Phuket’s Biggest Stories From the Past Week: Move Forward Party Takes All Seats, 35 People Injured in Boat Crash, and more

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 differ 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 Phuket province.

They are in no particular order of importance but roughly in order of publishing. These are from Monday, May 15th, 2023, to Sunday, May 21st, 2023.

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

  1. The Move Forward Party have taken all three seats in three constituencies in Phuket in Thailand’s national Election.

Phuket candidates for the Move Forward Party will begin the first objective in their policy, they want to have an election for the Phuket Governor instead of the normal selection from the government.

It will, however, be a long road to any sort of central policy change on electing versus nominating governors.

2. It has been reported by the local media that many foreign tourists, most Russians, were injured after a tour boat crashed into a pillar in Chalong, Phuket.

In total, 35 people have been injured which included Russians, Ukrainian, Kazakhstani, Hong Kong nationals, Chinese, and Thais after a tour boat crashed into a pillar in Chalong, Phuket.

A boat captain has been charged with reckless behavior causing injuries after 35 people including foreign tourists were injured after a tour boat crashed into a pillar in Chalong, Phuket.

Phuket Immigration visited foreign tourists who have been injured from a recent tour boat crash and offered visa extension assistance.

This incident captured major attention on our social media and general discussion around boat safety in Thailand.

3. Two people have been pronounced dead after a pickup truck crashed into an electric authority staffer who was working with cables. A pet dog that was walking nearby was killed as well.

CCTV footage nearby shows the pickup truck driver lost control of their vehicle before crashing into the electric authority staffer, wooden ladders, and a power pole.

4. A fire has destroyed a small home in Patong. One person was reported injured from smoke inhalation.

The fire did not spread to nearby houses and buildings but the house was destroyed. One unidentified person was injured from smoke inhalation.

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

*****************************

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter and get all our news delivered to you in one spam-free daily e-mail Click here! OR, enter your e-mail below!

Subscribe
Goongnang Suksawat
Goong Nang is a News Translator who has worked professionally for multiple news organizations in Thailand for many years and has worked with The Pattaya News for more than four years. Specializes primarily in local news for Phuket, Pattaya, and also some national news, with emphasis on translation between Thai to English and working as an intermediary between reporters and English-speaking writers. Originally from Nakhon Si Thammarat, but lives in Phuket and Krabi except when commuting between the three.