Year: 2001
- Phuket News
State land to be freed for development
PHUKET TOWN: The Treasury Department will at the end of August call for tenders to develop two plots of government-owned land in Phuket Town. Prasit Seubchana, Phuket Provincial Treasurer, explained that the private development of such land is one of the policies of the Thaksin government, which sees it as a way to encourage investment and generate revenue for the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Gov to stay in Phuket for now
BANGKOK: Despite strong lobbying for Phuket Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi to be appointed Director of the Southern Border Administrative Center (SBAC), the Cabinet has handed the controversial job to the front-runner, Banyat Jansena. Muslim community leaders and teachers in the South of Thailand had lobbied for Gov Pongpayome to get the job because of his track record of dealing with…
Read More » - Phuket News
Pamuke the winner in Chamber chaos
PHUKET: Pamuke Achariyachai, President of the Kata Group of Hotels, was elected Chairman of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce today, following three months of confusion that climaxed in the resignation yesterday of his predecessor, Charn Wongsatayanont, Managing Director of Phuket Jet Tour. K. Charn resigned as the result of a protest from a member that the former chairman’s membership and…
Read More » - Phuket News
Judge denies bail for ex-mayor
PHUKET TOWN: Accompanied by a heavy police escort, the former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, yesterday made his first appearance in the Phuket Provincial Court on charges relating to the slaying of an ex-policeman in Phuket Town in December 1998. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the police requested that the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Governor backed for top job in the South
BANGKOK: Powerful forces appear to be lobbying for Phuket Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi to be promoted to Director of the Southern Border Administrative Center (SBAC), a senior position with the Ministry of Interior. The previous holder of the post, Palakorn Suwannarat, resigned in mid-July amid criticism of his handling of a recent spate of bombings in the South of Thailand,…
Read More » - Phuket News
Fugitive ex-mayor surrenders to police
PHUKET TOWN: The former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, surrendered to police on Saturday, nearly two years after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of involvement in the murder of an ex-policeman. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that he received a phone call from Dr Anan’s lawyer on…
Read More » - Phuket News
Vicious murder at fishing port
KOH SIREH: The body of a viciously murdered man was found washed ashore behind Asia Stannum Co Ltd at Laem Tokkae, near the fishing port, on Thursday. Pol Maj Jiradaej Kawinkij of Phuket Town Police Station said that he arrived at the scene to find the 25- to 30-year-old man lying face down. The victim was dressed in a black-and-white…
Read More » - Phuket News
Hospital cancels call for blood
PHUKET TOWN: Wachira Phuket Hospital has called off its appeal for donations of type O negative blood because it now has ample supplies for current needs. The hospital told the Gazette that it wishes to thank all donors for their prompt help.
Read More » - Phuket News
Urgent call for O-negative blood
PHUKET TOWN: Wachira Phuket Hospital has made an urgent appeal for donations of type O negative blood for 66-year-old Nard Hamekeaw. Potential donors are asked to report to the reception desk at the hospital or call 076-217293-8.
Read More » - Phuket News
Yacht burns and sinks
PHUKET: A 6-million-baht yacht, the Brulon, belonging to a local dive company, burned to the waterline and sank yesterday in Bang Tao Bay. Pol Lt Col Narong Natebutra of the Phuket Marine Police told the Gazette that he received a report at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon that a yacht was on fire about nine kilometers off Cherng Talay. “The boat…
Read More » - Phuket News
Tourist dies 12 days after rescue
SURIN BEACH: American tourist Joseph Tito, 27, died today in the Bangkok Phuket hospital. He had been on life support since being pulled from the sea at Surin Beach on July 6. Pol Capt Anake Mongkol of Cherng Talay Police Station told the Gazette that Mr Tito’s death was the second one resulting from people getting into difficulties in the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Thaksin plans to put clocks forward
CHIANG MAI (AFP): Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said today he is considering moving Thailand’s clocks ahead one hour to bring them in line with neighboring nations and to boost the country’s competitiveness. “Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are situated on the same latitude as Thailand but we are seven hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) while these countries…
Read More » - Phuket News
Contest to boost awareness of King’s Cup
