Month: February 2000

  • PhuketDeath sparks “dangerous road’ warning | Thaiger

    Death sparks “dangerous road’ warning

    KATA: Police have warned about the dangers of the road outside the Marine Cottage resort after a 22-year-old motorcyclist, Supit Kaminkaew, died there on Sunday afternoon, after she was run over by a bus. Supit is the fifth person to die on that stretch of road in the past few months. Pol Capt Chana Sootthimat of Chalong Police Station said…

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  • PhuketSchmid proves he’s top mountain biker | Thaiger

    Schmid proves he’s top mountain biker

    PHUKET: Switzerland’s Marco Schmid, 28, stormed to victory in Sunday’s 30-km Muang Chaofa Mountain Bike Race, repeating his victory a week ago in Surat Thani over Thailand’s Satit Ruanpae. Third was Direc Pamornchat. Satit finished in one hour, 18 minutes and 19 seconds, seven minutes and 10 seconds behind Schmid’s 1:11:09. Direc clocked 1:20:22. The super-fit Schmid admitted he could…

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  • PhuketTHAI domestic fares to rise 13pc | Thaiger

    THAI domestic fares to rise 13pc

    PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI) is to raise fares for all domestic flights by about 13% on April 20. The one-way airfare for the Phuket-Bangkok service will be raised by 13.5% from 2,000 baht to 2,270 Baht for economy class, and by 10.8% from 2,770 baht to 3,070 baht for business class. The hike was originally approved by THAI’s Board…

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  • PhuketPhoneNET cards offer up to 30pc discount | Thaiger

    PhoneNET cards offer up to 30pc discount

    PHUKET: Between now and June 30, holders of PhoneNET cards in Phuket can take advantage of a new discount of up to 30% on calls to 27 countries around the world. Worawit Worapibulpong, chief of the office of telecommunication services at the Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) in Phuket Town, explained that the 500-baht cards may be used with every…

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  • Phuket12 die in bus crash | Thaiger

    12 die in bus crash

    KANCHANABURI (AFP) – Twelve Thais were killed and eight seriously hurt when a tour bus traveling to a Buddhist temple near the border with Burma plunged into a deep ravine, police said today. The bus, carrying 45 mainly elderly people from Bangkok, left the road and plunged 50 meters before coming to a stop in Kanchanaburi province’s Sangkla district early…

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  • PhuketCAT to hike prices for EMS delivery | Thaiger

    CAT to hike prices for EMS delivery

    PHUKET: The Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) is to raise the charges for domestic deliveries by its Express Mail Service (EMS) with effect from Wednesday. For mail weighing less than 20 grams, the fee will be increased from 15 to 20 baht. For mail between 20-100 grams, the fee will be increased from 17 baht to 25 baht. For those…

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  • PhuketTen arrested for illegal immigration scam | Thaiger

    Ten arrested for illegal immigration scam

    PHUKET AIRPORT: Two Malaysian women, a Singaporean woman and a Thai man were arrested yesterday at Phuket International Airport for involvement in an attempt to sneak six Chinese illegal immigrants out of Thailand and into Singapore. The six Chinese were also caught. Pol Lt Col Annop Suwanchatri, an immigration inspector at Phuket International Airport, said there were actually 12 people…

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  • PhuketBurmese boys escape detention center | Thaiger

    Burmese boys escape detention center

    PHUKET TOWN: Three Burmese boys escaped from the Juvenile Observation and Protection Center near Saphan Hin early yesterday morning. Two were recaptured within hours but the third is still at large. The escape, according to Pongsura Krainara, the center’s chief, took place at around 6 am when the three boys were detailed to help a guard at the center carry…

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  • Phuket11 die in helicopter crash | Thaiger

    11 die in helicopter crash

    KANCHANABURI (AFP) – A Thai army helicopter crashed in western Kanchanaburi province today, killing at least 11 people, including seven senior officers, an army spokesman said. Maj Gen Sanchai Rachtawan, commander of Ninth Army division, was among the top army officers who died, along with two pilots and two technicians. Army Lt Gen Lertrat Ratanavanich said the aircraft went down…

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  • PhuketChinese cadres head for Phuket | Thaiger

    Chinese cadres head for Phuket

    PHUKET: After the brief holiday enjoyed by China’s President, Jiang Zemin, in Phuket last year, it seems that the island is becoming a vacation choice for senior communist cadres from the People’s Republic. Tomorrow sees the arrival of 17 communist officials, led by the president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Tieying, who is also a member of…

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  • PhuketIndustrialists may become more “eco-friendly’ | Thaiger

    Industrialists may become more “eco-friendly’

    PHUKET TOWN: Wiboolchai Na Ranong, managing director of Toyota Pearl Co Ltd, was elected on Tuesday as the new president of the Phuket chapter of the Federation of Thai Industries, and immediately pledged to steer the chapter’s members toward being more eco-friendly. After being elected, K. Wiboolchai said that his first priority is to get more people, especially businesspeople in…

