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Karon's new beachside restaurants are now opening

Mediawatch: How Phuket Media Covered Events

Saturday, October 11, 2008
Weekend MediaWATCH

PHUKET is growing rapidly to the point where the island has three regular, frequent publications in English as well as several television and radio options for news and entertainment.

Here's Phuketwan MediaWATCH, a lively take on what's happening that is aimed at keeping island residents, visitors, would-be holidaymakers and advertisers in touch with Phuket's growing information world.

NEWSFRONT Latest: Perhaps this week, one of the local tourism authorities will be brave enough to talk about the coming high season disaster and what can be done about it. Right now, the credit crunch is pummeling the economies and the currencies of Phuket's biggest fan club: Britain, Singapore, Japan and Australia. Phuket has survived crisis after crisis, but this is different. There are two tourism turn-offs happening simultaneously. Combined with the political confrontation in Bangkok, there's the global credit crunch. For Phuket, it's a little like being in the ring with gloves on against the might of both Muhammed Ali and Mike Tyson. Just when you duck one knockout punch, another lands. Phuket needs to weave and dance to prosper. Will a leader stand up and tell us how, please?

The Phuket Gazette: (Weekly newspaper. Price 25 baht, 48 pages, usually with events calendar insert) This issue has three articles on the front page: Kamala beachfront shops destroyed, More CCTV cameras to spy on Patong and Guns seized at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint. Page three is given over to articles related to the Vegetarian Festival, although mostly they seem to be about pork and meat. Inside Story deals with the Phuket trip by two ambassadors and a few other assorted diplomats and honorary consuls to rediscover what everybody already knew: that Phuket is a safe place to visit. Nigerian scams are apparently a problem across the bay in Krabi, while another article describes life in East Timor. First Person presents the interesting case against Monkey Island, and there's a lively diary about the remaking of the film Bangkok Dangerous. Apparently these days, diaries are called blogs. Along with the front page, the letters and the editorial dwell mostly on tourist security and petty crime.

Phuketwan.com: A milestone came for Phuketwan.com this week with the posting of the 500th story online. There may be some you remember, and some you would like to forget. A few articles were posted online before the site launched officially on January 1, but the vast majority have gone up in 2008. We update seven days a week and we think we have added a little to the breadth of coverage now available in English for those with an interest in Phuket and the Andaman region. And we have a few new ideas coming up soon to improve and expand our coverage. If there is anything you would especially like to see, please let us know.

Innovation of the Week: The 12 Karon beach restaurants that have hopped from one side of the road to the other near the Karon lagoon now have a handsome permanent home for the high season. The authorities in this part of the island seem to have the right idea when it comes to progress and community. The beachfront between the Karon circle and the Karon stadium has no dangling wires and is a model for Patong and Kamala to follow, sometime soon, we hope.

Coming Events: The large international Dengue Fever conference from October 15-17 on the island appears to have been ignored so far by the Phuket media yet it will bring about 800 experts to the island and be a step towards beating one of the world's key tropical health problems. Read all about it at phuketwan.com, now and next week.

Phuket Set To Lead World on Dengue Fever
Phuket leads the world in one aspect of the killer disease that islanders whisper about at parties, Dengue Fever. It's time to start talking more loudly about Dengue, and to celebrate Koh Maprao, too.
Phuket Set To Lead World on Dengue Fever

Oh, and maybe there will be a coup in Bangkok, or the Government will be ruled unconstitutional, or there will be some other twist in a saga that really should be brought to a peaceful close as soon as possible.

The Wall Street Journal Asia this week takes time to look at Thailand's crisis and concludes: ''Thailand's democracy has weathered many blows, including three coups since 1973. The peaceful transition of power to the PPP after polls that were largely fair and free was a step forward. If the PAD succeeds in overturning those elections, it will be at the cost of disenfranchising millions of voters - and at a cost to Thailand's struggling democracy.''

If you have a view on any island topic, tell us via the Comment box below. It's easy!

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Monday December 23, 2024
Horizon Karon Beach Resort & Spa

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