The Banana Walk shopping mall, scheduled to open in May next year. The complex will be located along Thaweewong Road (the beach road) next to the Banana Disco – about 100 meters south of Soi Bangla.

“With Banana Walk, we have designed architecture to create a shopping experience that’s a complete departure from the typical Thai neighborhood or community malls,” said Smith Obayawat, founder of the Office of Bangkok Architects, who designed the mall.

The three-level beach-view shopping complex will host 30 boutiques, five restaurants and rooftop nightclubs. They want to create low-density shopping and dining areas, the company said.

Nick Anthony, managing director of Indigo Real Estate, the leasing agent for Banana Walk, seeks to attract “quality, international retailers” along with a variety of music and entertainment options for planned rooftop lounge areas, the press release said.

The developers say that the shopping mall will be following “sustainable retail practices”, banning plastic bags and all Styrofoam products, and will be supported by a recycling program and an efficient energy usage system.

Banana Walk will comprise 50 per cent retail space and 50 per cent food and beverage outlets, with Baitong Seafood – owned by the Banana Walk developers – as the “anchor” food and beverage outlet, the developers said.

News by Phuket Gazette

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Japan now faces its worst crisis since WWII. Three nuclear reactors have at least partially melted down because of the disaster, and the number of dead could be in the tens of thousands. The collection drop-off box can be found in the hall of the Out-patient Department Building of the hospital, located on Yaowarat Road in Phuket Town.

Donations should be non-perishable items such as:

– Canned and dried foods

– Packaged edibles with air-tight seals

– Warm blankets

– Tissues, sanitary napkins, diapers

– Baby feeding bottles and children’s essentials

– Plastic utensils such as chopsticks, plates, cups and bowls

Collections will be accepted until March 20.

Hotel owners with blankets to donate can call Bangkok Hospital Phuket CSR Manager Pareeya “Jum” Jullaphong to arrange for collection at a convenient time.

News by Phuket Gazette

“There are 20 sites in Bang Tao Bay and Kamala Bay, all about three kilometers offshore. The sites are not more the 20 meters underwater to ensure divers have good visibility of the reefs [to grow],” said MCRC Director Pitul Panchaiyaphum told the Phuket Gazette.
The artificial reefs are expected to attract fish and other sea creatures within about one month, and to start growing corals after about three years, he said. This also has dual benefit as the reef could also attract divers and becoming the boon for local fishermen. It was proven by artificial reefs established years ago, are now havens for growing numbers of fish, providing local fisherman in some areas with record catches.

The concrete cubes are also expected to deter illegal fishermen from entering the areas. Measuring 1.5 meters along each side and weighing about one ton apiece, it is hoped the cubes snag large nets used by illegal fishermen. The cubes are being placed in clusters of 80 to 100 cubes, with each cluster 500 meters to a kilometer apart.
“We chose Bang Tao and Kamala bays because the areas are critical – there has been much illegal fishing in these waters,” he added.

The next bays to benefit from the ongoing project will be Kata, Karon and Nai Harn.

“We already have the budget from the PPAO. Now we are in the process of getting permission from the Marine Department,” he explained.

Looking ahead, Mr Pitul said he expected more resistance to installing artificial reefs on the east coast.

Before launching the project there, the MCRC must first conduct a survey to determine whether local ecosystems there would benefit from artificial reefs. Public hearings would also need to be held to gain feedback from local fishermen, tour and boat operators.

News by Phuket Gazette

Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) Director Wannakiat Thubthimsang would request the closure of only certain parts within Similan and Surin national parks. Officers in the parks will need to be more strict about park regulations, especially with tour boats and visitors dumping trash into the sea. There is still many tourist waste found, such as empty water bottles, beer cans and snack packets that floating inside the parks.

“Also, all boats entering the park must have septic tanks installed and operators will face stiff penalties for discharging their tanks inside the park,” Wannakiat added.

The new measures being proposed are to protect corals already suffering from rising sea temperatures.

