Year: 2000
- Phuket News
Key Buddhist date now a UN international day
BANGKOK: United Nations member countries have reached agreement that Buddhism’s Visakha Bucha Day will henceforth be recognized by those countries as an official UN “international day”. It marks the first time that the world body has established such a day based on religion. The announcement was made yesterday by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Fellowship of…
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Panic after “corpse’ comes back to life
BANGKOK (AFP): A Thai man sparked panic when his body twitched as it was loaded into cold storage a day after he was pronounced dead, forensic experts said today. Aroon Chansawan, 75, collapsed at a nursing home near Bangkok late Tuesday and was declared dead after police officials failed to detect a pulse. His body was taken for an autopsy…
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Bus service launch delayed again
PHUKET TOWN: The date for the launch of Phuket Town’s first real bus service has been postponed for at least another month because PB Holdings, the operator, has not yet been able to find all the buses it needs. The launch of the service has been plagued with delays. Originally planned for May of last year, the date was pushed…
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Police deny Tamil Tigers report
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Marine Police today denied a report in a major daily newspaper that they had recently checked and then released a speedboat that might have been used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to transport supplies from Phuket to an LTTE base on an island nearby. The LTTE have been waging a long and bitter civil…
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Fried chicken terribly costly for Mercedes lady
PHUKET TOWN: A woman who parked her car briefly on Friday found herself half a million baht poorer when she got back behind the wheel. Pol Capt Anukul Nookate of Phuket Town Police Station said Lynchee Somsak, 42, stopped her car on Luang Por Wat Chalong Rd to buy fried chicken. She told the police that, because the chicken vendor…
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Westerner’s body found in Suan Luang Park
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a Western man was found floating in the lagoon at Suan Luang Park on Chao Fa Nai Rd on Saturday morning. Pol Col Chalit Tintanee, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said the man, as yet identified, is estimated to have been about 25 to 30 years old. He was about 180 centimeters tall and…
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Diesel smugglers arrested
PHUKET: Four Thais were arrested on Saturday evening on charges of smuggling untaxed fuel into Thailand, and 60,000 liters of low-grade diesel, worth about 180,000 baht, was seized from their vessel, the Look Kob. The vessel was also impounded. Pol Col Surapol Tuanthong, Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Marine Police, said that the modified fishing vessel was stopped near…
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Chalerm denies masterminding assassination attempt
BANGKOK (AFP): The deputy leader of Thailand’s main opposition party denied masterminding the attempted assassination of a prosecutor who was allegedly investigating his sons, reports said yesterday. “A man like me does not need to hire anyone to kill someone else. I would do it myself,” the Bangkok Post quoted Police Captain Chalerm Yubamrung, deputy leader of the New Aspiration…
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On-the-ball bellboy bags burglar
KATA-KARON: The alertness of a bellboy at the Marina Cottage Hotel, who heard a guest-room door close when he knew that the family staying in the room were all at dinner, resulted in the red-handed arrest of a burglar. Pol Lt Teerawat Leamsuwan of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “The guests staying in the room that was burgled [a…
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Permanent residence window about to close
BANGKOK: The Immigration Bureau has issued a reminder that, barring the remote possibility of an extension, June 30 is the deadline for foreign investors to apply for “special investment” permanent residence status in Thailand. Normally, those applying for permanent residence must hold a non-immigrant visa and reside in Thailand on a one-year-visa extension basis for three years consecutively. The period…
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Kao Mai Party denies election accusations
PHUKET TOWN: The OrBorJor Kao Mai Party, which swept into power in the Provincial Administration Organization elections (OrBorJor) on February 4, today denied in court accusations leveled at it by the losers in the election, the Pattana Tongtin Party. In the first hearing into the accusations, the Phuket Provincial Court this morning heard the charges filed by 10 of the…
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Health warnings issued as rains approach
PHUKET: With the rainy season approaching, the Phuket Health Office has issued warnings about the increased risk of dengue fever and malaria. The office recommended using an insect repellent to ward against the mosquitoes that spread dengue fever and malaria. Cases of dengue in Phuket have receded sharply over the past year. Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, chief of Phuket Health Office…
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Tourists hurt by long-tail propeller
