Stunner island

Greece's tourism minister has said Britons hoping for a summer holiday in the country can start booking as it prioritises giving the COVID vaccine to the inhabitants of around 40 small islands. The islands, which each have a population of less than 1,000 people, include Halki near Rhodes, Kastellorizo off the Turkish coast, Meganisi in the Ionian Sea and Kythira in the Peloponnese peninsula, according to the Daily Telegraph. Larger destinations such as Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu will be targeted once Greece's tiniest islands have been vaccinated, the newspaper said. However, UK government has said the earliest date people from England can travel abroad for a holiday is 17 May - that is provided the four tests for easing lockdown are met. Follow live COVID-19 updates from the UK and around the world Advertisement Greek tourism minister Harry Theoharis told the Telegraph: "If you're going to send a medical team to an island with a small population, … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Greece invites Britons to start booking holidays as it targets 40 islands for vaccinations

PHUKET: The current water shortage on Phuket could become a crisis by the end of this month unless substantial rain falls in the meantime. Water is no longer being supplied from Bang Wad Dam, the island’s main reservoir, for fear that the dam wall may crack if the level falls too far. Water from nine former tin mines is now being used instead. Unless this wet season replenishes supplies, authorities may also be forced to ration supply by regulating the water pressure, as they did last year. Sawong Sri-in, chief of the Muang District Waterworks Department, said, “If we don’t get more rain, we will face a drought by the end of this month.” To conserve water, he said, “we might have maximum pressure in the pipes from 4 am to 9 am and from 5 pm to midnight, then halve pressure during the rest of the day.” Bang Wad Dam currently contains 2.11 million tonnes of water, less than half the maximum of 5.75 million tonnes, though still well above the safe minimum of 1 million tonnes. Because of … [Read more...] about Island facing drought crisis

PHUKET: The Islanders fell back into into the five-team relegation zone following a 1-0 loss last night to 3rd place Sri Racha Suzuki FC. Despite a wide margin in league points, the competition, played in front of 3,100 fans, was evenly matched with the Sri Racha “Blue Marlins” enjoying only slightly more possession than Phuket. Indeed, it was looking as if Phuket FC – reinforced with the leadership of a capable new head coach, Anuruck “June” Srikerd as of Wednesday – were going to earn at least a point last night. The crowd were on their feet on a number of occasions with near-scoring chances enjoyed early on by Phuket’s Narakorn Wisetthanakarn and Koreans Boash Chun and Seongwon Byeon. However, Sri Racha’s Thai keeper Chanin Sae-ie coordinated well with his Brazilian backs, team captain, Douglas Cobo and Diego Mendes, who greatly limited Phuket’s attacking game. For much of the game, Phuket’s midfielders Niran Panthong and Roland Vargos stepped up their game to reinforce … [Read more...] about Phuket Sports: Marlins reel in the Islanders

After the first turtle hatched on Racha Island last week, STORY HERE , officers have now found the other 86 eggs, which unfortunately didn’t make it. After the first hatch on September 8, officers from Marine Endangered Species Unit (MESU) and locals on Racha Island have waited for four days but there was no sign from the other baby turtles. The MESU officers investigated all the eggs by uncovering them and found that they had developed for a while but stopped before they reached 10 days old. Only two of them had red dots which are the signs of blood system development which takes about 10 days. For the eggs that stopped developing after 10 days, the officers said that there are many factors such as humidity, temperature and microbes in the sand. During the hatching time, it has been stormy with downpours plus some periods of strong sunshine which created a big contrast of temperature – one of the main factors that affect the hatching. However, the MESU explained that the … [Read more...] about ‘Boonrod’ – the only survivor of the Racha Island turtle hatching

A meeting yesterday (September 18) between Phuket’s Governor and wildlife officials discussed the management of Phuket’s monkeys. Following many reports from locals and tourists about problems caused by Phuket’s monkeys, the meeting agreed on a possible sustainable solution. “There are 7 spots where monkeys live in Phuket including Rang Hill, To Sae Hill, Soi Thanun, Soi Ginggaew 9 in Koh Siray, Bangrong Pier and Baan Yamu. There are 2 types of monkeys including pig-tailed macaque and long-tailed macaque. According to the complaints they can attack people for food, steal people’s items and wait for tourists to feed them while also sometimes attacking people walking past them,” said Phuket Governor Norapat Plodthong. “We have searched and collected information about five islands around Phuket. Some of the monkeys will be released to the secure ecosystems of these selected islands to reduce the number of monkeys in areas frequented by locals and tourists on Phuket island.” … [Read more...] about Phuket’s monkeys being moved to their own island