News
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Gov proposes new Patong-airport road
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura yesterday ordered the Phuket Provincial Highways Office (PPHO) to conduct a study into the feasibility of building a road between Phuket International Airport and Patong.“Right now, a lot of properties are being developed along the main road from the airport [Route 402], and soon Phuket will have traffic congestion problems,” he said.“The same happened in…
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Poison warning to Nai Harn dog owners
NAI HARN: Dog owners who take their animals for exercise on Nai Harn Beach are advised to keep them on the leash – or walk them somewhere else – as poisoners are once again at work.David Couchman, a retiree who lives in the area and walks his dogs on the beach, told the Gazette this evening that he knows of…
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204 couples wed on Valentine’s Day
PHUKET: More than 200 couples on Phuket were married on the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s Day.Karnjana Hongboonyanurak, the Registration Officer at the Phuket Muang District Office, told the Gazette that her office was the busiest on the island, with 142 couples, including five cross-cultural couples, registering their love.“Some couples arrived at the office before it opened in…
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Jet-ski races get thumbs-up
PATONG: Despite the Governor’s announced policy to rid Phuket of jet-skis by 2011, Phuket Province has given the green light for Patong to host the first round of the 2006 Jet Ski Thailand Championship, on March 4 and 5.The go-ahead for the event was confirmed yesterday at a meeting between Vice-Governor Niran Kalayanamit and members of the Thai Jet Sports…
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Growing pains in the B30 medical scheme
PRACHIN BURI: Admirers of the government’s 30-baht medical scheme may wish to consider, after reading the following, whether reform is necessary. Prachinburi resident Chaluay Pantam, 37, has watched with increasing alarm over the last two years as a ping pong ball-sized lump on his right shoulder grew into a Quasimodo-like hump “weighing more than 20 kilograms.” In the meantime, the…
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Second printing of Guide distributed
PHUKET: The second printing of the 2006 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s English-language “Yellow Pages”, is now on the shelves at bookshops, bakeries, coffee shops and other outlets around Phuket, Khao Lak and Krabi. Guestroom copies have already been distributed to Phuket’s leading hotels and resorts. The new Gazette Guide has 3,115 listings in 465 pages – making it 11% larger than…
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Patong porn peddlers pinched
PATONG: An undercover investigation team from Kathu Police Station led by Pol Maj Serm Kwannimitra raided two VCD outlets opposite the Patong Tourist Police office on Thaweewong Rd recently, arresting two people and confiscating some 5,000 obscene VCDs.The alleged offenders were Nattaporn Sornram, 33, and Jirawit Nonthapanthawat, also 33, both Phuket natives. They were found to be in possession of…
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Overstay 12 still in jail, face deportation
RANONG: A group of 12 foreign tourists arrested for overstaying their visas have spent their second night sleeping on the floor of a jail cell at Ranong Police Station.Ranong Immigration Police, who have announced that they will deport the group, say they are only following “standard procedures” and will send the 12 to an Immigration detention center in Bangkok “soon”.The…
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Jungceylon white knight unmasked
PHUKET CITY: The mystery white knight who has ridden to the rescue of the Jungceylon project was revealed this afternoon as Real Estate Capital Asia Partners (Recap), a private real estate investment fund owned by US and Singaporean interests.Recap is a Cayman Islands-registered 50:50 joint venture between the Baupost Group of Boston, Massachusetts, and Singapore’s City Developments Ltd.It was set…
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Moves to make Patong Beach “more orderly’
PATONG: Vice-Governor Worapot Ratthasima on Tuesday was appointed chairman of a committee charged with cleaning up Patong Beach and ensuring that beach operators are regulated.Committee member and Patong Municipality Chief Administrative Officer Poonsak Naksena said that the known 55 renters of beach chairs and umbrellas have until by February 24 to tidy up the layout of their 2,300-odd umbrellas and…
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Police arrest 12 on Ranong “visa run’
RANONG: Twelve foreign tourists were pulled off a “visa run” bus just 40 miles from Ranong and confined to a jail cell overnight for overstaying their visas. The company that arranged the tour claims that the arresting officers, from the Tourist Police and Highway Police, demanded 5,000 baht from each of the overstayed tourists in exchange for letting them go.…
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‘White knight’ rescues Jungceylon
PATONG: A mystery white knight has ridden to the rescue of the stalled Jungceylon megamall project, buying 53% of the mall’s operating company from one of the two main partners, who have been at loggerheads for months.The identity of the white knight is being kept secret for the moment, but it is understood to be a major investment fund, which…
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Thaksin should listen more, says TRT party-list MP
PHUKET CITY: In the wake of anti-Government protests in Bangkok last weekend, Thai Rak Thai party-list MP Dr Premsak Pearyura yesterday called for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to make changes to his leadership style.Visiting Phuket in his capacity as Vice-President of the Parliamentary Natural Resources and Environment Committee, the outspoken MP from Khon Kaen made a vague call for the…
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Miss Chicky gets herself fingered
PATONG: It is well-known that women, in general, spend more money than men in the effort to keep themselves attractive. But for men trying to pass themselves off as women, expenses are greater still. In the case of one Thai post-op ladyboy, the costs of ongoing upkeep proved so great that he turned to a life of crime. At 10…
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Nai Harn, Kata Noi to get warning towers
PHUKET: The iTV television network has donated 4.5 million baht for the construction of two tsunami warning towers, one at Nai Harn Beach and one at Kata Noi Beach, neither of which currently has warning towers.Tawee Homhuan, an engineer with the Phuket Public Works and Town and Country Planning Office, told the Gazette yesterday that his office has already received…
