmine hit the road five years ago.

Left to fend for three young children when her husband ran off with another woman, Jasmine initially tried her hand at being a maid and

@thephuketnews

Bangladesh’s lone female rickshaw puller Mosammat Jasmine poses on her batteryrun rickshaw in Chittagong city. Photo: AFP then working in one of Bangladesh’s garment factories but found neither job suited her.

“A maid’s job is good if you only have to worry about yourself but not if you’ve got children. And the factory work is really back-breaking and the pay is really poor,” the 45-year-old explains.

Struggling to make ends meet and determined to pay for her children’s education, she decided on her radical career change when a neighbour who owned a rickshaw offered to lend it to her for a few days.

Working out how to navigate the streets of Bangladesh’s

second city was the easy part although she did find it painful at times to peddle her brightlycoloured tricycle up some of its hilly neighbourhoods.

But finding willing passengers proved a stiffer challenge.

“Initially, many simply refused to get on board and some taunted me, saying I

was doing a man’s job,” she recalls.

“Others told me that Islam does not permit a woman to roam around like this while there were some who refused to pay me the same fare as a male driver,” Jasmine says, before adding: “I stuck to my guns as who else pays my bills, who is else is going to cover the cost of educating my sons?”

On average she earns 600 taka (B280) a day for an eighthour shift on the rickshaw, part of which she pays as rent to the rickshaw owner. She works seven days a week.

Now a familiar sight on the streets of the bustling port city, she has won the respect of her colleagues.

As she parked up by the bus station, she exchanged smiles and greetings with around a dozen male drivers.

Since switching last year to a battery-run electric rickshaw, the work has become a little less arduous but she is still an inspiration to many.

“Jasmine is unique. She is the only female rickshawpuller among all of Bangla-

desh’s 160-million population.

It is overwhelming to see her courage,” local rights activist Suzana Salim said.

The traffic police applaud her good road sense and for always wearing a helmet – unlike her male counterparts.

And even some with religious authority have started praising her.

“She is a good example to society given that many girls who fall on hard times turn to prostitution or drugs,” said Nurul Alam Azmiri, the imam at a local mosque. “She has a vision for her kids, which is commendable.”

Young people are particularly keen to flag her down, drawn in part by the loud music that blares from the speakers on “Pagli Khala’s” (the Crazy Auntie’s) vehicle.

Despite the growing acceptance, Jasmine – who is a practising Muslim – says she still faces taunts by people who question her faith.

“I don’t listen to them,” she said. “My sons need their education and so I’ll do my best to ensure that for as long as I live.”

12 WORLD NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Artisans breaking the mould A new generation breathing new life into a once-mighty industry UNITED KINGDOM AFP

A

t the 18 th -centur y Spode pottery works in Stoke-on-Trent, start-up artisans like 22-yearold Emma Price are moving into abandoned buildings and breathing new life into a once-mighty industry.

The 10-acre site in the heart of the Staffordshire city in central England whose name worldwide is synonymous with pottery has become a creative hub that is drawing in a new generation.

“It’s a real privilege to be on this site,” said Price, wearing blue overalls flecked in plaster, as she worked on the mould for a bowl.

“This offers me the opportunity to do my own thing and gives me the space to work in and do what I’m passionate about,” she said.

“A lot of people now are starting to move away from the mass-produced work and want something that’s more bespoke.”

Iconic Stoke brands such as Wedgwood, Royal Doulton and Spode are renowned across the globe for their fine chinaware.

On a rich seam of clay in England’s West Midlands, Stoke became the world centre of pottery production by 1800.

Workers hand-paint crockery in the Emma Bridgewater factory, which employs around 185 people and manufactures 1.3 million pieces of pottery each year in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent. Photo AFP Now fewer than 10,000 people still work in an industry that once employed 80,000 in Stoke, as factories closed and production shifted to Asia over the last 20 years.

But young artists are making the most of the latent factory space, skills and expertise that still exist in the 250,000-strong city, not to mention the coveted “Made in Stoke-on-Trent” backstamp.

At the Spode works, founded in 1767, a few dozen artisans have moved into the derelict buildings.

Cobwebbed storehouses on the site are stuffed with Spode

moulds from the past, stacked on wooden shelves marked with names like Louis XV, Old Comport and Rose Tazza.

The cavernous China Hall, once bustling with people and machines, now stands like an empty cathedral, filled with light and silence.

Ceramic artist Jo Ayre, 34, works in a makeshift studio just off the China Hall, in a space formerly known as Scorpion Alley, so fierce was the reputation of the women who worked there.

Besides producing her own works, she runs adult learning classes, teaching groups of

locals who want to know more about the craft that made their city’s name.

Among those taking their first steps in learning how to manipulate the clay was 36-year-old barber Craig Urwin.

“We are doing it in the old-fashioned way, by hand.

It’s fascinating,” he said.

“We’ve probably got ancestors who did work here or in other factories.”

Ayre, who hails from Stoke, trained at the Royal College of Art in London but moved back in 2015.

“There’s so much space,

people you can talk to who know a tremendous amount about ceramics, so it feels like there’s endless possibilities here.”

In 2011, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, stepped in to save Middleport Pottery, another historic site and the home of Burleigh chinaware.

As part of the regeneration project, artists have moved in there too, while the new visitor centre tells people about traditional pottery production.

Laura Cohen, Chief Executive of the British Ceramic Confederation trade association, said the industry was in

good health in Stoke as sales and employment had surged since the depths of the recession in 2010.

“It forced those companies that were surviving to look at their business models, to think about how they can become truly world class,” she said.

Steph Woodhouse, spokeswoman for the Emma Bridgewater factory, one of the more established brands, said: “We’ve seen a real return of artisan potters coming back to Stoke to utilise the skills and experience.”

Bridgewater began producing ceramics on a tiny scale in Stoke in 1985, and bought the Victorian-era Meakin factory in 1996 as the business expanded.

The pottery now produces 32,000 hand-made, handdecorated items per week and exports internationally.

Some 250 people work in the Bridgewater factory, from the men casting the clay to the women using traditional sponging techniques to press on the decoration.

John Buckley, 59, has been working in potteries since he was 16.

“The mining’s gone, the steel’s gone, there’s only this, really,” he said of Stoke’s traditional industries.

“I’m surprised this is still going, and it’s coming back, and I’m proud to be part of it.”

Hair salon? Library? Novel time for Ivory Coast women IVORY COAST AS M A N Y A F R ICA N women spend much of their spare time in hair salons, Ivory Coast’s chief librarian, also a woman, came up with a brainwave scheme to help them read and learn to read.

Crammed on shelves between hair extensions, untangling creams and straightening lotions, a total 23 hair salons now offer customers a range of books on loan from the National Library.

“Libraries are practically non-existent in our suburbs and the ones that do exist get

very few visitors, and rarely women,” said chief librarian Chantal Adjiman, who launched the project in 2012.

With little time on their hands between work and childcare, most women simply do not have the opportunity to seek out books.

So the library decided it

was best to take books to one of their “regular meetingplaces”.

“Ivorian women are charmers,” said Adjiman. “They can spend more than an hour and a half in a hair salon.”

At the National Library building, where 1,750 books have been set aside for the hair salons, staff pack novels, children’s books and also essays about women’s or children’s rights into boxes.

Outside one of the hair salons, located in a market, a young woman sits reading on a bench oblivious to the noise or the banter of the traders nearby.

“I’ve got no money to buy books so I often come here just to read,” she said.

Inside the salon, where a woman under a hood hair dryer thumbs a novel, owner Benedicte Ouguehi says the presence of the books has attracted new customers.

Even hairdressers working out in the open come by the

Women sit under hair steamers and read books from a minilibrary at a hairdressers in Abidjan. Photo: Sia Kambou/AFP salon to borrow books for their clients, she adds.

In Abidjan’s well-heeled district of Cocody, 66-year-old salon owner Justine Inagohi says she immediately agreed to sign onto the scheme.

“Women gossip under the dryers, I’d rather they did something more educational,” she said.

Inagohi has even set up a reading corner for children, used both by children accompanying their mothers

and those who live in her own building.

The presence of the books, whether they be for children or for adults, gives women who cannot read and write the incentive to learn, and even men are beginning to turn up in women’s hair salons to borrow them, said librarian Adjiman.

“Ivorians love reading but have no access to books,” she said.

AFP thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

BUSINESS NEWS 13

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Strategies for the ‘Age of I’

Hoteliers face new, contradictory challenges in tech revolution HOSPITALITY The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

H

oteliers are facing a slew of challenges never before encountered to the same extent as now leveraged by the digital revolution, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) has revealed in its 2017 Trends Report.

The report, titled, “The Uncompromising Customer: Addressing the Paradoxes of the ‘Age of I’” was unveiled at at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, last month.

“Technology has changed the way we behave in our daily lives. This has had a direct, and fundamental, impact on business. Global brands need to address the complex, sometimes opposing needs of today’s customers in order to fulfil their expectations,” IHG CEO Richard Solomons noted at the launch.

The report highlights the uncompromising nature of today’s customer who increasingly expects brands to

The report identified four paradoxical needs and wants of hotel guests and offerd six strategies in making sure hoteliers at least face the challenges in place. Images: IHG deliver experiences that satisfy contradictory needs.

“In the Age of I, we live in the paradoxical world where we seek inclusion in a meaningful group and at the same time want to protect and express our individuality. It is a transformative time – short-term and long-term – where the strongest brands will promise and deliver the “best of both” when addressing conflicting customer needs,” noted the report.

“Addressing a trade-off by

compromising important elements of a brand experience in return for gaining other equally important elements, is not the path to profitable growth…

“The goal of business is to satisfy customer needs profitably. By creating solutions for contradictory desires – paradox promises define brand experiences leading to brand preference and loyalty,” the report added.

Specifically, IHG’s research identified four paradoxes that are driving the decisions cus-

Phuket-Pattaya flights are coming AIRLINES T H A I A I R ASI A FROM March 30 will fly daily direct flights connecting Phuket with Pattaya in a push to connect Thailand’s two main foreign tourist beach resort destinations.

Starting March 30, Flight FD1101 will depart Phuket International Airport’s Domestic Terminal at 12:50pm daily, touching down at U-Tapao, about 40 kilometres from Pattaya by road, at 2:10pm.

From Pattaya to Phuket, Flight FD100 will depart UTapao at 10:55am daily and land in Phuket at 12:55pm.

The Phuket-Pattaya launch comes as Thai AirAsia also launches direct daily flights connecting U-Tapao and Ubon Ratchathani, also starting March 30.

Santisuk Klongchaiya, Director of Commercial for Thai AirAsia, said that the two new direct-flight services support the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) policy of stimulating cross-regional travel.

“Regional connections in Thailand are a strength of Thai AirAsia’s ever expanding network and part of its policy to create new travel opportunities @thephuketnews

AirAsia will launch direct, daily flights between Phuket and Pattaya on March 30. Photo: Aero Icarus for all the country’s regions,” he said.

AirAsia currently operates regional flights from six airport hubs: Bangkok (Don Mueang), Phuket, Chiang Mai, Krabi, U-Tapao and Hat Yai. Together the hubs offer 11 regional connections via 16 flights daily which averaged a load factor of 85% in 2016.

The Phuket-Pattaya and Pattaya-Ubon Ratchathani services were launched at Thailand International Travel Fair 2017, held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok last week. A special satellite roadshow edition was also held in Phuket Town last weekend.

Promotional fares for UTapao-Phuket flights have been launched, starting at B790 (one way, including airport tax and other duties, but excluding fuel excise tax). Flights must be booked before next Tuesday (Feb 26) for travel March 30

through Feb 6, 2018.

Sujitra Jongchansittho, TAT Deputy Governor of Domestic Marketing, said that the government has a policy to elevate the country’s economy under the “Thailand 4.0, Economy 4.0” concept.

TAT has drafted its own “Tourism 4.0” framework, which seeks to strengthen the country internally before connecting it to the global economy, Ms Sujitra said.

The plan focuses on basic tourism, constant innovation and the “Regional Travel Challenge” project, an effort to stimulate regional tourism by creating new and stimulating experiences based on local offerings, she noted.

“The goal of the framework is to spread travel income across the country and TAT welcomes AirAsia’s support in enhancing travel between regions,” Ms Sujitra added.

The Phuket News

tomers make in a landscape constantly changing through advances in technology.

“In this environment, customers do not want either/or solutions: they want the best of both worlds where the best trade-off is no trade-off,” said the report.

The four paradoxes identified in the report are: • The Paradox of Separate but Connected: Seeking a constant belonging with people, brands and places, while also seeking individuality and the

desire to communicate uniqueness of self • The Paradox of Abundant Rarity: A desire for luxury to be both scarce and available • The Paradox of Seeking a Better Me and a Better We: Seeking personal self-improvement, while seeking public, civic or global improvement • Do It Myself and Do It for Me in My Way: A desire to be in control while not being the controller To counter these challenges, IHG said global brands must address these paradoxes through being locally relevant and personally differentiating.

The report identified the following six best practices to counter the paradoxical demands: • Aim for Integration Rather than Balance: Balancing conf licting customer needs is not enough; a better holistic experience needs to be created through the integration of these opposing needs; • Use Needs-driven Occasion-based Segmentation for Superior Business Management: Segmentation is not solely a marketing tool,

but must be a core part of a company’s thinking; • Communicate with Conversation: Brands must listen to customers to understand their needs and communicate with them in a way that makes the experience more meaningful to them as individuals; • Manage the brand’s multidimensionality: A brand must include relevant and differentiating features as well as functional, emotional and social benefits. The combination of these builds a distinctive brand character; • Develop ambidextrous brand-business teams: Teams that include divergent thinkers, with individual strengths and passions, who can also work in an integrated manner can create cohesive initiatives that drive brand success; • Address the Paradox of Brand Control: Businesses must not give up control of the brand to the external world, yet they must allow the consumers have their say and help influence the brand’s reputation.

For the full report, visit www. ihgplc.com/trends_report

14 BUSINESS NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Arbitration in Asean

Legal rights in agreements enforced LAW Jerrold Kippen

A

Tax & Law Expert Duensing Kippen

s a firm that specialises in international arbitration to resolve commercial disputes, Duensing Kippen often hears the question, “People actually arbitrate in Thailand?” or something to that effect. One must admit that Thailand is not regarded as being an “arbitration friendly” jurisdiction – at least not in the international context.

On the other hand, private contract parties are free to enter arbitration agreements in Thailand and every year hundreds of such proceedings take place and are seated in Thailand.

