Year: 2000
- Phuket News
Solution found to hotel tax dispute
PHUKET: A special committee set up by Provincial Governor Charnchai Soontharamut appears to have come up with a compromise solution to the disagreement between hotels and the Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) over the OrBorTor’s planned tax on hotel rooms. According to the solution, hammered out on Friday, hotels will pay the tax from October 1, but at a reduced rate…
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Blackout canceled
PHUKET: Following its announcement of September 6 concerning planned blackouts, the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) today said that the blackout scheduled for Friday (September 22) has been canceled. On that day there was scheduled to be a blackout from Chalong Circle to Baan Laem Promthep, including Viset Rd, Baan Bangkontee, Baan Saiyuan, Nai Harn Beach, Ao Sane, Baan Kokmakham,…
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Warrants out for four in stabbing case
CHALONG: Arrest warrants have been issued for four men, one a policeman, who were involved a brawl in a karaoke restaurant in Karon last week that ended in the stabbing death of 23-year-old Supradit “Ad” Boonyawat. The killing sparked a heated protest on Friday by about 100 villagers who massed at the Chalong Police Station to demand justice for Supradit.…
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Police add spice to local BBQ
PHUKET TOWN: A husband and his wife who added a profitable sideline to their barbecued food business – selling ya bah (methamphetamine) – were arrested yesterday. Pol Maj Manus Ieamcharoenchaikul of the Narcotics Division of the Provincial Police identified the couple as Charun Thiwong, 49, and his wife Umporn, 48. The pair were arrested after selling the drug to an…
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Port murders hit double digits
PHUKET: A man believed to be a Burmese fisherman was found dead on the shore opposite the Rattanachai dry dock in Phuket’s fishing port early yesterday morning. The murder was the tenth this year in the same area. Pol Capt Chaum Kaosrisuwan of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, as yet unidentified, had died from eight…
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Skal Club gets new committee
PHUKET: The Skal Club of Phuket has elected a new committee. The members are: Eric Hallin, President; Andy Dowden, Vice President; Suwit Auttayatmavitaya, Treasurer; and Alan Cooke, Secretary.
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Thai economy continues fragile: World Bank
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s economic recovery is on track but remains fragile, volatile and uncertain, the World Bank said today. Thailand’s recovery will remain difficult as long as the ongoing process of financial and corporate reform lags behind most of Asia, the bank said in a report on East Asia. “The pace and quality of the financial and corporate reforms continues…
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Angry villagers demand justice in stabbing case
CHALONG: Nearly 100 villagers joined a heated protest yesterday evening at the Chalong Police Station to demand justice for a villager stabbed to death a week earlier. The case concerns 23-year-old Supradit “Ad” Boonyawat, who was stabbed to death during a brawl in a karaoke restaurant in Karon on September 9. The brawl allegedly involved eight people, including the owner…
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Crowd accuse police of beating man
PHUKET TOWN: An angry crowd of about 50 people from Tambon Vichit, Ao Makham, gathered at Phuket Town police station on Thursday to complain about the alleged beating by police officers of a man living in the area. Yamarn Yukolthorn, a member of the Vichit Tambon Council (OrBorTor), who led the crowd, said that on Tuesday night Wisith Sarika, a…
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Couple ‘delivered drugs with laundry’
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Police detectives yesterday arrested a husband and his wife on charges of selling ya bah (methamphetamine). Pol Capt Somkid Boonyarat identified the couple as Somkiet Charoenjit, 25, who has a small laundry business, and Malee Sorn-un, 29, a singer. Detectives had been watching Somkiet and Malee for a while, Capt Somkid said. They had gathered evidence…
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Norwegian murder suspect arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Thai Immigration Police yesterday arrested a Norwegian man accused of brutally murdering his 3-month-old son in Norway, and then fleeing to Thailand. Morten Storborg, 32, was arrested in Rawai at the Phuket Island Resort, five days after arriving in Thailand. Pol Col Apirak Hongtong, superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Police, told the Gazette that Storborg was arrested and then…
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Jet Ski accident victim flown to Phuket
PHI PHI: The Phuket Police Aviation Division (PPAD) dispatched a helicopter to Koh Phi Phi yesterday morning to pick up a Swedish tourist injured in a jet-ski mishap. Dr Somchai Viriyakhattiyaporn, a brain surgeon at Bangkok Phuket Hospital, told the Gazette that he received a phone call at 10:30 am yesterday from a Swedish insurance agency, informing him that a…
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Vegetarian festival sponsors upset Chinese residents
