http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/phuket/ en-us Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:47:49 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1987245/posts BANGKOK, Thailand — Female tourists visiting the Thai island of Phuket are going to be given whistles to sound in case of an emergency. The Thai Tourism Ministry announced the move Monday, two days after the murder of a Swedish woman in broad daylight. The whistles are part of a campaign to increase security on Phuket, one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations. The Swedish woman, 27-year-old Hanna Charlotta Backlund, was stabbed to death Saturday while taking a walk on Mai Khao beach, on the northern tip of Phuket. Her attacker remains at large. Phuket police Maj. Sathabhorn Sangaunsuk... The Canadian Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1987245/posts#comment Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:47:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1898745/posts Wind shear alert was down Officials say system not crucial for landing POST REPORTERS Systems to detect dangerous winds at Phuket international airport have emerged as a new factor possibly linked to the horrendous crash of the One-Two-Go flight on Sunday. Wuttichai Singmanee, director of air safety at the Civil Aviation Department, said three of the six wind shear alert systems at the airport had problems. ''Three out of six low-level wind shear alert systems were not working at the time,'' Mr Wuttichai said in a report by the AP. An official at Phuket airport who declined to be named... Bangkok Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1898745/posts#comment Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:57:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1897316/posts BANGKOK, Thailand - More than 90 percent of the 123 passengers and an unknown number of crew were killed on Sunday when a Thai airliner crashed on the Thai resort island of Phuket, Deputy Governor Vorapot Rajsima said. "The casualties should be higher than 90 percent. I'm at the airport and the plane is still smoking," he told Channel 9 television. [...] Earlier, Angsuwan had told TITV that there was heavy rain when flight OG269 attempted to make a landing. "The visibility was poor as the pilot attempted to land. He decided to make a go-around but the plane lost... MSNBC.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1897316/posts#comment Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:33:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1627691/posts A Phuket marine-supply company is seeking permission to salvage what it believes are two British "human torpedoes" that have been lying in the sea near Phuket since World War II, the governor of Phuket said yesterday. Governor Udomsak Asavarangura said East Marine SBS had sent a letter requesting permission to salvage the two human torpedoes, or Chariots, believed to belong to the British Royal Navy. The Chariots sank near Dok Mai Island during a mission. However, authorities in Phuket would first like East Marine to get British government confirmation that the two vessels really belonged to the British Royal Navy.... nation multimedia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1627691/posts#comment Sat, 6 May 2006 03:45:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1472182/posts BANGKOK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A bloody insurgency in Muslim southern Thailand is a struggle for the independence of its ethnic Malay majority involving tens of thousands of people ready to die for their cause, a senior separatist figure said. In his first interview with a major news organisation since violence flared 20 months ago, a spokesman for the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) said his movement had no ties to international groups such as Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda or its southeast Asian affiliate, Jemaah Islamiah. "We have no connection with those terrorists," the senior member of PULO,... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1472182/posts#comment Sun, 28 Aug 2005 06:27:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1400752/posts Phuket Air quietly barred from UK LONDON: Just days before being banned from flying to the Netherlands, Phuket Air was also quietly barred from flying to the UK, it has emerged. One of its aircraft has also been seized for non-payment of landing fees at London’s Gatwick Airport. The website of the UK Department for Transport (DFT) says that “the Secretary of State has suspended the permit of Phuket Airlines (Thailand) because of operational safety concerns.” The statement was last modified on April 28. The airline joins others on the UK blacklist, including airlines from Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Tajikistan, Sierra... Phuket Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1400752/posts#comment Wed, 11 May 2005 06:12:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1381039/posts Third flight abandoned by airline An airline which twice abandoned take-off attempts when passengers said they saw fuel gushing from a plane's wing has suffered another safety scare. Britons flying with Phuket Air out of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday were left stranded by the halted take-offs. On Wednesday, a separate Phuket Air Boeing 747 had to return to Gatwick three hours into a flight to Bangkok because of a hydraulics fault. UK officials have grounded the plane until repairs have been completed. Engine shut down It has emerged that an engine had to be shut down while the... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1381039/posts#comment Sun, 10 Apr 2005 20:57:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1366114/posts Phuket Gay Festival set to earn Bt100 million PHUKET, March 19, (TNA) – The pink baht will help revive the tsunami-damaged tourism industry on the southern island of Phuket next month when over 5,000 homosexuals from across the world descend on the island for the province’s 6th annual Gay Festival. According to Mr. Chanok Kaewsrinual, head of the Phuket Gay Association, the festival on Patong Beach on 7-10 April will include a range of events, including the unmissable drag parade. This year the event will take on particular significance, as it will be seen as a means of reviving the... MCOT (Thailand) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1366114/posts#comment Sat, 19 Mar 2005 15:42:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1323584/posts PHUKET, - When the tsunami waves hit here last month, the hotel where Jinda Sinta worked erupted in chaos. Ms. Jinda frantically called an ambulance to help one unconscious child, but rescuers were unable to revive him. The next week, Ms. Jinda says, the dead boy returned to the damaged hotel lobby. Wearing the same dark-blue shorts he had on when he died, the ghost of the black-haired 10-year-old "was running around, playing," says the 40-year-old front-desk clerk. Then he disappeared. As Thai people grapple with the physical aftereffects of December's natural disaster, they are also dealing with another serious... The Wall Street Journal Page One