Furthermore, what is often forgotten, Thailand is currently party to 22 free-trade agreements and 37 bilateral investment treaties which generally provide for arbitration

as a, or the, dispute resolution mechanisms between Thailand and foreign investors.

One of the most recent, and arguably one of the most important of such treaties, is the Asean Comprehensive Investment Agreement (the “Asean Agreement”).

The Asean Agreement is a multi-lateral treaty between the ten member States of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (“Asean”) which was agreed to in February 2009 (in Thailand as it happens) and which entered into force on March 29, 2012.

The Asean Agreement is intended to assist the creation of “a free and open investment regime in Asean in order to achieve the end goal of economic integration [within Asean]”.

Thus, the Asean Agreement’s central purpose is to encourage investors from Asean states to invest in other Asean states by giving them (with some exceptions and reservations) enforceable rights to protect their investments.

THE NEW MODEL We have previously provided an overview of the common rights and remedies that investment agreements provide to investors.

The decades leading up to the end of the twentieth century saw a proliferation of investment agreements entered.

Currently, there are over three thousand bilateral and multilateral investments agreements in force worldwide. And by in large the consensus is that this has fostered global prosperity and lifted hundreds of millions, if not billions, out of poverty.

However, and perhaps ironically, one indicator of the success of these treaties was the dramatic increase in investor-State disputes and arbitrations to resolve them.

Since investment has been most needed and most attractive in developing States, these States have most often been the States involved in such disputes and, inevitably, these States have lost some of these arbitrations.

As a result, dissatisfaction with investment agreement

rights and remedies regimen grew more vocal as the turn of the century approached.

Developing States argued that the investment agreements had given too much protection to the investor at the cost of the interests of the States’ citizens.

In response, in 2002 the United States drafted a new model investment treaty (and first used it in the 2005 United States-Uruguay bilateral investment treaty), which incorporated a number of provisions meant to address these concerns. For example, the traditional investment treaty model prohibits an investment State from expropriating an investment by enacting a law that devalues the investment.

Such action can lead to monetary damages payable by the State bound to the traditional investment agreement model.

Developing/investment target States complained that this impedes their ability to reasonably protect its citizens and environment without risk of monetary damages being payable to investors.

The Asean Comprehensive Investment Agreement upholds arbitration rights for intra-Asean investors. Image Asean Thus, the new model excludes any non-discriminatory measure by the investment State that is designed and applied to protect legitimate public welfare objectives, such as public health, safety and the environment, from the definition of “expropriation”.

The Asean Agreement now incorporated this same rights provision and, as we will see later in this series, several

other of the new investment model provisions regarding the enforcement of an investor’s rights by arbitration.

This is the first article in a series on ‘Arbitration in Asean’

by Duensing Kippen, an international law firm specialising in business transactions and dispute resolution, with offices Phuket, Bangkok and 45 other countries: duensingkippen.com

Chinese ‘double-whammy’ hits Bali Akaryn names Cluster GM for TOURISM Phuket, Phang Nga resorts AFTER A VERY CHALlenging 2015 for Bali, occupancy was up by more than 4% in 2016, bringing a shot of fresh air and hope, but at what cost? asks Bill Barnett, Managing Director of hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks.

“Hotels’ enjoyment of solid occupancy across all categories (excluding luxury) was driven by increasing foreign direct arrivals, a slowing in new hotel openings and a further slashing of rates,” he said in a release on Monday (Feb 20).

Bali’s domestic market in 2016 was up 12% year-on-year to around 7.1 million and foreign arrivals also up 6% year-on-year to 4mn, bringing the total to over 11mn for the first time.

Meanwhile, foreign arrivals surged year end 2016 up by a significant 23% to 4.9mn, according to the new Horwath HTL and C9 Hotelworks Bali Hotel and Branded Residences 2017 report.

“Featuring prominently has been the Bali tourism pivot with Mainland China now holding the second position in terms of international arrivals,” Mr Barnett said.

“In 2017, the mass Chinese market is forecasted to

HOSPITALITY

The Bali luxury hotel segment took a 6% fall in RevPar in 2016, after an 11% fall in 2015. Graph: C9 Hotelworks overtake the legacy Australian segment. In the later part of last year as Thailand’s government banned zero-dollar tour junkets from the Mainland, Bali benefited from a re-direct of business,” he added.

Two critical factors that are a knock-on effect from the dynamic shift are first a lower spend per visitor, Mr Barnett cautioned.

“A 2016 survey by the Bank of Indonesia highlights that the typical Chinese tourist spends around one quarter of that spent by a typical European or Australian tourist.

With the proportion of Chinese tourists increasing the economic benefits of each new tourist is reducing,” he said.

“Secondly is the shorter length of stay. The average length of stay in Bali YTD

(year to date) September 2016 fell to 3.11 days, down from 3.20 days year-on-year.

“The sub-market suffering the greatest was Denpasar, dropping from 4.53 to 2.73 days YTD September 2016.

This is a double-whammy for hotels, with lower yield per tourist and a shorter length of stay,” he said.

“It is essential however to foster other markets simultaneously to balance quantity and quality of foreign arrivals,” Mr Barnett cautioned.

“The Thai experience is one to learn from, having aggressively targeted arrivals growth over the last Thailand government and tourism promotion has now shifted focus to increasing the yield per tourist,” he added.

The Phuket News

A K A RY N HO T E L Group (AHG) has appointed Daniel Steinke as cluster general manager for the group’s two beachfront properties in Phuket and Phang Nga – the Aleenta Phuket Resort & Spa and the akyra Beach Club Phuket.

The Aleenta Phuket Resort & Spa is the brand’s f lagship property, where the concept of “all suites, all private” is delivered in style with luxury accommodation ranging from 80sqm for the smallest suite, up to the fivebedroom beachfront Grand Villas, while the akyra Beach Club Phuket, which opened on Jan 1, offers 58 luxurious rooms, suites and villas complemented by an array of in-room comforts and myriad facilities including a beach spa and fully equipped gym.

“Phuket is a mature hospitality destination and competition is fierce, so we were keen to find an experienced general manager to create the right synergy to take our Phuket-Phang Nga portfolio to the next level,” said AHG

Daniel Steinke has been appointed akaryn Cluster GM for resorts in Phuket and Phang Nga. founder and managing director Anchalika Kijkanakorn.

“We’re delighted to welcome Daniel to our team – with his strong F&B and operations background, I’m sure that he’ll prove to be the steady leader Aleenta Phuket Resort & Spa needs to stay relevant to ever evolving traveller demographics and trends, and also to ensure that our new akyra Beach Club Phuket enters the market with a solid foundation.”

During his 25 years in hotel management, Mr Steinke has held numerous executive positions in Asia, Europe and most recently Russia, opening and man-

aging a cluster of hotels for IHG (Holiday Inn) and as Managing Director of InterContinental Hotel in Prague.

Prior to this, Mr Steinke opened and ran operations for Shangri-la, Mandarin Oriental, Kempinski and InterContinental hotels in China, Indonesia, Germany, and Russia.

The Swiss national is a graduate of the Hotel Management School Lausanne EHL and also holds an Executive MBA degree from Reims Management School.

“Having worked in the corporate offices for the last few years, I must say I am thrilled to get back to the frontline as general manager. Although it is a substantial change geographically from Moscow to Thailand, I was sold by Khun Anchalika’s passion and belief in operations and getting the basics right. All my past experiences have well equipped me to take the helm on AHG’s two PhuketPhang Nga properties, and I am ready to hit the beach running,” he said.

The Phuket News

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Baz Daniel mounts up at Phuket’s Nai Yang Beach

16

How the fairytale tourism story began

18

LEADING THE WAY

Phuket’s Miss England finalist shows that true beauty is more than skin deep > P20 Phuket-born Leena Dewis is all smiles as she enters the final rounds of the Miss England 2017 beauty pageant. Photo: Supplied

@thephuketnews

16 EXPLORE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Nai Yang

by Bike BLAZING SADDLES Baz Daniel

It’s as though you have leaned upon a big brass bell-push labelled “Press Here for Authentic Thailand” and that’s exactly what you get.

Baz takes and break and enjoys the views.

Nai Yang at sunset.

F

ew are the major international novels that have been set in Phuket, an exception being Catching the Sun by the well-known English writer Tony Parsons. Parsons has built himself a major following by writing, to my eye at least, rather maudlin, over-analytical books about that great preoccupation of the British chattering classes – relationships.

The titles themselves are a dead giveaway as to the cloying content within. Man and Wife; Man and Boy; My Favourite Wife; The Family Way – you get the drift I’m sure. The titles suggest that you shouldn’t delve into the burgeoning Parsons oeuvre without a jumbosized box of Kleenex and the number of your psychotherapist on speed-dial!

Parsons set his 2012 novel Catching the Sun on Nai Yang Beach where we find a disillusioned exEnglish taxi driver, plus sulky wife and kids, trying to make a go of it in “paradise” having fled “broken” Britain. It’s not a particularly good book and is full of errors about Phuket, but one thing Parsons does get absolutely correct is the beguiling beauty of the Nai Yang Beach and surrounds.

I recently enjoyed some relaxed cycling around this Parsons-land while staying at the Marriott Resort which boasts a splendid beach-side location at the southern end of Nai Yang. The resort offers guests cycling opportunities with sturdy mountain bikes for rent and also a guided tour option for a couple of hours taking in the local markets.

Mornings and evenings are of course the best times of day for cycling around this area, as elsewhere in Phuket, and so on a January evening I took off at about 4pm

Baz on the backroads of Nai Yang. for a bit of a two-wheeled nose around.

Turning left out of the Marriott, I cycled along the little back road that leads firstly to Ban Sakoo Village and Soi 4019 and then over a lung-bursting hill into beautiful Nai Thon Beach.

It’s a strange feeling cycling in this north-west corner of Phuket, so close to the airport that you can see the jets taking off and landing, and yet immersed in a quiet enclave we might label “Phuket-as-it-used-to-be”. Here little old ladies and kiddies in scout’s uniforms chat with their friends outside the local grocery store, while soi dogs scratch in the middle of the backroads and are reluctant to give way to the passing cyclist.

It’s as though you have leaned upon a big brass bell-push labelled “Press Here for Authentic Thailand” and that’s exactly what you get, as long as you stay away from nearby the Thepkra­ sattri–Nai Yang Rd with its rampaging mini-buses hurtling to and from the airport with malicious intent.

Alternatively you can cycle north from the Marriott out past the airport itself, then along the narrow road running parallel to the runway that will bring you onto Phuket’s main arterial Thepkrasattri Rd. Turn left here and you can cycle to the Mai Khao loop parallel to the eponymous beach and around the flooded tin mine lagoons of the Sirinath National Park.

Or you can head further north still, to the Sarasin Bridge, which is a lovely spot for an evening swim and a sundowner at one of the ramshackle wooden bars under the beach-side Casuarina trees.

Delicious sausages – the perfect end-of-ride indulgence.

Once back at the Marriott, I managed a relaxing swim in their huge pool that fringes the beach, followed by a special treat. In the scenic Lounge Bar overlooking the Nai Yang sands, they are currently offering a choice from six tasty sausage plates served with sauerkraut and potato wedges plus an ice-cold beverage for just B420, which was just the thing to round off a perfect evening of cycling. Even grumpy old Tony Parsons would have been impressed.

“Bicycling” Baz Daniel fell off his first bicycle aged three... a case of love at first slight. Since then he has spent a further 65 years falling on and off bicycles all over the world, but his passion endures.

When not in traction, he found time to become Senior VP of the world’s largest advertising and communications group, finally retiring to Phuket in 2006. He has been penning his Blazing Saddles column, chronicling his cycling adventures in Phuket and beyond, since 2013. thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

DINING 17

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Karon Beach at its sunny best.

Coasting through life Mark Knowles editor1@classactmedia.co.th

L

ast Saturday, sitting at Coast Beach Club, sipping my drink, shaded from the blazing Phuket sun by an umbrella and cooled by a fresh breeze blowing in off the ocean, I once again realised how lucky I am to live on this wonderful island. Surrounding me and my partner were scores of tourists from all around the world who have spent their whole year dreaming of relaxing by the beach in Thailand. But for us lucky expats in Phuket, all the sun, fun and glamour of a tropical beach club is just a 20-minute drive from home.

I mulled this pleasant thought over as I scanned Coast’s menu. I was sorely tempted to try one of their amusingly named signature burgers, the “High-So Heart Attack”, with Australian Wagyu beef, foie gras, brie, arugula and tomato relish, it certainly sounded like it would deliver on its promise! But fighting against my baser instincts, I decided to go for something a bit lighter, remembering that I might actually want to take a dip in the pool at some stage that day.

So to start off we ordered a fetta and olive salad – a colourful mix of grilled bell peppers, kalamata olives, house-made sundried tomatoes, with fetta cheese and crunchy toasted bread.

Along with this we had a salad of chicken breast marinated in dukkah spice with chickpeas, roasted vegetables and lettuce. Both these dishes were a perfect light starter, with plenty of fresh

The intensly rich chocolate rum pop. @thephuketnews

veggies, just the thing for a hot day.

On the chef’s recommendation we also tried the blue swimmer crab salad with lemon mayo, avocado, sundried tomato and pomelo – this was a revelation, with the citrus of the pomelo and lemon drawing out the flavour of the crab and the avocado helping to blend it all into one creamy, delicious mouthful… it was superb.

For mains I decided to knock it up a notch with some juicy lamb chops, they came served with cross-cut fries and a delicate thin gravy that doubled-down on the delicious lamb flavour. Trimmed of all the fat, it was like eating a lamb lollipop and surely a bit healthier than your average marbled steak. My partner had the sea bass with crispy panfried skin, served on creamed pumpkin with sautéed vegetables. The flaky fish was also superb and I’m not sure what else was in the pumpkin but its sweet mildly spiced flavour was perfect for the dish.

By this stage my aforementioned plan for a swim was in more and more doubt as I finished off every morsel of food, along with some of the complimentary crispy pizza-base bread served with an addictively salty anchovy tapenade. So we decided to threw caution too the wind and ordered some desserts.

I had the chocolate rum pop, a ball of intensely rich chocolate flavoured with dark rum and roasted nuts, topped off with a syringe full of rum – to finish you off, just in case the chocolate didn’t! My partner went for the much lighter mango tiramisu – the perfect tropical take on the classic Italian dessert and filled with incredible sweet chunks of ripe mango.

