Volume 15 Issue 34 News Desk - Tel: 076-236555August 23 - 29, 2008 Daily news at www.phuketgazette.net 25 Baht The Gazette is published in association with Phuket hosts regional INSIDE wargames supply ship By Akbar Khan MAIN: Anchored off Ao Makham last week, the privately- owned vessel Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr is much more than AO MAKHAM: An unremark- an ordinary cargo ship. able privately-owned ship carry- ing thousands of tons of military INSET: Some of the military hardware below deck on the hardware and humanitarian aid vessel specially adapted for wargames and humanitarian sailed quietly into Phuket waters missions. last week, slipping away virtually unnoticed a few days later as the cargo vessel went on to play a supporting role in regional SEACAT (South East Asian Co- operation Against Terrorism) ex- BIZ: Royal Phuket Marina teams ercises. up with global marine events The privately owned Dan- planner to build the island’s first ish-built cargo ship Cpl. Louis J. large-scale MICE facility by Hauge Jr has been adapted for adding a conference center to it’s special load-carrying role to its property mix. serve as a floating warehouse for See the full story in the the US military. It has been Businees section on page 21. stretched by 150 ft and can roll NEWS: Tsunami warning off equipment onto lighterings so shield, sea strike and sea basing. contraband,” Mr Baxter added. contract to the MSC. buoy update; Tourism on cargo can be delivered any- This is a flagship of a squadron “In this year’s cat-and- As well as carrying a track. Pages 2 & 3 where, said Captain Glenn Bond of 10 boats that can support mouse game this ship plays the plethora of military equipment the crew leader. 18,000 marines for a month with role of a cargo ship carrying il- ranging from Abrams tanks to “We were at Saipan up by everything they need. licit cargo. We will sail down to Humvees and giant military INSIDE STORY: A look into Guam and now we are part of a “We are here for a little Singapore and test the ability of trucks, the vessel was also reports of oil exploration’s ad- SEACAT training program for 10 R&R before we continue tomor- these countries’ national home- loaded with containers full of re- verse effects on marine life . Asian nations to join in role-play row on a week-long annual land securitiy and how well they frigerated and dry food, – enough Pages 4 & 5 simulations,” he said. SEACAT anti-terrorist exercise can communicate and share in- to feed 3,000 people for a month Edward E. Baxter, the Pub- to help train the coastguards of formation with neighboring na- – more than a million gallons of LIFESTYLE: Judgment lic Affairs Officer for the Far several nations in this area. tions, as well as brushing up on fuel and 65,000 gallons of water. Day for whiz kids. East activities for the Military “These nations learn to their interception skills,” he said. Captain Bond said that it is Page 16 Sealift Command (MSC) Pre- work together in terrorist sce- Mr Parsh Singh’s Parsh a joy working with Thai forces positioning Program, told the narios not only dealing with pi- Marine Service PTE Ltd – and that the people of Phuket had AROUND THE S OUTH 6 ; AROUND Gazette, “The fleet is an element rates trying to get on vessels, but based in Singapore – is the been most hospitable. “The crew THE N ATION 7; AROUND THE R E- in the US’s triad of power pro- also how to board and search agent for the vessel which is are happy to have R&R in GION 8; AROUND THE ISLAND 10; jection into the 21st century-sea vessels suspected of smuggling now hired out on a long-term Phuket,” he said. CHEAP EATS 11; HAPPENINGS 14; LOOKING B ACK 15; MOTOR- ING 18; WHAT’S ON 19; BUSI- Pond poisoners caught at Suan Luang Park NESS & MONEY 20 & 21; END OF THE LINE 22; TAKE A B REAK PHUKET CITY: Scores of mu- the municipal officials responsible fish and then using hand nets to Nile tilapia and catfish. Both are 23 & 24; BOOKS, THAI 101 nicipal workers labored for sev- for patrolling the park at night first remove them. The men had staples of the Thai diet and are 25; EDITORIAL, LETTERS 26; eral days to remove thousands of noticed fish floating on the sur- planned to sell their catch at a farmed throughout the country. FIRST PERSON, ISSUES & AN- rotting fish from the main pond at face of the pond between 2 am local market, the officer said. Many smaller species of SWERS 27; TSOWNDINGS, HORO- Suan Luang Park, after fishermen and 3 am on August 16. The officer described the fish were able to survive the poi- SCOPES 28; COMPUTERS 