Month: November 2000
- Phuket News
Mass reburial of unclaimed bodies planned
PHUKET: The Kusonlatham Foundation has announced that it will exhume and rebury some 2,000 unclaimed bodies between February 7 and March 27 next year. This will be the fourth time that unclaimed bodies in Phuket have been reburied. The first time was in 1976 and the most recent was in July 1989. About half of the corpses involved in the…
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Phuket tops list for AIDS in pregnant women
PHUKET: The island has Thailand’s highest rate of HIV infection in pregnant women, the Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, has revealed. He said that of every 100 woman going to the province’s hospitals for pre-natal care or to give birth, four test positive for the deadly disease. Dr Boonrieng stressed that all government departments should…
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Donations sought for flood victims
PHUKET TOWN: The Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel has joined with TV’s Channel 7 to collect donations for the victims of Southern Thailand’s recent floods, which left thousands homeless. Juejan Panvickarn, PR manager of the hotel, told the Gazette that no money will be accepted. “People hit by the disastrous flooding need immediate help in the form of canned food, clothes…
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Hotels lose battle to stop tax
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has finally won its battle to introduce a tax on hotel room revenue. The tax is payable at a rate of 0.2%, effective November 1 this year. The announcement was made yesterday at The Metropole hotel in Phuket Town by senior members of the Phuket Tourism Association (PTA), the Thai Hotels Association –…
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Police crack down on pubs
PHUKET TOWN: In the run-up to national elections, Phuket Town police have been cracking down on errant entertainment venues. In a series of raids in the town between Monday and Thursday last week, establishments known for ignoring opening and licensing laws were targeted, resulting in 18 pubs and restaurants being charged with a variety of offenses. Boopachon Pub, Sip Tam…
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Three Germans arrested on paedophile, theft charges
BANGKOK (AFP): Three German fugitives, wanted on a range of serious charges including child rape, theft and murder, have been arrested at the seaside resort of Pattaya, police said this afternoon. Thai immigration police said the three men were detained separately over the weekend. Jahn Robert, 37, faces two paedophile charges after attacks on children in Munich. Heinz-Peter Ohlenschlager, 52,…
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Prison cancels Open Days
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Prison has canceled its Open Days, scheduled to take place between December 2 and 8, following the breakout and hostage drama at Samut Sakhon prison last week. Pairoj Pankaew, chief of the prison, told the Gazette today that he had received instructions from the director of the Region 8 Prison Service, in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, that Open…
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Senior policeman dies after car smash
PHUKET: Pol Lt Col Kamtorn Preecha, Deputy Superintendent of the Tai Muang Police Station in Phnag Nga province, died in a car accident in Phuket early Saturday morning, while on his way home from a party given by the Phuket police. Lt Col Kamtorn’s Honda CRV smashed into a coconut tree near the Ta Chat Chai police checkpoint on Thepkrasattri…
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Airport passenger figures rise
PHUKET: Passenger throughput at Phuket International Airport in October was up by 8.07% compared with the same month last year, according to figures just released by airport officials. The number of people arriving or departing on domestic flights rose by 3.17% to 184,210, while 98,852 people used the airport for international flights, representing an 18.55% increase. Cargo shipments, however, fell…
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Cyberport meeting identifies challenges
PHUKET TOWN: Experts who gathered on Thursday in Phuket all agreed that the island has the potential to be a “cyberport” — a center for information technology — but that it still has challenges that need to be met. “We still need to address three important factors,” said Prof Dr Pairash Thajchayapong, president of the National Science and Technology Development…
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Governor backs IBAP
PHUKET TOWN: At a meeting also attended by the Senator for Phuket, Paiboon Upatising, Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi today gave his support to the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP). The Governor said that he could see IBAP’s potential as a forum in which Thais and foreigners could work together to come up with new ideas to benefit society. Also…
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Tough ‘B’ visa rules introduced in Penang
PENANG: In the beginning there was light. Then there was darkness. First, in September, the Thai Consulate in Penang introduced 12-month, multiple-entry non-immigrant B visas. Then, with effect from this month, the consulate began demanding a pile of paperwork, some of it consisting of copies of highly confidential company documents. According to an announcement issued by the consulate to any…
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Local investment at centre of IBAP meeting
