Month: June 1999
- Phuket
Police find hundreds of stolen Buddhist artifacts
BANGKOK, June 30 (AFP): Three Thais have been detained following the discovery of hundreds of Buddhist artifacts, some more than 700 years old, hidden in a pond and bushes around their house, police said this afternoon. Sunthorn Sowapee and his son and daugther were detained Monday after police and Fine Arts Department officials found 341 antique pieces near his house…
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Bangkok airport to close one runway
BANGKOK, June 29 (AFP): The Airports Authority of Thailand (AAT) announced this afternoon that it will close down Bangkok international airport’s west runway for maintenance for four months. The repairs to the 3.8 kilometer (2.3 mile) runway are to cost 420 million baht (11.4 million US dollars) and are scheduled to be completed in February 2000, the AAT said. The…
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Province plans census of forest dwellers
PHUKET: The Provincial Forestry Office is to take a census in forest land occupied for decades by squatters, most of them engaged in market gardening. The census is part of a nationwide exercise aimed at finding out just how many people are living in publicly-owned forests, and issuing them with papers that will legitimize their occupation of the land, though…
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Nabbed robbing Robinson’s
PHUKET TOWN: A Thai man in the process of robbing Robinson’s department store was apprehended after security guards found his shoes in the bathroom. The man was caught red-handed [and barefooted] trying to steal watches, mobile phones, and pagers in the early hours of the morning last Sunday. After hiding in the men’s toilet until the store closed, the thief…
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Public urged to exchange sub-standard LPG bottles
PHUKET: Following the introduction of new safety regulations covering gas containers of the sort commonly used in homes and restaurants for cooking here, the government has urged consumers to check whether they have sub-standard liquid petroleum gas (LPG) bottles and, if so, to exchange them. After July 31, the only brands that will be legally available will be those manufactured…
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Krabi Airport set to open on July 10
KRABI: The new Krabi Airport will open on July 10, a spokesman for the Department of Aviation said on Friday. The opening ceremony will “probably” be performed by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, though this has yet to be confirmed. The spokesman confirmed that four airlines are preparing to provide scheduled services to the new airport. Starting July 11, THAI will…
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Police open rice shop to help poor officers
PHUKET: Police in Phuket have gone into the rice business as a way for impoverished officers and their families to supplement their income. Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, superintendent of the Phuket Town Police Station, and his deputy, Pol Lt Col Samarn Chainarong, came up with the idea after seeing how Bangkok Police had successfully allowed officers in the capital to…
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Taiwanese tourist drowns at Hey Island
PHUKET: Mr Lin Ching Shiung, 52, a Taiwanese visiting Phuket with his wife, drowned on Tuesday while swimming at Hey Island. He became the fifth tourist to drown in Phuket waters in the past two weeks. Mr Lin was on a day trip to the island, 30 minutes southeast of Chalong, with a tour group. Weather conditions were said to…
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Phuket Rugby Sevens: On schedule for kick-off
PHUKET: Final preparations at the Sapan Hin stadium are being made as the Singha Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament draws near. When the July 3-4 event kicks off, the stadium will be fully ready, organizers say. Flags of the 12 nations taking part will be fluttering, six at each end of the field. Four temporary changing rooms with 20 showers,…
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Report casts gloom on Thai banks
BANGKOK, June 23 (AFP) – Thailand’s banking sector plunged into fresh gloom Wednesday as US ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said the crisis-hit industry remained “deeply impaired.” The judgment came at a time when many investors had been expecting ratings upgrades from foreign agencies for debt-laden Thai banks which have been struggling to recapitalise. In a report received here Wednesday,…
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Government to consider rise in electricity charges
BANGKOK: The Thai Cabinet is to consider a proposal from the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to raise electricity prices as an alternative to pushing through a contentious privatization plan. The proposal from EGAT is that electricity prices should be increased by 8.51 satang per unit as a way to wipe out EGAT’s 250 billion baht debt. The privatization…
