What's on Phuket
Lifesaving Carnival at Karon Beach | Friday, January 16, 2009

KARON, PHUKET: A “nippers” Surf Lifesaving Carnival is to be held for 5-15 year olds at Karon Beach, near the Karon Lagoon, on Saturday January 24. The event is organized and conducted by the Phuket Lifeguard Club and sponsored by Le Meridien Phuket.

Participants have the chance to enter a range of events including a beach sprint, swimming races and a tug of war competition, as well as a host of fun activities for local schools, residents and swimming clubs. Competitors will have the chance to win medals in the following age groups: 5-7 year olds, 8-11 year olds and 12-15 year olds.

The aim of the Carnival is to promote the importance of water safety and raise interest in lifesaving as a sport. Anyone may join in, there is no entry fee and drinks will be provided at the event. Registration time is 9 am and the event is expected to conclude at approximately 12.30pm, following an award ceremony for the first, second and third place finishers.

The event will take place toward the north end of the beach.

Parents or guardians of participants must register to enable their child to participate.

For more information contact Jayne Macdougall (English) at Tel: 089-6452576 or Khun Nat (Thai) at Tel: 081-8925549.

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Chinese New Year extravaganza planned | Thursday, January 15, 2009

PHUKET CITY: Chinese New Year celebrations will be combined with the annual Old Phuket Town festival, to be held in Phuket City, with three nights of fun starting on January 31.

Activities will take place at Queen Sirikit Public Park and along Thalang and Krabi roads and Soi Rommanee, in the heart of Old Phuket Town.

Jointly organized by Phuket City Municipality and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), this year’s event promises to be spectacular.

Cultural shows staged as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations will reflect the important social and cultural links between between Phuket and China, while the Old Phuket Town festival will once again feature traditional local culture, foods and lifestyle.

The TAT will fly in performers from mainland China for participants to appreciate, further strengthening the bilateral relationship, especially with Phuket City’s “twinned” sister city of Yantai, in China’s Shandong province.

Colorful street processions and vibrant celebrations will fill the streets of Old Phuket Town, which will be closed to traffic nightly during the festival.

The TAT will invite 179 performers from seven Chinese provinces to put on cultural performances like the dragon and lion parade and Chinese opera.

Billed as the “China Town Yaowarat Chinese New Year Festival”, the event will run from January 23 to February 4 and include activities in Nakhon Sawan, Songkhla, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chonburi and Bangkok as well as Phuket.

Source: NBT