PHUKET: In a drive to involve the Thai community more deeply in the annual King’s Cup Regatta, the event’s organizers today launched an essay and painting competition for Thai students, with cash prizes totaling 100,000 baht. The competition, which is open to students from primary school up to university (but not to students attending international schools), was launched at a…
Read More » - Phuket News
Ministry rejects entertainment zones
PHUKET: The Ministry of Interior has rejected Phuket’s plans for some 25 entertainment zones (EZs) scattered across the island, it was announced today. As a result, the province is to put forward a much shorter list of EZs, as follows: Patong: An area stretching 50 meters to the north and 50 meters to the south of the intersection between Thaweewong…
Read More » - Phuket News
Governor backs sea walking
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi has recommended to the government that sea walking be put on a firm legal footing. In a document sent to the Prime Minister’s office, he also recommended that the local Tourist Business and Guide Registration Office (GRO) be given sole responsibility for issuing licenses and overseeing the industry. A handful of companies currently conduct sea…
Read More » - Phuket News
French resident dies after brawl
PHUKET TOWN: A 47-year-old French resident of Phuket, Michel Clavel, died on Wednesday evening of injuries sustained in a drunken brawl in Patong in the early hours of July 2. The investigating officer, Pol Capt Boonlert Onklang of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that Mr Clavel, who was living in Phuket on a government pension, was drinking with about…
Read More » - Phuket News
Haze from Indonesia clears
BANGKOK (AFP): “Haze” from forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which hung over Thailand’s five southernmost provinces for the past week, has now cleared, public health officials said today. “The situation is almost back to normal. I think it’s over now,” said Ongart Chanacharnmongkol, director of the Environmental Health Centre in Songkhla province. K. Ongart said some 25,000…
Read More » - Phuket News
Mayor slams Greenpeace criticism
PHUKET: Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongyok yesterday angrily dismissed a report by environmentalist group Greenpeace that alleges the waste incinerator in Saphan Hin emits higher than normal levels of the toxic substance, dioxin. Speaking at a press conference at the Phuket Merlin Hotel, Mayor Phummisak said, “If they wanted to talk about this, they should have sent their people to…
Read More » - Phuket News
67 killed in bike crashes in 20 weeks
PHUKET: The island’s motorcycle accident death rate continues high, according to the latest statistics issued by the Phuket Provincial Health Office. The figures show, on average, that there was one death every other day in the first 20 weeks of the year, and that 35 people a day were injured. Between January 1 and May 20, 67 people died on…
Read More » - Phuket News
Authorities counter dengue, haze stories
PHUKET: Tourism and health officials in Phuket today moved to counter press reports that Phuket is beset by dengue fever and by smoke from forest fires in Sumatra. The Director of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Anuphap Theerarath, told the Gazette that a report in a newspaper in Singapore about dengue fever had caused a…
Read More » - Phuket News
Reward offered for stolen yacht
PHUKET: A reward of US$4,000 (180,000 baht) has been offered for information leading to the recovery of the yacht “Dreamtime”, reported missing from its mooring in Ao Chalong on Thursday. The five-million-baht yacht belongs to a British man who returned from working offshore to find it gone. Dreamtime is the third yacht in 10 years to disappear in similar circumstances,…
Read More » - Phuket News
Grisly remains found in Patong
PATONG: The mutilated body of an unidentified man was found on Thursday in woods next to the Patong-Karon road, not far from Simon Cabaret. Pol Capt Ampholwathana Saengruang of Patong Police Station told the Gazette that the victim was around 170 cm tall and was thought to be 28-30 years old. The head of the corpse, he said, had been…
Read More » - Phuket News
Police step up security at Lotus
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Town police have been called in to help step up security at the Tesco Lotus Supercenter, after bomb attacks on two Lotus stores in Bangkok on Monday and Wednesday killed one person and injured two others. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of the Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that, shortly after the bombings, he…
Read More » - Phuket News
Murdered man found near fishing port
PHUKET: A man thought to have been a fisherman was murdered in front of a warehouse belonging to the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, on Soi Si Sena, near Phuket’s fishing port, on Thursday night. Pol Lt Palichart Jaturonpan of the Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, as yet unidentified, died from six stab wounds to his…
Read More » - Phuket News
Leap in dengue fever cases
PHUKET: The Phuket Health Office (PHO) has issued its second dengue fever warning in less than a month. On June 12, the PHO reported that 55 cases of dengue fever had been recorded since the beginning of the year. Today it announced that the figure had risen to 75. Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, chief of the PHO, told the Gazette, “At…
