|
The
Statistics
During
2001, 128 people were killed and
11,245 were injured in motorbike
accidents in Phuket. (Phuket Gazette)
|
|
|
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Local time in Phuket: 22:52
|
|
|
The painting and neonlights for the
new Starwars disco is finished. Note the UFO at the corner.
>>> More
|
|
I usually don't
write about new restaurants but Patong Steak House,
opposite Christin's massage is well worth a visit and with reasonable
prices, the lowest I have seen in Patong. You can get a steak (chicken,
beef or fish) with french fries and salad for only 50 baht or spagetthi
bolognese or carbonara for 85 baht.
Burma will reopen
its border checkpoints with Thailand on Oct 15 after being closed
since May. This means the visa runs to Ranong will be hassle free
again.
Patong has grown
up, from a tambon to a muang (town) with a bigger budget and changes
to the electoral system.
(Source:
Phuket Gazette)
I got complaints
from tourists who are here on holiday on tourist visa, they went
to The Immigration office to extend their visas with one month (Tourist
visa is 60+30 days) and the desk officer required 200 baht for himself
except the official fees. They don't care that much about the money
involved, but they are surprised this happened at immigration office
with police men.
They are here
but only about 200 sailors.
The Immigration
office warned that foreigners who need to renew their visas must
complete the process themselves. If you let anyone else do it is
considering illegal under the Immigration Act. B.E. 2522
(Source: Phuket Gazette)
My advice: Do it yourself!
On Friday morning
four foreign-looking men robbed the Bank of Ayudhya's South Pattaya
branch in Chon Buri and shot dead a police corporal. Three Russians
have been arrested for allegedly robbing the bank. (Source:
Bangkok Post)
New ships arrived
but they are still in few numbers and you will not notice them except
for the men in white uniform.
Today US Navy
arrived again but only about 300 sailors, what I've heard.
The night skies
of this island paradise shall shine to the brilliance of 4000 fireworks
on Queen's birthday. This - the first display of it type and size
for Phuket - is sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)
and is likely to become an annual event. (Source:
TAT)
Today US Navy
arrived, I don't have any details at the moment.
During these
religious buddha days there will be no alcohol for sale and all
bars and discos will be closed.
Patong changes
all the time, when did you visit Patong last time? Are you updated
with the changes? Take a look in the overview for information about
the changes in Patong during the last year.
>>> Read More
In April DTAC
removed it's IMEI lock on their SIM cards and AIS followed them
in the end of May. This means that you can use a mobile phone that
is not bought in Thailand.
This is great news especially for tourists, bring your own mobile
phone and buy a pre-paid SIM card from either DTAC or AIS and use
it when you are in Thailand.
In the department's
latest survey, 7,000 of more than 600,000 pregnant women who underwent
blood tests were found to be infected with HIV. This information
is a part of a study regarding the use of combined anti-retroviral
drugs to reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission. (Source:
Bangkok Post)
I finally installed
a new message board program to replace the old WWW board. Register
yourself now and become a member of the community!
An official scale
of fees will be imposed on tuk-tuks from June 1 to curb overcharging
of tourists, according to Phuket Gazette.
Great news, I've heard many complaints from tourists regarding tuk
tuk ripoffs in Phuket. The new fares will be:
| Patong
- Phuket Town |
200
Baht |
| Patong
- Airport |
320
Baht |
| Patong
- Karon beach |
110
Baht |
| Patong
- Kamala beach |
130
Baht |
Most Phuket residents
go to Ranong to do their VISA RUNs but this is not possible at the
moment due to the closed border, the reason may be the renewed conflict
regarding Shan State Army.
Now U.S. Navy
arrived and they may be here for 5 days as usual. I don't know how
many ships or sailors that are here now since they anchored at the
east side.
A royal
decree to regulate bar and nightclub zones is expected to be declared
this month. The draft of the decree has been approved by the Council
of State and the decree, once endorsed, will put into effect the
regulation restricting night entertainment places to permitted zones.
Closing times for existing bars outside those areas are likely to
be strictly enforced. Under the decree, night entertainment outlets
will be banned near near temples, schools and hospitals. (Source:
Bangkok Post)
Many popular
beach restaurants have been removed along the beach strip (close
to Bpla Loma Park and beachroad/sawatdirak road intersection.).
I have been told that the leases went out and the land owner fast
and efficient removed everything with bulldozers. Also some small
shops and one massage shop along the beachroad was also included
in this area and thus, removed.
The waterfights
begun as traditional already April 12 especially in Patong and the
nightlife areas (Bangla Rd). The waterfight continued all night
and all day of April 13. Most Thai people celebrated Songkhran on
April 13 and the roads were full with pickups with people throwing
water on eachother. Amazing and crazy, you have to see it to believe
it. Soi Eric closed the veneue on April 12 to avoid the waterfights
that night. Welcome to celebrate and participate in the festival
next year!