After this tour-de-force meal we were happy to make use of one of Coast’s many comfy sunbeds and lay like lizards warming themselves in the sun. Despite our extensive meal, I was impressed with the reasonable prices at Coast, most of their dishes hover around the B300-B400 mark, making it surprisingly good value for money, especially if you plan to stay a while and take a dip in the pool or ocean.

In fact, we decided on the spot to sign up for a Coast Beach Club membership – which for just B2,500 a year comes with some fantastic discounts and inclusions. You get a 25% on the already reasonable priced food and beverages, full use of the pool and sunbeds, and they even give you a B2,000 voucher, so the membership is almost free! There are a bunch of other inclusions as well depending on your level of

Crispy-skin sea bass with creamed pumpkin. membership – but it’s a fantastic deal and perfect for expats who want to get out of their condo or apartment and enjoy a bit of five-star luxury by the beach on the weekends.

Dukkah-spiced chicken breast salad.

Crab, avocado and pomelo salad.

Coast Beach Club is part of the Centara Grand Beach Resort on Karon Beach. For more information visit: coast-beach-club.com/phuket

18 BOOK

The birth of Thai tourism The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

The book is available free online, at Asia Books and at Dusit hotels.

A

new book detailing the history of the tourism industry in Thailand and the pioneers behind its early development has been released and is also available as a free e-book.

Thailand Tourism: The Early Days was written by Thailandbased journalist and lecturer Steve Van Beek, and edited by Roy Howard, the original Advertising Manager of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited.

The book charts the rise of the industry since the 1950s and examines the people, places, institutions, hotels and agencies which have transformed Bangkok from the Venice of the East to a dynamic gateway to all the attractions the country now has to offer.

The book is published by Dusit International, in partnership with Bangkok Bank, Boon Rawd Brewery, Central Group, Chiva-Som International Health Resort, Jim Thompson, Siam Piwat, Thai Airways and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

“The book proposed to honour the early pioneers of tourism-development,

before they and their memories are gone,” Van Beek recently told the Bangkok Post.

The book examines in rich detail the challenges faced by these early pioneers and, through profiles, anecdotes and quotes, underscores the need to preserve their stories. Among the key figures profiled in the full-colour gloss book are His Serene Highness Prince Bhisadej Rajani, President of the Royal Project Foundation; General Prem Tinsulanonda, former Prime Minister of Thailand; Lt Gen Chalermchai Charuvastra, founder of the Tourist Organisation of Thailand.

Other key figures whose testimonials and recollections are included are Niels Lumholdt, former Executive Vice President of Thai Airways International; Dr Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, founder of Bangkok Airways; Kusa Panyarachun, founder of Thailand’s first travel agency; Chin Sophonpanich, founder of Bangkok Bank; Samrit Chirathivat, founder of Central Group; and Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui, founder of Dusit International.

A special section dedicated to Thailand’s royal family highlights how projects initiated by His Majesty the late King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, have had a positive effect on tourism.

Chanin Donavanik, Vice Chairman

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Mr Chanin Donavanik of Dusit International. and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Dusit International, hopes the book will not only help to preserve the stories of the early pioneers, but also inspire a new generation of hospitality workers to follow in their footsteps.

“The travel industry is one of the most important industries in Thailand and today employs almost 15% of the population and contributes 17% GDP to the Thai economy,” said Mr Chanin.

“I think it’s vitally important that the new generation understands what happened in the past, and how the risks and opportunities taken by the early pioneers ultimately shaped the industry as we know it today.

“In producing the book, we hoped to preserve the inspiring stories and wisdom of our forebears by featuring as many influencers from 60 years ago as possible. While we could not include everyone we originally planned to, either due to time or budgetary constraints, or lack of information available in cases where people have either moved or passed away, we still managed to include most of the key players, resulting in a comprehensive, well-balanced overview which we hope will inspire readers and encourage hospitality students to discover more inspiring stories from the past.”

Author Van Beek told the Bangkok Post that increasing the focus on quantity over quality in the tourism industry is unsustainable and could have dire effects for its future.

“The challenge is to create a sustainable balance.

The commodification of culture has been beneficial in preserving areas which might have otherwise have disappeared. The emphasis on sheer headcounts, however, has had a deleterious effect that shows no signs of abating, and threatens the future viability of tourism,” he said.

In keeping with Dusit’s aim to help boost hospitality education in Thailand, copies of the book will be distributed for free to schools, colleges and universities offering tourism, hotel management and culinary programs in Thailand.

In remembrance of His Majesty the late King, all proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to the Royal Project Foundation, which helps to improve the living conditions of Thailand’s rural communities.

From this month onwards, the book will also be available at Asia Books and all Dusit hotels in Thailand, priced at B1,500. A free e-book, available in English and Thai, is also available at: thailandtourismtheearlydaysbook.com

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

HEALTH 19

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Chasing the cat’s tail Kim White kim@mindbodyyogasystem.com

H

ello and welcome to the next step in our Yin yoga journey.

This month we are looking at a posture called, “Cat chases its tail.” Once again, it’s a pretty cute name for an incredibly awesome stretch, however it is very apt. Cats are able to lie blissfully asleep for very long periods of time in some pretty twisted positions. That is exactly what we need to do when holding these Yin yoga poses. We need to relax, give in, let go, breath deep and surrender to the shape and the moment just like a twisted sleeping cat.

Some times in these twisted positions breathing can feel weird but don’t panic, you can still breathe, just slow everything down and relax. The breath is way stronger than you think it is! The mind is the part that likes to race away and think and give everything a dire outcome. Just be in the moment that you are in, without thought of what has happened, or what may happen, and relax.

This posture is such a great, long stretch through the diagonal lines of the body from opposite shoulder to hip. It’s also a great

@thephuketnews

This posture is such a great, long stretch through the diagonal lines of the body. stretch to the complete outer line from same shoulder to hip.

The chest is open and intercostals are stretched. The spinal twist is great for spinal mobility and lower back release. The chest and the shoulder joint is opening and assisting in the release of mid-back tension and the hip rotator is opening. Also, the neck twist is great for spinal and neck joint mobility. Let’s take a look at getting into this pose step by step: 1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and shoulders flat.

2. Take your right heel over to the left butt, like you are going to kick butt!

3. Reach down with your left hand and hold onto the right foot (if you can’t reach the foot you can make a loop with towel and use a yoga strap to help hold the foot).

4. Try to take the right knee behind the right hip at a diagonal, this will deepen the stretch.

5. On an in-breath take the left knee across the body and hold the right hand on top of the left knee. (If the knee is hovering off the floor, place a rolled up towel or yoga

block underneath it) try to have the left knee sitting approximately parallel to the hip.

6. The head is looking back at the left shoulder, the belly is lifted and chest wide.

7. Relax both legs completely, allow them to feel heavy in the shape.

8. Work on having both backs of the shoulders sunk on the floor, both knees and both feet.

9. Hold for 3 to 5 minutes. Rest and repeat on the opposite side.

10. Happy stretching. Metta. Kim OXO

20 PEOPLE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Beauty with a purpose Miss England 2017 finalist Leena Dewis was born in Phuket and educated in England and China.

Mark Knowles editor1@classactmedia.co.th

In fact it is extremely stressful, you realise a lot of people don’t appreciate your looks, so you have to be prepared for haters.

P

huket native Leena Dewis has big plans for this year, as if being a successful business owner wasn’t keeping her busy enough, she has set her sights on the title of Miss World 2017. But to get there she has a few more hurdles to jump and the biggest one is taking top honours at this year’s Miss England Grand Final in July. The Phuket News spoke to Leena recently about her life in Phuket, her love of music and sport, and her ambition to be crowned Miss World.

Please tell us a bit about your background.

I am 24-years-old, half-Thai and half-English.

I was born in Phuket and started my first years of school at Quinton House School, England. Later on I moved back to Thailand to study at Phuket Thaihua School. For my high-school years I moved to a boarding school in China (Beijing New Talent Academy) and graduated with my bachelor’s degree in Business and Management at the University of Buckingham, England. My father is from a little village outside of Northampton called Long Buckby, England and my mother is from Roi Et, Thailand

How did you end up running a hotel in Phuket?

I’ve spent most of my life here in Phuket, I grew up here, so naturally this island is my home even though it is a tourist destination to many others. I always knew that I wanted to have my own business and eventually with the help of my mother the opportunity came so I took it.

You are an avid athlete, what are your favourite sports and what accolades have you won?

A glamour shot from Leena’s Miss Thailand World campaign.

I have about 200 trophies for running (3km, 10.5km and 21km distances) from competitions all over Thailand. I also have a few medals from swimming. I started running at 7 years old and began to win trophies a few years later. By 15 I was at the top of my game, but I moved to China and I’ve never trained properly since, but I would say I am very proud of each and every trophy I have because it takes a lot of training and a lot of hard work before I can take even one trophy home with me.

How did you first get involved with these sports, what influenced you?

I would say it’s all because of my parents and coach, they pushed me until I was unbeatable. It’s a shame I stopped because looking back I really believe I could have gone far.

Are you still involved in competitions?

Now I mostly run to keep fit, but I do go to any competitions that are nearby. I have already won four trophies this year. Hopefully next year I’ll be back in the game and start to come first again.

Leena competing at Miss Thailand World 2016.

You are also a keen musician, what instruments do you play and which one is your favourite?

I play the piano, violin, clarinet and basic guitar.

My favourite is guitar because it was my instrument of choice, the rest is what my parents wanted me to do. I bought the guitar from a car boot sale in England for £20 and learned from Youtube. I’m pretty good, if I do say so myself – this was all when I was still in university.

How did you discover your musical talents?

I do all of these activities because of my parents. You have to bear in mind that both my parents used to be very poor, so naturally they wanted Leena was second runner-up in Miss Grand Phuket 2016. all of their children (I have two younger sisters) to have everything they never had. I am not talented at all, it is all just hard work and dedication, well dedication of my parents in this case. But nothing comes easy, it is all hard work.

You have entered several beauty pageants, which ones and how did you fare in them?

I was second runner up in Miss Grand Phuket 2016 and I was in the top 10 for Miss Thailand World 2016. I also won two awards from Miss Thailand World – The People’s Choice Award and the Fast Track Talent Award, for which I played the piano.

Now that you are a finalist for Miss England, how can people support you or vote for you?

I am in the semi-final of Miss England. If you are in England you can vote for me by texting MISS SEMI09 to 63333 – a text costs 50p plus the standard network rate. If you are in Thailand you can tell all your friends and family in England to vote for me.

What happens if you win?

I will be a contestant in Miss World 2017, and hopefully be Miss World 2017.

How did you first get involved in competing in pageants?

It was all just an off-hand thought.

Growing up being mixed, I always had compliments on my looks, so I thought, why not? But actually being in a pageant is a lot more work than you think.

Leena giving blood at a blood drive in Phuket last year.

In fact it is extremely stressful, you realise a lot of people don’t appreciate your looks, so you have to be prepared for haters. You also have to be prepared for late nights and early mornings.

But at the end of the day it is all worth it, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that can be cherished for the rest of my life. The bonus of it all for me is the smile on my mother’s face, to see how proud my family and friends are makes me so happy.

What are your plans for the future?

I want to be Miss World. I believe I have a better purpose. I know for a fact that a lot of people see beauty differently, the perception of beauty nowadays is perfection. But that is not what beauty is. I want to be a role model to young girls out there and for them to know that beauty is not about being perfect, having freckles doesn’t mean you are ugly, beauty is from within, a good heart can take you to places, not a perfect face. I believe I can represent the true meaning of beauty with a purpose. thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CULTURE 21

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Wonders carved from teak SIRINYA’S WORLD Dr Sirinya Pakditawan pakditawan@googlemail.com

W

oodcarving can be regarded as a characteristic decorative Thai art form. It reflects the fertility and vitality of nature in both technique and subject matter. Wood has been primarily used for furniture and religious objects, and thus not so much for creating Buddha statues.

Hence, woodcarvers have sought their inspiration primarily in nature and mythology since these subjects are typically free of the restrictive rules of iconography.

Often, woodcarvers employ a composite technique allowing them to carve parts of a large work separately and assemble them later. Thus, the artwork appears spontaneous, flowing and effortless – paralleling the creativity of nature.

In tropical countries like Thailand, wood is an abundant material that is also considered to have a kind of spiritual quality. Trees are considered to house spirits and among these spirits the most well-known to Thai people are Phra Sai (the spirit of the banyan tree) and Phra Sri Pho (the spirit of the pipal tree). These spirits are frequently mentioned in Thai literature and are included in the group of heavenly spirits.

The other two famous spirits are Nang

@thephuketnews

A Thai carver working on the image of a dragon. Photo: Steve Evans

A superbly detailed image of the mythical Garuda. Photo: Keng CH Tani, the female spirit of the banana tree, and Nan Takian, the female spirit of the hopea tree. Nevertheless, teak is much preferred to other woods because it is easy to carve and relatively resistant to the elements and insects.

The earliest Thai woodcarving pieces still existing date from the 16th century.

The high point of this Thai art form is found in images of lesser religious figures which date from the late Ayutthaya period – the 17th to early 18th century. For instance, the collection of the National Museum in Bangkok includes such fine pieces like the mythical dancer and celestial swan Kinnari.

A large relief featuring people and temples. Photo: Noongsaao Kinnari is a symbol of feminine beauty, grace and cultural accomplishment. The Kinnari statue at the National Museum in Bangkok is 110 centimetres high and dates from the late Ayutthaya period.

In fact, there had been a rich tradition of woodcarving in Thailand over prior centuries, most likely passed down through Hindu traditions from India. However, earlier works, made before the 17th century, have not survived due to the impermanence of wooden material. Nonetheless, this amazing tradition of workmanship continued into the early Bangkok period.

Even today, woodcarving is a prominent and popular art form in Thailand.

The finest wood sculptures are closely associated with architecture, animals being a favourite subject. You can buy objects carved from wood at special markets like the cultural and craftsman’s market in Chiang Mai as well as at antique and dedicated wooden furniture shops across Thailand.

There is also a new family-owned museum named Woodland Muang Mai in Nakhom Pathom province. Its exhibition is about a fantasy land and features talking animatronic “Grandfather Teak” who relates the story of the woodmen to visitors as they view the thousands of elaborate woodcarvings in the museum. These sculptures come from a collection owned

by Narong Thewphaingarm and his father.