PATONG: A Swedish father and his son were badly lacerated on Thursday when a long-tail boat ran over them as they swam at Freedom Beach, just south of Patong. Pol Capt Boonlert Onklang of Kathu Police Station said that the father and son, whom he named as Olle Sundin, 43, and Maenus Sundin, 15, were apparently under the water when…
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Marijuana dealer arrested
CHALONG: Police yesterday arrested Pan Inraksa, 40, in Rawai for possession of marijuana with intent to sell the drug. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the police had received reports that many people living in Baan Bangkontee, Moo 4, in Rawai had recently been robbed. The people believed that the robbers were local teenagers,…
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Police drop charges against dive instructor
CHALONG: Police today dropped charges against a foreign dive instructor who was arrested at the end of February for working without a tour-guide license. The charge was dropped on the grounds that a diver working in Thailand does not require such a license, contrary to assertions made earlier by the Phuket Tourist Police. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which…
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Chuan ally named to replace Sanan
BANGKOK (AFP): The deputy leader of the ruling Democrat Party, Banyat Banthadtan, is to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai announced today. Banyat’s appointment will fill the two Cabinet posts left vacant by Sanan Kachornprasart who resigned last week after being accused of filing a false financial statement with the National Counter Corruption Commission.…
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Ya bah dealer arrested
PHUKET TOWN: The owner of an air-conditioner repair shop on Chao-Fa Nai Rd was arrested on Tuesday for selling ya bah (methamphetamine). Pol Lt Col Preecha Klaewtanong of Phuket Town Police Station said the police had received a report from an informant that Piya Watana, 27, had been selling ya bah from his shop, Piya Air, for several months. An…
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Phuket to ‘get tough’ on jet-skis
PHUKET: Phuket is to get tough on jet-ski operators again, it was decided yesterday at a meeting of officials from across the island. Chaired by vice-governor Amnuay Sanguannam, the meeting brought together officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), district offices, the Harbor Department, the Marine Police, the Tourist Police and other police. Representatives from the local jet-ski industry…
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Jet-ski race organizers slam Phuket
PHUKET: The Jet Sports Boating Association of Thailand (TJSBA) has hit back at Phuket for declining to host the Thai Airways International-Jet Sports King’s Cup Thailand Open 2000 jet-ski races. The criticism came soon after the Governor of Phuket, Charnchai Soontharamut, and about 30 others from different associations on the island turned down the TJSBA’s proposal on the grounds that…
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Similans to close on May 15
PHUKET: All nine islands in the Similan National Park will be closed to the public between May 15 and November 15 this year. Kittima Tinkohyao, an officer stationed at the park’s Tap Lamoo office in Phang Nga, explained that the islands are closed every year at about this time because the arrival of the monsoon season makes the seas too…
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Buffalo to face beach fees, gas tax
PHUKET: Pissit Raknamkwei, chief of the Phuket Buffalo Authority (PBA), announced this morning that all bovines in the province must obtain a Beach Use Permit (BUP) from his office no later than April 7. Those failing to do so will be “refrigerated”, he said. It was only the first setback of the month for the island’s water buffalo. The real…
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Drug dealers ride rails for sales
BANGKOK (AFP): Drug dealers are using Bangkok’s new mass-transit Skytrain system to target new clients and expand their markets, reports said this morning. Students are complaining that well-dressed amphetamine dealers are approaching them on the Bangkok Transit System (BTS) and offering them drugs, The Nation said, quoting the deputy director of Bangkok’s Transport Office. To combat the natty peddlers, the…
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THAI boosts flights for Songkran
PHUKET: Thai Airways International announced yesterday that it will increase flights between Phuket and Bangkok during the Songkran festival next month. “The demand for Phuket during the festival this year has been stronger than last year because Songkran coincides with a weekend,” explained Pricha Nawong, district sales manager for Upper Southern Thailand. “So we have decided to add seven more…
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Road deaths slightly lower, but injuries rise
PHUKET: Thirty-four people died in road accidents in Phuket between January 1 and February 20, according to official statistics, a slight improvement on the same period last year when 39 died. According to statistics from the province’s three government hospitals, 2,050 people were injured in traffic accidents in the same period this year, an 11% rise on the 1,841 injured…
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Seven arrested on drug charges
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested six men for possession of ya bah (methamphetamine) and one for possession of marijuana. The six, named as Prasert Tongruang, 23, Taewa Sansook, 21, Montri Pongkan, 22, Prasert Boopphakarn, 19, Nareth Kongkaew, 22, and Jaroong Pimkij, 26, were arrested in a police raid on a home in Moo 1, Tambon Karon, just after dawn. Pol Lt…