Coral bleaching is from global warming, which is happening the world over. The ideal average sea water temperature for coral to grow is 29°C, but last year the average temperature at these dive sites rose above 30°C, and peaked around 33°C. Coral needs zooxanthellae to survive. When temperatures rise, the zooxanthellae starts dying, and that means the coral also starts dying.

Director Wannakiat explained that coral needs three to five years to mature to at least have a chance of surviving long enough for the zooxanthellae to return.

However, there will be no request to close the reefs off Phi Phi Island and Maithon Island, he added.

“The dominant species of coral there grows fast. The bleached areas there will take probably only a year to recover,” he said.

News by Phuket Gazette

Cloudy skies and heavy rain have dominated Phuket’s weather so far this month, which traditionally marks the start of the tourism high season.

December become the pin point of cold and wet condition in Phuket with average temperature of 22 to 24 degrees Celsius – down from the annual average of 25 to 27 degrees.

Roongrawee Onkot, director of Phuket’s weather forecast division, told the Gazette today that she expects the rain to ease in the coming weeks, but that the gray skies are likely to continue heading into the New Year.

News by Phuket Gazette

Phuket Land Transport Office (LTO) reported the increasing number of new vehicle registrations each month has been nearly 600% number of growth. Phuket LTO director Kanok Siripanichkorn told the Gazette that 500 to 600 automobiles are being newly registered on the island each month, compared to just 50-100 per month at the same time last year. 10 percent of them are made by foreigners and 40 % by Thais from other provinces.

Despite for this year vehicles registration increase in general, it was shown that this year, from January to August there is decreasing number of Phuket new vehicles registration that is only 21.112 registrations as for 2009 it saw a total 23.760 new vehicle registration. These included 4,905 cars, 1,261 pickup trucks, 14,833 motorbikes and smaller numbers of other vehicles such as vans, tractors and road construction equipment.

Last year’s registrations included: 4,773 cars, 1,450 pickup trucks, and 17,371 motorbikes and other vehicles. The number of vehicles registered in other provinces but paying tax at the Phuket LTO from January 2010 to August was 27,819. Last year’s total was 39,232 vehicles. In the same period this year, there were 26,515 Phuket-registered vehicles taxed in other provinces; last year there were 37,153.

News by Phuket Gazette

Intending to have holiday in Phuket, South Aftica’s top military commander, General Godfrey Nhlanhla Ngwenya, arrived on the island yesterday, August 24th.

He was welcomed upon arrival at the Naval Section runway of Phuket International Airport by Vice-Admiral Chumnum Ajwong, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area.

General Godfrey, 60, and his wife Busisiwe Portia arrived at 10am aboard a Royal Thai Navy aircraft. Their arrival was following the visit of Gen Godfrey to the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters in Bangkok, at which it became known that the military leader had an interest in visiting Phuket.

V/Adm Chumnum said he felt proud that Phuket’s fame as a tourist destination had reached the attention of Gen Godfrey.

At the conclusion of the formal welcoming ceremony this morning, Gen Godfrey and his wife scheduled to take a boat tour of Phang Nga Bay. The couple is scheduled to fly out on Thursday.

News by Phuket Gazette

Pageant preparation has brought thirty contestants of Miss Thailand World 2010 to Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket for their four-day “training camp.” Their show will be air live from Bangkok on August 14. During that training camp, they would learn everything they need to know to succeed in the beauty competition, aside from it, the contestants also will do some charity painting work at Baan Laem Sai School.

They arrive on the island yesterday for a three-night stay. This year’s pageant promises to serve up some bombshells, as chief organizer Nawat Itsornkraisil has this year given a blanket green light for plastic surgery.

“In previous years,” he says, “the contestants were always dubious about it and kept asking, ‘Can I do this? Is this much okay?’ So we have made it clear now with a blanket decision that plastic surgery is okay for this competition.”

It make the organizer of this event inhaled their relieve since they no longer have to scrutinize applicant to make sure that their beauty is the real one, they also would free from criticism if in case their beauty are indeed comes from plastic surgery. This decision indeed would trigger objection, especially from purists, still, these days many of the world’s beauty queens – including those from Venezuela and India – have had tummy tucks, butt lifts and boob jobs, or at least a little facial rearrangement.

