PHUKET CITY: Three Chinese shrines are joining forces to make Chinese-style versions of the popular Jatukham Ramathep amulet to raise money to build a 60-million-baht VIP wing at Vachira Phuket Hospital.

A press conference was held at Pud Jor Shrine on June 18 to describe the amulet-making process and inform the public how to reserve the amulets.

Since May 9, more than 2.5 million baht in down payments have been placed to reserve the amulets.

The Chinese versions will have a Jatukham image on one side and an image of the Chinese deity Phra Pothisat on the other. Various sizes and types will be available, ranging in price from 99 baht to 599 baht.

Some 200,000 amulets will be made at the Pud Jor Shrine on September 15 and handed over to devotees in a ceremony on September 22.

Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Dr Jessada Chungpaibulpatana said Vachira Phuket needs a new 60-room VIP ward, improvements to increase parking area and medical equipment upgrades.

The new ward would be named “Luang Por Cham Wat Chalong 100 Pi Vachira Phuket”, after the revered monk of the same name and the temple where he practiced during his lifetime, he said.

“We hope to raise 20 million baht from the amulet-making,” he said.

Amulets can be reserved at Vachira Hospital, Jui Tui Shrine, Pud Jor Shrine and Giw Tien Shrine, all open daily.

 

Danish jazz star to play Phuket

KATA: Internationally-acclaimed jazz vocalist Katrine Madsen will bring a touch of Scandinavian jazz flavor with her when she performs at Beach Club at the Kata Thani Hotel on July 1.

Tickets for the charity concert cost 1,000 baht each and are available at both the Gazette offices and at the Kata Thani Hotel. The ticket price includes a complimentary light cocktail.

The evening will begin with drinks from 7 pm until the concert begins promptly at 8 pm.

Proceeds from the concert will be donated to His Majesty The King’s charity projects throughout Thailand.

The event is organized by Nation Group and Hitman Jazz.

For more information or to buy tickets contact Khun Jib at the Gazette office at Tel: 076-236555. Tickets are also available at Beach Club at the Kata Thani Hotel, Tel: 076-330124-6.

Tennis tourney coming to BIS

KOH KAEW: In an effort to raise money for tennis programs in Africa and increase the popularity of the game in Phuket, British International School (BIS) tennis coach Larenzo Marcuzzi has organized a charity tennis tournament to take place on June 24, starting at 2 pm.

Entry fees for the tournament, to be held at BIS, will be 200 baht; any optional donations will be gratefully accepted. The money will go toward Mr Marcuzzi’s “Tennis for Africa” program, which is based in Rome and sends coaches to Sierra Leone.

The tournament will be divided into age brackets, winners of each receiving rackets signed by world-class players as well as other prizes.

For more information or to register, contact Mr Marcuzzi. Tel: 081-0802453. Email: larenzo tennis@libero.it

Shrimp get ahead with ‘blue flag’ promotion

Morel PHUKET: In order to help out the island’s suffering shrimp farmers, the Phuket Provincial Internal Trade Office (PITO) on June 18 set up a “Blue Flag Shrimp Festival” to sell the crustaceans directly to consumers for 99 baht per kilogram until the end of September.

PITO Chief Somphot Sangkhapong told the Gazette that some 1,500 kilograms of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vanamei) are harvested daily in the province.

“We have about 30 shrimp farms in Phuket, almost all of them in Thalang. Most of these switched from raising giant tiger prawns to Pacific white shrimp, but now there is a glut in the market and prices have fallen,” K. Somphot said.

The problem in Phuket reflects a nationwide trend, with decreasing export sales and domestic production continuing to rise all across the country.

As this went to press, Thai shrimp exporters were preparing to lodge two complaints with the World Trade Organization against the US, Thailand’s biggest export market, alleging unfair trade practices.

Thai Frozen Foods Association President Poj Aramwattanont said that last year, exports from Thailand reached 193,764 metric tons, three times that from China, the second-biggest supplier.

But in the first two months of this year, total exports were just 1,593 tons, a 95% decline from the same time last year.

K. Somphot urged the public to take advantage of the low prices and encouraged restaurants, hotels and food shops to add shrimp dishes to their menus.

The “Blue Flag Shrimp Festival” will take place at two locations:

-The Esso service station on Thepkrasattri Rd, near Supercheap, open daily from 8 am to 1 pm.

-The Phuket Provincial Commercial Affairs Office, opposite Seng Ho Bookstore on Montri Rd in Phuket City, open Monday to Friday, 3 pm to 6 pm.

People wanting to place large orders with the Phuket Shrimp Farmer Club can do so by calling 086-6835869 or 081-7978713.