29; were caught using poison to kill A subsequent search led to chemicals used by the fishermen soning of the pond, said the of- SPORTS 30 & 31; CONSTRUC- and capture them the night before. the detainment by security guards as “similar to look men [moth ficer. “Officials have done their TION 33; HOME OF THE W EEK 35; An officer from Phuket and eventual arrest by police of balls].” Also collected as evi- job in catching the fishermen and DECOR 37; PROPERTY WATCH City Municipality who asked not four fishermen who were alleg- dence were the fishing nets and the public shouldn’t become un- 38; CLASSIFIEDS 39-51. to be named told the Gazette that edly using chemicals to kill the 80 kilograms of dead fish, mostly duly worried,” she added. 2 PHUKET GAZETTE NEWS August 23 - 29, 2008 Tourism remains steady Janyaporn Morel ber of Japanese visitors is increasing, partially in response to the reopening of the direct Narita- PHUKET CITY: Despite global economic prob- Phuket route in July, which has seen load factors lems, tourism in Phuket continues to grow, with 4.79 averaging about 90%. million tourists having passed through Phuket In- There are also eight charter flights operating ternational Airport since the beginning of the fiscal between Hong Kong and Phuket. 2008, up 600,000 from the same period a year ear- While the number of foreign visitors has re- lier. mained steady, fewer Thais have been visiting, said Anoma Thongyai, deputy director of the Tour- K. Anoma. ism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 She cited the reduction in domestic flights Office in Phuket, revealed the figures at the monthly available from carriers low-cost Nok Air and One- Governor Meets the Press conference held on Two-Go as a major factor. August 15. Phuket International Airport Director Wing Although fuel prices are still high and tourism Commander Wicha Nernlop said that THAI Air- destinations around the world have felt the strain ways is expected to announce the addition of sev- Jewelry for sale: 89,000,001 baht of a volatile global economy, occupancy rates in eral more flights between Bangkok and Phuket. Phuket’s hotels remain at between 40% and 55%, However, a member of THAI Airways res- PHUKET CITY: Pattani-native Rozita Hazan is hoping to sell a pair about average for low season on the island, Khun ervations department told the Gazette that the of family heirlooms for 89 million and 1 baht. Anoma added. only impending increase in carrying capacity She told a press conference on August 12 that a distant One area of change lies in the spending hab- would come on September 1, when flight TG 1221 relative of hers was given the ring and bracelet by the Pattani its of tourists, who after shelling out for costly air from Don Meuang to Phuket, and its return leg, royal family (at a time before Pattani lost its independence to the tickets are more careful about spending and less would resume service. Siamese). “The price has meaning,” said K. Rozita. “Number 8 likely to buy extravagant items on impulse, she said. There are no new flights planned, but represents the age of our king, while his reign is the ninth Tourists visiting Phuket this low season are THAI might add special, non-scheduled flights generation of the Chakkri dynasty and number 1 is because there come mostly from Australia, the Middle East, In- to help meet passenger demand during peak is only one king.” – Sompratch Saowakhon dia, Hong Kong, China, Korea and Japan. The num- periods, she added. Firefigher found hanged PHUKET CITY: Police on August 14 discovered the decomposing Four perish in corpse of a municipal firefighter who apparently hanged himself sev- eral days earlier. Phuket City Police Duty Officer Pol Lt Tada Sodarak identi- fied the deceased as Apirat Sararat, a 30-year-old native of Pattani. Police were informed of Khun Apirat’s death by a 191 call placed weekend smashes by fellow residents of the firefighter’s dormitory on Kra Rd, he said. When police arrived at about 4 am, they found that friends of Sompratch Saowakhon truck, causing the collision and was attempting to traverse the deceased had already taken down the body, which they had found knocking the three family mem- Thepkrasattri Rd on his saleng suspended by a red-and-white firefighter’s rescue cord from the top PA KHLOK: Four people were bers to the ground, he added. (motorcycle with illegal sidecar) of the door leading out to the balcony. killed on the night of August 17 in The bodies of three victims, to reach the opposite lane. From the state of the body, police believe K.