PHUKET: In the most recent exodus, more than 430,000 Rohingya refugees have fled across the border into Bangladesh, bringing the total number who have taken flight to somewhere around 750,000 and creating a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen if aid is not provided quickly and regularly. That’s the entire resident population of Phuket up and gone… and to this The Phuket News has not seen a single appeal for relief supplies or aid from the government or private industry.
Prior to the 20th century, captives of pirate raids in the seas around Phuket had little hope of freedom or even survival. They were treated appallingly and often died of starvation, exhaustion or disease before they could even be sold at slave markets in the region.
FORMULA ONE: Lewis Hamilton captured an emphatic pole position to rub salt into the wounds of title rival Sebastian Vettel, who qualified last with a power unit problem.
PHUKET: Police have been called on to track down a light-fingered panty thief snatching several women’s undergarments from clothes racks at an apartment block in Wichit this morning (Sept 30).
MYANMAR: Rashida Begum steers clear of the water pump near the reeking latrine shared by more than 100 families in a grim corner of Bangladesh that has grown into one of the world’s largest refugee settlements in just weeks.
PHUKET: Phuket lifeguards on the last day before they exit the beaches – to be replaced by a motley crew of Navy personnel, Civil Defense volunteers and a handful of actual lifeguards hired for the coming month – today (Sept 30) rescued another tourist caught in a dangerous rip tide at Surin Beach.
PHUKET: JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa this week marked World Tourism Day 2017 with a range of activities to promote “Sustainable Tourism” organised by Marriott Thailand Business Council together with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Even if you’re a not an aviation aficionado, when you see a big, sleek airliner on the tarmac of Phuket Airport with a cool raccoon mask windscreen and unique eagle-inspired wingtips, you can be sure that yes, it’s the new Airbus A350 XWB-900.
SURFING: Surfing as a pastime, and even as a serious sport, is exploding on Phuket. More locals are taking up wave riding in its various forms, and the surf culture is in full bloom on Phuket’s beaches.