PHUKET TOWN: At a public meeting tomorrow, (November 24), Phuket Senator Paiboon Upatising and Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi will join local business leaders to hear the views of a distinguished economist and a cyber-expert about the future of investment in Phuket. Addressing a meeting of the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) will be Chulalongkorn University lecturer Thitinan Pongsudhirak and…
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Hostage-takers die in hail of gunfire
KANCHANABURI (AFP): Thai security forces today shot and killed a band of nine Burmese who had held a jail governor and two other prison staff captive overnight, police said. The governor, his deputy and a policeman were injured in the rescue attempt and had been taken to hospital for treatment, officials said. “The prison governor is seriously injured. He is…
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Eight Burmese in jail-break hostage drama
SAMUT SAKHON (AFP): Eight armed Burmese prisoners holding the jail governor and six of his staff hostage have broken through the gates of the prison here and driven outside the compound in a pick-up truck, police said this afternoon. Provincial police chief Major General Surasri Sunthornsarathoon said negotiators were now trying to win the release of the hostages, two of…
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Loch Palm murder victim “not Thai’
TUNG TONG: The police, continuing their investigation into the murder of an unidentified woman found near the Loch Palm Golf Club on October 6, have decided that she was probably not Thai. “I think the victim could not have been Thai because the clothes, bra and bikini that she wore were cheap. I’m certain she bought [her clothes] from the…
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Death of jet-ski operator solved
PATONG: The mystery of the jet-ski operator found dead on the rocks below Nakalay viewpoint on November 10 has been solved. In a confession to police, Kwanchai “Dum” Chookum admitted that he had caused the death of Boonsung Wassana, 26, but said that he had done so accidentally. Pol Capt Ardinan Benjasamai from Kathu police station said that Dum had…
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Police issue warning over gambling gang
KATA: Police have issued a warning to the public to be on the lookout for a gang of Thai con artists who use a combination of flattery, threats, insults and drugged drinks to separate people from their money. The warning came after Narumon “Mai” Busaphanag, 34, from Bangkok, reported to police that the gang had subjected her to a five-hour…
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Thai team wins sportfishing contest
PATONG: Hong Tong, a team of Thai anglers, won the top award in this year’s Phuket International Sportfishing Classic competition. Second place went to Oily Reelers, a team with members from Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the USA. The award for top captain and crew went to the boat “Andaman Hooker”. The winner of the Lady Angler Trophy was Toola…
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International hunt for murder suspect
KAMALA: Police are trying to track down a German national, 39-year-old Walter Ober Lener, who is wanted in connection with the murder of his 21-year-old Thai girlfriend, Waraporn Tawaetwong, on Monday. The hunt began after K. Waraporn’s body was found yesterday afternoon in the house she shared with Lener. Her neck had been broken and she had been sexually mutilated.…
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French deputy mayor killed in bike smash
PATONG: A deputy mayor of the French ski resort of Chamonix died in a motorcycle accident in front of Phuket Simon Cabaret early yesterday morning. Pol Maj Pisit Cheanpeth of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that at around 2.30 am, the man, whom he named as Jean-François Girod, aged about 38-40, crashed his rented motorbike into a culvert at…
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Policeman murdered on bypass road
PHUKET TOWN: Pol L/Cpl Piyanut Singkaew, 31, of Phuket Town Police Station, was found murdered late last night opposite a deserted building on the bypass road, about 200 meters past the Gems Gallery. Responding to a call at 11 pm, police found the victim lying face down beside the road. He had been shot seven times with a 9mm pistol,…
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Phuket Rugby Sevens canceled
PHUKET TOWN: It was announced yesterday that this year’s Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament has been canceled. The announcement came just 10 days before the tournament was due to start. The Thai Rugby Union (TRU) blamed the cancellation on a 2-million-baht shortfall in sponsorship. No hint of these problems was given in the last meeting between organizers and sponsors, held…
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Phuket to crack down on illegal workers
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s Governor, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has warned that illegal Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian workers – and those who employ them – will be singled out in a crackdown starting December 1. The proposed crackdown follows a cabinet meeting on August 29 at which a limit was set of 5,308 work permits for Laotian, Burmese and Cambodian workers in Phuket.…
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Four held for trying to rob currency exchange firm
PHUKET TOWN: Four men who had lost money gambling decided on Saturday to take an even bigger gamble – they held up a currency exchange company. But their luck was still bad. They came away empty-handed and were nabbed soon afterwards by police. The four, identified by police as Jaroen Sakjapitak, 42, from Sakhon Nakhon, Jantai Singkam, 34, from Loei,…