There are three areas in the exhibition: firstly, the Story of Woodland, with over 5,000 wooden objects, secondly, Woodland Village where you find restaurants and souvenir shops, and thirdly, the Resort, which is the former residence of the owner’s family.

The family’s choice to start their collection and create their museum is a testament to the long-standing and revered tradition of Thai woodcarving. It is a very elaborate, detailed and sublimely beautiful craft that requires a master craftsman with skill and experience.

To read the original story, and many more, be sure to check out Sirinya’s blog: sirinyas thailand.de

22 ISLAND SCENE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

From left: Tommy, Harry and Siam.

IRISH TIMES TAPS TOP VINTAGE

From left: Ronnie, Conor and ‘PK’.

More than 30 local hospitality professionals had a first look – and taste – of the latest offering from Irish Times and MBS Thailand last Thursday (Feb 16), with the unveiling of premium ‘Wine on Tap’, which is taking Europe by storm and now available in Thailand.

Staff keeping love in the picture.

LET THE LOVE SHINE ON Love was in the air at the Centara Grand Beach Resort Karon for Valentine’s Day, with staff, management and guests all enjoying the special day with romantic meals and bunting aplenty.

Top management in heart-felt red for Valentine’s Day.

A happy day doing the right thing.

The future in children’s hands.

GECKO KIDS, MARRIOTT TAKE TO THE SANDS Children from Gecko Nursery School in Thalang recently joined forces with staff from the Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Nai Yang Beach to clean Nai Yang Beach. It was the fifth beach cleanup organised by Gecko Nursery School this school year and the third supported by Marriott. After the cleanup the kids enjoyed snacks and drinks provided by Marriott directly on the beach.

Cleanup champ.

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

ISLAND SCENE 23

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Khun Win (right) and family.

Khun Goh (right) gives the event a thumbs-up.

RUNNERS STEP UP FOR A WORTHY CAUSE

Class Act Media GM Jason Beavan (right) receives a participation award from Gen Montri Sankhasap, advisor to the Sirindhorn Special Task Unit (SSTU).

Hundreds of runners, walkers and people just wanting to join a worthy cause turned out for a great morning last Sunday (Feb 19), for the 5th Run for Health Run for Charity run organised by Phuket International Hospital. People of all ages, shapes and sizes took part, creating a positive community spirit and genuine sense of fun and well-being.

From left: Ms Phanwara, Ms Anchisa, Managing Director Mrs Supaporn, Mrs Kanokkorn and her husband.

KATA SEA BREEZE TURNS ‘SWEET 16’

Cake by the ocean made the day.

The Kata Sea Breeze Resort marked its 16th anniversary on Feb 14 with a cake-cutting ceremony attended by staff and management, led by Managing Director Supaporn Phatharaworanee and her three daughters Kanokkorn, Anchisa and Phanwara. The resort turned ‘Sweet 16’ on Feb 13, and combined its celebrations with hotel guests with Valentine’s Day celebrations the next day.

From left: Able, Pen and Ilse show what bright smiles are all about.

Lovely ladies contributing to a lovely cause.

PIWC LUNCHEON DIGS IN TO BRING CHILDREN LIFE OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS The Phuket International Women’s Club (PIWC) held their February luncheon at the SKYE Lake Club in Boat Avenue, Cherng Talay, last Thursday (Feb 16). The ladies looked great, the food was great, the ambience was great – and all proceeds from monthly luncheons go towards funding PIWC Scholarship Awards for children in need. @thephuketnews

24 EVENTS

FRI

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM pork or leg of lamb served with roast and boiled potatoes, three fresh vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Only B350 per person which includes a free glass of house red or white. Opposite Centara Karon Resort. See: otools-phuket.com

24 FEB

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

of the Andaman Sea with complimentary access to the resort swimming pool. Starting from THB 990++ per person. Reservations, Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort, metzos@outrigger.co.th 076 360 600.

Thai Seafood and Meat BBQ

ALL YOU CAN EAT BBQ RIBS

Come join us for our WEEKLY BBQ EVERY FRIDAY served ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT at Two Chefs Kata Center, Karon, Kata Beach and Patong. Indulge in All You Can Eat BBQ Pork Ribs, Chicken and Sides for ONLY 395 BAHT! Our BBQ is famous at Two Chefs! Come try us out and enjoy our mouthwatering pork ribs, flavor-bursting chicken and more! Join us for Live Music from 8-Late Performed by Our Famous Two Chefs Band! Come for the FOOD - Stay for the FUN at Two Chefs!!! www.twochefs. com Kata Beach 076-333-370 Kata Center 076-330-065 Karon 076-286-479 Patong 076-344-914.

THB 999.-++ @Lobby Terrace (Weather permiting) from 19:00 – 22:00 hrs. The most amazing and delicious BBQ at Kata Beach Join us for this culinary extravaganza where ‘Authentic’ Thai dishes (and some western items)are served ‘buffet’ style. Our Chef will arrange truly 100% fresh seafood from our fisherman and also prime meats for this special event… We are very confident you will love this event. Reservations, Nook Dee - Kata Beach 076 688 888.

SAT

25 FEB

Sunday Fun Brunch

Phuket’s most popular brunch experience.

Seafood, live station, entertainment, kid’s corner and massage corner. From 1,650++ THB. 12.00 - 15.30. Reservation: info@xanabeachclub.com 076 358 500.

All you can eat Sunday Roast Buffet

Beef, Pork & Lamb – Cauliflower, Broccoli, Peas, Carrots, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes – Yorkshire pudding – roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes – gravy, mushroom sauce, mint sauce. Reservation recommended 350 baht P.P., shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

ABBA Night

Pool Competition at Expat Sports Bar

The competition at 9pm - Expat Sports Bar at the Expat Hotel Soi Taipan Patong. See map at www.expathotel.com

Don’t miss out on Feb 25th 2017 at Two Chefs Kata Center for a memorable evening! Our Famous House Band will be performing all of your favorite ABBA songs from 9pm until late. Enjoy mouthwatering dishes, food and fun all night long! RESERVE Now: Kata Center 076-330-065 www.twochefs.com

Go Live Sunday Seafood Brunch

Sunday Roast All Day All Night

Mussels night @ Shakers

1.2kg mussels served with french fries, your choice, your style: nature, marnière, provençale, garlic & cream or Thai style.

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

Live Sports at Expat Hotel

NRL,AFL,Soccer,RugbyUnion.Anylivesport, wewillshowit.ExpatHotel,SoiTaipan,Patong. www.expatsportsbar.com

SUN

26 FEB

Friday is Wine & Tapas night at Cape Sienna Hotel Kamala

All you can eat Tapas with one bottle of Regular White or Red: Baht 1,490 net per person. Premium White, Red, Rose and Bubbly: Baht 1,790 net per person. Tapas starts: 19:00 – 22:00. Located Vanilla Sky Bar, Cape Sienna Hotel, Kamala. 076 337 300.

Come enjoy a Traditional Sunday Roast EVERY SUNDAY at Two Chefs Kata Beach, Kata Center, Karon and Patong! Indulge ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT for 395 Baht!

Enjoy a Large ALL YOU CAN EAT selection of your favorites! Featuring: Roast Aussie Beef, Pork Loin and Chicken. Roasted or Mashed Potatoes. Roasted Mixed Vegetables Flavored with Thyme and Garlic. Yorkshire Pudding and Red Wine Gravy. Enjoy Live Music from 8-Late Performed by Our Famous Two Chefs Band! Come for the FOOD - Stay for the FUN! www.twochefs. com Kata Beach 076-333-370 Kata Center 076-330-065 Karon 076-286-479 Patong 076-344-914.

Mediterranean Sunday Brunch at Metzo’s

Traditional Sunday Roast Angus O’Tool’s Karon Beach

Lunch or dinner served from 2pm. Your choice of either roast beef, chicken, loin of

Feast to your heart’s content on our Mediterranean menu of mezze and tapas served family style at your table, live cooking station, kids’ corner and dessert buffet. After brunch, why not relax and take in the view

The Banyan Tree Seafood Brunch experience returns with a generous selection of live fresh, local and imported seafood with exception Lobster dished, Japanese starters, mouth-watering meats, Asia wok and Western grill treats. Gourmet cuisine, exceptional service, Live Jazz and tranquil surroundings, The Banyan Tree has something for everyone! Every Sunday 12.00-15.30, price start from 2,800net per person.Reservations, Banyan Tree Phuket, fb-phuket@banyantree.com 076 372 400.

MON

27 FEB

All you can eat BBQ night

6PM – 11PM: Beef, Pork, Chicken, Burgers, Sausages, Prawns & Squids, salad buffet, Choice of potatoes and sauces, bread, buns and garlic bread. Reservation recommended. 395 baht P.P. shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

WED

1 MAR

MON

EVENTS 25 6 MAR

SUN

19 MAR

Dine 4 Pay 3 Oriental Buffet Dinner Extravaganza

Embark on a journey to the four corners of Asia and enjoy a lavish array of Thai, Chinese, Japanese and other Oriental recipes.

Develop your taste buds and experience new flavours; ranging from spicy curries to barbecued meats and local noodle plates, while watching our Chefs work their magic in the lively kitchen every Wednesday from 18:00 – 22:00 for THB 999 per person at Bubbles Restaurant, Grand Mercure Phuket Patong Resort & Villas.

Reservations, Bubbles Restaurant, Grand Mercure Phuket Patong Resort & Villas, h8109@accor.com 076 231 999.

Supersports 10 Mile International Run

Ride 4 Kids

Hua Hin to Phuket, 835 KMS in 6 Days. 3 charities, 1 mission. Donations accepted at www.ride4kids.co

THU

9 MAR

Thanyapura Phuket, in cooperation with Supersports, Thailand’s leading sports retailer, will organise the third edition of the Supersports 10 Mile International Run in March 2017, with an expected crowd of over 3,000 runners. This challenging race is open to runners of all ages, featuring four running distances and categories from 500 meters to 10 miles. Register online at thanyapura.com Proudly sponsored by Khao Phuket.

MON

1 APR

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. 350 baht P.P. shakersphuket@ gmail.com 081 891 4381.

FRI

3 MAR

7 Nights 7 Themed Dinners at Rim Talay

Meet & Greet Monthly Coffee

New members are encouraged to join our monthly Meet & Greet Coffee Morning to find out more about our organization. It’s also a great opportunity to chat with a few members in a more casual setting over a cup of coffee. For more information, please contact Joan Watson – imm@loxinfo.co.th or Renate Hirte – hirtefamily@hotmail.com.

10.30 - 12.00 hrs @Starbucks Central Festival.

THU

16 MAR

Pop Up 3 at Latitude with Angsana

On Saturday 1st April, for one night only, 20 of the best restaurants in Phuket will Pop Up at Latitude in Laguna in support of Phuket Has Been Good To Us! For only 2,500 THB try signature dishes from each of the amazing chefs and enjoy all night free flow from our 7 beverage sponsors. The evening will also feature fantastic silent auction prizes, great music, dancing, and more! Don’t miss Phuket’s best foodie event of the year! To book: info@phukethasbeengoodtous.org or 076-278-146 Proudly sponsored by Live89.5.

Laguna Phuket Food & Music Festival 2017

@thephuketnews

Annual General Meeting 2017 & March Luncheon

Annual General Meeting followed by lunch at Le Meridien Beach Resort & Spa in Patong on 16th March 2017. Both functions will be held at Wang Warin restaurant. We will be also electing a committee for the 2017/2018 year. If you would like to join our committee please contact Lyn on e-mail : lyncarthew@hotmail.com. For more information please contact info@piwc-phuket. com. Annual General Meeting starts at 10:00 amRegistration for lunch starts at 11:30 am.

Make each night unique! Enjoy our themed dinners with the cool sea breeze. World of Curries @790 THB++, Thai & International Buffet @790 THB++, Seafood Night @980 THB++, Ribs, Wings & Rings @770 THB++, Butchers Night @market price, Surf & Turf @950 THB++,Thai Seafood Gala @980 THB++.The terms and conditions are subject to change without prior notice. For reservations, email rimtalay@ amari.com or call 076 340106-14 #8027.

La Gritta’s Discovery Menu

EVERY DAY Laguna Phuket Food & Music Festival 2017. Proceeds go to Children First Fund for orphanages in Phuket.

Friday March 3 Pop-up Dinners at Laguna Phuket Hotels Saturday March 4 Food & Music Festival at Canal Village - Free entry and Charity Gala Dinner at Latitude Marquee Sunday March 5 Supper Sunday Brunch at XANA Beach Club. Ticket for Charity Gala Dinner available from Feb 1 at Laguna Phuket Hotel: B3,000/person or B28,000 for table of ten. For tickets and more info please contact Laguna Phuket.

Proudly sponsored by Live 89.5 and Khao Phuket.

makes. Lavazza Coffee, healthy snacks & salads. Find us at the Entrance of The Royal Paradise Complex, Patong. Mon Sat 8.30am - 4.00pm. Facebook: CafeSiamGuesthousePhuket 081 676 9411.

All Day Breakfast at Cafe Siam

Aussie bacon & egg rolls NOW at Cafe Siam. All day breakfast, just like mum

Take your taste buds on a culinary tour through some of the finest Italian flavours.

Chef Patrizia has created a six-course discovery menu consisting of the appetiser, main course and dessert, priced at 1,590 THB++ per person. The terms and conditions are subject to change without prior notice. Reservations, lagritta@amari.com 076 292 697.

26 TIME OUT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Crossword by Myles Mellor & Sally York 1. How many X chromosomes do women have?

2. The National Diet is the parliament in which country?

3. What colour is the middle vertical stripe in the Belgium flag?

4. In which Russian city was Vladimir Putin born?

5. Tennis star Pam Shriver was married for 6 years to which James Bond actor? Answers below, centre

SUDOKU

Across 59. Bristles 1. Petting zoo animal 63. Slave away 7. Some wraps 66. ___ Aquarids 11. “___ Joey” (May meteor 14. Washed-out shower) 15. Birdbrain 67. Rod’s companion 16. Ginger ___ 68. Bryozoan 17. Hard effort 69. Josh 20. Related, in a way 70. Sum, ___, fui 21. “Major” animal 71. Nosy ones 22. Ran through .

23. History chapters Down 25. Linen robes 1. Domed recess 27. Guanabara Bay city 2. Bowling green 30. Be a go-between 3. Nolo contendere, 32. Wax collector e.g.

35. “The Age of ___” 4. “___ Walk” (Frost (science fiction poem) series) 5. Reference maker 38. 1982 Michener 6. Mountain out of a epic molehill 40. Toils as diligently 7. Effluvium as others 8. Wee tree 43. Lose ground?

