Top Stories

FORMER Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins, has given Phuket top marks. The Australian beauty and her partner, Jake Wall, stopped off at the Chava Resort in Surin Beach for a few days on their way home to Sydney to soak up some sun on Phuket’s famous beaches. “Phuket is very beautiful, and it is a very safe destination for holidaymakers,” she said.

CRISIS talks were held in Phang Nga and Phuket between top ranking officials from Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket to discuss the ongoing political economical turmoil which is gripping Thailand. The closure of Bangkok’s two airports by PAD protestors last month has already cost Thai Airways International 20 billion baht in lost revenue, hotel occupancy rates throughout the Kingdom have been slashed, in some cases by as much as 50 per cent, and as many as a million service industry employees could be out of work in the coming year.

BEFORE he moved to Phuket, businessman Warren Crowe was a biker, a cowboy, a successful real estate manager and a trail-blazing restaurant owner. He grew up on Sydney’s North Shore, but when he was sixteen, he headed to the Gulf area of Queensland where he became a stockman, which is an Australian cowboy. “I worked on the largest cattle station in Queensland which had more than 25,000 head of cattle,” he said.

IT is not easy these days to find good quality villas right on the beach, but this week’s Pick of the Crop at Rawai is only a short jump from the sea and the sand. This contemporary beach-front villa features three levels with spectacular sea and island views. It is part of a private resort development managed by Outrigger, which is renowned throughout the world for providing secure, customer-friendly, well-managed estates.

AUSSIE couple, Cameron and Genevieve Neill, are living a real-life fairy tale. Their ‘home’ is a $US7 million luxury yacht, and they spend their ‘working days’ cruising the ocean blue with some of the world’s wealthiest businessmen and their families. Cameron, 30, is captain of the IFA-Phuket, a 26-metre Maiora motor yacht, now based in Phuket, and Genevieve, 31, is his ‘first mate’ who does the cooking and most of the cleaning.

THERE’s a whole lot of junk in Chalong Bay at the moment. But there’s nothing trashy about Phuket’s newest tourist attraction, the purpose-built charter yacht, The Siam Junk. The boat, which can sleep six couples, or cater for parties of up to 60 people, oozes luxury and style. Last week, the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) approved the charter license for the 200-ton, wooden, junk rigged motor sailing yacht, The Siam Junk, and owner/builder, John Bethell, is keen to get his charter business underway.

GOING on holiday should be a well-deserved break, but if you want to take the kids, how much of a break are you going to get? You arrive at your destination, jetlagged and tired and all you can think about is how far is it to the sparkling blue sea or the nearest ice cold piña colada. But there’s not much chance of that with a couple of kids pulling at your sleeve, demanding round-the-clock entertainment.

HERE we are on the eve of the high-season, a time when dreams are fulfilled or shattered, enhanced or decreased. Anything can happen... and it usually does. Some of Phuket’s more visionary nightclubs and bars are trying to keep one step ahead of the ever changing tourist demographic by adopting a fresh approach. Long gone are the days when the majority of Phuket’s holidaymakers were single men frequenting Bangla Road girlie bars in search of hedonistic adventures. They are still around, but they’ve been pushed aside by an increase in families and backpackers over the last three years.

JOHN Gray is a man on a mission. He wants to clean up Phuket’s waterways. For the past 20 years, the self-styled eco-warrior and his team of tour guides have been taking tourists out on their SeaCanoes to paddle through Phang Nga Bay, while he tells them about the geological history and about the wildlife on the bay’s 42 islands. And every time he goes out in his kayak, Mr Gray collects any rubbish and litter he sees along the way.

HUSBAND and wife painters Jay-da and Watcharin Rodnit have taken their art into Phuket’s youth prison where they are helping to make life a little easier for the young prisoners. They run regular art classes for the kids and are helping them to turn their lives around. When they are not ‘behind bars’, Jay-da and Watcharin run an art studio in Yaowarat Road in Phuket Town. Wacharin says he was born to be an artist and holds a masters degree in Fine Arts from Silpakorn University. As a boy, he spent many weeks meditating in the forests around Surat Thani where he grew up.

THE Yorkshire Inn is half way up Soi Sansabai, opposite Soi Bangla, but once you step inside the front door, you could be anywhere but in the heart of Patong. The stylish exterior hints at the elegance within and the sophistication continues throughout this recently refurbished hotel. Every consideration has been given to customer comfort, from the open kitchen, to the modern fitness centre and the uncluttered pool area.

THE Friendship Beach Resort, on Viset Road on the way to Rawai is a great place to eat. Quiet and secluded with its own personal waterfront, the resort is self contained and doesn’t need to cater to outsiders, so it’s a pretty well-kept secret amongst expats ‘in the know’. At night, the resort’s activities are replaced by charm, tranquillity, and fine dining, to match the spectacular view over the picturesque Chalong Bay.