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Body found floating at fishing port
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a man believed to be a fisherman was found floating near a fishing wharf on Soi Si Sena yesterday morning. Pol Maj Sanya Thongsawas of the Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, as yet unidentified, was wearing only blue jeans and a white amulet string around his waist. He is estimated…
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Illegals top arrest statistics
PHUKET: Illegal immigrants topped the list of arrests in Phuket between March 1 and 25, according to statistics released today by the Phuket Provincial Police. Of 675 people arrested, 247 were illegal immigrants. This was followed by gambling, with 189 people arrested in the course of 85 raids. Drug-related cases came in a close third with 155 arrests. Thirty-seven of…
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Police rethink death of Burmese woman
THALANG: Police are looking more closely into the death of a young Burmese woman found buried in a shallow grave in a rubber plantation near Baan Manik Mountain in Tambon Srisoonthorn two days ago. The woman was originally reported to have died of malaria and to have been buried secretly by her family. But Pol Col Prapakorn Saksupa, Superintendent of…
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Sanan resigns over corruption probe
BANGKOK (AFP): Sanan Kachornprasart, Thailand’s powerful Interior Minister, resigned today as a political storm raged around the government after a corruption probe found Sanan guilty of filing a false financial declaration. “I quit from my two political positions and as an MP,” Sanan, the Democrat Party’s political kingmaker, told reporters outside his house before leaving for a press conference at…
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Thai government in crisis after corruption accusation
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s government was rocked by scandal today after an investigation found Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart guilty of filing a false statement of his assets. The National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) ruled that Sanan had submitted a false declaration outlining a 45-million-baht (1.2-million-dollar) loan which he said he had obtained from a trading company. The NCCC says that no…
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Woman found buried in rubber plantation
THALANG: The body of a young Burmese woman was found in a rubber plantation near Baan Manik Mountain in Tambon Srisoonthorn yesterday afternoon. A villager searching for wild vegetables alerted police after finding a mound that looked like a grave, with pieces of torn cloth and burned paper mixed in with the dirt. Pol Col Prapakorn Saksupa, Superintendent of Thalang…
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10 Laotian women arrested
CHALONG: Ten young Laotian women were arrested at around 1 pm today in Chalong. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of Chalong Police Station said police officers spotted the women walking along Chao Fa Nork Rd, near Chalong Circle. They looked “lost and suspicious”, said Lt Teerawat, so the officers stopped them and asked for their ID Cards. They had none. “Certainly…
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Tong Tin Kao Nah in landslide election win
KARON: The Tong Tin Kao Nah Party has won a landslide victory in the Karon Municipal Council elections, which took place on Saturday, winning all of the council’s 12 seats. Two thirds of the municipality’s 3,745 registered voters cast ballots. Tawee Thongchaem, the party’s leader, gathered the highest number of votes, 1,789, setting the stage for him to be selected…
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Nordstrand takes victory in first of Platu series
PHUKET: Strong winds and two firsts and two seconds gave Muzza Nordstrand and his crew victory yesterday in the first of this year’s Platu 2000 race series. The crew started by losing the first two races to David Bailey’s boat. In the third race, neither crew did well, with Bailey coming third and Nordstrand dropping to fourth. But strong winds…
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Tourist Police save American’s holiday
PATONG: American tourist Stanley Olchowski’s holiday in Phuket nearly came to an abrupt end when he left his waist pouch on the 5:30 pm bus from Patong to Phuket Town on Thursday. In the pouch were US$2,700 (about 100,000 baht), 11,480 baht and his passport. Mr Olchowski, 48, promptly contacted the Tourist Police. Pol Cpl Surin Pitpan was dispatched to…
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“Lenient’ visa rules slammed again
PATTAYA (AFP) – A senior security official has slammed Thailand’s lenient tourism policies for allowing international crime syndicates to enter the country and wreak havoc at will. “More and more international crime syndicates are basing themselves in Thailand because of the ease with which they can enter the country due to tourism policies,” said Khachadpai Buruspatana, secretary general of the…
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Inquiry into Patong beatings launched
KATHU: Siripong Sripayang, deputy district officer of Kathu District, is to head an investigation into the beatings of five staff of the Tara Patong Hotel on March 13, allegedly by undercover police from Kathu Police Station, the Gazette learned today In the meantime, the accused officers will remain on duty, said Pol Lt Col Jarus Jetsadawan, Deputy Superintendent of Kathu…
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