9. High marks 44. Loafer 10. It replaced CQD 45. Day’s end, in poetry 11. Some scores 46. Back 12. Lily family 49. Old name for Tokyo member 50. Ruler unit 13. Bawdy 51. Vulgarian 18. Nuclear ___ 54. Verve 19. Clear the tables 57. Lake that Canada’s 24. Therewithal Point Pelee 26. Attack National Park is on 27. 100 paisa

28. Accustom (to) 29. Wrinkle-resistant fabric 31. Give extreme unction to 32. High wave 33. Hurt 34. Backwardlooking 36. Antiquity, once 37. Assoc. of nations 39. ___-eyed 41. Cold dessert 42. Big tippler 47. Spectacles 48. Deuce-aces 50. Word with well or blot 52. Willow 53. Pass along 54. Ablutionary vessel 55. French novelist Pierre 56. Burnoose wearer 58. Vacation destination 60. Heavy reading 61. Out there 62. Salamanders 64. Source of iron 65. Pharaoh symbol of power

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s Pop Quiz: 1) Two; 2); Japan; 3) Yellow; 4) Leningrad; 5) George Lazenby

GOT YOUR NUMBER

ISLAND VIEW

This week in history February 24, 1582 Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.

1

February 25, 1932 Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalisation, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.

in four cowboys in the Wild West was black.

52

per cent of Americans cannot afford the house they are currently living in.

5,000

February 26, 1993 A truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York explodes, killing six and injuring over 1,000.

heart transplants take place around the world each year – almost 85% of those patients live at least one year with their new heart.

10,900

February 27, 1870 The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.

steps taken by employees each day at work are less likely to let a bad day at the office spill over into their home.

February 28, 1939 The erroneous word “dord” is discovered in the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation. (The term is defined as “density”.)

2 billion

US dollars are transferred from the US to families in Mexico each month, accounting for almost 3% of the Mexican economy.

Source: Uberfacts

March 1, 752 BC Romulus, legendary first king of Rome, celebrates the first Roman triumph after his victory over the Caeninenses.

Longtails before the storm at Koh Bon. Photo by Paola Vignati Got an unusual or particularly beautiful picture of Phuket?

Email it to execeditor@classactmedia.co.th

March 2, 1962 In Myanmar (then Burma), the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d’état.

Source: Wikipedia thephuketnews

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Jobs

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Trades & Services

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ADVERTISING SERVICES

CLEANING SERVICES

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

EDUCATION

FISHING SERVICE

HOME IMPROVEMENT

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MOVING SERVICES

OTHER

STORAGE Reserve Your Storage Space

Call 076 29 29 09

or visit mystorageasia.com

 Sizes to Suit all Budgets  Personal & Business Storage  Motorcycle Storage  Left Luggage Service  We Sell Boxes  Storage Insurance Inclusive

Secure, Clean & Cost Effective Self Storage Jungceylon Shopping Center, Patong, Phuket

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ADVERTISE HERE

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LOST & FOUND Missing Person

Martin Perter Ingram (son of Roy Percival Ingram). Last known of in Thailand in 2010. Any person with knowledge of the current whereabouts of Mr Ingram is request to contact Title Research in the UK (info@titleresearch. com) or our local agent Spectrum Asia (02 626 0250).

ACTIVITIES, GROUPS Sign up today for a discount code

The new website for Tiya’s hammocks is ready! Visit now at: native-habitat.com and subscribe for a discount code to use for online shopping. Tiya: hammockphuket@yahoo.com 076 631 841.

BOATS, YACHTS FOR SALE 3-engine speedboat for sale

3-engine speedboat, Length 13.5m., width 3.4m. Capacity 45 pax + 3 crew. Front seats. Good condition. Incl 3 Honda engines. B1,800,000. Vladimir 084 182 8685.

Long Tail Boat For Sale

Ready to go “Long Tail Boat” with or Without Captain (Thai) Get special price, please call 085 781 9167 (English) Bangtao Beach, Phuket, B275,000, giorgionaef@aol.com 085 781 9167.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

MEMBERSHIPS

Looking for investor / partner Loch Palm Golf Membership Boating deal of the year: Looking for investor / partnership for Patong beach front Lifetime Loch Palm Golf membership for sale. ฿485,000, 7.5m baht (reduced location to start with Japanese and Indian restaurant. the Loch Palm transfer fee of ฿72,000 will be shared from 10m baht)

Due to serious health reasons, the owner must part with his beloved 80’ tour boat. New wiring throughout, power outlets, transformer and voltage meters. New upholstery throughout bar and entertainment area. Engines & generator fully reconditioned & serviced. All maintained to European standards. Ideal boat for quality day trip business. beachsando1@gmail.com 080 695 3933.

Steel boat for sale

32 metre steel boat for sale. Built 2012, 2 x Cummings engines, 10hrs work only. International REG. Excellent for live-aboard or ferry. Price 6MB. Contact: call Joe 087 8918912 or email joe@similan-divers.com

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Beauty Salon with Equipment

For Sale, Nai Harn Beauty Salon with Equipment & lease, B290,000. Salon Equipment replacement cost is more than B300,000. All equipment shown as new. Must view to see excellent opportunity to purchase Salon for extremely good price in prime location. Call Nok for details 098 017 8818.

Narin, narinpga@gmail.com 081 826 9390.

CAR FOR SALE Nissan Teana Sport Series 250

One owner, September 2010, only Km. 45,850. Excellent conditions, truly remarkable engine, looking new, parked indoor, regularly serviced, never a problem. Please call for a view and a road test. 690,000, gfq46@mac.com 081 978 6800.

Nissan Juke 2014

Sporty, compact car, one lady owner.

1.6 with 3 drive modes, sport, normal or eco. Keyless push button start, rear view camera, leather interior in red and black. Bluetooth and wifi capable stereo with hands free. Serviced by Nissan. THB600,000 or near offer.

Call 081 270 2180 (ENG).

Convertible

Mercedes CLK 200 Cabriolet W-209 Brabus Package - seat 4. Excellent condition and fun to drive. 37,400km.

1,199,000 Bht. Eng - Thai 094 695 3536 / 063 992 3226.

Restaurant set up for sale

A fully equipped restaurant in the highly sought after Boat Avenue mall in Laguna.

Stainless steel kitchen, Wi-Fi, bar counter, service area. Ready to go in days. Email: jukeboxphuket@gmail.com 081 090 1608.

Price reduced for quick sale

Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8G VVTI

2013 - 35,000km - Automatic White - CD Radio, Air-con, Alloys Excellent Condition, Only used for school runs. 525,000, Duang, Royal Phuket Marina, gavinmullins@hotmail.com 083 093 9724. le

Honda Jazz 2009 1500cc t sa No, not a bar or guesthouse, but a manufacge n r turing business for wooden window blinds. U Auto 57,000km. One owner since new.

All the machinery and inventory of parts to be up and running in a matter of days. A very Regularly serviced by Honda. Tax and successful business in Phuket for over eight Insurance until the end of June and available now at right years. Price reduced to 2 mil Baht. Owner will partially offer. Reduced by 40,000 bht, REDUCED to 330,000bht o.n.o, Andy +66846909144, andysmalster@gmail.com finance. lamsden@phuketemail.com 081 487 4812. @thephuketnews

equally between the buyer and seller. Contact J. Trenton Early, jtrenton.early@gmail.com

Life Time Family Membership

Blue Canyon: 750,000 THB includes 140,000 transfer fee.

Loch Palms: 425,000 THB includes 72,000 transfer fee.

Tanita, 094 695 3536 / 063 992 3226.

MOVING SERVICES Looking for a Moving Company?

With over 15 years of experience Bigmove Phuket is the number 1 provider of moving and shipping in and out of Phuket Thailand. We provide storage in a state of the art clean, secure, storage facility located centrally in Phuket. www.bigmovephuket.com 081 797 5377.

PETS, BOARDING A pure breed, male Doberman

A pure breed, male Doberman, 4 1/2 years old, from Germany imported parents from a German breeder ( NO backyard dog breeder!!! ) is, due serious medical condition of its owner, available for free. The new owner must have space and time for this highly intelligent dog.

If you never had a dog before, this is not a dog for you.

Serious interested people call: 084 713 3707.

REAL ESTATE SERVICES Phuket real estate tour

Real estate investment tours are specially designed to help you to achieve your investment goals with the right property in the right location. You will get advice on the multitude of lucrative investment opportunities in Phuket. md@tourasian.com 080 826 4665.

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WEBSITES, IT For Sale: hoteldealsphuket.com

PHD has 125,000 pages indexed in Google and an average of 22,000 page views per month! See stats image. Also see the selling points on the link below. Quick sale: 33.000B!, Mark, mr.m.hopkins@gmail.com

PROPERTY FOR SALE Condominium for sale

Freehold 32.5 Sq.M. Studio type.

Price 3.6MB. Swimming pool on roof. Absolute Bangla Suites. Bruno, brunomeier1945@hotmail.com

Property for sale

Large building near airport and sea view land near Bang Pae Waterfall for sale or lease. Any reasonable offers accepted. Lana, Lana.phuket@gmail.com 080 271 6484.

Land near By Pass road

4 Rai 3 Ngan 45.1 Sq.wah (1,945.10 Sq.wah)near Bypass Rd., easy to go to the downtown or Airport. On the main road, suitable for developments such as Townhome, Hotel ect. Sarinthorn, phuket@plus.co.th 076 681 188 or 084 555 3178.

House for sale

Private pool villa with lovely garden half a rai. Quite and safe area. 3 bedroom 2 bathroom open kitchen. 160 m2 Situated in Ban Pahra. 12 minutes to PIA, Phuket Airport, Nay Yang beach, and Blue Canyon Golf course. 2 min to Mission Hill Golf course. 7.5 million baht, bergsstigen@telia.com 090 701 4204.

Penthouse for quick sale

265 sqm, sea and mountain view in Kamala. Foreign freehold. Reduced to 9.9mn, fully furnished!! info@sunny-property.com 083 105 2707.

Foreign freehold corner unit

76 sqm, sea and mountain view in Patong Tower, Patong. Reduced to 8.8mn. Special deal with car, info@ sunny-property.com 083 105 2707.

Condominium for sale

Foreign Freehold 150 SQM Huge Ground Floor 2 Bed, 2 Bath condo. 150m to Nai Harn Beach. 7.7M THB. Owner, paulover@hotmail.com 089 875 4173.

House for sale

Rawai Samki 3 with Chonote. 2 Bed, 2 Bath, big living room, 1 storage, 1 laundry. House 160 sqm, land 280 sqm. 3MB. rico9963@hotmail.com 083 640 9041.

PROPERTY FOR SALE New Sea View Villa

Premium villa 8B in the prestiques Sunrise Ocean Villas development is now for sale.

Being built on the highest point in the estate, only 80 meter from the ocean and located 3 mins away from Grand Ao Po Marina, 10 mins from golf course, 20 mins from the airport, shopping centers, schools and hospitals, this villa is a perfect place to live with no traffic, no polution and no mass tourism.

Over 600 Sqm usable building area, 3 bedrooms, guest apartment, maid quater, games room, 10 metre infinity swimming pool, roof terrace and breath taking views. Can be ready to move in within 8 weeks and still can be customized to the wishes of new owner. For sale at only 27.9 mill baht.

For viewing or more information please contact our sales director, Khun Montha on: 081 343 0777 or email: montha_phuket@yahoo.com

Beautiful Land in Rawai For Sale

Beautiful mountain view with option of sea view land of 742m2 for sale in Rawai with chanote title. For more information contact 085 790 2021.

Kay McDonnell

I have a number of FIRE SALE PROPERTIES from 1.5 MTB to 47MTB. Condos/Houses/Villas Please contact me if you are looking for bargains in the south of the island.080 124 1245, kay@pare.com

COMMUNITY

House for sale

Good location in Chalong area. 3 Bedroom 2 Bathroom, 200 sqm.

House on 800 sqm plot. Including furniture, 084 745 5546.

Pool Villa Mission Heights

Villa with salt pool, 330sqm, 3 bed, 3.5 bath, 900sqm chanote, owner finance, near mission hill golf 2km. 6km PIA, 8km airport. Call 087 060 8400. B16.9 million. Charly, Mission Heights, picharly@gmail.com

Apartment

1.65mill. 60qm 2bed 2bath + 30qm balcony, liv-kitchen, 3 a/c, quality doors/wind., Dream Village near mission hill golf, tel: 087 383 8709. thephuketnews

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Buy&Sell

PROPERTY FOR SALE HERE IS THE FUTURE. 17 RAI FOR SALE

Between Kok Loi and Thai Muang, 38 km from the airport, we are selling a beautiful peice of land with 2 new houses. A perfect place for artists or a sport resort.

The land is more than 17 Rai, full of old trees, with a big private lake and located directly behind the river. Chanote title. With a canoe it takes 20 min to paddle to the sea.

A great opportunity for a fair price. Price 9.5M, Yupin, residler@gmail.com 081 817 4805 Thai, Eng, Deutsch.

Land for sale in Saku - Phuket

1 to 5 Rai. Chanote. 10 mins south to the airport. Nice quiet location near Naiyang - Naithon Beach. Fixed price only 2.6Mil Baht per Rai. Kanchana, kanchanajit09@gmail.com 087 076 6016.

Outstanding Beach Front Pool Villa

A rare opportunity to purchase a 4 bedroom beachfront villa in a 5* resort at The Village Coconut Island.

A “snip” at 22m THB. Somjit, aadmo@btinternet.com 081 979 1945.

Prime Land near Natai Beach

13 Rai. Prime flat land, Full Chanote. 5 mins to beautiful Natai Beach, 5 mins to Khok Kloi, 20 mins from Phuket Airport. Close to temples, beach & mountain views, perfect for large property or subdivide for development.

B13,500,000, Antoine (Thai & English), 081 979 9307 dannyred@hotmail.com

House for Sale

3 bed, 2 bath, living/dining, Farang & Thai kitchens. Back/both sides under cover. Water fall/relax area.

