Month: October 1999

  • Phuket NewsTong trial postponed because defendant has flu | Thaiger

    Tong trial postponed because defendant has flu

    PHUKET TOWN: The trial of five men charged with participation in the murder of businessman Danis Wayne Tong was adjourned today until October 21. Lawyers for the accused told Judge Pachara Panichwara that one of their clients, Pratin Praktong, was suffering from influenza and therefore unable to attend the court. They argued that it would not be fair to continue…

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  • Phuket NewsLocal “Shopper Card’ takes off | Thaiger

    Local “Shopper Card’ takes off

    PHUKET TOWN: A discount card for Phuketians disillusioned with ‘international’ pricing and the gaps so often found between ‘Thai’ prices and those charged to locally resident foreigners, has met with strong demand following its October 4 launch. More than 40 “Shopper-friendly businesses” have signed on to the Gazette Shopper program, and requests for cards are being received at an average…

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  • Phuket NewsTwo arrested for “black money’ scam | Thaiger

    Two arrested for “black money’ scam

    PATONG: A German restaurant owner last week had a lucky escape from West African con artists who nearly tricked him out of 300,000 baht. Instead of getting away with the money, the two confidence tricksters ended up in the police cells, awaiting a date with the judge. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that…

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  • Phuket NewsDepositors sue bank over embezzled deposits | Thaiger

    Depositors sue bank over embezzled deposits

    PHUKET TOWN: Twelve people holding time deposit and savings accounts in Bangkok Bank’s Thepkrassatri Rd branch are suing to recover a total of more than five million baht allegedly embezzled by bank employees. One of the victims was Chamnong Tiansub. “On September 1, my daughter was called to the bank by [one of the accused] who told her to bring…

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  • Phuket NewsTobacco excise tax goes up tonight | Thaiger

    Tobacco excise tax goes up tonight

    BANGKOK (AFP): Tobacco taxes are to be raised from midnight tonight in an effort to offset government revenues lost by diesel tax cuts last week. The cabinet endorsed a Ministry of Finance proposal to increase the excise tax on tobacco products, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said. “Cigarettes are the main target for this tax adjustment,” he said, following a weekly…

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  • Phuket NewsResidents in fear after second murder in two days | Thaiger

    Residents in fear after second murder in two days

    PHUKET TOWN: People living in the area of the Fishing Port have asked police to step up patrols after two murders in as many days. Both victims were stabbed to death. The first body was found on Friday, as reported in the Gazette’s online news the following day. On Saturday, police were again called to the port area where another…

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  • Phuket NewsFive murderers executed by firing squad | Thaiger

    Five murderers executed by firing squad

    BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand has executed five prisoners found guilty of murder, corrections officials said Saturday. The five men, ranging in age from 26 to 51, were shot dead by a firing squad late on Friday after their appeals for royal clemency were rejected, the officials said. The men were all convicted for murders committed between 1983 and 1996, they said,…

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  • Phuket NewsMan found beaten and stabbed to death | Thaiger

    Man found beaten and stabbed to death

    PHUKET TOWN: A man thought to be a fisherman was found dead at the entrance to the fishing port on Soi Si Sena, near Phya Thai Hospital, yesterday morning. Pol Maj Pissanu Pullwonk of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, who has yet to be identified, was wearing a gray T-shirt and blue slacks. “His head…

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  • Phuket NewsProvincial Councillor killed in road crash | Thaiger

    Provincial Councillor killed in road crash

    PHANG NGA: Arkom Ackasinthawangkool, 39, a businessman and member of the Phuket Provincial Council, was killed instantly on Thursday night when his Range Rover car was hit by a bus on a tight bend near Baan Bangwan, Kuraburi District. Khun Arkom, known in Phuket as “Kom Sapam”, was the owner of the Khon Thai 1 bar in Phuket Town and…

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  • Phuket News40 businesses sign up for Millennium party | Thaiger

    40 businesses sign up for Millennium party

    PATONG: Some 40 companies in Patong have signed up to support a TAT project to count down to the Millennium with a beach party that will include the launching of thousands of miniature hot-air balloons and a massive fireworks display. Anuparp Thirarath, director of the TAT, told the Gazette this morning that he had “sent my proposal to about 150…

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  • Phuket NewsBangkok Bank ATMs to close tonight | Thaiger

    Bangkok Bank ATMs to close tonight

    PHUKET: All Bangkok Bank ATMs across Thailand will be closed from 6 pm this evening until 4 pm tomorrow (October 9), so that the bank can test the readiness of its cash point system for Y2K. The only exceptions will be in Bangkok, where the ATMs will close at 10 pm, reopening at 4 pm tomorrow. Mongkol Thongprasarn, assistant manager…

