Phuket’s biggest stories from the last week: Vegetarian festival begins, Foreigners injured from buggy car and paragliding, Minivan drivers brawling

Tuesday, 27 September 2022, 12:28

Hello, Phuket Express Readers and Supporters!

The following is our weekly feature in which we highlight the top local stories in our area of Phuket, from the past week. The number of stories differs from week to week.

These are chosen and curated by our editorial team and are designed for our readers to get a quick “catch-up” of important stories they may have missed. We publish many stories daily and it is easy to lose track of important events or changes in our area. We do national recaps in a separate article, this is only the top local stories in the Phuket province.

They are in no particular order of importance but roughly in order of publishing. These are from Monday, September 19th, 2022, to Sunday, September 25th, 2022.

Let’s get started and see what the top local stories were!

1. Four foreigners have sustained mostly minor injuries, although one suffered more serious wounds, after a buggy car driven by the group (a type of go kart) crashed into a power pole in Chalong.

One of them had sustained serious injuries. This person was taken to Chalong Hospital.

2. A 78-year-old foreigner has sustained serious injuries after a paragliding fall at a viewpoint in Rawai.

He had broken his right arm and injured his right leg and hip.

3. A video clip of minivan drivers fighting while foreign tourists were watching them at a famous souvenir shop in Phuket has gone viral in social media.

Minivan drivers were waiting for foreign tourists while they were shopping inside the shop. Both parties were disappointed with some issues.

Two minivan drivers presented themselves to police after allegedly attacking other drivers in front of a famous souvenir shop in Phuket.

The drivers involved in the brawl were disappointed about getting tips (commission) from taking customers to the souvenir shop but someone else had allegedly jumped the queue to receive money from the shop instead.

The driving licenses of three minivan drivers who were involved in a viral brawl in Phuket have been suspended for six months.

The driving licenses of three minivan drivers who were the prime agitators in the incident have been suspended for six months. They are not allowed to drive taxis including minivan taxis for six months.

4. The Phuket Vegetarian festival has officially begun in which the Thai Public Health Minister joined in a ceremony to launch the event.

The Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul joined in the ceremony at Jui Tui Shrine where the ‘Go Teng’ Pole was raised. The Go Teng pole is the sign of the beginning of the Vegetarian Festival

The TAT Phuket division is expecting to welcome 200,000 tourists which will generate 3.4 billion baht during the vegetarian festival.

About 100,000 Thai tourists and 80,000 foreign tourists are visiting Phuket during this vegetarian festival.

5. An earthquake was reported in the morning of September 24 ^th on Sumatra Island with tremors felt in Phuket, Phang Nga, and Songkhla. No damage was immediately reported.

The Phuket Governor has ordered close monitoring after earthquakes were reported on Sumatra Island with tremors felt in Phuket but no damages were reported.

The initial assessment showed that no damage was reported in Phuket. Only one area reported tremors which was in Mueang Phuket district with some residents reporting slight tremors and shakes.

That is all for this week, as always thanks for your support!

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