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s native Chinese residents are unhappy that two private companies involved in organizing the annual Vegetarian Festival seem to be commercializing this traditional event. Amnuay Sa-nguannam, Vice Governor of Phuket, chaired a committee meeting yesterday at Phuket Provincial Hall to discuss the festival’s plans with representatives from government offices, private organizations, and Phuket’s Chinese shrines. At the meeting,…
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Suspect in warehouse raid to be prosecuted
PATONG: Kathu Police will prosecute Naowarat Sompong, the owner of counterfeit goods seized during a raid in a Patong warehouse last week. Kathu Police have officially charged Naowarat with violating the Trademark Act of 1991 after consulting with legal representatives and experts from factories of the goods in question. The companies, including such brand names as Nike, Adidas, Calvin Klein…
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Donation center to help flood victims
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Government opened a temporary donation center yesterday to help people hit by recent floods in the north and northeast. The center has been set up in the Phuket Provincial Welfare Office at the Provincial Hall, Narison Rd, and is accepting donations of money, consumer goods and food. “We have received a lot of help from…
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Monks make complaint about stray dogs
PHUKET TOWN: A committee of monks from Wat Langsarn on Narisorn Rd, behind the Provincial Court House, have written a letter to the Muang Municipality complaining about nearly 30 stray dogs living in the wat’s compound. Udom Tansakul, an official at the Municipality, said that the letter, received yesterday, requested that his office remove the dogs. “The main problem is…
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Dolphin rescued at Nai Harn Beach
NAI HARN: Villagers at Nai Harn Beach found two striped dolphins trapped in shallow waters this morning. One dolphin was lying on the beach in obvious distress. Its body was covered with wounds from scraping on the rocks. The other dolphin was swimming in shallow water nearby. The villagers contacted a biologist at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), Kongkiet…
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Pavena raid fails to free sex slaves
TUB LAMU: Politician Pavena Hongsakul, champion of abused women in Thailand, yesterday accompanied police on a raid on a brothel in this Phang Nga village in a bid to free women believed to have been forced into prostitution. But she and the police came away empty-handed, the owner of the brothel having apparently been tipped off minutes before they arrived.…
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Two held on fake gold charges
PHUKET TOWN: Two women were arrested on Saturday night for pawning fake gold in order to get money to gamble at a casino near Kathu. Pol Maj Sermpan Sirikong, Chief of the Special Duties Division of the Phuket Provincial Police Department, said that he received a complaint from Paisarn Vechawanichsanong, a pawnbroker, that he had paid 90,000 baht to vegetable…
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Tourist raped on Koh Samui
KOH SAMUI: A 26-year-old Norwegian tourist was allegedly raped by a sorng taew (local bus) driver around midnight yesterday. The woman, identified by police as Gry Slaem, told police that she had been drinking with a friend and had fallen asleep. When she woke, her friend was gone and she did not know the way back to her room at…
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Still no sign of fugitive mayor
PHUKET: Almost a year after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of involvement in a murder, the former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, is still being sought by police. Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Deputy Superintendent of Investigation at Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that a team of Provincial Special Duty Squad officers had…
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Flyers A win Patong 7s soccer
PATONG: Patong Flyers A won the 2nd Annual Patong Sevens soccer championship yesterday, beating their opponents 3-1. The win, however, came at the expense of their good friends on the Patong Flyers B squad – both teams are sponsored and managed by Peter Koch, owner of the Austrian Restaurant in Patong. Organizers were considering canceling the final game of the…
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Deadly rat disease “found in Phuket’
PHUKET TOWN: Health authorities in Phuket are waiting for the results of lab tests being performed in Bangkok to confirm a doctor’s diagnosis that a Phuket Town man has contracted the potentially deadly disease, leptospirosis. The victim is Thaweeporn Thongterm, 24. He reported to Phuket International Hospital on Monday evening suffering from symptoms which, said Dr Ekachai Singtiraj, were strongly…
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Police raid clothing warehouse
PATONG: Phuket Tourist Police yesterday evening raided a warehouse allegedly used to store forged brand-name shoes and clothing. Pol Capt Sanya Poachsalee, Sub-Inspector Section 14 of the Phuket Tourist Police, said that officers were tipped off by an informant that the warehouse, at 179/11 Soi Talad Nud Patong, off Rat-U-Thit Rd, was being used to store the counterfeit goods. The…
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PTA moves to new offices
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) this morning opened its new offices on the bypass road, opposite the Nissan showroom. It previously had offices in the Tourism Authority of Thailand building on Phuket Rd. At the ceremony, Sombat Atiset, managing director of the Kata Thani Hotel and Beach Resort, was officially installed as the new president of the PTA.…
