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Luck runs out for Diamond the dolphin
AO MAKHAM: Diamond the dolphin died on Sunday, just hours before a planned release back into the ocean at Patong. Rescued by villagers from the beach at Patong last month, Diamond (Jao Petch) had appeared to be recovering and biologists at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) planned to free him today. The 1.83-meter striped dolphin (Latin name Stenella coeruleoalba)…
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50 arrested for night bike races
PHUKET TOWN: More than 100 police and volunteers led by Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi busted up a gang of night-racing motorcyclists in a raid at the weekend. The large group of officers descended on Saphan Hin about 11pm on Saturday and surprised about 100 riders, arresting about half of them. Police organized the raid following complaints about the noise from…
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18-year-old held over fake diplomas
PHUKET: Police have arrested an 18-year-old Bangkok student and are checking whether Dulwich College certificates were among fake diplomas she is alleged to have sold over the Internet. Officers spent two weeks tracing the student through an email “sting”. They raided her Rachaburi home yesterday and found fake diplomas and certificates in her computer. The girl, named only as Daeng,…
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Ya bah found under mattress
PHUKET TOWN: Police arrested a couple in a raid over the weekend and discovered illegal drugs hidden under a mattress in their hotel room. Acting on a tip-off that a delivery of ya bah (methamphetamine) had just been made, Marine Police took Rhom Chantarat, 48, and Jinawal Phromharn, 22 into custody early on Saturday. In a plastic bag under the…
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Tour boat propeller kills crewman
CHALONG: A crewman on a dive boat was killed when a propeller slashed open his stomach and almost severed his limbs on Wednesday off Koh Racha Yai. While recreational divers took a midday break, the crewman, Witaya Taktin, 25, had donned scuba gear and gone under the boat in order to clean the propeller. The boat, the Ladawan 2, had…
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Villagers lobby for expo center
MAI KHAO: About 200 people from Mai Khao yesterday lobbied Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi to designate Tah Chat Chai as the location for the proposed International Exhibition and Convention Center (IECC), so that visitors will spread income among local people. Somporn Tansakul, the leader of the Mai Khao deputation, said that if the government decided to build the center in…
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Hostage suspect tests negative for drugs
PHUKET TOWN: The suspect arrested in yesterday’s dramatic murder and hostage taking on Soi Hutchana Nivet was found to have no trace of ya bah (methamphetamine) in his system, though during the hostage negotiations he had claimed to have taken the drug in large quantities over the past few weeks. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station,…
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Broken-hearted man hangs himself
PHUKET TOWN: A young man committed suicide by hanging himself from a beam because his boyfriend had left him for a woman, police said today. Pol Capt Chokechai Suttimake, of Phuket Town Police Station, said the body of Thanuthong Patchim, 21, was found in his house in Tambon Rassada by neighbors on Wednesday morning. He added that K. Thanuthong had…
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Robber caught, another on the run
CHERNG TALAY: Police yesterday arrested Laotian construction worker Kae Kampukao, 19, for his part in a robbery in which a woman was threatened with a hammer, and are hunting his Thai partner-in-crime. Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, said this afternoon that at about 4:30 pm on Tuesday, local resident Saowarak Inyam, 28, reported to police…
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Fishball seller in hostage drama
PHUKET TOWN: Police this morning rushed a knife-wielding man and ended a four-hour hostage siege in Soi Hutchana Nivet, near the abandoned Phya Thai hospital. The hostage drama began at about 6:30 a.m. when, it is alleged, Tiem “Tia” Srisuktham, 34, from Srisaket, first bludgeoned his nephew, “Ta”, 23, also from Srisaket, with a heavy iron bar, then killed him…
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Drug abuse in Phuket “on the rise’
PHUKET: A two-day conference involving 60 officers with an interest in controlling drug abuse was told today that the number of narcotics cases in Phuket could rise dramatically this year. “There were about 1,500 cases last year. This year the number may be 2,000,” Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi told the conference. Concern is also growing about the increasing use in…
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Craft fair to mark 100 years of jail
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket is to host an unusual national craft fair at Saphan Hin from July 20 to 26. The fair will mark the 100th anniversary of the island’s prison and will be titled, appropriately, “Neung Roi Phi Kangmanmook” – 100 Years of the Prison. National Corrections Department director general Siva Saengmanee flew in yesterday morning from Bangkok to announce…
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Sri Lanka diplomat in talks over weapons
PHUKET: Nimal Sirinathan, First Secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand, today met with senior police officers from Phuket to discuss the weapons seized at the fishing port last week. Mr Sirinathan met with Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, and Phuket Town Police Superintendent Pol Col Paween Pongsirin. After the meeting, Col Paween said…
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Police arrest motorbike bag snatchers
PHUKET TOWN: Police arrested three teenagers yesterday after a motorcycle gang snatched a bag from a tourist as she walked along Thalang Rd on Sunday night. Ingrid Monica Green, 23, from Ireland, told Phuket Town police that she was walking with friends in the weekly “walking street” when three teenagers on a motorbike stopped nearby. One came over and tried…
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Thai-Burma border “may reopen soon’
RANONG: Speculation is growing that Thailand’s border with Burma, closed since May 22, may reopen later this month. Closure of the border has resulted in major economic losses on both sides of the border, and has restricted visa run options for foreigners in the South of Thailand An officer at the Immigration Department in Ranong told the Gazette today, “We’ve…