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  • Phuket NewsTwo arrested after stabbing of foreigner | Thaiger

    Two arrested after stabbing of foreigner

    PHUKET TOWN: A Thai man has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, and carrying a concealed one, following a recent brawl in a Phuket Town night spot. During the brawl in the Timber ‘n’ Rock pub in Yaowarat Rd, Irishman Hugo Crawford, 47, was stabbed in the throat and stomach. Mr Crawford has since been discharged from hospital.…

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  • Phuket NewsHermaphrodite poses problem for prison | Thaiger

    Hermaphrodite poses problem for prison

    BANGKOK (AFP): Prison authorities in Thailand are debating where to house a suspected drugs offender found to possess both male and female sex organs, officers said this afternoon. Police initially sent the 22-year-old to the women’s wing of the jail in the central province of Lop Buri to be held pending trial, but officers there soon began to suspect she…

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  • Phuket NewsFestival flag “may be one for the Guinness Book’ | Thaiger

    Festival flag “may be one for the Guinness Book’

    PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization plans to contact the publishers of the Guinness Book of World Records to see whether a massive yellow flag, made specially for this year’s Vegetarian Festival, is a world record. The flag, which is 9,999 meters long and carries uplifting messages in Thai, may already be seen, running along the roadside from the…

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  • Phuket NewsWoman found dead in Suan Luang Park | Thaiger

    Woman found dead in Suan Luang Park

    PHUKET TOWN: The body of a young Thai woman was found floating in a canal in Suan Luang Park on Chaofa Rd early Saturday morning. The body was discovered by a security guard in the park. He alerted police who, with the help of staff from the Kusonlatham Foundation, retrieved the corpse. Pol Maj Amnuay Kraiwutthianant, in charge of investigating…

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  • Phuket NewsGazette sports reporter comes up a champ | Thaiger

    Gazette sports reporter comes up a champ

    PHUKET TOWN: The Gazette’s own sports reporter, Elke Cheong, yesterday beat off all-comers to win the women’s prize in the 1st Phuket Mini-Marathon, run on the streets of Phuket Town. Elke covered the 10-kilometer course in a time of 44:07 minutes, beating Kanlaya Odoom and Jamruensuk Kao-ien to take the overall women’s title. Overall winner of the race was Pawin…

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  • Phuket NewsMinister to wager his life that flying is safe | Thaiger

    Minister to wager his life that flying is safe

    PHUKET: Thailand’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Suthep Theuksuban, will fly from Bangkok to Haad Yai next Friday. Nothing unusual in that, except that the THAI aircraft in which he will fly will have its computer clocks set to December 31, 1999. During the flight they will tick over to January 1, 2000, to test whether the airline’s jets are…

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  • Phuket NewsEmbassy raiders flee, hostages unharmed | Thaiger

    Embassy raiders flee, hostages unharmed

    BANGKOK (AFP): The siege of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok ended this afternoon almost as swiftly as it began yesterday, with the five gunmen being flown in a police helicopter to Ratchaburi Province, near the Thai-Myanmar border, where they are reported to have fled into the countryside. On landing, they released Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra and one other…

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  • Phuket NewsArmed group storms Myanmar embassy in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Armed group storms Myanmar embassy in Bangkok

    BANGKOK (AFP): A group of 12 men armed with grenades and AK-47 assault rifles stormed the embassy of Myanmar (Burma) in central Bangkok just before noon today. Some 20 embassy staff are believed to have been taken hostage or to be trapped in their accommodation in the compound. In a statement faxed from inside the embassy, the group said the…

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  • Phuket NewsToo much of a good thing | Thaiger

    Too much of a good thing

    LOPBURI (AFP): Mike the orangutan has been hospitalized with serious fatigue after spending too much time making love to his new mate, the director of Lopburi Zoo said today. “Mike is very weak. His legs and arms are very weak and he refused to eat any food yesterday,” the director, Lt Col Virat Phupeingchai, said. Veterinarian Chisanu Tiyacharoensri said part…

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  • Phuket NewsPolice raid second house full of exotic fish | Thaiger

    Police raid second house full of exotic fish

    RAWAI: Police yesterday raided a second house in the Sea Gypsy village in Rawai and recovered more than 1,000 fish of 70 different protected species. The fish were taken to the Phuket Marine Biology Center. As in the previous raid, the police acted after receiving information from Chada Wangboonkong, the specialist head officer of the Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office, who…

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