BBQ area under cover/car port. 4 aircons/7 fans. Very private, close to all services, 500 meters from Heroines Monument. B4.9 mil. o.n.o. Contact Randy. randyalltime@gmail.com

LAND NEAR WATERFALL FOR SALE

Beautiful, gently sloping land for sale near Bang Pae waterfall. Good road, 3-phase power. NS3 paper (upgrade applied for). 7 rai, B4m/rai. 087 884 9964 (En) or 087 272 5594 (Th). alasdair.phuket@gmail.com

Ten Room Villa for sale

With 5 Rai land. 5 sleeping rooms, 5 bathrooms, 5 balconies, 2 kitchens, big living room, play room, lobby, car port. Hillside Maikhao Beach sunset seaview. Asking price 24 MB. julius_schuster2001@ yahoo.de 087 267 1192. @thephuketnews

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

PROPERTY FOR SALE Apartment Country Golf Club House

One room with kitchen in main house Country Club. 6th floor with balcony 75sqm. Membership in Country Club included. Price 3.3 Million THB. Contact pzw@gmx.at Per Dompert, 086 043 4315 (English and German)

House for Sale

House at Land and House for sale. 2-storey with 3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, balcony, jacuzzi, library, laundry. Near kids’ playground, two swimming pools, sauna, gym. Enough land to build a second house on the same plot. Ekaterina Oseledets, 095 861 7571.

Land For Sale

Land for sale. Anuphas Golf Ville, Kathu. 81 sq wah. Golf course view of Phuket CC. Quiet village, convenient location. E-mail for details Contact David, d1jarvis@hotmail.com

PROPERTY FOR RENT Amazing 5 Bed/Bath Villa Rawai

Stunning 5 Bed Pool Villa quiet and private location. Quality furn and fully equipped. Beautiful lounge/kitchen, very spacious with great pool. 900000, bricothailand@ hotmail.com 081 271 7092.

Central Patong Condo for rent

1 bedroom fully furnished ground floor apartment 65 s.q.m. central Patong.

For rent long or short term. For more details email ianscondo21@gmail.com

House for rent.

Nr Wat Chalong

3 Bed/4 baths house in quiet estate.

Available from April 1st to Oct 31st. email me or phone me, Paul, for photos and full details. 25,000 pcm, PAUL WHITTALL, Phuket Private Lagoon, Chao Faa West Road, Chalong, pwhittall@aol.com 093 793 4258.

Karon Beach House for rent

96 sqm. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 40 sqm. living room. Long lease only, B18,000, Narumon, naruchai@gmx.de 082 576 6162.

House For sale or rent Baan Manik (Cherngtalay)

Attractive 3 bed, 2 bathroom detached house for sale or rent. Set in quiet surroundings but with easy access to Laguna, Boat avenue, PIA, airport, Surin, Bangtao and Layan beaches. The property boasts many additional features including, Auto-gate, Western-styled kitchen, security system, natural stone floors, imported ceiling fans, 12volt LED Garden Lighting and air-con throughout.

Asking B4.5 Million Negotiable Rent 25K Per Month Fully furnished or 20K per month unfurnished. 081 9686 051.

PROPERTY FOR RENT PRIME LAND+BLDG @CHALONG PIER

Seaview Building with land 50m to Chalong Pier for Rent/Long Term Lease.

1.5Rai+bldg. Ideal for Hotel, Community Mall, Restaurants. Wirote, 081 931 5189.

Vassana Residence. Rawai

Fully furnished 2 Bedroom 2 Bathroom. WiFi and cable TV included in price. 160sqm in size. Jacuzzi in each apartment. BBQ area on the roof. Contact vassana.residence@gmail.com Rawai / NaiHarn, Eng.087 882 9604.

Kata Western Apartment

1 and 2 115sqm furnished apartments, full kitchen, huge covered terraces, mountain and seaview.

1 month minimum, 1 year lease starting B20,000/month. gordy240@hotmail.com 084 840 1262.

Office/Shop for Rent

Ground Floor space with excellent positioning on Chalong Pier Road.

For more information, please call 081 416 4177 or 076 381 341.

Two condos for sale/rent

2 condos for sale 48 sqm. - sale price $60,000 (developer’s price $116,000) & 54.5 sqm. - sale price $70,000 (developer’s price $128,000). Fully furnished, near Central, Big C, BIS, Lotus, hospitals, schools. Communal pool and gym. Short & long time rent available: 48 sqm – THB 10,000-15,000 per month; 54.5 sqm – THB 15,000-20,000 per month + electricity & water. Ekaterina Oseledets, 095 861 7571.

ROOM FOR RENT

Room for rent in attractive house Baan Manik (not far from Anthem wakeboard park). Convenient location for access to Laguna, Boat avenue, Airport and PIA. House is equipped with, Air-con, Internet, Expat-TV, foreign kitchen, washing machine, fridge etc. 8,000 Baht PCM + Share of Bills. Please email bluebeyond@me.com or call 081 968 6051 for a viewing.

Kamala Villa for rent

5 Bedrooms Villa available for long term, normally 10,000 Baht Nightly price Long lease 70,000 Baht monthly for 1 year minimum, Include pool, garden, courtyard maintenance. Suitable for large or two families.

Wanphen, kamalagym2@gmail.com 080 697 7729.

Villas & Apts Rent-Chalong

2- and 3-bedroom pool villas, 2-bedroom townhouses & studio apartments.

Special prices from 700/night or 8,000/ month. Rates include WiFi, maid service, cable TV, furnishings. Great location near Big Buddha. info@chalongapartment.com, 086 282 6221, www.chalongapartment.com

34 PROPERTY

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FRIDAY,FEBRUARY 24, 2017

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AFFORDABLE POOL VILLA, Kamala 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 170 sqm

4,995,000 THB

This property is exceptionally well priced, located in a desirable location with easy access to shops, restaurants and other amenities, quietly situated in a gated community,

WELL PRICED MOUNTAIN VIEW APARTMENT, Kamala 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 210 sqm

With stylish interior and large outdoor space, this leasehold condo is nestled on a hill surrounded by greenery. Less than 5 minutes to the shops and restaurants of Kamala and 15 minutes to Patong.

Refurbished 2-bedroom apartment in walking distance to the beach.

Corner unit maximizing privacy. Good common area facilities

4,900,000 THB

with 2 common pools and 2 fitness rooms.

LEASEHOLD LAKE VIEW CONDO, LAYAN 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 117 sqm

This leasehold 2-bedroom offers a spacious terrace, open and bright. The colonial style development is very well maintained with lots of greenery, swimming pool, kid’s pool and outdoor seating areas. Must-see development.

6,500,000 THB

B e in st Su Va rin lue

7,000,000 THB

FREEHOLD CONDO 800M FROM KAMALA BEACH, Kamala

2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 99.9 sqm

2 BEDROOM CONDO 500 METERS FROM THE BEACH, Karon 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 112 sqm

Studio, 1 bathroom, 27 sqm

Priced nearly 35% lower than other units, a motivated seller has 4 units on offer in this newly completed development. Beautiful communal rooftop with gym and views over Bang Tao.

2,700,000 THB

R e Pr duc ic ed e

12,500,000 THB

Situated hillside in Karon with beautiful sunset views across the beach. Good common area facilities. Serviced apartments in well managed estate

FREEHOLD CONDO, Surin

FREEHOLD STUDIO WITH SEA VIEW, Patong Studio, 1 bathroom, 38.4 sqm

3,900,000 THB

Located in Patong with it’s a wide array of local and international eateries. Stunning view over the city and ocean.

Excellent common areas facilities.

LAND PLOT WITH SEA VIEW Nor Sor 3 Gor Title, 767 Sqm

A prime piece of land situated on the hillside overlooking Kamala bay.

Reasonably flat land with sealed driveway access and power onsite.

5,900,000 THB

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PROPERTY 35

Call us today to schedule a viewing or visit Thailand’s leading online marketplace to seach 1,000s of properties in Phuket and all other major locations across Thailand - go to FazWaz.com

LUXURY 3 BEDROOM VILLA WITH DIRECT BEACH ACCESS Bang Tao

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 167 sqm

14,000,000 THB

A luxury beach front estate set around a 20 meter private swimming pool and a large patio with garden view. Also conveniently located near international restaurants and a 5 minute drive to Laem Singh and Surin Beach.

5 BEDROOM POOL VILLA WITH VAST MOUNTAIN VIEW, Rawai 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 800 sqm

15,499,000 THB

A 3 - story villa with spectacular panoramic view that will give you 800 sqm of generous space amongst lush vegetation.

STUNNING VILLA SURROUNDED BY LUSH PLANTATION, Kamala 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 750 spm

This exquisite 6 bedroom pool villa with large indoor and outdoor living spaces even features a games room. Located in a peaceful

15,000,000 THB

neighbourhood with easy access to local eateries and shops.

IMPRESSIVE SEA VIEW APARTMENT, Ao Po 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 110 sqm

Situated in a quiet 32 apartment complex. Large terrace with a spectacular sea view with surrounding islands as a calming

7,500,000 THB

backdrop. Well-managed estate.

FREEHOLD 3-BED DUPLEX, Bang Tao 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 232.8 sqm

2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 129 sqm

A stunning and modern 2 bedroom condo overlooking Kalim

freehold title. Great location by between main shopping amenities and

Bay with easy commute to Patong and Kamala. Great onsite facilities,

Bang Tao Beach with the new Catch Beach Club a few minutes away.

including a restaurant and shuttle bus services.

10,000,000 THB

R e Pr duc ic ed e

9,800,000 THB

Unique opportunity to own a townhouse style condominium under a

SPACIOUS PANORAMIC SEA VIEW CONDOMINIUM, Kalim

LAKEFRONT VILLA IN GREAT CONDITION, Laguna 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 490 sqm

35,000,000 THB

Situated on a lakefront corner plot of 1200 sqm, this classic Laguna has recently undergone full cosmetic repair. Terrific location near Boat Avenue and the Bang Tao Bay. Must-See property!

@thephuketnews

WELL MAINTAINED POOL VILLA , Nai Harn 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 210 sqm Well-appointed villa in a gated community. Ideal location near shops and restaurants and a 5 minute drive from Nai Harn Beach.

Good potential for a high rental return.

7,400,000 THB

36 SPORT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

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Satun Utd

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Pattani FC

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Phatthalung FC

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Thai League 4 results Saturday Feb 18 Satun United

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Hatyai FC

Pattani FC

1-1

Yala United

Sunday Feb 19 Sungaipadee FC

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Chumpon FC

2-1

Suratthani City FC

Dragon romp to 0-5 win in first game of season FOOTBALL Matt Pond

P

huket FC opened their 2017 Thai League 4 campaign last Sunday afternoon (Feb 19) and walked away with a 0-5 win away from home against Sungaipadee FC. Goals scorers for the Andaman Dragon were Nattapoom Maya (7) with a hat-trick, Yannick Touguessong (29) and Pisake Sunthornwat (2) with a goal apiece.

The result means the Andaman Dragon sit at the top of the table on goal difference, for the time being anyway.

Phuket FC play their first home game of the season tomorrow (Feb 25) against Yala United with kick-off set for 6pm. Admission price is currently unknown.

Phuket FC’s Nattapoom Maya opened the season with a hat-trick in the team’s away game to Sungaipadee FC last Sunday. Photo: Hari Jib/Phuket FC

Nearly 2,000 athletes Wet Dream and Dirty Nellies win join ‘Run for Health’ big, but 1Bar say top of league ATHLETICS

OV ER 1,800 RU N N ERS from near and far participated in the 5th edition of the Run for Health Run for Charity Mini-Marathon last Sunday (Feb 19), all vying for trophies from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

The mini-marathon has become more and more popular among sports enthusiasts, stirring a buzz in Phuket and beyond.

In order to carry on with the mini-marathon and make it increasing well-known, Phuket International Hospital joined up with several local organisations to host the event, including Phuket City Municipality, Vichit Municipality, Phuket Provincial Police, Vichit Police Station, Rotary Club of Jungceylon, Old Phuket Foundation, Pearl

POOL

The course took runners through the scenic Phuket Old Town in the early hours of last Sunday morning. of the Andaman Running Club, Radio Amateur Society, Civil Defence Volunteers of Phuket, and Kusoldharm Foundation.

This year’s royal-trophy winners were Mr Warut Suwancheep and Ms Wilaiwan Khampitak, who won in the overall category – male and female respectively. Both are athletes from the Andara Sports Club, which also ran away with a team trophy for the biggest number of runners (94 runners).

WET DREAMS SPORTS Bar and Dirty Nellies both walked away with big wins in last Thursday’s (Feb 16) Patong Pool League action, but it’s still 1Bar who sit top of the table with a nine point lead over closest rivals Ting Tong Bar. It was Simon and Oils and Martin Swiss Guesthouse who were on the receiving end of Wet Dream’s and Dirty Nellies’ victories going down 9-2 and 2-9 respectively. The win for Dirty Nellies moved them up one place in the table to 5th on 60 points, while Wet Dreams stayed at 4th on 63.

1Bar remained top of the table on 79 points following a 4-7 win away from home against Green Mango, who dropped down one place to

Peter from Cool Hand Lukes smacks one in the pocket.

11th on 41 points.

Ting Tong Bar lost ground on 1Bar following a narrow 6-5 defeat away to Cool Hand Lukes, but they will be hoping they can pick up points this week when they Play Queen of Hearts who dropped down one place in the league as they only managed a narrow 6-5 win over bottom of the table Happy End Bar in last week’s action.

Elsewhere last week, Genius Bar walked away with a 6-5 win over Champs Bar and Caddyshack lost 5-6 at home to San Sabai Sports Bar.

League Standings 1Bar

79

Ting Tong

70

Cool Hand Lukes

64

Run #1621: Saturday

Wet Dreams

63

February 25

Dirty Nellies

60

Run Start Time: 4pm

Queen of Hearts

59

Hares: No Hope, Singha

Genius

59

Location: Ban Lipon

Martin Swiss

55

Caddyshack

52

San Sabai

48

Champs

45

Directions: Head North of Heroines for approx 3.7 kilometres and turn right at the first set of traffic lights (no sign). Head East for approx 1.4km then turn right at HHH sign. Drive through the village for approx. 1.6km and take the tight turn to the left at HHH sign. Follow the road for approx 1km and then turn right onto the track under the pylons with HHH sign. Please park to one side of the track or the road as heavy vehicles require access. HHH truck will be marked approx. 200 metres up the track.

Green Mango

41

Simon & Oils

37

Happy End Bar

37

BISP parents, teachers duathlon 4 kids DUATHLON LAST THURSDAY (FEB 16), 30 parents and teachers took part in a fun duathlon at the British International School, Phuket, organised by parents and the BIS flying fish swim club to raise funds for Ride 4 Kids.