In fact, the only thing the surgeons are barred from adjusting on Miss Thailand World contestants is gender, so ladyboys (transsexuals) are still not eligible to compete.

Meanwhile, as is said every year in such pageants worldwide, the organizers claim they are strictly emphasis on the contestants’ skills and talents.

“We’d love to see someone who can sing different styles and speak 10 languages,” Mr Nawat says, only half-joking.

Miss Thailand World 2009 Pongchanok “View” Kunklub fit the bill with her taekwondo moves, but this year we can expect a multilingual, singing, dancing, football-playing, Nobel-winning, maternal-but-adventurous Beyond Perfect Ten.

News by Phuket Gazette

Chaired by Deputy Interior Minister Thavorn Senniam, the opening ceremony was attended by Sheikhul Islam Aziz Phitakkhumphol, advisor to HM The King on Islamic affairs, as well as two representatives from Central Islamic Committee of Thailand and two representatives from each of the 39 provincial Islamic committees in the Kingdom.

Among the issues to be discussed and agreed upon is the exact fasting times each day over the one-month Ramadan celebrations. Determined by the position of the moon, these vary from locale to locale. This year’s Muslim Holy Month runs from August 11 to September 9.

That meeting agenda will also discussing about giving information to Islamic leaders about government policies that affect Muslim people and talking ways strengthening relations between the government and Muslim communities.

The decision to hold this year’s meeting in Phuket came at last year’s meeting, at which time it was also decided to conduct a survey of the Muslim people’s way of life here in Phuket.

During his opening speech, Deputy Minister Thavorn introduced a book named Mali to participants. Written by Mr Thavorn and his staff, Mali tells the story about Muslim culture and way of life in the southern region through the eyes of a little girl of the same name.

Mr Thavorn is responsible for security matters in the Muslim majority Deep South, which comprises Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces and a few districts in neighboring Songkhla province. The book aimed at breaking down misconceptions among Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the South and elsewhere in Thailand, he said. The book will freely distribute through schools and other organizations nationwide, he added.

News by Phuket Gazette

That was part of Phuket City Police effort to enforce a long-ignored traffic law requiring people, including passengers, on motorbikes wear safety helmet.

The crackdown, announced in April, was set to take effect from July 1, at which time police were to begin fining anyone caught ride a motorbike without a helmet.

However, faced with the enormity of the task before them, police have decided to extend the public awareness campaign a few months, during which time offenders will have their licenses seized.

Offenders will only have their licenses returned after they have viewed the locally-produce movie with graphic images showing in detail the scene of a fast-moving human skull is no match for asphalt.

There are 200 people crammed at the meeting room watching that movies from 10 a.m. in the morning. A second showing was set to take place immediately after the first, with 195 people waited to attend the one-hour viewing that included a safety talk and opening ceremony.

All of the reluctant audience members were caught at one of three ‘mobile’ police checkpoints operated in the district since Saturday.

Officers at the Phuket City Police Traffic Division say at least three checkpoints will be set up daily to seize the offenders, quite possibly making the documentary one of the most-watched movie productions on the island in upcoming months.

Police do not need to going far to rope in an audience; among the locations where checkpoints have been set up are at the Muang District Office intersection and on Thepkrasattri Road near Phuket Wittayalai School. Both are easy walking distance from the station.

Traffic Police Officer Phaisan Rodthieng said that the effort would also include shaming offenders and possibly setting them up for admonishment in the home or workplace.

“We will record all of them and inform their schools or the companies they work for. The schools will cut their student’s behavior grades, while companies will issue warnings to their employees”.

“For example Bangkok Hospital Phuket will give staff warnings each time they are reported and will terminate their employment altogether if they are reported three times,” he said.

Police have asked many large organizations to take part in this event and so far, they cooperated well, he said.

The public awareness phase will probably continue for two months until everyone knows about the law. Thereafter, the police will begin fining offenders, he said.

News by Phuket Gazette