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  • PhuketMicrosoft apologizes for Bangkok sex slur | Thaiger

    Microsoft apologizes for Bangkok sex slur

    BANGKOK (AFP): Microsoft has apologized to Thailand for describing Bangkok as a commercial sex center in the Deluxe 2000 version of its Encarta Encylopedia CD. “I regret any misrepresentation that the Encarta segment may have caused,” said Robert Bach, vice-president of Microsoft’s Home and Retail Division, in a letter to local media. “As soon as we were made aware of…

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  • PhuketDead man in woods “killed himself’ | Thaiger

    Dead man in woods “killed himself’

    KARON: The man who was found dead in the woods to the east of Karon two days ago has been identified as Prasert Chuwong, 42, a former cook at Chao-Kuen Restaurant in Kata. According to Pol Col Sati Malakanond, the superintendent of Chalong Police Station, Prasert was left jobless after the restaurant went out of business some time ago. Based…

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  • PhuketSoldiers kill student after row over girl | Thaiger

    Soldiers kill student after row over girl

    PHUKET TOWN: Two Thai soldiers and a friend were arrested last night and charged with the murder of a Rajabhat Phuket Institute student earlier in the evening after an argument over a girl. The student, 23-year-old Sakda “Tuk” Thongsongsri from Trang, was riding his motorcycle past the Muang Mai auto dealership showrooms on Thepkrasattri Rd at 8:30 pm with his…

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  • PhuketBanana forager finds skull | Thaiger

    Banana forager finds skull

    KARON: A local man looking for wild bananas in woods to the east of Karon yesterday afternoon found something rather less appetizing: a human skull. Pol Maj Thanate Poungmanee of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the man immediately reported what he had found to officials of Tambon Karon, who in turn reported the discovery to Chalong Police Station.…

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  • PhuketDragonflies fell All-Stars in fund-raiser | Thaiger

    Dragonflies fell All-Stars in fund-raiser

    PHUKET TOWN: Mang Por Lor Kluen – “Wave-Playing Dragonfly” – beat the All-Star Actors 3-2 on Saturday in front of a large crowd at a special fund-raising soccer match between the two teams of Thai celebrities. Pop singer “Teh” Utane Prommin took the first goal for the All-Stars just before half time at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town. The Dragonflies…

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  • PhuketJapanese tourist stabbed four times | Thaiger

    Japanese tourist stabbed four times

    PHUKET TOWN: A Japanese tourist who wanted to call his family – to tell them he had arrived safely in Phuket – was robbed and stabbed four times just after midnight yesterday, on his way to make the call. Pol Maj Adul Nirapai of Phuket Town Police Station said that Terai Osamu, 27, came to Phuket with friends and was…

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  • PhuketTwo men seriously ill in radiation alert | Thaiger

    Two men seriously ill in radiation alert

    BANGKOK (AFP) – Two Thai men are seriously ill in hospital with radiation sickness after being exposed to a highly radioactive substance in a Bangkok shop, health officials said this afternoon. “These two people are suffering seriously from burns to the hands. They are losing their hair and have very low white blood cell counts,” a public health ministry spokesman…

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  • PhuketRunaway snakes cause chaos in Soi Katoey | Thaiger

    Runaway snakes cause chaos in Soi Katoey

    PATONG: Tourists and denizens of the night scrambled for safety when a bunch of snakes got loose in Soi Katoey, off Soi Bangla, in the early hours of yesterday. The snakes got loose after a team from the Phuket Provincial Forestry Office, led by Sumran Cheanloy, the office’s chief, and accompanied by police, launched raids on bar areas in Patong,…

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  • PhuketGrass fire frightens Chuanchuen Lagoon residents | Thaiger

    Grass fire frightens Chuanchuen Lagoon residents

    KOH KAEW: A fire at Chuanchuen Lagoon that shook the up-market community two days ago was just grass burning, firefighters said today. Pol Maj Amnuay Kraiwootthinan of Phuket Town Police Station said he received a phone call at 8:30 pm on Wednesday from an unidentified person reporting that there was a big fire burning at the old deserted tin factory…

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  • PhuketParliament acts to drive out evil spirits | Thaiger

    Parliament acts to drive out evil spirits

    BANGKOK (AFP) – Authorities held a multi-faith exorcism in parliament today to drive out evil spirits believed to be responsible for a recent spate of deaths among members of parliament. Since elections in November 1996, eight of the 393 MPs have died in accidents or of natural causes while 11 more have resigned. Yesterday, an MP from the ruling Democrats…

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  • PhuketOrBorTor member held for theft of cigarettes | Thaiger

    OrBorTor member held for theft of cigarettes

    PHUKET TOWN: The police in Phuket Town were astonished when they managed to arrest three burglars who broke into the Phuket Provincial Cooperative Office’s store on Yaowarat Rd last Saturday and stole 59 boxes of Thai cigarettes worth about 897,000 baht. It wasn’t the theft that surprised them, nor the speed with which they caught the robbers – two on…

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