Participants, both individuals and as teams, chose from

either swimming 800 metres and then run four kilometres or swimming 200m and run 1km, twice.

Everyone finished, sweaty and smiling – and happy in the knowledge that over B10,000 had been raised in less than 90 minutes.

The parents and children at BISP are committed in supporting Ride 4 Kids, a charity bike ride from Hua Hin to Phuket

being held from March 6-11.

A total of 16 Phuket cyclists, ranging from beginners to experienced, from four international school communities will form one combined cycling team, riding an impressive 845km over the six days.

This fun event has been organised to raise much-needed money and awareness for under privileged children in Phuket, supported continuously over the

years by the revered Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation, The Good Shepherd Charity and Outrigger Share4Change.

Parents and children have worked together to give back and help to support those children less fortunate on the island.

With the combined help from many events being held around the island, the fundraising target is one million baht.

HASH HOUSE HARRIERS

Some of the participants in action in last Thursday’s duathlon.

If you would like to find out more about the Ride 4 Kids charities, please contact Annie Pedroni on 0878 938735 or visit ride4kids.co.

Bus pick-up: Patong @ E xpat Hotel: 2:30pm Kamala @ Black Cat’s Bar: 3pm More info: phuket-hhh.com

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

SPORT 37

PCG take second T20 win CRICKET

David Thomas

L

ast Sunday (Feb 19) saw the third round of the C&C Marine 2017 T20 tournament at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG).

The morning game saw Island Cricket Club (ICC) take on the newly-formed Phuket Cricket Group (PCG). The afternoon game saw Patong Cricket Club (PCC) play against the second league newcomers Team ACG. Both PCG and Team ACG were hoping they would follow on from their opening wins, but ICC and PCC would have had different ideas and were certain to give it their all so the newcomers didn’t extend their lead in the table.

In the morning game ICC skipper Paresh Borkar won the toss and decided to bat first and S Ullah and M Khan opened the innings. Ullah started well but Khan (1) went in just the 2nd over.

R Naik was next in and together with Ullah, put on a 72 run partnership taking ICC to 70 for one at the drink break.

Coming back to the field,

On target; a shy by Manich Sadarangani (PCG) ends Denskar’s inning for ICC with a run out. Photo: Michael Way the promising partnership couldn’t continue as Ullah (31) was run out, and Naik (26) followed in the next over.

Next batsman S Kandolkar (12) was also run out putting ICC at 97 for four and the team needing to start attacking in order to post a good total.

B Dessai (1) was next in but was run out after facing just one delivery. H Singh (4) came in looking to relieve the pressure but was bowled out.

S Kumar (4) followed but had to retire after pulling a muscle.

M Denskar (0) was then also run out making a total of four run outs in the ICC innings.

ICC finished with a score of 135.

PCG were confident they would chase the 136 runs required and I Mushtaq (29) and S Syed (34) opened the PCG innings. Mushtaq bludgeoned 29 runs off just 18 deliver-

Week 3 Under 7s 1 2 3 4 5

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

PTS

Dragon Juniors

6

6

0

0

29

4

25

18

M’Den

6

5

0

1

22

3

19

15

Lui Juniors

6

3

0

3

8

18

-7

9

Blue Stars

6

1

0

5

5

23

-18

3

Blue Diamonds

6

0

0

6

2

21

-19

0

Under 9s 1 2 3 4 5

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

PTS

M’Den

6

6

0

0

14

2

12

18

Plaifon F.C.

6

3

1

2

12

6

6

10

Cherngtalay F.C.

6

3

1

2

9

6

3

10

Blue Diamonds

6

0

3

3

2

8

-6

3

Blue Stars

6

0

1

5

0

14

-14

1

Under 11s 1 2 3 4 5

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

PTS

Blue Stars

6

6

0

0

16

6

10

18

Blue Diamonds

6

4

1

1

15

9

6

13

M.J. Academy

6

2

1

3

9

11

-2

7

Cherngtalay F.C.

6

2

0

4

5

7

-2

6

Seven Kanya F.C.

6

0

0

6

3

16

-13

0

PTS

Under 13s 1 2 3 4 5

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

Dragon Juniors

6

6

0

0

11

0

11

18

Karon F.C. Blue Diamonds Watsuwan Kiriwong School

5 6 5

4 3 1

0 0 0

1 3 4

10 11 2

1 10 7

9 1 -5

12 9 3

Blue Stars

6

0

0

6

4

20

-16

0

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

PTS

Dragon Juniors

6

4

2

0

9

2

7

14

Karon F.C.

6

3

2

1

6

3

3

11

Blue Diamonds Watsuwan Kiriwong School

6

3

1

2

5

2

3

10

6

0

4

2

3

5

-2

4

Blue Stars

6

0

1

5

3

14

-9

1

Under 15s 1 2 3 4 5

@thephuketnews

ies including five 4s before he was dismissed in the 7th over, ending a 56 run opening partnership.

M Sadarangani (34) was next in and ran at every opportunity. Syed was eventually dismissed in the 15th over ending a 50 run partnership between him and Sadarangani.

M Rehman (13) was next batsman in and together with Sadarangani took the score to 132 before Sadarangani was dismissed in the 18th over.

PCG only needed four runs to win with W Bhat (3) coming to the crease which was easily achieved in the 18th over.

PCG had chased down the target of 136 with relative ease, thus securing their second win of the season.

In the afternoon game, ACG Captain I Malik won the toss and decided to bat first. ACG openers C Murphy and Malik started in attacking mode until Malik (17) was well caught in the 2nd over.

Malik, looking for the maximum six runs, fell just short of the boundary into the safe hands of Runhaar. T Lemont (3) was next in but only lasted three deliveries.

Big hitting A Khan (0) fol-

lowed Lemont back to the clubhouse being clean bowled.

The departure of Khan for a duck gave Patong a huge boost especially with A Mushtaq arriving at the crease facing a hat-trick ball from McDonald. Mushtaq (1) survived the hat-trick ball, however, he was dismissed the next over from a brilliant delivery from Runhaar. The departure of Musthtaq meant ACG were at 52 for four with opener Murphy still at the crease.

New Batsman P Jha (2) was caught bringing R Jayasuriya to the crease in the 8th over. Patong were sensing that one more wicket before the drinks break would seal the ACG innings, however, Murphy had other ideas and continued to play his shots even after the departure of Jayasuryia.

After drinks, Murphy and A DuPont slowed the fall of wickets whist at the same time increased the run rate with some destructive batting, particularly Murphy, who was eventually trapped LBW for 63 runs. An innings which saw six 4s and three 6s off just 43 deliveries.

With five overs remaining,

ACG were looking to score off every ball but what followed was a series of runs outs.

DuPont (19) was first to go, C Baxter (12) followed and then S Khan (9).

ACG set PCC a competitive score of 157 runs to win.

PCC opened their batting with attackers H Jordaan and S Hamilton, the prior of which was playing his last game before relocating to Bangkok, and he went out with a bang bludgeoning 56 runs off 24 balls and an innings containing eight 4s and three 6s.

Together the openers put on an 89 run partnership in six overs before Jordaan was trapped LBW. I Bekker (1) was next in but was clean bowled

by Khan. A Runhaar (4) was next but was caught out just at the drinks break, with the score on 112 for three wickets.

After drinks, D Thomas arrived and departed without troubling the scorers, but throughout the sudden fall of wickets, opener Hamilton stood firm and had the total in his sights.

H McDonald (10) joined Hamilton and they went about chasing down the total, but McDonald was clean bowled with the score on 130 in the 12th over. A Van Blerk came to the crease with PCC needing four runs an over to win.

Both batsmen wasted no time and reached the target fittingly with Hamilton launching a huge 6 to win the game for PCC. This Sunday (Feb 26), PCC take on ICC with the game starting at 11am.

For further information about cricket on Phuket, visit the Phuket Cricket Group (PCG) web-site at www.phuketcricket. com or e-mail the PCG committee at phuketcricketgroup@ gmail.com. New players are always welcome & would be well received by the current teams on the island.

38 SPORT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Samui beach volleyball tourney – Sensational!

BEACH VOLLEYBALL The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

Leicester City vice-president Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (centre) with selected Thai youth who will be training at the Foxes’ academy. Photo: via Bangkok Post

16 Thai youths off to train at Fox’s academy FOOTBALL A I YAWATT SR I VA Ddhanaprabha last week unveiled the second batch of Thai youths to undergo training at English Premier League defending champions Leicester City’s facility, starting next month.

The Vice President of Leicester City told a press conference last Friday (Feb 17) that a total of 16 talented young players have been selected under the Fox Hunt campaign sponsored by King Power.

The players, all aged under 16 years old, will train at the Foxes’ Football Academy for two and a half years and will continue their secondary school education at Ratcliffe College in Leicester.

Aiyawatt added, “King

Power, which sponsors the Leicester City team, is trying to help develop football in Thailand. The club has ideal facilities and its academy is among the 10 best in England.

“The stint should provide the base for these juniors to become professional footballers. In 2014, we sent the first batch for training at the academy. They have all improved and will return to Thailand in July.”

Aiyawatt said the drop in form being experienced by Foxes was expected.

“I said earlier that we will struggle in the Premier League this season. But, we have reached the last 16 stage of the Uefa Champions League in our first year, which is better than many other big teams.”

Bangkok Post

A

n exceptionally successful debut of the “Koh Samui Beach Volleyball Club Tournament” organised by local enthusiasts premiered on Samui at the fun and sun-filled ambience of “The Beach Bar” at Chaweng Noi last weekend.

Active for years in Samui, beach volleyball games and a well-known South East Asia beach volleyball tournament player, Cord Biggs organised the event, joined by Tanit “Jesse” Sungket and The Beach Bar owner, Tinnakorn Poolsawad, his management and staff and other valued event sponsors.

Charlie Solares organised bringing teams from neighbouring Koh Pha Ngan, though a pre-Koh Samui tournament awarded top winners free team entry to the Samui tournament.

Khun Tanit was instrumental in signing up many strong local and regional Thai teams.

Successfully staging the inaugural open tournament for amateur and professional players on Chaweng Noi Beach over February 18-19, the event attracted international teams and players from Spain, France, USA, Russia, Turkey, Slovakia, Lithuania, Denmark, Holland, Poland, Italy, Germany and Sweden.

Local teams from Thailand were from Phuket, Koh Pha Ngan, Bangkok, Surat Thani

Koh Samui Beach Volleyball Club Tournament organiser Cord Biggs (left) in action on the beach. Photo: Koh Samui Beach Volleyball Club and obviously Samui.

The tournament featured a packed schedule of 24 teams (two players per team) over the two days with a double elimination format – meaning if a team lost two games, they’re out and all teams start in the “King’s Cup” bracket tournament.

For some teams not as strong, the first eight teams to lose two games dropped down to the “Queen’s Cup” bracket and played an eight team single elimination tournament.

1st Place in the King’s Cup went to Team 7 Sky from Phuket. The partners were Andrew Freeman (Russia) and Mongcon Samoram (Thai). They came in as the 5th seed in the tournament and battled their way through to the top, along the way beating strong teams from USA, Russia, Turkey and Spain.

2nd Place went to Roman and Dima (Russia) and 3rd Place

to Max and Emir (USA and Turkey). Yoosob and Anucha (local Thai team from Samui) won the Queen’s Cup. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place winners won medals and cash and 4th through 6th Place winners were awarded sponsor gift vouchers and Queen’s Cup champs won medals.

Sponsors were thanked for their support and included: The Beach Bar (Chaweng Noi), AIS (Major Sponsor), Trend Fashion (Tournament shirts), Surat Baan Suay, Bangkok Hospital Samui, K Club, Scandic Restaurant, Phuket Solar, Baan Luxor, Bangkok Restaurant/ Corner Sport Pub, Innovative Motor Sports Samui, Thai Global Group, Federico’s, Geo Solar Group and Samui Language School.

Amidst the flurry of congratulations Cord was asked his thoughts, and responded, “Amazing inaugural tournament for Samui! We have

had the highest level of beach volleyball here. We had great weather, strong local and international teams, exciting play and a great beach vibe.

“We had an amazing event host (The Beach Bar) and great sponsors to help support us.

The feedback is very positive and everyone wants us to do another tournament soon, which we will. Come join us for the next tournament! It is truly amazing event to watch or participate.”

In closing, organiser Cord Biggs stated, “The plan is to continue at least twice a year from now on due to the success of the inaugural tournament.

We’re interested in players and sponsors for the next event and hope to hear from those interested.

For more information and to view event photos visit https:// www.facebook.com/groups/ beachvolleyballkohsamui/

Thailand’s teenage sensation, the new gem of Asian Tour GOLF THAILAND’S PHACHAR A Khongwatmai went down fighting at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 last Sunday (Feb 19) but it won’t be the last time you see his name featuring on a leaderboard.

At the age of 17, the teenager has achieved feats beyond his age and his star continues to shine as brightly as his nickname “Diamond”.

Despite losing to hometown favourite Brett Rumford at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 in the final match, Phachara earned plaudits for his fighting spirit and his confidence is still soaring high.

His rise in the professional ranks has not gone unnoticed.

He made his Major debut at The Open in 2016 and will make a swift return to the year’s third Major championship after finishing tied second at the SMBC Singapore Open which was part of The Open Qualifying Series.

Since then, he has not missed a single cut and his runner-up finish in Perth saw him move to second place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. He also broke into the top-200 by moving 57 spots to 149th position on the Official World Golf Ranking.

“You know, when I play in tournaments, I don’t have a goal. I only hope to make the cut because I don’t want to give myself any pressure. It has been working for me so far so I will continue to focus on my own game,” said

the lanky Thai.

Phachara, a two-time Asian Development Tour (ADT) winner reached the finals at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 in sensational style. He secured the 24th and final spot after the third attempt at the play-off holes and dispatched of Australians Sam Brazel, Lucas Herbert, Matthew Millar and Jason Scrivener before facing off with Rumford.

“I did not feel any pressure.

After taking the last spot (on Saturday), I was already very happy. I just told myself to play well and enjoy. Even when I was 1-down after the fourth hole, I told myself to just play good, just try for another birdie. Doesn’t matter if I win or not. Second place is already a very good result for

me,” smiled Phachara.

The Order of Merit race is shaping up nicely after four tournaments on the Asian Tour. David Lipsky of the United States, the 2014 Asian Tour number one, continues to lead the rankings following his runner-up result at the Maybank Championship a fortnight ago.

Phachara trails in second place while the evergreen Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, winner of the SMBC Singapore Open, sits in third place.