Read More » - Phuket News
Strong winds leave many in the dark
PHUKET: Several areas of the island suffered extended blackouts last night after storms knocked down power poles. Worst affected were Phuket Town and Kathu, where power shortages lasted up to two hours. In Kathu, a tree knocked down four power poles on Wichit Songkram Rd near the entrance to Prince of Songkla University. One of the poles crushed a parked…
Read More » - Phuket News
Telephone numbers change at midnight
PHUKET: All telephone numbers in Thailand will change to nine digits from midnight tonight (July 4-5). This will be achieved by including the area code in the number. Thus, the number 234567 in Phuket will become 076-234567, even when dialed from Phuket. Similarly, the Bangkok number 345-6789 will become 02-345-6789, whether dialed from Phuket or from within Bangkok. Mobile-to-mobile phone…
Read More » - Phuket News
German dies of heroin overdose
PATONG: A German man, Edgar Radke, 44, died yesterday in Patong of a heroin overdose. Pol Capt Chawalit Petchsripen of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that Mr Radke met a friend for coffee in the lobby of a hotel. After a while he got up to go to the toilet. When, after a long time, he did not return,…
Read More » - Phuket News
Bangkok airport goes to the dogs
BANGKOK (AFP): The authorities at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport said today that they had launched a drive to ensure that stray dogs that have made their home next to the runways don’t end up straying onto the tarmac. The dogs have taken up residence on the golf course next to the airport, where they thrive on scraps from the clubhouse…
Read More » - Phuket News
Shell to start free oil disposal tomorrow
PHUKET: The Shell Company of Thailand (Shell) today announced that it will begin its free marine engine oil collection and disposal service in Phuket tomorrow. The service is part of Shell’s “Rao Rak Talay Thai” conservation campaign, which was launched in Pattani. The name is a play on words, meaning both “We Love the Thai Sea” and “We Conserve the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Airport passenger stats show slight rise
PHUKET: After a dip in April compared with the previous year, passenger throughput at Phuket International Airport was up again in May by 3.16%, compared with May 2000. Statistics just relaesed show that 253,400 passengers arrived at or departed from the airport compared with 245,634 last May. The number of international passengers rose by 2.65% to 90,269, while the number…
Read More » - Phuket News
Bangladeshi found stabbed to death
PHUKET TOWN: The body of an unidentified man was found floating yesterday in the fishing port on Soi Si Sena. Pol Maj Wichacom Kumjompa of Phuket Town Police Station said that the victim had been dead at least 48 hours. He is estimated to have been between 25 and 30 years old, and had tattoos on his shoulders that suggested…
Read More » - Phuket News
Tourist drowns off Patong beach
PATONG: The body of a Malaysian tourist, Cheu Chee Hou, 27, was found yesterday on Patong Beach, after he disappeared while in Phuket on his honeymoon. Pol Capt Ampolwat Sangruang of the Kathu Police Station said he received a report from villagers that they had found Mr Hou’s body lying on the beach opposite the Holiday Inn Hotel on Thaweewong…
Read More » - Phuket News
Governor clamps down on “bar beers”
PHUKET: In an effort to control beer bars, known locally as “bar beers”, Phuket Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi has ordered officers of Tambon Administration Organizations (OrBorTor) to reject building modification requests from such bars. At the regular provincial meeting between the Governor and chief officers of OrBorTor in Phuket Town this morning, Governor Pongpayome complained that bar beers were unsightly and…
Read More » - Phuket News
Drugs arrests almost double
PHUKET: Police figures released today show that 80 people were arrested for involvement with narcotics between June 1 and June 25, nearly double the number of arrests for drug offences during the same period in May. In 70 separate busts, police netted just under 6,000 ya bah pills. Of these, 4,050 were seized on Sunday in the province’s unofficial largest…
Read More » - Phuket News
More submarine plans for Phuket
PHUKET: Another submarine will enter Phuket’s water soon, if a company from the mid-Pacific island of Saipan gets its wish. Jack McClure, general manager of Pacific Subsea Saipan Inc, today met with local officials, including the Governor of Phuket, Pongpayome Vasaputi, to brief them about his company’s plans. Pacific Subsea Saipan already runs submarine tours in Saipan, and wants to…
Read More » - Phuket News
Five mentally ill people found chained up
PHUKET TOWN: Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO), today appealed for people to be more compassionate and understanding of the mentally ill. His appeal came after five people suffering from mental illnesses were found chained up by relatives in the past 10 weeks. “We found five people who had been chained up and we’ve been…
Read More »
