Blaze Devastates Patong Shophouses
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Volume 14 Issue 36 News Desk - Tel: 076-236555September 8 - 14, 2007 Daily news at www.phuketgazette.net 25 Baht The Gazette is published in association with OrBorJor to revamp Phaya Thai IN THIS ISSUE Hospital NEWS: OrBorTor elections set; Korean guides MOU. Pages 2 & 3 By Natcha Yuttaworawit INSIDE STORY: Phuket Prison PHUKET CITY: The long aban- running out of space. doned Phyathai Hospital building Pages 4 & 5 is due a major makeover with the confirmation by press release AROUND THE SOUTH: Insur- that the Phuket Provincial Ad- gents go after top teachers. ministration Organization Page 8 (OrBorJor) last month com- AROUND THE ISLAND: Little pleted its 327-million-baht pur- rooster with a big heart. chase of the site from Thai As- Page 9 set Management Corporation. After surveying the hospi- PEOPLE: Corporate guru tal building and its facilities, lo- ditches material desires. Ten vendors’ shops were destroyed when a fire broke out along the beach road in Patong in the early cated on 14 rai of land, it was Pages 14 & 15 hours of September 3. announced that OrBorJor will NEW! GOOD VIBES: Music spend about one year making and band reviews from the improvements. Medical services Gazette guru, Matt Crook. are expected to begin in the sec- Page 18 ond half of 2008. Blaze devastates The private hospital will LIFESTYLE: Miss Universe un- accommodate about 200 beds leashes her jelly joy. and offer services similar to those Page 19 of other private hospitals, but at FIT FOR LIFE: You're only as reduced prices. The site of the old as you feel. Page 29 Patong shophouses hospital, on at Sri Sena Rd in Phuket City, has sat unused for SPORTS: Saphan Hin races; By Natcha Yuttaworawit caused a risk of electrocution until The fact that it seemed no- the past seven years. Kata surf contest; Darts; the power could be shut off. body was present when the fire The move comes in re- ACYC; Mini-Volleyball. PATONG: A shophouse fire It was still too early to as- started might make it difficult to sponse to Phuket’s ever-increas- Pages 34 & 35 along the beach road in Patong sess the total damage, said Col pin down the exact cause, he ing population, which officially PROPERTY: Gardening: Plants gutted 10 small vendors’ shops Grissak. Among the tourist-ori- added. stands at 324,891 people. How- drink too; Decor: Going green; before dawn September 3. It ented goods destroyed in the con- Col Grissak said he would ever, that figure is thought to be Property Watch: Seasonal was the third such blaze in 15 flagration were clothes, watches, also investigate the possibility of only about half the number of changes; Construction up- months. eyeglasses and other souvenirs, insurance fraud or other motives. Thais living and working in the date. Pages 36-39 No injuries were reported. he added. Police were awaiting re- province, according to a recent Kathu Police Superinten- Noting the similarity be- ports of assessed damages from estimate by the Ministry of Inte- PLUS dent Pol Col Grissak Songmoon- tween this blaze and two fires the shop owners, who were not rior. nark told the Gazette that the fire that broke out in June and No- identified, he added. Government hospitals in QUEER NEWS, TRASHING PHUKET broke out about 5 am inside a vember last year, Col Grissak Asked whether any pro- Phuket are struggling to cope 6; AROUND THE N ATION 7; ACROSS shophouse between the Holiday said police were collecting evi- gress had been made in the cases with the number of people requir- THE BAY 10; LETTER FROM LANTA Inn Resort and Soi Kebsab. dence to determine the cause and of the two blazes in 2006, Col ing treatment, in large part be- 13; HAPPENINGS 16; MOTORING Firefighters from Patong whether the fires are related. Grissak said investigators were cause the island’s tourist-oriented 17; AMBROSIA’S SECRETS 20; and Karon municipalities took While arson has yet to be still awaiting results from a po- private hospitals are too expen- LARGER THAN LIFE 21; TAKE A about 90 minutes to extinguish the ruled out, Col Grissak said it was lice forensics lab. sive for many islanders; BREAK 23 & 24; BOOKS, PHUKET blaze. more likely that low-quality elec- On June 14, 2006, four OrBorJor President Anchalee DIARY 25; EDITORIAL, LETTERS As with previous fires trical work was the cause of the shophouses on the corner of Vanich Tephabutra hopes that 26; TSOWNDINGS, HOROSCOPES along the beach road, firefighters’ fire. When setting up new busi- Thaweewong Rd and Soi Phyathai Hospital will bridge the 28; KHUN WOODY’S C OMPUTER efforts were hampered by dan- nesses, many people in Patong Phermpong Phattana 2, just south gap in the market by offering lo- 