PHUKET: Waterproof zip bags are likely to be issued to US warship sailors taking liberty leave on Phuket during the wet and wild Songkran Festival this weekend.
The USS Hopper (DDG-70), a guided missile destroyer, is scheduled to anchor off Phuket in the next couple of days, with a welcome planned by the Navy League Phuket.
Although supply ships have called at Phuket, it has been some months since a warship anchored off the island.
The gap in visits is attributed to the Glenn Marine Defense scandal.
Phuket has been named as one of the ports where husbandry bills for the US Navy were allegedly inflated on the orders of Glenn CEO Leonard Glenn Francis, who is awaiting trial for fraud in the US.
Charge documents now reveal that in a one-year span, the company submitted 177 false competitive bids just for services on Phuket.
Francis has been indicted on charges of plying two navy commanders and a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent with cash, prostitutes and luxury travel in exchange for inside information on contracts and eventually on the fraud investigation.
A new husbandry team, also Singapore-based, has been engaged and it's understood that fees have come under close scrutiny.
The visit of the USS Hopper means that a visit by an aircraft carrier and accompanying warships can be anticipated for Phuket later in the year.
From 6pm on Sunday at Aloha Villa Resort in Patong, officers and crew are to be entertained by the Navy League Phuket. The resort is north of Jungceylon, on the east side of Rat-U-Tit 200 Pi Road.
Guests from any nation can sign on as members for 2000 baht a year or pay 400 baht as a visitor.
The USS Hopper (DDG-70), a guided missile destroyer, is scheduled to anchor off Phuket in the next couple of days, with a welcome planned by the Navy League Phuket.
Although supply ships have called at Phuket, it has been some months since a warship anchored off the island.
The gap in visits is attributed to the Glenn Marine Defense scandal.
Phuket has been named as one of the ports where husbandry bills for the US Navy were allegedly inflated on the orders of Glenn CEO Leonard Glenn Francis, who is awaiting trial for fraud in the US.
Charge documents now reveal that in a one-year span, the company submitted 177 false competitive bids just for services on Phuket.
Francis has been indicted on charges of plying two navy commanders and a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent with cash, prostitutes and luxury travel in exchange for inside information on contracts and eventually on the fraud investigation.
A new husbandry team, also Singapore-based, has been engaged and it's understood that fees have come under close scrutiny.
The visit of the USS Hopper means that a visit by an aircraft carrier and accompanying warships can be anticipated for Phuket later in the year.
From 6pm on Sunday at Aloha Villa Resort in Patong, officers and crew are to be entertained by the Navy League Phuket. The resort is north of Jungceylon, on the east side of Rat-U-Tit 200 Pi Road.
Guests from any nation can sign on as members for 2000 baht a year or pay 400 baht as a visitor.
Best they issue them with USA Army jeeps as well, or they will meet the most unscrupulous overcharging unroadworthy hire transport operators in the world.
Posted by slickmelb on April 10, 2014 20:15