PHUKET: A blackout across much of Patong, Kata and Karon left tourists and locals in the dark and feeling less safe early today.
One Soi Crocodile businessman in Patong reckoned that the power failure cost bar owners 10 million baht. ''It came right at the peak period,'' he said.
At least one motorcycle crashed in the darkness, two resorts reported thefts from guests' rooms, and tourists poured from bars and resorts into the streets to see what was happening.
The lights went out in Bangla Road, the tourist walking street, around 12.15am and stayed out for two hours until a temporary solution was found.
The blackout was caused when a concrete truck crashed into a pole in Phuket's Thalang, about 20 kilometres away, Patong Electric Authority officials said today.
Extra police, Tourist Police and police volunteers hit the streets to try to maintain order in the blackness.
''Patong wasn't a good place to be with people scrabbling around with torches and candles,'' one person caught in the blackout told Phuketwan today.
''I wouldn't want to be caught in the dark on beach road. When the lights go out like that, it blows the 'safety zone' idea out of the water.''
Many of the larger resorts in Patong have their own emergency generators. A temporary pole was used to prop up wires in Thepkasattri Road.
One Soi Crocodile businessman in Patong reckoned that the power failure cost bar owners 10 million baht. ''It came right at the peak period,'' he said.
At least one motorcycle crashed in the darkness, two resorts reported thefts from guests' rooms, and tourists poured from bars and resorts into the streets to see what was happening.
The lights went out in Bangla Road, the tourist walking street, around 12.15am and stayed out for two hours until a temporary solution was found.
The blackout was caused when a concrete truck crashed into a pole in Phuket's Thalang, about 20 kilometres away, Patong Electric Authority officials said today.
Extra police, Tourist Police and police volunteers hit the streets to try to maintain order in the blackness.
''Patong wasn't a good place to be with people scrabbling around with torches and candles,'' one person caught in the blackout told Phuketwan today.
''I wouldn't want to be caught in the dark on beach road. When the lights go out like that, it blows the 'safety zone' idea out of the water.''
Many of the larger resorts in Patong have their own emergency generators. A temporary pole was used to prop up wires in Thepkasattri Road.
Regarding power cuts in (at least) parts of Patong, in recent months, and for whatever (unknown) reason, here are some dates and approx times:
27/9/13 00:10 to 01:25 hrs
26/9/13 15:05 to 15:20 hrs
26/9/13 10.00 to 10.30 hrs
12/9/13 01:05 to 04.00 hrs
11/9/13 18.00 to 18.30 hrs
07/9/13 14.00 to 14.30 hrs
16/8/13 13.20 to 13:50 hrs
23/7/13 21.50 to 22.45 hrs
04/7/13 02:15 to ?? hrs
04/7/13 12:20 to ?? hrs
03/7/13 17:30 to 18:15 hrs
FYI in a country like Singapore, the electric companies are actually fined if there are any power cuts, due to the financial and business loss to the local economy and the country as whole.
Posted by wyn on September 28, 2013 01:09