The bus had an
accident at the intersection of Phra baramee Rd. and Phisitkaranee
Rd. (after Patong Hill from Kathu/Phuket Town). The bus collided
with an electric pole and big parts of Patong had no electricity
for 14 hours. (Including my own home and office) I have no additional
information about the accident yet.
The events begin
on April 8 with a round-trip ride to Wat Kaew Manee in Phang Nga,
returning in time for the start of the first of three nights of
live entertainment. Collections will be made for charity. Visit
website
for more information.
You can retrieve
your passport back at the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok (Soi
Sounplu, Sathorn Rd.), Investigation department at the 3:rd floor.
You have to answer questions and pay your overstay fine. The passport
never went to Malaysian border, you still need to leave the country
to renew your visa. The embassies know about this case and they
will inform you to go to the Immigration Bureau.
About 50 people
lost their passports recently when they paid a third party for help
sending it to the border for a stamp. If you are one of those, contact
your embassy as soon as possible. As I've heard, you need to
pick up your passport at your country's embassy and also pay a fine
to the police, since this transaction is illegal.
My advice: Go to the border yourself and do this legally if you
want to avoid problems!
Rumours says
The Shark will open tonight with a new Thai management while the
real owner is deported to Canada. They also promised free drink
all night.
Follow up: The Shark looked open on Friday when I passed at 9 o
clock with all neon and flashing lights on, when I later went back
at 11 o clock the place was closed. Altought one employee told me
they will open next week.
Don't hand over
your passport to a third party for sending your passport to the
border for a new stamp. Now the worst case happened, many passports
did not arrive as usual and this caused problems for many people
who used this service. I heard some people had to cancel their flight
tickets and some others get problem with work permit renewal. The
advice is clear; go to the border yourself!
This is an interesting
article written and published by The Economist that the Thai police
and government try to stop. (The hardcopy edition is not distributed
in Thailand due to this article.)
Click
here to read the article online
This is one of
the most important Buddhist holy days and Purachai has requested
that all bars and nightclubs will be closed.
In
Thai Buddhism, every full moon day is a holy day for merit-making
and this affects the
full moon party on Koh Phangan and Koh Samui. The full moon
parties will become a thing of the past as a result of the government's
social order crusade.
Business operators on the two resort islands have decided to toe
the line and hold their full moon parties one night after the full
moon day of each month throughout the year. (Source:
Bangkok Post)
Staff at the
Shark Club have been protesting outside the club everyday since
the closing of The Shark Club, 30:th of January. You can read their
statement here.
Most miss out
on the fabolous array of dining opportunities Phuket offers. And
that's where 'Where to Eat' comes in. Consistent, reliable up-to-date
information that puts the choice where it belongs - with you, the
guest. Click
here for online edition
According to
TV News, The Shark Club (Disco) is closed due to illegal shows (?)
and the Canadian owner is deported from Thailand. This is the official
resaon but I have heard many rumours, figure out yourself.
[...
cut ...] I lived on Patong Beach from 1979-1989, it started out
as a very sleeply little bayside village. dirt roads, very little
traffic, maybe 5 bargirls[imported from BKK] at the most.
then, we stayed in little bungalows down towards what is now Holiday
Inn, for about 20-40baht a day, life was easy, king prawns and lobsters
were about 100baht a kilo, a BIG Signha was about 25baht...
the ONLY motorcycle on the entire beach, was a little gutless honda
125 that was owned by the ONLY policeman, he used to drive up and
down the dirt strip from Kalim to SeaView, there was NO TV, NO electric
power, all generators, the water buffalos used to stroll out onto
the beach from the rice paddies behind Patong and infront of Baan
Sai Nam Yen.
Life was easy...
Purachai (the
interior minister) is here and inspecting the nightlife in Patong.Yesterday
they "raided" Soi Eric with a big team of photographers
and video cameras but they left after 5 minutes when they did not
find anything of interest.
According to TV News today they also raided some discos and both
Tiger and Galaxy in Patong is ordered to close one month. Dance
Fever in Phuket Town is also ordered to close for one month because
they found a condom in the toilet.
I added a business
section on this website, if you are interested in business, click
here
Excemption from
02 am closing rule, all bars and discos will be open all night during
the celebration of the new year!
Old Phuket Festival
in Phuket Town.
Today it is grand
opening for Tiger Entertainment located on the
second floor of Bangla Night Plaza. I had a preview inside yesterday
and it looks great, this will for sure be one of the hottest
entertainment places in Patong.
There
will be a new big bike event in Phuket called Intl. Bike Rally.
One of the bands already confirmed for the rock festival is LOSO,
on stage at Feb 23. Visit the website for up-to-date information;
www.phuket-bikerally.com
Main
page(s): 1 2 3
4 5 6
>>>
Next Page
|