http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1323584/posts#comment Wed, 19 Jan 2005 04:59:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1317277/posts This picture is not a fake as Pete Birrow inadvertently found it on the Lions Clubs of Australia website while looking for a Lions Club source to donate to. It appears to have been taken from a hi-rise building window in downtown Phuket Thailand. The power of nature is hard to comprehend, especially the destructiveness of water. Peter J. Birrow Executive VP, 35th Inf Reg Cacti Forever Private Email http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1317277/posts#comment Sun, 9 Jan 2005 21:07:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310914/posts Tourists run for their lives as the first of six tsunamis starts to roll towards Hat Rai Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand. One woman runs towards the waves. Photo: AFP The woman continues to run as the wave advances.Photo: AFP With the waves engulfing boats, the woman makes contact with her group. It is not known if they survived.Photo: AFP Sydney Morning Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310914/posts#comment Thu, 30 Dec 2004 15:06:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1312598/posts Before leaving Sunday on a U.S. mission to tsunami-ravaged southern Asia, Secretary of State Colin Powell sharply rebutted criticism that the initial U.S. response to the disaster was slow and inadequate. "I think that we have responded appropriately," he told CNN's "Late Edition," adding, "We're a little push-backy, I guess I can say, with respect to the claims that we didn't respond well. We did." The United States has committed $350 million in relief funds, the largest contribution behind Japan's $500 million. (Full story) The United Nations says a total of $2 billion has been promised. The death toll from... CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1312598/posts#comment Sun, 2 Jan 2005 22:52:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1311672/posts Translated since it's in Spanish... Maariv Newspaper from Tel Aviv posted a story today of an Israeli couple, who having barely survived the tsunami, were aided by a Palestinian couple who were also in the same area, Phuket Island in Thailand. The recently married Israeli couple had only been there for a day, when the huge wave stormed into their room, and literally imploded on top of them. While extremely lucky to have escaped without major injury, the couple did lose everything they had with them, including money. That is when a Palestinian couple from Jerusalem offered help, including money... Clarin.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1311672/posts#comment Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:56:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1311049/posts We are suffering. We have many friends among the dead and missing. Pray for the dead, the dying, and the living. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1311049/posts#comment Thu, 30 Dec 2004 18:43:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310849/posts SPIEGEL ONLINE - 30. Dezember 2004, 11:37 URL: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,334939,00.htmlThailand Flood Child Hannes Finds His Father Again Hannes Bergström was lucky: He survived the natural disaster, and his father too. Tourists found the two-year-old Swede near Khao Lak on Sunday. There was no trace of his parents DPA Flood Victim Hannes: At least father and Grandfather have survived Phuket - It was a reunion in the midst of the injured. Yesterday, little Hannes Bergström was finally brought to to his father Marko Karkkainen, who is laying in the hospital in Phuket. The two-year-old boy had been in a hospital himself since Sunday because none of... "SPIEGEL ONLINE" http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310849/posts#comment Thu, 30 Dec 2004 13:12:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309772/posts Thought I would try setting up a thread for the posting of pics and videos of the killer tital waves and the aftermath. Add them here and we may end up with a pic/video collection in one place.http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2004/12/27/418679.html Click on these words when you get to the link (site not in English). Dermed kan du selv se hvor sterke vannmassene var da den andre bølgen kom. US http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309772/posts#comment Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:58:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310187/posts Please help spread this mail. Hope we could find the boy's family ASAP. Pornrat H. Please help forwarding to media, embassy, etc. to help his boy. His parents are missing and his nationality cannot be identified yet. We're in Phuket right now and it's hard to contact anyone due to the failure of communication networks. This boy is about 2 years old. Found and taken from Khao Lak Resort Area,the southern part of Thailand. His parents are missing. His nationality cannot be identified. Please contact Dr. Anuroj Tharasiriroj of Phuket International Hospital, +66 76 249-400, e-mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310187/posts#comment Wed, 29 Dec 2004 15:34:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309455/posts A 150-member Israeli aid delegation canceled its mission to Sri Lanka on Tuesday, after the country - one of the hardest hit in the Asian tsunami disaster - refused to accept the Israeli team, Israel Defense Forces officials said. However, Israel is sending supplies at Sri Lanka's request, including 10,000 blankets contributed by the IDF, tents, nylon sheeting and water containers. The IDF Home Front Command is organizing aid preparations. The Israeli humanitarian organization Latet ("To give") is sending a separate aid package Tuesday. It is filling a jumbo jet with 18 tons of supplies worth $50,000, at Sri Lanka's... haaretz http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309455/posts#comment Tue, 28 Dec 2004 11:28:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309544/posts http://media.militaryphotos.net/tsunami/tsunamiphuket.wmv Video of the vawe hitting Thai resort Phuket. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309544/posts#comment Tue, 28 Dec 2004 14:54:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/776193/posts BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 26, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Thailand's prime minister said Saturday his country's tourist resorts are not likely terror targets, despite warnings from neighboring Malaysia that eight suspected al-Qaida members may try to sneak into the country. Since the Oct. 12 bombings that killed 191 people - almost half of them Australians - on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, travel agents have said tourists would likely flock to Thailand's beaches and lagoons, hoping for safe holidays. But Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Saturday warned Australians to reconsider plans to vacation in Thailand, particularly on... AP WorldStream via COMTEX http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/776193/posts#comment Sat, 26 Oct 2002 12:02:28 GMT