Month: January 1999
- Phuket News
New Stadium For Karon
KARON BEACH: Construction started earlier this month on Phase I of a 10 million baht football stadium and grandstand at Karon. Located on 10 rai of land on Bang Ngueg Road (the ‘Beach Road’) at the south end of the beach near the Ruam Thep Inn, the 1,000-seat, 117-meter-long facility is slated for completion in September. Tawee Thongchaem, head of…
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Local Internet Services Receive Poor Rating
PHUKET: Internet services available in Phuket are perceived as offering very substantial opportunities for growth in terms of quality, according to the weekly Gazette Poll which closed on January 22. From the four available answers to the question, “How would you rate the quality of Internet service in Phuket?”, 41.5% of the internet poll’s 680 participants clicked on “unsatisfactory,” with…
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Rugby Tournament Postponed
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s first international rugby tournament, scheduled to take place at Sapan Hin Stadium February 27-28, has been postponed until May. The event, under the Patronage of His Majesty The King, is being organized by the Thai Rugby Union in cooperation with Phuket municipality. Phuket Mayor Phumisak Hongyok told the Gazette yesterday that the head of the Thai Rugby…
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Tourist Belted By Tuk Tuk Driver
PHUKET TOWN: Kenneth James Nelson, a 51-year-old Englishman, discovered that it can be painful indeed to thwart the aspirations of a tuk-tuk driver. At 8.30 a.m. on January 25, he was walking along the street in front of the Ruangjit Cinema (opposite The Metropole hotel) in Phuket Town when a red tuk-tuk approached him. The driver asked if he needed…
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Trade Fairs Seen As Harmful To Local Merchants
PHUKET TOWN: Growing numbers of Trade Fairs traveling into and around Phuket are damaging the business of many local shops, according to the Phuket Merchants Association. They say they have been receiving waves of complaints from the shops and that some have had to close down, unable to compete with the marketing power and pricing practices of the fairs. A…
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1999 Gazette Guide Now On Sale
PHUKET TOWN: The 1999 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s Business & Entertainment Directory, or ‘yellow’ pages, is now on sale. Priced at 140 baht, the 310-page book, containing 2,504 listings, is the island’s largest business database. The Guide may be purchased at the following locations: Deli Supermarket (Patong), Dokyah Bookstore (Phuket Town), Good Earth Books & Tea Room (Kata Center), Jay’s Business…
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Municipal Schools Hiring Foreign Teachers
PHUKET TOWN: In a first for Thailand, the Phuket Municipality is to enter into a contract with a private company to improve the quality of English among primary students at municipal schools. ELT Phuket will be employed to raise the standard of English among the municipality’s teachers, according to Somjai Suwansupana, a Phuket municipal counselor. “We want to improve the…
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Navy’s Third Fleet Heightens Safety Role
CAPE PANWA: Vice Admiral Somphop Bhuridej, Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, announced on Wednesday that the Third Fleet will assist in ensuring safety for those who travel by boat to Phuket’s outlying islands. The announcement follows a spate of fatal accidents which occurred in the region’s public ferry services last year, and which were summarized…
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Hygienic Food – An Amazing Achievement
PHUKET TOWN: Many of Phuket’s restaurants need to lift their standards of cleanliness and service, according to Cdr Dr Deja Sukaromana, the Deputy Minister of Public Health. Cdr Dr Deja is in Phuket to promote the “Amazing Hygienic Food” campaign set up by the Phuket Provincial Health Department and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Restaurants are an intrinsic part of…
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Bank To Auction Properties
PHUKET: A number of local properties will go under the hammer at the Patong and Chao Fa Road branches of Siam Commercial Bank from January 22 through 24. They include 16 townhouses, 20 detached homes, several condominium units, 26 shophouses, and land. Prices for some of the properties are expected to reach 40 million baht, while others will change hands…
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Law, Order, And Tuk-Tuk Power
PATONG BEACH: At a time when many wonder who, if anyone, is really running the show in Patong, a new contender has emerged and demonstrated that he is a force to be reckoned with. When roughly 100 tuk-tuk drivers banned together late Friday night to block Patong’s beach road for more than three hours following a police lock-up of two…
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1998 Saw Growth In Crime, Arrests
PHUKET TOWN: The number of crimes in Phuket increased by 2.5 percent to 3,065 last year, according to figures handed to the Gazette by Phuket Provincial Police earlier this week. Arrests also increased, climbing 5.9 percent to 4,504 in 1998. Police said the increase in criminal activity on the island was due to Thailand’s economic slump, rising unemployment having forced…
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Another Thai Navy Vessel Comes Under Attack
RANONG: A Royal Thai Navy surveillance vessel has been engaged in gun battle with an unidentified fishing boat for the second time in less than a month, Vice Admiral Somphop Bhuridej, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, told the Gazette earlier this week. Both incidents occurred in Thai territorial waters off Ranong province. On December 19, two officers…
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US Navy Visits Phuket
PATONG BEACH: Three US naval ships, the USS Boxer, USS Cleveland and USS Harpers Ferry, with a total of about 2,000 officers and crew, are visiting Phuket from 13 to 18 January 1999. The vessels are anchored in Patong Bay. Captain Robert C. Massey of the USS Boxer, Captain J. A. Winnefeld, Jr. of the USS Cleveland and Captain Terence…
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Swiss Tourist Robbed In Phuket Town
PHUKT TOWN: A Swissair pilot had his pack snatched while riding a rented motorbike in Sapan Hin yesterday. It was the second such incident to be reported to the Gazette by police in a period of three days. Mr Philipe Braun, 58, who is on holiday in Phuket with his family, told police two teenagers on a motorbike came along…
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TAT Guides The Way
BANGKOK: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has tightened language qualifications for the country’s army of tour guides. People now wishing to register as guides for foreign tourists must have one of the following qualifications: · A high school education with a certificate in a foreign language; · A high school education with at least 150 hours of certified training…
