Mayor Saroj announced this year’s New Year event, themed ‘The colours of happiness, saying goodbye to the old year’, at a press conference held at the park area across from the iconic Chartered Bank building in Phuket Old Town yesterday (Dec 21).
The park area at Chartered Bank Intersection will be the focal point of festivities for the event, to be held Dec 30-31.
People taking part in the festivities will have the chance to win round-trip domestic flight tickets, Mayor Saroj said, though details of how to enter were not revealed.
Festivities, from from 4:30pm onwards, will include live concert performances by artists including Jenifer Kim, Zani and Koh Mr Saxman, Mayor Saroj said.
Meanwhile, throughout the holidays the streets of Phuket Old Town will be adorned with decorations and beautiful lights, he added.
“We invite citizens and tourists to join in enjoying the charm of Lard Yai Walking Street, Thalang Rd, Soi Rommanee and the Chartered Walking Street and Phang Nga Rd,” Mayor Saroj said.
There will be more than 350 vendors selling food and wares along the Old Town streets during the festivities, he added.
However, there was no confirmation of which streets will be closed to traffic during which hours on which days.
“On Dec 31, come and enjoy concerts by famous artists and live music performances from local artists,” Mayor Saroj said.
“In addition, you are invited to participate in the sale of white peace symbol balloons, which will raise money for the Phuket City Care Center, and to take part in activities to ‘snap, share, receive luck and send happiness’ when counting down to 2024, starting a new era,” he said.
Several areas have been decorated for tourists to take photos to promote as ‘check-in’ photos on social media to stimulate tourism in the town, Mayor Saroj noted.
The ‘check-in’ points are at the Surin Circle (the ‘Clock Tower Circle’), Suriyadet Circle (the ‘water cannon circle’ where Ranong Rd meets Yaowarat Rd) and at the old police building at the Chartered Bank Intersection.
“Now there are tourists of every nationality and every language coming to visit, especially at the Chartered Bank Intersection, which is a popular ‘check-in photo spot’ in Phuket Town,” he said.
“In organising this event, 36 organisations have supported the ‘Discover Phuket Countdown 2024’ event, including government agencies, the private sector, community enterprises and local communities as well,” he added.
DEE PHUKET FAIR
Meanwhile, the main ‘Dee Phuket Fair’, also long-called the ‘Red Cross Fair’, will be held at Saphan Hin from Dec 29 to Jan 6.
The event each year draws tens of thousands of visitors to enjoy the live concerts and high-profile celebrities on stage, and hundreds of stalls selling food.
Organisers have yet to announce the entertainment line-up for this year’s Dee Phuket Fair, but have announced that tickets for the popular Red Cross lucky draw prizes are available.
Tickets cost B100 each, with books of 10 tickets costing B1,000 apiece. Numbers available for the lucky draw tickets range from 1,000 through to 8,999.
Up for grabs is the main prize of a Toyota Fortuner 2.4V, with a Toyota Yaris ATIV 1.2 Smart as the second main prize. Other main prizes to be won include three Honda Scoopy-i motorbikes, five small electric scooters amd seven 42-inch TVs.
The draws for the main prizes will be held at the centre stage area at 10pm on Saturday, Jan 6.
PATONG AND KARON
Patong Municipality has yet to announce details of their New Year Countdown event, though the party in the town usually attracts large crowds with live concerts and DJ EDM performances on the ebach.
Karon Municipality, however, has already announced its New Year festivities will be held at the Nong Harn Public Park near the Karon beachfront on Dec 29-31, touting three days and three nights of festivities, including a ‘free, juicy concert’ aimed at attracting teenagers.
The Karon ‘Phuket Countdown 2024’ event, jointly organised by the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PPAO), is being promoted as “bigger than ever before”, and will include concerts by Thai char-topping artists such as: NiceCNX, Ironboy, ParkMalody, Biew Kanlayanee and Tobii.