Month: August 1999

  • PhuketLawyer not well, Alice trial hearing postponed | Thaiger

    Lawyer not well, Alice trial hearing postponed

    PHUKET TOWN: Judge Amornpoj Kulwijit today postponed testimony in the trial of two people charged in connection with the stabbing death of 56-year-old British publican Roger Jennings at his home in Patong Hill Estate on December 15, 1997. The judge postponed the hearing after being told that Eakapong Aroonrat, lawyer for one of the accused, Jennings’ common-law wife Nongnut Tungkaburi,…

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  • PhuketTax boss declares amnesty for errors in returns | Thaiger

    Tax boss declares amnesty for errors in returns

    PHUKET: The Chief of the Phuket Revenue Department has declared an amnesty for anyone who believes he or she may have made errors in filing a tax return. In a the first of a series of monthly columns in the Gazette, explaining Thai tax law and procedures, Annop Buakuen writes, “Staff from the tax office have been checking tax-payer’s returns…

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  • PhuketBangkok Bank posts huge first-half loss | Thaiger

    Bangkok Bank posts huge first-half loss

    BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s biggest bank, Bangkok Bank Plc, today posted a huge first-half net loss of 26.98 billion baht, compared with a loss of 16.34 billion baht in the same period last year. Bank president Chartsiri Sophonpanich said that the result reflected the continued negative effect of massive non-performing loans on the banking system. “While the economic conditions of the…

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  • PhuketFisherman drowns while diving for shellfish | Thaiger

    Fisherman drowns while diving for shellfish

    CHALONG: A 38-year-old fisherman drowned among the mangroves at Pakrongmudong, Tambon Vichit, yesterday afternoon. Police, who named the dead man as Virrut Sawatdirak, from Srakaew, said he and three friends had gone diving for shellfish. The friends told police that all had drunk some alcohol beforehand, “but not too much”. They did not realise that Khun Virrut was in trouble…

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  • PhuketCurse follows tourist back to Thailand | Thaiger

    Curse follows tourist back to Thailand

    BANGKOK (AFP): A Thai tourist who said he had been cursed after taking stones as souvenirs from Australia’s famed Ayers Rock has returned the stones to the Australian embassy here, officials said today. The unidentified tourist had ignored signs asking visitors not to take pieces of Ayers Rock – a sacred site for Australian aborigines. He sent the two fist-sized…

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  • PhuketPolice say poor economy puts brakes on accidents | Thaiger

    Police say poor economy puts brakes on accidents

    PHUKET: A senior policeman in Phuket told the Gazette today that Thailand’s poor economy is having at least one good effect – it has reduced the road accident rate. Pol Lt Col Teerapol Thipjaroen, deputy superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said, “There are a number of factors that have led to a fall in the accident rate, but one…

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  • PhuketGazettes on a roll with KL Sevens wins | Thaiger

    Gazettes on a roll with KL Sevens wins

    KUALA LUMPUR: Despite a shortage of regular players, the Phuket Gazettes rugby team made it through to the semi-finals of the bowl competition at the 36th Guinness-Jonah Jones Rugby Sevens tournament. In the preliminary round, the Gazettes found themselves in the toughest group. The first game was against Cobra RFC, last year’s champions, who fielded a team jammed with Fijians,…

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  • PhuketBangkok Airways probes passenger death | Thaiger

    Bangkok Airways probes passenger death

    BANGKOK (AFP): Bangkok Airways said today it had launched an investigation into the death of a 52-year-old German tourist who was apparently the victim of food poisoning. The dead man, identified only as Josef B, had flown on Bangkok Airways from Koh Samui to Bangkok shortly before boarding a Lauda Air flight to Austria yesterday morning. During that flight he…

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  • PhuketWastewater project said to be on schedule | Thaiger

    Wastewater project said to be on schedule

    PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Municipal Councilor Ayoot Thansiriroj told the Gazette this morning that installation of the large wastewater pipe beneath Mae Luan Road in Phuket Town is now complete. The work, part of Phase Two of the municipality’s wastewater treatment project, began in May of this year. Starting next month, work will begin on laying pipe in Anuphasphuketkarn Road, near…

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  • PhuketDhammakaya abbot surrenders to police | Thaiger

    Dhammakaya abbot surrenders to police

    BANGKOK (AFP): Watched by hundreds of bemused tourists and surrounded by a cordon of riot police, Phra Dhamachayo, the controversial abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, surrendered to police today. The surrender ended a two-day stand-off between hundreds of police and thousands of his devotees, during which he defied calls by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and police to give himself up.…

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  • PhuketCampaign to target Middle Eastern tourists | Thaiger

    Campaign to target Middle Eastern tourists

    PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) is to launch a new campaign targeting travelers from the Middle East as a way to improve low-season tourism figures. Panu Massirat, a member of the PTA’s marketing committee, explained that two groups of Middle East tourists – high income and middle income – would be targeted. Both groups have the potential, he…

