Howson leaving the 89.5 house

After an outstanding eight years hosting Good Morning Phuket on Live 89.5 FM, we must bid farewell to Chris Howson. At the end of February 2023 the voice that has kept us entertained on our morning drive to the office departed the Phuket airwaves, to further his career and not have to wake up at 4am every day to host a breakfast radio show. His replacement is a familiar face and voice to all of us in Phuket, JP Mestanza.

When Chris arrived in 2015, fresh off the plane, wide-eyed and very white, he was instantly liked by all at Class Act Media. Learning to speak Thai very quickly he was an instant hit with all the people he interacted with, add in his Canadian nationality, you could not meet a nicer person.

He has seen a lot of changes in Phuket, as we all have over the eight years, and he has let you know his feelings on most of them during his daily monologues that really gave us time to pause and look at it all.

Personally I would like to express my gratitude for his hard work, especially the last few years during the pandemic – Chris, thank you. Chris has his own words for this farewell: “It’s been an amazing eight years, thank you Phuket! JP has been such an important part of Live 89.5 since even before I arrived on the island, and I can’t wait to hear what he does with ‘Good Morning Phuket’. Even though he is lacking my delightful Canadian twang, I know JP will make your mornings even better. Good luck!”

You will all have probably seen and heard JP as he has been with Class Act Media for many years, first as the sports editor for The Phuket News, and now the face of Phuket News TV, hosting the daily Phuket Xtra show, Monday to Friday evenings on YouTube, Facebook and thephuketnews.com.

He is also the voice of the local news updates every hour on Live 89.5. We are looking forward to what JP will be bringing to Good Morning Phuket on Live 89.5, Monday to Friday from 7am till 11am.

JP is excited to be hopping in the chair: “Becoming the new host of the Breakfast Show on Live 89.5 is a daunting task, given how great of a host Chris Howson has been for years. I have some big shoes to fill, but I’m excited and can’t wait to talk with all of Phuket about all the goings-on around the island. Listeners can expect a fun, exciting show, with some daily banter on all things Phuket!”

Please join us in wishing Chris all the best for the future and we look forward to catching up again.

Jason Beavan
General Manager
Class Act Media

Catch JP every weekday from 7-11am on 89.5 on your FM dial or online – www.thephuketnews.com/radio/listen.php