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Saturday, October 11, 2008
New reservoir filling up
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The reservoir should be about half full by year's end, the Irrigation Department predicts.
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THALANG: Work on Phuket’s second major reservoir at Bang Neaw Dum in Srisoothorn is almost complete, with one million cubic meters of water already being held behind the dam.
Supinyo Hoonpadungrat, head of the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office, said that work on the earthen dam, spillway and associated waterworks is now “about 97% complete”.
Mr Supinyo expects about 3.5 million cubic meters to be in storage in the reservoir by year’s end, just under half of its 7.2-million-cubic-meter capacity.
Based on average rainfall, the reservoir should be full by about November next year, he said.
Like the Bang Wad reservoir in Kathu, the Bang Neaw Dum reservoir will be encircled by a roadway. The surrounding land will be developed as a recreational area, with the Srisoonthorn Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) expected to fund the project, he said.
The water will flow to a Phuket Provincial Water Supply (PPWS) treatment plant, from which it will be piped throughout various parts of Thalang, he said.
It will be the first PPWS supply system in Thalang, which until now has had to depend mostly on supplies from tin mine and groundwater reserves that tend to run out in the dry season.
Another water project in the works is a small Kaem Ling (monkey’s cheeks) reservoir recently proposed for Klong Koke Tanode in Cherng Talay, the surrounding area of which floods during the monsoon season.
The Kaem Ling concept of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s is meant to reduce flooding and extend water supplies longer into the dry season.
The potential impacts of the project are now being assessed under a study funded by the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization.
As for the island’s third major reservoir, a 5.7-million-cubic-meter basin at Klong Krata in Chalong, the Irrigation Department is still awaiting approval from the Forestry Department to use about 30 rai of land.
The Irrigation Department will request funding for the project under the next fiscal budget, Mr Supinyo said.
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Phuket, Thailand
13:00
local time (GMT +7) |
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Province launches mobile “anti-poverty” clinic
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Province this morning launched a “Mobile Anti-Poverty Clinic” aimed at eliminating poverty in the province in accordance with government policy.
The opening festivities took place on the grounds in front of Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, with Phuket Vice Governor Tri Augkaradacha presiding.
Naep Sinthong, who heads the province’s community development services unit, said the project is part of the Government’s 2008-2011 poverty eradication plan, which is being administered by the Interior Ministry’s Community Development Department (CDD) under its “Poverty Eradication and Rural Development under Sufficiency Economy Philosophy” program.
The “mobile clinic” will allow social workers to visit poor households to teach the principals of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, allowing low-income residents to make better use of limited resources and find sustainable livelihoods, and work their way out of poverty in the long-term.
Apart from helping the target families to start up low-cost community restaurants, support activities will include provision of materials and equipment needed to start new businesses.
The provincial community development unit has selected 18 poor households for the outreach project: eight in Muang District, eight in Thalang and two in Kathu.
For each family, a new profession or career path has been chosen for the breadwinners.
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Phuket, Thailand
21:39
local time (GMT +7) |
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Bangkok Airways gears up for high season
BANGKOK: Bangkok Airways will increase frequency on its Bangkok-Phuket and Phuket-Samui routes during the high season with a new schedule that starts on October 26, the carrier has announced.
For the Bangkok-Phuket route, flights will leave Suvarnabhumi Airport at 8.10 am, 11.45 am and 5:30 pm. Flight time is just under 1.5 hours.
For its Phuket-Samui route, flights will leave Phuket at 9.35 am, 1.45 pm and 4.35 pm.
The Bangkok-Phuket and Bangkok-Samui flights will cost 2,240 baht and 1,900 baht, respectively, exclusive of airport taxes, insurance and fuel surcharge
In addition, the carrier last month launched a new “Web Check-In” service for passengers traveling from its key domestic routes. The service enables passengers to check-in online and select a seat as early as 24 hours before departure.
Passengers may print out a boarding pass and bring it to the designated counter for quick ID verification and baggage check, if needed.
The airline will initially offer Web Check-In service to passengers who fly from Bangkok, Samui and Phuket to other domestic destinations, and will apply this service to its other destinations in the near future, it announced in a press release.
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Phuket, Thailand
14:32
local time (GMT +7) |
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Candid camera, Patong style
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Col Grissak discussed the CCTV expansion in Patong with Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat during his recent visit.
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PATONG: Philanderers be warned: Phuket’s premier adult entertainment district is gearing up for a huge expansion in its closed-circuit television (CCTV) coverage, with real-time images of the action along Soi Bangla to be available to the public online 24 hours a day by year’s end, according to the town’s top cop.
Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark told the Gazette that the existing 16 CCTV cameras in Patong will be supplemented with 26 more units, 16 of which will be provided by the Savoey Seafood restaurant on Thaweewong Rd.
All of the new cameras, to be installed along Soi Bangla and the beach road, will show viewers around the world just how safe and friendly Patong is for tourists, he said.
CCTV security is a policy of national police chief Patcharawat Wongsuwan. Police Region 8 commander Santarn Chayanon has assigned Phuket Provincial Police chief Apirak Hongtong to evaluate which parts of Phuket, if any, should have CCTV,” Col Grissak told the Gazette.
Maj Gen Apirak thinks that coverage in other parts of the island, including Chalong and Phuket City, also should be intensified, he said.
Phuket Municipality will fund 10 more cameras at a cost of 4 million baht, while the Savoey Restaurant is funding 16 cameras sourced from Singapore at a cost of 1 million baht.
All 16 cameras funded by the restaurant will be installed along Soi Bangla, he said.
“If there are any criminal activities there, these cameras will help us investigate and catch the culprits. The images will be broadcast via the Internet, which means that the public can also help us watch what is going on. Businesses will be able to use [these images as] web feeds [on their own websites] as public relations tools,” he said.
“The cameras will not damage the tourism industry at all, because most tourists do not come to buy girls out of the bars. It is perfectly natural for them to have dinner and then go down to the bars for a few drinks and a fun night out with their friends. It is only a very small minority that will pay the bar fine to take a girl out for dinner,” said Col Grissak
“The cameras are not installed in an obtrusive way. They do not create the feeling that one’s privacy is being invaded. I have selected all the locations for installation. Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has set December 15 as the deadline for this project, but we would like to have it operational earlier than then,” he said.
The owner of Savoey Seafood Restaurant, who asked that his name not be published, told the Gazette, “I am very worried about my businesses here in Patong and have a vested interest in protecting the city, especially now that rebels in the three southern provinces have threatened to expand [their attacks] throughout the South, including Phuket.
“I have a lot of CCTV experience, as I am also the owner of a five-star hotel. The systems here in Thailand always seem to have problems, so I have imported a complete system from Singapore with the 16-camera system costing a total of about 1 million baht.
“The system I have provided for Soi Bangla includes digital recording that is stored for 30 days. Each camera has infrared ‘night vision’ capability that enables clear-image recording even in total darkness.
“The software used with the cameras incorporates artificial-intelligence features that can automatically generate warning messages that can be sent as SMS messages to mobile phones.
“Each camera can be pre-programmed with time and spatial parameters. If a ‘forbidden zone’ is entered, a message can be generated. The cameras can even detect whether a person has abandoned a package somewhere,” he added.
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Phuket, Thailand
10:33
local time (GMT +7) |
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