30; BUSINESS & MONEY 32 & 33; gling electric wires that limited tap into old transformers and pay of Banthai Beach Resort, were cals affordable, private health CLASSIFIEDS 40-51. their access to the flames and little regard to safety, he said. Continued on page 2 care. 2 PHUKET GAZETTE NEWS September 8 - 14, 2007 From page 1 Fire guts shophouses Rains fail to deter damaged by a fire that broke out about 2 am and took two hours to extinguish. ‘turtle’ lovers Five months later, at about 4 am on November 16, another PHUKET CITY: The incessant rain on August 29 did not fire broke out in a row of shops, stop Phuket City’s ethnic Chinese from turning out en masse to pay their respects to the dead on the first day also near the Holiday Inn Resort. of the annual “Por Tor” festival. The two-hour blaze destroyed The festival, officially opened by Phuket Governor eight vendors’ stalls and caused Niran Kalayanamit, saw hundreds lighting joss sticks and an estimated 10-million baht in offering cakes in the shapes of turtles, the Chinese damages before firefighters symbol of longevity, throughout the afternoon. could put it out. Stalls selling food, snacks and handicrafts were In all three cases, live elec- set up along the road, many with turtle cakes on display. trical wires hanging from power The turtle cakes are not for sale, though many are given poles between the shops and the away as a way to make merit. road caused problems for The festival was held between Suriyadej Circle and firefighters. The presence of so Jui Tui Shrine on Ranong Rd which had been closed to many dangling cables along the traffic. beach road has long been a The festival concluded on August 31 with a source of complaint from tourists ceremony at Bang Niow Shrine on Phuket Rd, just south and local shop-owners alike. of Ong Sim Phai Rd. Patong Municipality had re- quested that the cables be in- stalled underground as part of the Disabled Tourism Authority of Thailand’s post-tsunami redevelopment plan OrBorTor elections for the area, but the request was man beaten denied. to death Half of Phuket’s set for October 7 KOH KAEW: Police are seek- population still ing two men wanted in connec- By Pathomporn Kaenkrachang Tor before elections can be held. councilors, 9,100 voters. tion with the murder of a disabled unregistered The MoI announced on In other election news re- man on Thepkrasattri Rd about August 22 that the three OrBor- leased by the PEC, 2008 will see 8:30 pm September 2. PHUKET: Phuket Governor PHUKET: The four-year terms Tor would be elevated to munici- a number of other elections for Phuket City Police Duty Niran Kalayanamit’s campaign to of eight tambon administration pality status effective on August other elected local bodies whose Officer Pol Lt Theeradet Jiraksa encourage people to register organizations (OrBorTor) in 30, K. Supap said. terms are set to expire during the identified the victim as Somchai themselves as citizens of the is- Phuket ended August 29, with The PEC is prepared for the year: Mingpijaan, 23, an employee of land resulted in some success this elections to replace them to be October 7 elections, which will Phuket Provincial Adminis- the Michelin tire store on the by- month, with Phuket’s official held on October 7, Phuket Elec- involve 62,227 registered voters tration Organization (OrBorJor): pass road. population increasing by 1,231 to tion Commission (PEC) Director casting ballots for 60 representa- term ends March 13, elections One eyewitness told police 324,891 people between July 21 Supap Akkam has told the Ga- tives, he added. must be held on or before April that four or five men were seen and August 20. zette. A breakdown of council 27. drinking beer at a small table op- Launched last year, the cam- Would-be representatives in size and number of eligible vot- Phuket City Municipality posite the Isuzu showroom. paign aims to increase the num- the eight constituencies will be ers was given as follows: (tessabaan nakhon Phuket): Police were unsure whether ber of Thais whose names appear given from September 4 to 8 to Chalong OrBorTor: 10 term ends April 4, elections must K. Somchai was among them. on household registration forms. register their candidacies with the councilors, 12,769 registered vot- be held on or before May 18. An argument later broke Muang District saw the big- Phuket Election Commission ers; Karon Municipality (tessa- out and two men left the group gest leap with a net increase of (PEC). Cherng Talay OrBorTor: 6 baan tambon Karon): term ends on a motorbike. They returned 811 registrations, including 109 Polling in three other Or- councilors, 7,500 voters; May 1, elections must be held on later and hurled a beer bottle at births against just 43 deaths.