The Leopalace21 Myanmar Open champion Todd Sinnott of Australia occupies fourth place on followed Spaniard Carlos Pigem in fifth.

The Asian Tour will travel to the Hero Indian Open in two weeks time from March 9 to 12.

At the age of 17, Phachara has achieved feats beyond his age and he continues to shine as brightly as his nickname “Diamond”. Photo: PR thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

SPORT 39

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

PREMIER PREDICTIONS: ENTER NOW AT THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Cannot guarantee on Shrek’s United future FOOTBALL

MONTHLY SPONSOR

MAIN SPONSOR

The overall competition winner receives a two day/one night private fishing charter to Racha Island on board Wahoo Yacht Charters Phuket’s Reel Blue. Total prize value: B180,000 The monthly competition winner for February 2017 will receive a B3,000 voucher to spend at Walkabout Sports Bar in Karon.

EPL PREDICTIONS

AFP

MONTHLY STANDINGS

M

anchester United manager Jose Mourinho was coy on questions over Wayne Rooney’s future at the club as he confirmed the striker was still not fit enough to return for their Europa League clash with Saint-Etienne.

There have been rumours that Rooney, who is no longer an integral part of the United side under Mourinho, could eventually leave for the megarich Chinese Super League.

“You have to ask him,” said Mourinho on Tuesday (Feb 21) when asked if there was any chance the 31-year-old could follow in the footsteps of the likes of former United team-mate Carlos Tevez and move there before the transfer window closes next week.

“Of course I can’t guarantee (he will be here). I can’t guarantee that I’m here next week, how can I guarantee that a player is here next season?”

Mourinho, though, insisted he wants Rooney to stay, saying: “I would never push, or try to push, a legend of this club to another destiny.”

Rooney trained with his United team-mates in Manchester on Tuesday morning but was not part of the 20-man squad that flew to France for Wednesday’s last 32 second leg.

Asked if he would be fit for Sunday’s (Feb 26) English Football League Cup Final against Southampton, Mourinho was non-committal.

“I don’t know. This morning was the first time he trained and didn’t even train

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Aays 14 Ajax Amsterdam 13 Allard 13 LateStart 13 Nong Young 13

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The Red Card Gang 143 scottkip 142 Sidwell Guduka 142 carst 141 adamrosindale 139

English Premier League 2016 - 2017

Manchester United’s striker Wayne Rooney. Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP 100% with the group,” the Portuguese boss told reporters at Saint-Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

“He is injured, I cannot do miracles at that level,” said the boss.

“Rooney is injured, he (has been) injured for two or three weeks.

“When you don’t have a player, you have others. The team is in a good moment.

In the past few months we’ve lost only one game and it was one we could lose as it was a two-legged match.”

The Europa League has taken on added importance for United, who are battling on four fronts, as it offers a qualification place to next season’s Champions League for the winners.

With United in a tight battle for a top-four finish in the Premier League – there

Date

Time

Match

Stadium

Sat Feb 25

6pm

Phuket FC vs Yala United

Surakul Stadium

Sat Mar 4

4:15pm

Pattani FC vs Phuket FC

Central Stadium

Sat Mar 18

6pm

Phuket FC vs Chumpon FC

Surakul Stadium

Sun Mar 26

4pm

Satun United vs Phuket FC

Satun OrBorJor Stadium

Sun Apr 2

5pm

Hat Yai FC Vs Phuket FC

Souuthern Lak Muang Stadium

Sun Apr 9

6pm

Phuket FC vs Surat Thani FC

Surakul Stadium

Sun Apr 23

6pm

Phatthalung FC vs Phuket FC

Patthalung OrBorJor Stadium

Sun Apr 30

6pm

Phuket FC vs Sungaipadee FC

Surakul Stadium

Sat May 6

4pm

Yala United vs Phuket FC

Yala Municipality Stadium

Sat May 13

6pm

Phuket FC vs Pattani FC

Surakul Stadium

@thephuketnews

OVERALL STANDINGS

will likely be three places up for grabs between five teams behind runaway leaders Chelsea – Mourinho said he wouldn’t be prioritising competitions.

“I want to win tomorrow (Wednesday). I don’t want to win Europa League or Premier League, I want to win tomorrow,” he said.

“I want to win the final on Sunday – Sunday at 7pm. I want to win against Bournemouth in the Premier League. That is the way I think all the time and during my career.”

Another player who didn’t make the match-day squad is England inter national full-back Luke Shaw, who has been out of favour with Mourinho.

After battling back from last season’s double leg fracture, Shaw has found games hard to come by since Mourinho succeeded Louis van Gaal, playing only once since November.

And Mourinho gave little

indication the 21-year-old is likely to earn a starting place any time soon.

“Luke has to wait for his chance, he has to work better and better, knowing that I give nothing for free.

“When I give something for the players it is expensive for me, it is not cheap. They have to work really hard every day, they have to play well, so he has to wait and in this moment he is behind the others.”

United won last week’s first leg at Old Trafford 3-0 thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s hat-trick and Mourinho believes there would be no way back for Saint-Etienne if his team performed well on Wednesday.

“If we play normally, as we usually play, I think it is mission impossible for SaintEtienne.

“Even though I think we played badly in the first 45 minutes of the first leg. I shall tell my players to forget about the final on Sunday. I want my players to be focused.”

Team

MP W

D

L

F

A

GD

Pts

1

Chelsea

25

3

3

52

18

34

60

2

Manchester City

25

16

4

5

51

29

22

52

3

Tottenham Hotspur

25

14

8

3

46

18

28

50

4

Arsenal

25

15

5

5

54

28

26

50

5

Liverpool

25

14

7

4

54

30

24

49

6

Manchester United

25

13

9

3

38

21

17

48

7

Everton

25

11

8

6

40

27

13

41

8

West Brom

25

10

7

8

34

31

3

37 32

19

9

Stoke City

25

8

8

9

30

36

-6

10

West Ham United

25

9

5

11

34

43

-9

32

11

Southampton

25

8

6

11

28

31

-3

30

12

Burnley

25

9

3

13

27

36

-9

30

13

Watford

25

8

6

11

29

42

-13

30

14

Bournemouth

25

7

5

13

35

49

-14

26

15

Swansea City

25

7

3

15

31

54

-23

24

16

Middlesbrough

25

4

10

11

19

27

-8

22

17

Leicester City

25

5

6

14

24

43

-19

21

18

Hull City

25

5

5

15

22

49

-27

20

19

Crystal Palace

25

5

4

16

32

46

-14

19

20

Sunderland

25

5

4

16

24

46

-22

19

Live Sports TV Schedule *Times may be subject to change

SPORT

START STOP

EVENT

TEAMS / INFO

Friday February 24 10:30

19:00

Test Match 1 - Puna

India v. Australia - Day 2

Rugby Union 13:35

Cricket

15:35

Super Rugby

Highlanders v. Chiefs

16:00

18:00

Super Rugby

Reds v. Sharks Sunwolves v. Hurricanes

Saturday February 25 Rugby Union

11:15

13:15

Super Rugby

13:35

15:35

Super Rugby

Crusaders v. Brumbies

15:45

17:45

Super Rugby

Waratahs v. Western Force

20:05

22:05

Super Rugby

Cheetahs v. Lions

22:15

00:15

Super Rugby

Kings v. Jaguares

00:30

02:30

Super Rugby

Stormers v. Bulls

Rugby Union

21:25

23:30

6 Nations

Scotland v. Wales

23:50

01:50

6 Nations

Ireland v. France

Soccer

22:00

00:00

EPL

Chelsea v. Swansea

22:00

00:00

EPL

Everton v. Sunderland

22:00

00:00

EPL

West Bromwich v. Bournemouth

22:00

00:00

EPL

Crystal Palace v. Middlesbrough

00:30

02:30

EPL

Watford v. West Ham

10:30

19:00

Test Match 1 - Puna

India v. Australia - Day 3

Cricket

Sunday February 26 Rugby Union 19:55

21:55

Aviva Premiership

Bristol v. Bath

Rugby Union

21:55

23:40

6 Nations

England v. Italy

Soccer

19:00

21:00

EFL

Norwich v. Ipswich

Soccer

19:00

21:00

EPL

Tottenham v. Stoke

Soccer

23:00

01:00

League Cup Final

Southampton v. Man United

Cricket

10:30

19:00

Test Match 1 - Puna

India v. Australia - Day 4

Sport SAILING IN editor3@classactmedia.co.th

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

PCG stay unbeaten in T20 competition > page 37 Leaving Krabi on Day 4 of The Bay Regatta 2017.

Photo: Scott Murray

The Bay Regatta 2017 wraps with a picture postcard final day YACHTING The Phuket News

T

he fourth and final day of The Bay Regatta saw all the fleet sail a short loop around islands off Krabi’s Railay Beach before heading out for a straight shot back to the southern end of Koh Yao Yai with the racing boats doing a slightly longer course than the cruisers.

After crossing the finish, all boats headed back to Phuket where they celebrated the final prize-giving and dinner at iconic Kan Eang 2 Restaurant overlooking Chalong Bay. Already decided before the last day, Aleksandr Trofimenko’s Megazip decided to enjoy the scenery a little too much

on the final day and opened the door for Gary Baguley’s Fujin to take their first win of the series – a consolation prize which left them in second overall behind the victorious Russian crew.

With wins on days three and four Hellmut Schutte’s Aquavit 6 took top spot in Cruising A finishing with seven points overall. They were followed by Gary Smith’s Baby Tonga (10 pts), but it might have been a different story if Baby Tonga hadn’t accidentally sailed the wrong course on day three. “Ifs” however don’t calculate, and Aquavit 6 claimed the top prize with Gavin Wellman’s Rascal placed third overall.

In the final race for Cruising B, the Gillow-skippered

Poco broke Canadian Jim “Yee Haw” Ellis’ stranglehold on first-place finishes, but it wasn’t enough to wrestle the overall title from Remington, who finished on seven points, with Poco on 10. Jim was able to add another notch to his The Bay Regatta belt as no one has won a class at The Bay Regatta as many times as Jim has. Piccolo (12 points), Aqua (14 points) and Thalassa (17 points) rounded out the class.

A clean sweep for Kinnon skippered by Stanislav Pechenkin, saw them the runaway Bareboat Class winners with Alan Bower’s All Sail Asia in second and Russel Waddy’s All Sail Venus Hunter in third.

In Racing Multihull Class, Fergus Wilmer’s team on Thor (Fergus and Jenny Wilmer, plus

Warwick Downes and James Haste) claimed line honours each day flying around the course at a blistering pace, and again on the final day they claimed line honours in a time of 02:55:08. Thor and John Newnham’s Twin Sharks team of Alfie Rowson, Jason Corall, Tam Keawwantha, and Mark Pescott, ended up tied with seven points each but Twin Sharks won the class on the virtue of its three firstplace finishes, which included their final race win by just 38 seconds on corrected time – it doesn’t get much closer than that. In this eleven-boat class, Alan Cawardine’s Asia Catamarans Hurricane finished third overall followed closely

by Mick Coleman’s sister ship Java, in fourth.

Multihull Cruising saw Rick Fielding’s Mojo and Sergei Dikanov’s Fenix flip flop first-and-second place finishes throughout the regatta both finishing with six points, but Mojo took the win, based on the results of the last race. Colin Wright’s Swift and Graham Tucky’s Optoloi II came next each with eighteen points, but Swift took third based on its final-race performance, The Chinese Sanya Yomovo sailing team on DaVinci, had a DNS on the third day and a OCS on the fourth day (they didn’t have a radio on board) relegating them to fifth overall with twenty points.

Simon James, who has stepped in many times to save this regatta over the years, did a tremendous job as PRO

setting the courses, manning the starts and keeping things in order while his team on the water – Susan, Susie, Cathy, Chandran and Ron – as always, made sure all the starts and finishes were correctly posted and recorded.

Kae Wattana and her Regattas Asia team made everyone happy on shore, providing plenty of good food and drink, and good entertainment.

Sean Getchell’s Epic Charters stepped up and provided a superb committee boat, Hakuna Matata, and Tristan Hinxman did great work steering the photographer’s rib, graciously provided by Raymarine’s Mick Kealy.

For the full results, visit www. bayregatta.com.

Mystery surrounds absence of softball Phuket Nine’s Kilbane SOFTBALL ON AN ORDINARY DAY, FOURteen runs would have been enough for the Phuket Nine to trump its opposition. Last Saturday (Feb 18) was no ordinary day.

The shorthanded Phuket Nine were unable to overcome the unexplained absence of regular shortstop Casey Kilbane, falling to the Thayer Slayers 19-14 in extra innings. The Phuket Nine, led by Robby “The Belgian” De Vylder, who brewed opposition frustration with his flaw-

less glovework on the diamond, and Cameron “Eggs” Benedict, who made hitting doubles look over easy, showed remarkable courage in the face of Kilbane’s desertion. Jordan Smith’s Slayers were just too much on this day.

Asked whether he knew why Kilbane wasn’t at the game, Phuket Softball Commissioner Jared Spindel commented, “He’s from West Virginia, right? Maybe he was afraid there would be a refugee, Jew, Muslim, undocumented migrant, resident of an ‘inner city’, Nordstrom executive, journalist, SNL cast member,

Fijian Renato Tikoisolomone looks to hit one out of the Alan Cooke Ground. Photo: Anisa Van Der Laan Frederick Douglass, woman, Swede, watersport videographer, activist, pollster, daily intelligence briefing provider, judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Trump University

student, transgender person, ACLU lawyer, Australian Prime Minister, person who questions the lucidity of someone who accepts preposterous conspiracy theories without evidence, scientist, stiffed contractor, IRS agent, Meryl Steep, FBI investigator, community organizer, John Lewis, CIA Nazi, CEA economic forecaster, Pope, German Chancellor with an understanding of international law, Hispanic person, Ted Cruz’s assassin father, protestor, Presidential Inauguration photo curator, Bowling Green terrorist, Access Hollywood reporter, Mexican President that refuses to pay

for a wall, Rosie O’Donnell, Nancy O’Dell, Robert Pattinson, defender of democracy, New York State Attorney General, fact checker, menstruating debate moderator, person who supports multilateral deals of any kind, person concerned about gun violence or the environment, Vietnam POW, Miss Teen USA contestant who locks her changing room door, housing discrimination lawyer or advocate against marital rape at the game.”

The next game is tomorrow (Feb 25) at midday at the Alan Cooke Ground.

Jared Spindel

thephuketnews