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Cool coop for traffic cops
PHUKET TOWN: Police monitoring traffic congestion at the intersection of Thepkrassatri Rd and Thung Kha Rd can now be a great deal more comfortable, thanks to a new air-conditioned police box. The box is a gift to the town from Bangkok-based Sangmit Electric Co, who manufacture it. It was presented to the mayor of Phuket Municipality, Phumisak Hongyok, on Friday.…
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Three arrested for trafficking in ya bah
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided two houses on Friday and Saturday and arrested three Thais for trafficking in amphetamines (ya bah). They also seized 278 tablets of the drug. On Friday evening, after undercover officers had bought 10 tablets from a house on Soi 4, Surin Rd, police returned with a search warrant. They found 98 ya bah tablets and arrested…
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Phuket residents in tantalum rush
PHUKET TOWN: Dozens of Phuket residents have been digging recently along the left bank of the cape at Saphan Hin, in a frantic search for the metal tantalum. The scene, reminiscent of a gold rush, was sparked by an ex-miner, Khun Vichian Sonlarp, who found tantalum along the shoreline just over two weeks ago. Diggers have been finding an average…
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HIV-infected katoey in suicide leap
KATHU: A katoey (transsexual) who had learned he was infected with HIV jumped to his death from the sixth floor of the Patong Condotel in Rat-U-Thit Rd yesterday. Kathu police, called to the building, found Jeera Unarom, 22, standing on a ledge. He jumped soon afterwards. A friend, Khun Pitichai Wongsa, 33, who lived in the same building and worked…
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Police seek identity of dead youth
PHUKET TOWN: Police are trying to identify a young man killed in a motorbike crash early yesterday (June 17) on Sakdidej Road. Witnesses say the man was riding fast and failed to negotiate a curve, crashing into an electricity pole. He died instantly. The police told the Gazette the dead youth was between 18 and 22 years old, wearing a…
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Gasoline smugglers arrested
PHUKET: The skipper and four crewmen of a boat smuggling gasoline into Thailand were arrested yesterday near Ardung Island in Satun Province, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Phuket Marine Police. Pol Maj Gen Mongkol Kamolbuth, Bangkok-based Deputy Commissioner of the Marine Police, said 70,000 liters of fuel was found on board the Kaewmanee Nava 2, which was stopped…
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Fisherman gather in mass protest
PHUKET TOWN: A large group of the fishermen who operate in Phang Nga Bay gathered yesterday at Saphan Hin to protest against nocturnal fishing for anchovy. The 200 fishermen paraded in Phuket Town, handing out leaflets demanding an end to the practice, which uses electric lights. They argue that stocks of anchovy and other marine life have been severely depleted…
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Fantasea offering tours from Bangkok
KAMALA: Phuket Fantasea is casting its net wider in a bid to bring in more visitors, by offering a special coach tour from Bangkok. Starting June 18, the weekly “Fantasea Tour” will leave Bangkok every Friday evening, arriving in Phuket the following morning. Passengers will be taken on a tour of Phuket, ending up at Fantasea for a buffet dinner…
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Star Aid raises a million baht for AIDS children
CHERNG TALAY: Over one million baht was raised on Saturday night at the Star Aid dinner held at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Beach. Funds were raised by raffles, auctions of donated prizes, and the 750-baht ticket price paid by each of the more than 300 diners. All proceeds have gone to the Phuket AIDS Foundation to provide treatment for children…
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Swedish tourist drowns at Karon Beach
KARON: A Swedish woman, Ms Milada Grahovag, drowned yesterday in front of the Golden Sands Hotel on Karon Beach, on the second day of her holiday in Thailand. She was the third tourist to drown in the seas off Phuket this week. Her companion, Milegic Milorad, also from Sweden, told police that Ms Grahovag, 25, had been swimming for about…
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Police nab American accused of race killing
BANGKOK, June 10 (AFP) – Thai police detained an American man accused of a racist killing in the United States after the FBI issued an arrest warrant, officials said yesterday. Immigration police Colonel Wisanu Muangpraesri said officers arrested Matthew Robert Stedman, 27, at a Bangkok apartment on Wednesday after he entered the country using a British passport. “The US embassy…
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