By Janyaporn Morel

 

PHUKET CITY: The Bangkok office of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), Korean Air and Sun Moon Tours & Travel joined forces to promote Thai tourism to Korea with an industry event at The Metropole Hotel on June 14.

Kang Sung-Ghil, Director of the KTO’s Bangkok Office said, “Phuket is one of our main markets for MICE [meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions], especially incentives. From now on, we must come here more often to give updated information about Korea.

“The event provided useful information about major international trade fairs and tourism attractions in Korea to help in planning incentive tours or educational trips to Korea, as well as pleasure tours.

“We also provided information to encourage travel agents to include Korea in regular tour programs. We would like to encourage travel agents here to become Korea tour specialists in this region,” he said.

“Our aim is to increase the number of Thai tourists visiting Seoul and locations where Korean dramas are filmed, such as Jejudo Island, where the drama Jung Geum is filmed. Korean dramas are very popular with Thai people,” he explained.

“Seoul is the number one attraction, as it is the heart of Korea, but Jejudo Island is also popular; it is much like Phuket, but has four seasons,” he added.

Mr Kang explained that last year some 130,000 Thai tourists visited Korea – a 30% increase in the number of Thai tourists to Korea on the previous year. “People in Phuket and nearby provinces can travel to Korea direct from Phuket as Korean Air operates regular direct flights from Phuket to Incheon International Airport.

However, traveling in the opposite direction, last year about 1.1 million Korean tourists visited Thailand, Mr Kang said.

“Now, in the low season, we have four direct flights a week from Seoul to Phuket and four direct flights a week from Incheon to Phuket, all flown by Korean Air.

“I think this is the same number of flights provided by Thai Airways,” he said.

PHUKET: Gold shop owners on Phuket have agreed to increase their security measures in exchange for discounted insurance premiums from the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Insurance.

Phuket Gold Shop Association Chairman Chaiyoot Prayoonyong stated that the slowdown of the economy has increased the risk of robbery nationwide and that gold shop owners have agreed to upgrade their security, by installing more surveillance cameras, alarms and security bars.

The discounted premiums for gold shop insurance policies were announced on June 6 by the Department of Insurance.

Insurance policies will include coverage for damage or theft of equipment and inventory.
Premiums of 18,800, 32,900 and 47,000 baht per year are offered for coverage of one, two and three million baht, respectively.

K. Chaiyoot, owner of Rassada Gold Shop in Phuket City, said that the discounted premiums were a good idea.

However, he added that he had yet to receive any official documents from the insurance department.

There are about 70 gold shops in Phuket, most are in Phuket City and Patong, he added.

“This will be good for gold shop owners. Selling gold depends on economics, if we the have money to buy the best security systems for our shops, we will do so,” he said.

AO MAKHAM: A multinational group of oceanographers has completed a survey of the fault zone that caused the 2004 tsunami and early results show that the quake also caused a massive landslide.

Just back from mapping the sea floor where the 2004 tsunami originated, the Roger Revelle, pictured here at the Deep Sea Port at Cape Panwa.

The R/V Roger Revelle, a 75-meter research vessel from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, berthed at the Deep Sea Port at Cape Panwa yesterday after completing a 39-day study of the sea floor that involved coring of seabed sediments.

The focus of the research, led by Dr Chris Goldfinger of Oregon State University, was the the Java Trench subduction zone off the coast of Sumatra, near the epicenter of the 9.3-magnitude earthquake that triggered the 2004 tsunami.

The research team comprised 59 scientists, including oceanographers from Germany, Japan, Spain and Indonesia.

Dr Goldfinger said initial results indicated that the research had detected evidence of the submarine landslide caused by the earthquake, but that the data need further analysis back in the US.

While the research was useful, there is still no way to accurately predict or prevent tsunamis from occurring, Dr Goldfinger said.

For this reason, a reliable early warning system must be installed in risk areas and people living in such areas must have confidence in it for it to be effective.

The Roger Revelle left Phuket on June 18 to begin its next mission: mapping a 4,000-kilometer volcanic ridge in the Indian Ocean known as the “90-East Ridge”, which is the longest of its type on earth.

The research on the 50-day survey will be led by Dr Will Sager, a professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University.

Scientists have believed for many years that the ridge formed naturally from rising magma from the mantle where the Indian Plate drifted northward into the Eurasian Plate, sequentially forming a line of volcanoes. That theory has come under criticism in recent years, so the mapping will try to determine how the ridge actually formed.

Seismic techniques will be used to probe into the sediment layers.

Another part of the research will involve using 19th-century dredging techniques to collect exposed volcanic rock samples along the ridge flanks, at depths from 2,000 to 4,000 meters. The rocks will then be analyzed onshore for chemical composition and age.