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Police suspect murder in death of jet-ski operator
PATONG: The body of a Thai jet-ski operator was found near the Nakalay viewpoint, near the Thavorn Beach Village Hotel, on Friday afternoon. Although the cause of death has yet to be established, the police are treating it as murder. Local fisherman, who had noticed a foul smell, discovered the body on the rocks 20 meters below the Nakalay viewpoint…
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Monk hacked to death with axe
PAK THO (AFP): The continuing scandals in the Thai clergy took a gruesome turn on Wednesday with the discovery of the body of a 37-year-old monk who had been hacked to death with an axe in a temple near the western Thailand border. Police said today that the body of Phra Ko Muang, who was originally from Burma, was found…
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Warning over fake 500-baht notes
PHUKET: The Bank of Thailand has issued a statement advising banks and the public on how to identify forged 500-baht notes currently circulating in Thailand. “The counterfeit notes are printed on thinner paper [than the real ones] and the surface of the paper is more slippery than genuine notes,” explained Boonserm Jitsamreang, the marketing officer of Bank of Asia, Phuket…
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Local student wins speech contest
KATHU: Twenty-one-year-old Philippe Berthe, a first-year hotel and tourism management student at Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus (PSU), won the first round of the National Speech Contest held at PSU on Wednesday. Mr Berthe, whose father is French and whose mother is Thai, was born in Phuket. The runner-up was Siwaporn Arjariya, a second-year student at Walailak University, Nakhorn…
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“Leaking policeman’ case: two more arrested
PHUKET TOWN: Two more people involved in the robbing of an off-duty immigration police officer – who had stopped to take a leak on a football field – were arrested today. The first arrest in the case was made on Tuesday when Prathueng Intarachuenchom, one of two armed robbers, was found at the Phuket International Hospital where he was being…
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Four charged with million-baht “black money’ scam
PATONG: Police on Wednesday charged four West African men with swindling a Patong restaurateur and his brother out of one million baht, using a classic “black money” scam. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, named the four arrested men as: Gala Sompson, 24, and David Woshington Je, 23, both from Liberia, and John Cacosta, 30, and Goodrid…
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Phuket people “should handle environmental problems’
PHUKET: The Phuket Environment Committee (PEC) is to push for the island to have its own Environmental Protection Office, members said today, because Phuket is the county’s most important resort. Up to now, they said, environmental problems that have cropped up in Phuket have been addressed very slowly because there has been no organization in the province that was directly…
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Monk disrobed after telephone sex
BANGKOK (AFP): A senior monk left the Buddhist clergy today after he was caught engaging in phone sex, officials within the monkhood say. Phra Si Visuthyarn, deputy abbot of Bangkok’s Tritosthep temple, delivered his resignation this morning, an official told AFP. The monk quit after religious officials in the Sangha Supreme Council received a tape recording of him having phone…
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Leaking policeman gets into hot water
PHUKET TOWN: Stopping to pass water can be a dangerous business, as an Immigration Police officer found out on Monday. Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichien Petphang-nga told the Gazette that he was driving, in plain clothes, toward the center of Phuket Town when he heard the call of nature. He decided to stop at the Sanamchai football field, opposite the…
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Kathu police boss moving to new post
PHUKET: Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station – which is also responsible for Patong – is to move on Friday to a new post as a deputy provincial commander of Nakhon Sri Thammarat Provincial Police. He will be replaced by Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, currently the litigation deputy superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station. Pol Col…
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Hotel tax row: Governor steps in
PHUKET: The island’s new Governor, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has stepped into the furious row between Phuket’s hotels and the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) over the OrBorJor’s new tax on hotel room revenue. After a five-hour closed meeting last Wednesday with representatives of both sides, the Governor ruled that the hotels must pay the tax, but that the OrBorJor must revise…
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Fire in Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: A fire on Saturday night caused damage estimated at 500,000 baht to a house on Sakdidet Rd. Four fire engines arrived within 20 minutes of being alerted by a neighbor. About 80% of the house was destroyed by the blaze. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, though an electrical short…
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