PHUKET is set to explode on New Year’s Eve. Fireworks will light up the skies right across the island, the beaches will be full of revellers, and people will be out partying hard everywhere. As the clock strikes midnight on Wednesday night, the boys will be kissing the girls, the girls will be kissing them back, and shouts of ‘Happy New Year’ will echo across the island.

YOU better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town. That’s right, Santa’s coming to Phuket and will soon be making appearances all over the island. He’ll be at the Green Man pub all this week, ready to have his photo taken with all the good little kiddies, and on Christmas Eve, he’ll strip down to his board-shorts, and he and his pretty helpers will cool off with a cold drink and a swim at the ‘Wet ‘n’ Wild’ pool party at Ricky’s Flamingo Splash Bar in Kata.

Times are changing in the world. The Taw.Paw .155/2549 was issued to amend # Taw.Paw.1/2528 and provides guidance on the application of accrual basis for certain kinds of businesses. Here's a list of the major changes from Taw.Paw.1/2528:

Investors considering purchasing a condominium, investing through a Thai company into freehold or becoming a long term lessee will spend some time considering how safe each option is in terms of legal and practical problems with each method. Investors should be aware that the legal rights and protections they acquire differ greatly under Thai law depending on the type of investment or purchase of property. Setting up a Thai company and investing in property in Thailand is a well documented exercise. However, the effect of being considered a Thai in the eyes of the law in respect of freehold purchase through a Thai company comes at a price. Caution must be taken to ensure compliance by the Thai company with the regulations of the Ministry of Commerce and Land Office in relation to the shareholders of the Thai company.

LOCAL business people, residents and environmentalists have objected to plans to develop the Monkeyland tourist attraction on Tanan Island, off Chalong pier. Their concerns were raised at a special conference hosted by the Phuket Governor’s Office and the Department of Special Investigation at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on November 3. The conference was chaired by Phuket Governor Smith Palawatvichai, and Tavee Saudklaung, the president of the DSI.

MANY people visit a hypnotherapist to stop smoking, to lose weight, or to help them relax. And some go to take a trip back into a previous life for past life regression, or Past Life Therapy (PLT). Past Life Regression can sometimes resolve subconscious, survival-based issues which might be negatively affecting health, behaviours, or a client’s quality of life. Supporters of PLT claim it can allow for a more thorough resolution because it gives the mind permission to locate past life sources which can affect present day challenges or create obstacles.

Many people who visit Phuket annually have chosen to purchase apartments in Phuket and rent them out the rest of the year when they are not on holiday. Small Phuket apartments or condominiums are a good choice for those who won’t be spending much time in their Phuket apartment, or people who are not interested in the upkeep of a house, villa or bungalow. Condominiums are not as readily available as low-star Thai-style apartments, but there are some available in Phuket. Apartments in Phuket are plentiful, so there’s sure to be something to suit your taste in terms of design, size, location and price.

WHILE post-tsunami Phuket rages on with rampant development and an even wilder nightlife, our neighbours to the north have opted for a less-is-more policy in rebuilding their tourist industry. Nearly four years after the tsunami destroyed Khao Lak, Phang Nga province has re-invented itself as a hip eco-tourist hideaway. There are no jet skies tearing along the coastline, no tawdry girlie bars, and beach-hawkers are now a no-no ... and the tourists are coming back.

HOMEWORKS, the home improvement retail chain, a part of the Central Retail Corporation, opened a billion baht branch in Phuket last month. The retail outlet, opposite Central Festival on Chalermprakiat Ror Kao, covers a total of 27 rai (or 26,000 square metres), and includes more than 1000 car parking spaces, making it the largest stand-alone store in Phuket. HomeWorks currently operates out of seven main branches throughout Thailand, but the all-new Phuket based venture is expected to set new standards in customer turnover. An estimated 100,000 customers are expected to use the complex each month.

PHUKET firms now have an exciting new way to promote their businesses. Phuket Post has joined with Mojo Marketing Co Ltd to bring you a fantastic on-line service map of Phuket. The map, which can be viewed either as a normal map, or as a satellite image, makes it easy for both locals and tourists to find a particular business, or to select a business from a list of categories, ranging from accommodation and education, to medical and religious services, shopping centres and entertainment.

PHUKET personality, Ian Potter, started out as an apprentice engineer with a company in South East England dealing in control systems and made his way into the sales department, but by the age of 26, was ready for something new. The company offered him a sales manager’s role in Hong Kong and the young Potter jumped at it. He left cold and gloomy Britain for the warmth of Asia and never looked back. He stayed in Hong Kong for six years, during which time he used to regularly fly to Phuket to participate in the King’s Cup Regatta.