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  • PhuketKrung Thai Bank chairman, five directors resign | Thaiger

    Krung Thai Bank chairman, five directors resign

    BANGKOK, Aug 24 (AFP): The chairman and five directors of Krung Thai Bank (KTB) resigned today after an inquiry was launched into allegations of mismanagement and questionable lending practices. The government yesterday announced an independent inquiry into the bank amid mounting criticism from opposition politicians who allege lending malpractices by KTB’s senior management. Finance Minister Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda, whose brother formerly…

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  • PhuketJudge orders arrest of missing trial witness | Thaiger

    Judge orders arrest of missing trial witness

    PHUKET: Judge Amornpoj Kulwijit today issued warrants for the arrest of two prosecution witnesses who failed to appear this morning for a hearing in the ongoing trial of two people accused of the murder of Briton Roger Jennings. The two witnesses, Amara Meanteap and Weeranat Kammanochart, failed to appear despite twice being subpoenaed. The judge, issuing the arrest warrants, ordered…

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  • PhuketLucky escape for tourists in bus accident | Thaiger

    Lucky escape for tourists in bus accident

    KATHU: Thirty nine tourists had a lucky escape yesterday, when a bus taking them from Le Meridien hotel in Patong to the airport slid partly off the road, but hit a traffic warning post preventing it from rolling down a mountainside. Two people were slightly hurt when the bus slid in rain, near the Pun Tuao Kong Chinese shrine above…

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  • PhuketChinese President Jiang Zemin to visit Phuket | Thaiger

    Chinese President Jiang Zemin to visit Phuket

    PHUKET: The President of the People’s Republic of China, Jiang Zemin, will visit Phuket early next month. Mr Jiang will arrive on the evening of September 4 from Bangkok, where he will be a guest of HM the King. He will be accompanies by a party of 80 people, including security and medical staff. Planning for his visit has yet…

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  • PhuketTwo drug dealers arrested | Thaiger

    Two drug dealers arrested

    PHUKET: Police on Thursday arrested two men for selling ya bah (methamphetamines). The first was a 28-year-old former petrol station worker from Trang, who sold the drug to undercover officers outside the Thairat Wittaya School in Kathu. After his arrest, he was found to be in possession of 197 pills. He confessed that he had come to Phuket 16 times…

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  • PhuketHotels hit back at “gouging” allegations | Thaiger

    Hotels hit back at “gouging” allegations

    PHUKET: Room rates in major Phuket hotels, in US dollar terms, have fallen sharply between 1996 and 1998, claims the Southern Chapter of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), citing a survey it recently carried out. The THA conducted the survey to counter allegations that hotels had increased room rates by 30% to 50% to take advantage of high demand as…

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  • PhuketMan caught stealing phone services | Thaiger

    Man caught stealing phone services

    PATONG: A 36-year-old German has been charged with theft after being caught tapping into a telephone line near Wat Suwankeereewong on the outskirts of Patong, along the Patong-Kathu road. Voravit Vorapiboonpong, chief of the Phuket Telecommunication Center of the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), told the Gazette that on Monday he was alerted by the CAT in Bangkok that someone…

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  • PhuketNo more elephants in Phuket: Governor | Thaiger

    No more elephants in Phuket: Governor

    PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Chadej Insawang, has announced a ban on any more elephants being brought into the province for commercial purposes. Announcing the decision on Tuesday at a seminar, organized by the Department of Livestock Development and attended by 75 elephant keepers from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi, the Governor said, “Phuket has 170 elephants in 27 camps.…

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  • PhuketMan found shot dead in tin mine | Thaiger

    Man found shot dead in tin mine

    PHUKET TOWN: Kupai Foundation staff found a corpse floating in an abandoned tin mine on Chao Fa Nok Rd on Sunday. Police called to the scene described the corpse as male, wearing an unbuttoned black shirt and Chinese trousers. Kupai Foundation staff found one gunshot wound in the back of the head and another in the right chest, with an…

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  • PhuketQuake shakes northern Phuket, Phang Nga | Thaiger

    Quake shakes northern Phuket, Phang Nga

    MAI KHAW: Northern Phuket and southwestern Phang Nga experienced three minor earth tremors last night. No serious damage was reported. The tremors, felt at 11:36 pm, 11:38 pm and 1:59 am, shook homes between Phuket International Airport and Khok Kloy in Phang Nga. Amorn Chantanavivate, director of the Southwestern Meteorological Center, told the Gazette that the three shocks were caused…

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  • PhuketThailand may bow out of IMF program | Thaiger

    Thailand may bow out of IMF program

    BANGKOK, Aug 17 (AFP) – Thailand has enough foreign reserves to bow out of its IMF program and abandon the remaining 3.7 billion dollars available in loans under the rescue package, Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi said today. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disbursed about 13.5 billion dollars to Thailand out of its 17.2 billion dollar…

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