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Girl, 16, charged over baby’s death
CHALONG: The 16-year-old mother of a newborn baby found dead in the women’s toilet at Wat Chalong surrendered to the police yesterday evening.The corpse, a 3-kilogram boy with the umbilical cord still attached, was discovered on February 1 in a water tank in the toilet, during Wat Chalong’s annual fair.Pol Maj Chana Sutthimas, an Inspector with the Chalong Police, told…
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PTT, Shell, cut fuel prices by B0.40
THAILAND: Thai petroleum giants Shell and PTT today announced that they have both dropped fuel prices by 40 satang a liter.In a press release, Chaivat Churitti, Senior Executive Vice President of the Oil Business Group of PTT, explained that average prices of oil on world markets had fallen recently, and PTT had therefore decided to lower retail prices of all…
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OrBorJor to help resuscitate abandoned hospital
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) plans to join with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to buy and renovate the abandoned Phya Thai Phuket Hospital on Soi Si Sena, just outside Phuket City. Under the plan, the 190-room facility – providing both inpatient and outpatient services – would be reopened under the name Vachira Phuket Hospital 2. The…
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Experts discuss tsunami damage to coral
PHUKET CITY: Some 13% of reefs inspected after the tsunami had 50% or more of their coral destroyed by the waves, experts from Japan and Thailand, as well as local divers, were told yesterday at a seminar at the Phuket Merlin Hotel. In many other places, however, the coral was undamaged.Spearheading the seminar was Sakanan Plathong. He led a team…
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Driver dies in third limo smash in 12 days
THALANG: The driver of an airport minibus was killed instantly when his vehicle smashed into a water truck on the airport road yesterday morning. This was the third fatal accident involving airport transport vehicles in just 12 days. Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduang, an Inspector at Thalang Police Station, told the Gazette that the white minibus, bearing the logo of…
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Newborn baby found dead in toilet
CHALONG: The corpse of a newborn baby was discovered in a water tank in a toilet at Wat Chalong during the temple’s annual fair. The gruesome discovery occurred just after midnight on Wednesday morning.The baby, a 3-kilogram boy with the umbilical cord still attached, was found naked in an open tank in the woman’s restroom,.Pol Maj Chana Sutthimas, an Inspector…
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Austrian’s extradition sought after jet-ski death
KAMALA: Kathu Police are to seek the extradition of an Austrian in connection with the death of a Thai man, allegedly killed by a jet-ski while spearfishing near Laem Hin on January 25. Kathu Police Superintendent Pol Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen today told the Gazette that the Austrian, a 29-year-old tourist, was questioned after the incident but was released because of…
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Not a lot of joy, really
PHUKET: The time-honored teenage tradition of joyriding is alive and well in Phuket – and two young men are dead as a result of it. In the first incident, at about 1 am on January 20, a young man who had just started working at a car care shop in Koh Kaew decided to take his boss’s black Toyota Altis…
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Duncanson victorious on Phang Nga Bay
PHANG NGA BAY: Winds of 13 knots gusting to 18 turned today into a day of thrills in the 2006 QBE Phang Nga Bay Regatta, after three days of less exciting breezes.Despite being left behind by the fleet in the lee of Koh Phi Phi Don, Scott Duncanson and crew aboard G4S (also known as Somtam Express) recovered to win…
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Gambling trumps other arrests – again
PHUKET: Statistics released by Phuket Provincial Police show that gambling came out trumps, once again topping the arrests table between January 1 and 25, with 168 people nabbed for gambling-related offenses. Thirty-two cases involved the sale of illegal underground lottery tickets.Three murders were reported during the period, with two cases solved. There were five cases of attempted murder, and in…
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Rang Hill rogues terrorize tourists
PHUKET CITY: Two rogue monkeys are wreaking havoc atop Rang Hill, where they have been terrorizing tourists, stealing food from diners in a hillside restaurant – and even biting people.News of the primate pests was reported to the Kusoldharm Foundation volunteer rescue service by staff at the Tunk-ka Cafe on January 26, months after the monkeys first appeared. Sukontip Kitsubun,…
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Burmese woman found beaten to death
THALANG: A 27-year-old Burmese woman identified only as “Ya” was found beaten to death on January 28 near an abandoned tin mine in Baan Prujampa, Tambon Thepkrasattri. From the condition of her body, investigators believe that she had died about three days earlier.Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduang, Inspector at Thalang Police Station, said that officers visited the house nearby where…
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Phi Phi locals “don’t need Bangkok’s help’
PHI PHI: At a meeting today to discuss the future of the Phi Phi Islands – following the inconclusive talks on January 21 with Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop – local people made it clear that they regard the participation of the Organization for Specific Areas Administration for Sustainable Tourism Promotion (OSAASTP) in future plans and actions as superfluous.After listening…
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Top artists working on tsunami sculptures
PHUKET: The Office of Contemporary Art and Culture in Bangkok and the Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi Provincial Cultural Offices have commissioned artists to create tsunami memorial sculptures to be erected at Kamala Beach, Bang Niang Beach in Phang Nga Province, and on Phi Phi Don.The Director of the Phuket Provincial Cultural Office, Thawichat Intararit, told the Gazette, “Award-winning Thai…
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Princess to attend prayers at Big Buddha site
PHUKET: HRH Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya will attend a prayer ceremony at the Mingmongkol Buddha project site, in the Nakkerd Hills between Karon and Chalong, at 5 pm on February 11. Suporn Vanichkul, President of the Mingmongkol Faith 45 project committee that is raising funds for the project, told the Gazette that work on the group’s mammoth Phra Puttamingmongkol Akenakkiri…
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