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Thalang Hospital Wing To Open
THALANG: Thalang Hospital will officially open its new 60-bed patient wing on February 11. The 11.5-million baht, two-story building will be opened by the Sheikhul Islam and the abbot of Wat Sa Khed. Phuket Governor Chadej Insawang will attend the ceremony. People wishing to donate money for medical equipment can contact Orapin Ratanarat at Thalang Hospital. Tel: (076) 311033-4, ext…
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The Beach Hits Phuket
Producers of the controversial movie The Beach, featuring superstar Leonardo DiCaprio, are seeking permission from authorities to film a number of scenes in Phuket. Film-makers want to shoot scenes in a shoe factory in Baan Manic from February 27 to March 17; at Cape Promthep March 3; Naithon Nui Beach on March 18; Surin Beach from March 19-22; Kata Beach…
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American Found Dead in Patong
PATONG BEACH: A 29-year-old American resident of Phuket was found dead in a Patong guest house on Sunday, according to Kathu police. Mr Korey Alan Lee, who worked for a Phuket dive company and had lived on the island for about three years, was found dead by his brother after the two had been involved in a long drinking session,…
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Poacher Pays For Monkey Business
THALANG: Phuket police have charged a 62-year-old man in connection with the poaching and killing of protected wildlife on Toh Sae Mountain. Ging Phollom, from Tambon Sri Soonthorn, Amphur Thalang, was arrested following a tip-off by members of the Toh Sae Mountain Walkers’ Club. He was found in possession of a monkey corpse, a live monitor lizard and a live…
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Police Bag Two In Chalong
CHALONG: Pol Col Decha Budnampeth, Chief of Police at Chalong, told a press conference this morning that a woman was robbed of her handbag while crossing the bridge on the road into Wat Chalong early on Saturday. The victim, Areerat Nusri, 34, reported the incident to police at Chalong station at 7:30 Saturday morning. She said the bag had been…
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Visa Criteria, Procedures Clarified
PHUKET TOWN: The superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Office, Pol Col Phirojana Praesakul, confirmed to the Gazette this morning that the financial requirements for the non-immigrant ‘O-A’ visa are as follows: 1) at least 800,000 baht in liquid funds in a Thai or overseas bank (the definition of “liquid” was not immediately available, so it was not clear whether fixed…
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More Beds For Patong Hospital
PATONG BEACH: Patong Hospital will increase its number of beds from 10 to 90 by the end of the this year in a bid to meet growing demand for bed space, according to Director Dr Taweesak Nertwong. Because of its location in the heart of Phuket’s major tourist centre, Dr Taweesak said the hospital had become too small to treat…
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Record Number Of New Businesses In Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Veerachai Tantiwathanavallop, Director of the Phuket Commercial Registration Office, told the Gazette yesterday that 1998 was a record year for new business registrations in the province. A total of 520 filings were received during the year, versus 477 for 1997. The 1998 total included 332 ‘company limited’ and 188 partnership registrations. Although business start-ups far exceeded closures, the…
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Speed Limit Signs Sorely Needed
PHUKET TOWN: Widespread confusion and ignorance of the law with respect to speed limits in Phuket province was underscored in the Gazette Poll which closed at noon today. Only 22% of the 911 participants in the internet poll knew (or guessed correctly) that speed limits apply to all roads on the island (and throughout Thailand). In response to the question,…
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Water War Waged Against City Hall
The Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority has moved to take over Phuket Municipality’s Water Supply Division, claiming the division has failed to meet World Health Organisation quality standards. But the Mayor of Phuket, 1st Lt Phummisak Hongsyok, has vowed to fight the take-over, saying it would lead to a big hike in water supply prices for consumers. In a recent letter…
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Biggest Heroin Haul In Ten Years
PHUKET TOWN: In what police told the Gazette was the biggest drug case to arise in Phuket in the past ten years, authorities have seized heroin with a street value they estimate at roughly one million baht. At 3:30 yesterday afternoon, the Patong-based Kathu police received a report from the Phuket Town office of the national Narcotics Control Board (NCB)…
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Holidays Wreaked Havoc On Island’s Roads
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Provincial Police told the Gazette today that during the four-day holiday period commencing December 31, 1998 and ending January 3, 1999, a total of 40 traffic mishaps were reported. The accidents, which involved 42 cars and 39 motorbikes, left three people dead and 38 in local hospitals. According to the police, alcohol was a factor in “most”…
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Rajabhat Offers Facilities To Public
PHUKET: Rajabhat Institute Phuket is making available accommodation and conference room facilities at its Sri Rajabhat Building. Guest rooms with twin beds are available at 350 baht per night. Rooms with breakfast are 450 baht, and rooms inclusive of three meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – are priced at 750 baht. A total of 20 guest rooms are on…
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Traffic Injuries Near 10,000-mark
PHUKET: Traffic-related injuries approached the 10,000-mark for 1998, the Phuket Health Department reported last week. In its report to the Phuket Governor, the agency said 885 patients were admitted to government hospitals from October 20, 1998 through November 19, 1998, including 826 with motorbike-related injuries. A total of 25 people died in traffic accidents during the period, including 19 motorbike…
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Divergent Views On Priorities For The New Year
PHUKET: Greater emphasis on education was considered the most important priority for Thailand in the new year, according to the Gazette Poll which closed at noon today. Containment of corruption ranked a close second. From the four available answers to the question, “What’s your Number One wish for Thailand in 1999?”, 34.3 percent of the internet poll’s 735 participants opted…
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