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Power company schedules blackouts
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced scheduled blackouts for the month of September. The PPEA will be clearing tree branches and installing orange insulating covers on power lines in these areas. The blackouts will last from 9 am to 4 pm. September 12: from Kwang Rd to Chalong Circle, including Chaofa Nai Rd, Moo Baan Tiwarathanee, Baan…
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Laced-drink robbers using killer drug
PHUKET TOWN: The Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, today issued a warning to residents and tourists not to accept drinks from friendly strangers. He said that the police have recently had reports of a number of cases of people being drugged with laced soft drinks before being robbed. But in a sinister new twist to…
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Phuket police launch websites
PHUKET: Two police departments in Phuket have created websites to improve communication with the public. The Phuket Immigration Police have set up a website at https://www.phuketimmigration.com“>https://www.phuketimmigration.com. There, anyone may report aliens who break the law, appear to present a security threat, or are “behaving strangely”, the Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Police, Col Apilak Hongtong, explained. The Phuket Provincial Police website…
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Money row halts airport road construction
PHUKET: The long-drawn-out project to complete the highway from Phuket Town to the Sarasin Bridge has once again been brought to a standstill by disputes over compensation to land-owners. Visut Maiwatana, chief of the Phuket Highway Sub-district Office, and the civil servant in charge of the highway, explained that the billion-baht, 38-kilometer project was originally due to be completed by…
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Meningitis makes a deadly comeback
PHUKET: In the first seven months of this year, 15 people have died in Thailand of meningococcal meningitis. Of these deaths, two were in Phuket. The highest rate of infection was in the South, where 16 people contracted the disease. Six of them died. Next was Central Thailand, where 13 were infected, resulting in another six deaths. In the North…
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Danish tourist dies at waterfall
THALANG: Mrs Dorthe Malakiassen, a 41-year-old Danish tourist, died at the Ton Sai waterfall on Friday. Pol Capt Surat Muagsri of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the victim, a guest at the Thara Patong Hotel, went to the waterfall in Thalang with her husband and two friends around 2:30 pm. “After arriving, they went swimming and were…
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Police swoop on canoe tour, arrest 12
PHANG NGA: Tourists on a canoe trip in Phang Nga Bay on Thursday watched astonished as police, accompanied by local villagers, swooped on their tour boat, the Andaman Queen, and arrested 12 Burmese crewmen. The raid followed complaints from the villagers of Tambon Klong Kian in Takua Thung district that the Burmese were working illegally with the tour company. Officers,…
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House burns on Mae Luan Rd
PHUKET TOWN: Police are investigating the cause of a fire in a house on Mae Luan Rd last night. The case investigator, Pol Capt Surat Moangsri of the Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette he was alerted at about 6:30 pm that the house, number 17/27 on Mae Luan Rd, behind the Tessaban Plook Panya School, was on fire.…
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Four to run in Patong by-election
PATONG: Four candidates are to run in a by-election on September 24 to fill a vacant seat in the Patong Municipality. The contenders are Weerasak Kaminthong of the Rak Patong Party – which currently holds the majority in the council – and three independents: Jamrak Eamsaad, Samran Ponkaew and Peerapan Suwannachart. As with the upcoming by-election in Phuket’s Provincial Administration…
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Six to run for OrBorJor seat
PHUKET: Six candidates have announced plans to stand in a by-election on September 23 to fill a vacant seat in Phuket’s Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor). The six hopefuls are Chockchai Kitsaloran of the OrBorJor Kao Mai Party – which currently holds the majority in the council – and five independents: Teerasak Wichutanont, Wisut Tangwittayaporn, Samran Jindapon, Chonramat Thanundornwat and Wittaya…
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Thief stabs store manager in neck
PHUKET TOWN: A manager of a Kata jewelry store is lying in the Bangkok Phuket Hospital tonight after being stabbed in the neck during a struggle with a thief at his Sam Kong home yesterday. Police said that Prasit Rattanakultontip, 40, a manager of P James Jewelry in Kata, was stabbed by an unidentified man while he was cleaning his…
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Thaksin to be next PM: poll
BANGKOK (AFP): Tycoon-turned-politician Thaksin Shinawatra is leading rivals in the race to be Thailand’s next prime minister, according to a new survey of Bangkok residents released today. The Bangkok University poll found Thaksin commanded 39.2% support, ahead of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who drew 31.7%. Since Thaksin set aside his telecommunications empire to establish the Thai Rak Thai party two…
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