Month: July 2003
- Phuket
Land for Phuket schools misused
PHUKET TOWN: Land encroachment made the top of Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi’s agenda again on Tuesday, this time involving plots designated for use by government schools in Thalang. The Governor met Prasit Suebchana, Head of the Phuket Treasury Office (PTO), and representatives from the Phuket Primary Education Office (PPEO) to determine an equitable solution to the problem. The eight…
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TAT to develop Phang Nga eco-tourism
PHANG NGA: The local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will expand eco-tourism in Phang Nga with a trekking and river-boating tour from Khao Ya National Park to Ratchaprapa Dam in Khao Sok National Park. Napasorn Kakai, Deputy Director of the local TAT office, made the announcement on Tuesday after returning from a meeting in Kuraburi district, Phang…
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Phuket’s roads claim 15 more lives
PHUKET: Fifteen people were killed on Phuket’s roads between June 20 and July 20, according to the latest statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. Fourteen of the victims died while riding motorcycles and one was killed in a car crash, Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office reported. In the same period, 867 were hurt in…
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Education government’s greatest failure – Abhisit
PHUKET TOWN: The current government’s education policy is hindering the country’s development, says Democrat Party Deputy Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. Following Saturday’s meeting of three top Democrat Party leaders at the Phuket Merlin Hotel, K. Abhisit told the Gazette that he had been assigned to discuss details of the party’s education policy, an issue the opposition Democrats intend to highlight in…
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Democrat leader slams land probe
PHUKET: In Phuket to attend a meeting of Democrat Party leaders at the Phuket Merlin Hotel on Saturday, Party Leader Banyat Banthadtan told the Gazette his visit was intended to show support and encouragement for Phuket residents targeted by the government in its ongoing investigation into land rights on the island. K. Banyat said he wanted to tell those under…
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Farmers demand justice
PHUKET TOWN: More than 200 villagers gathered this morning to complain to Phuket Governer CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi about land problems. The Provincial Administration Organization building was jammed with villagers, including farmers, planters and representatives of many communities who complained that, following the SorPorKor investigation, their land had been declared as encroaching on forest preserve areas – the so-called Zone C…
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“Illegal’ restaurant to be demolished
KALIM: A top police general today said a well-known restaurant just north of Patong occupies SorPorKor 4-01 land, and will have to be knocked down. The commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, Pol Lt Gen Chatt Kuldiloke was in Phuket to check on the land investigation work done by his officers, and visited the restaurant, the Suangsawan (Sunset Point Restaurant…
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Land probe: nine premises raided
PHUKET: Armed with warrants, officers from the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok and police from Phuket made early-morning raids on nine premises in Phuket this morning. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the premises searched belonged to people suspected of being involved with fugitive land official Thawatchai Anukul in falsifying land documents.…
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Police seize mystery powder
PHUKET TOWN: Following a tip-off, police raided a house on Wichit Songkhram Rd yesterday and seized more than 200 tonnes of powdered mineral. Some 10 police officers from the Crime Suppression Division Region 5, led by Pol Col Itti Nantapruksa, Superintendent, and Pol Lt Col Karn Lekhawanich, Deputy Superintendent, raided 64/1-2 Wichit Songkhram Rd about 6:30 pm. Supanee Rojananont, Duty…
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Politics for all, says Purachai
PHUKET TOWN: Thailand’s voters had to be persuaded about the benefits of the political process locally and nationally, Deputy Prime Minister Purachai Piemsomboon said today. He was speaking to about 500 guests at a conference at The Metropole hotel in Phuket Town, with the topic Local Elections and Phuket’s Future. All people, especially the young, needed to be educated about…
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Visa charges: Correction
PHUKET: Due to wrong information supplied to us by the Immigration Department in Bangkok, the Gazette story detailing new visa charges to be imposed contained an error in the date on which the new charges will come into force. The correct date, as supplied to us by the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office, is August 26 this year. All other information…
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Dates set for Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET: This year’s Phuket Vegetarian Festival is scheduled to take place from September 25 to October 5, with the Speaker of the Thai Parliament, Uthai Pimjaichon, presiding over events. Officials have issued a warning that last year’s crackdown on fireworks and illegal weapons will be repeated, along with checks on health standards and sanitation at roadside food stalls. Details of…
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SorPorKor probe is unjust – farmers
PHUKET TOWN: Irritated and scared by the ongoing land title investigation, some 200 farmers holding SorPorKor 4-01 land papers assembled at the Phuket Provincial Hall this morning after hearing a rumor that Deputy Minister of Agriculture Newin Chidchob would be there. Prayad Poombua, 59, who farms eight rai of SorPorKor land in Chalong, told the Gazette that he and the…
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Visa hikes “no threat to tourism’
PHUKET TOWN: The tourism industry will be able to absorb increased visa rates and still lift visitor numbers, according to spokespeople for tour operators and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Napasorn Kakai, Deputy Director of the local TAT, told the Gazette that any negative effects would be short-term and would end once tour operators absorbed the cost in their…
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Talks on new bus terminal
PHUKET TOWN: The cramped and dingy inter-provincial bus terminal on Phang Nga Rd is likely to make way soon for a more modern, spacious station in a different location. Provinical Transportation Office (PPTO) Chief Prasit Amarapal told the Gazette today that alternatives were being considered with interested parties scheduled to meet Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit within weeks to discuss the change.…
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Luxury liner returns to Phuket
CAPE PANWA: The luxury liner SuperStar Virgo returned yesterday to dock at Phuket’s deep sea port at Cape Panwa, a sign that the Sars scare is well and truly history. “The SuperStar Virgo has been in Perth for the past three months because of the Sars outbreak,” said Chutiman Topanyaruang, General Manager of Star Cruises, which owns the ship. “However,…
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Phuket prepares to be ICT city
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi today presided over a seminar to prepare provincial administrators for the island’s imminent transformation into Thailand’s first high-tech hub, under the Information Technology and Communications (ICT) Ministry’s “ICT City Project”. The seminar, organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) and held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, was attended by more than…
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May I take your bags, sir?
PATHUM THANI: The Phuket tourism industry, long hampered by the difficulty of finding English-speaking staff, will be glad to know that help is now on the way – straight from the slammer. Inmates at a prison in Pathum Thani are now being offered three-month English language courses to help them prepare for life on the outside, said a senior official…
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Just an udder criminal
CHIANG MAI: Preecha Chintakessakarn, 19, was finding it tough making ends meet. His family was poor, his wife was unemployed and he couldn’t even afford milk for his two-month-old baby. Out of necessity he turned to crime, and decided to rob the local Foremost dairy warehouse to find fresh milk for his little darling. In the early hours of July…
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Explanation lacks ring of truth
YASOTHORN: After being arrested, a mobile phone thief told the officers that he stole the phones so that he would be sent to jail – the only way he could think of to get away from his hen-pecking wife. Niwatanachai Plaesaeng, a mechanic, confessed to stealing phones from customers who had left them in their cars. The young thief explained…
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Limo drivers win victory over “black’ taxis
MAI KHAO: Limousine drivers at the airport went back to work at 5 pm today after receiving a written assurance that “black” taxis will be barred from the airport and car park except in certain specific circumstances. The assurance, from the Provincial Government, stated that black taxi drivers will be allowed to drop passengers at the airport but will not…
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New three-digit lottery plan in place
PHUKET TOWN: Lottery agents were given registration details today in preparation for the new government lottery that will begin August 1 and which is aimed at subverting the popular underground lottery in which punters choose just three numbers. Each of 100 lottery agents in Phuket may have up to 50 lottery salespeople, and agencies and dealers will have to provide…
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