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Rough seas hurl two boats onto the rocks
PATONG: Two tour boats being towed from Phuket to Ranong ended up on the rocks on Saturday afternoon after the line connecting them to their tugboat snapped in rough seas. A call came in to Marine Police from a friend on shore who had received a distress call from four crewmen on the “Salten 2”, caught on the rocks near…
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Another body found in “Burmese Cemetery’
PHUKET TOWN: The string of murders of Burmese fishermen continues with yet another body found in the notorious “Burmese Cemetery” area at the weekend. The body, stabbed more than 10 times, was found face-down at the end of Laem Tukkae, near Sri Sena Rd, on Sunday afternoon. The killing follows murders in two separate incidents last week. It brings the…
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Police make headway in Burmese murders
PHUKET: Police investigating two separate murders of Burmese workers have finally come across people willing to talk to officers about what they know of the victims. Pol Maj Umpolwat Saenroeng, of Tung Tong Police Station, told the Gazette yesterday that on Wednesday afternoon he received a call from a local resident saying that a body had been found close to…
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Island facing drought crisis
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…
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Gov defends “average’ satisfaction rating
PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi today defended his performance during his first six months as Governor CEO, from October last year to March. The Governor’s defense of his record followed the release of the results of a survey by the Rajabhat Institute Phuket of local levels of satisfaction with Gov Pongpayome’s performance. Addressing a public forum held at the…
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Manhunt for second war weapons suspect
PHUKET: Police yesterday began a search for a second man they believe was involved in the transport of weapons seized at the fishing port Tuesday, after they discovered he was the registered owner of the pick-up truck seized for allegedly being used to transport the weapons of war. When Prachumpon Raampung, who had been driving the Toyota Tiger pick-up, was…
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Weapons of war seized at fishing port
PHUKET TOWN: Police yesterday seized a haul of weapons and ammunition at Por Pichai raft on Sri Sena Rd. The man arrested in possession of them told police that the weaponry was bound for “terrorists in Indonesia”. About 20 officers, including Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi and Phuket Town and Marine Police officers, nabbed 36-year-old Prachumpon Raampung, from Trang, while he…
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Governor shuts three nightspots
PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has ordered three entertainment venues to close for 30 days because under-age patrons were found on the premises. Random checks by police on other venues are to continue between midnight and 2 am as part of the “better social order” policy of the province. The three venues are the Jammin Music Club on Poonphol…
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Property auction nets B239m
PHUKET: An auction at the weekend of 51 properties repossessed by banks brought in more than 239 million baht, and the Phuket Legal Execution Department (PLED) says there’s much more to come. Properties coming up in two more auctions could take the total over one billion baht, the PLED estimates. Saeksan Suksang, chief of the PLED, said the first day…
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Man drowns in rescue attempt
NAI THON: A young man drowned off Nai Thon Beach Saturday evening while trying to rescue one of his friends. The victim was named as Prisana Sripetch, 23, from Trang, who worked as a loss prevention officer at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa. Pol Maj Suppawat Suksiri, an inspector at Tah Chat Chai Police Station, told the Gazette…
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Tour Royale drivers in airport protest
NAI YANG: The 65 drivers of Tour Royale Enterprise Co are staging a protest just outside the entrance to the Phuket International Airport (PIA) after the airport authorities refused to extend the company’s airport service concession, which expired yesterday. The protest began yesterday and has continued through today. Drivers have parked a long line of vehicles near the entrance to…
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Fireworks festival postponed
PHUKET TOWN: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has rescheduled its fireworks festival, which was originally slated to be held at Saphan Hin on July 26. Naphasorn Kakai, Assistant Director of TAT Region 4, today announced that the 45-minute spectacular, using more than 4,000 skyrockets costing about 2 million baht, will now be held on August 12. She explained that…
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Illegal aliens top arrest stats again
PHUKET: The number of illegal immigrants arrested between June 1 and 25 was more than double the number for the same period in May, according to the latest statistics from police. Last month, police arrested 198 illegal aliens, compared with 75 during the same period in May. However, May saw a huge drop in the number of aliens arrested, falling…
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Drug offenders continue to fill prison
PHUKET: Of the 1,232 inmates at Phuket Provincial Prison, 622 have been convicted or are awaiting trial on drug-related charges, according to the latest statistics, released by prison officials on Thursday. A total of 488 men and 134 women are incarcerated in connection with narcotics offenses – more than half the prison population. Of the remaining prisoners, 220 are being…
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OrBorJor steps in to help Patong
PATONG: Following the recent release of a visitor survey that uncovered a number of complaints about the island’s most popular beach resort, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) agreed on Monday to help Patong Municipality solve some of its problems. The survey, involving some 1,000 hotel guests, was conducted by six Patong hotels – the Club Andaman Beach Resort, the…
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