Month: January 2004

  • Phuket News

    TRT shock as Prasit says, “I won’t run’

    PHUKET TOWN: The outgoing President of the Provincial Administration Organization, (OrBorJor), Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, dropped a bombshell at his farewell media appearance last night when he said he would not be standing as a Thai Rak Thai (TRT) candidate in next year’s parliamentary elections. It had been widely anticipated that Dr Prasit would lead the TRT campaign in 2005 when…

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  • Phuket NewsDead birds “victims of vigilante action’ | Thaiger

    Dead birds “victims of vigilante action’

    PHUKET: Fears surrounding the spread of avian ‘flu have led members of the public to take matters into their own hands and poison wild birds, it was claimed today. An autopsy conducted on a dead bird found in Phuket Town showed that it died from ingesting insecticide mixed with rice. Officers from the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) have examined…

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  • Phuket NewsBird ‘flu found in Phang Nga | Thaiger

    Bird ‘flu found in Phang Nga

    PHANG NGA: One person has been hospitalized with suspected avian ‘flu in Phang Nga and tens of thousands of chickens and ducks are set to be slaughtered in the coming few days after an outbreak was confirmed on a farm in Takuapa District yesterday afternoon. Speaking to the Gazette today, Pairat Dejsiri, Assistant Chief of Phang Nga Provincial Livestock Office…

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  • Phuket NewsIllegal immigration arrests top 200 | Thaiger

    Illegal immigration arrests top 200

    PHUKET TOWN: Statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police for the January 1-25 period revealed that illegal immigration again topped the crime figures, with 211 arrests made. Other common crimes were gambling (178 arrests) and possession or use of illegal narcotics (60 arrests). Thirty-eight ya bah (methamphetamine) tables were seized. Prostitution is still a crime in Thailand, and 43 unlucky…

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  • Phuket NewsChicken ban aimed at easing ‘flu fears | Thaiger

    Chicken ban aimed at easing ‘flu fears

    PHUKET: Although there has been no effect on tourist numbers and health authorities remain unconcerned, an outbreak of bird ‘flu in 25 other provinces of Thailand has led Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura to ban the import of live chickens to the island as a precaution. Properly processed birds may still be brought in and Phuket itself has the capacity to…

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  • Phuket NewsHoneymooning tourist drowns | Thaiger

    Honeymooning tourist drowns

    CHALONG: An Indian who was on his honeymoon in Phuket drowned yesterday while on an outing to Coral Island. Police named him as Sharma Dusmyant, aged 30. Pol Maj Anek Mongkol, of Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that Mr Dusmyant was with a tour group. Details of the circumstances surrounding his death remain sketchy. Police were advised of the…

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  • Phuket News

    Man surrenders over Freeway murder

    PHUKET TOWN: A man sought for more than eight months over a double murder at the Freeway Restaurant on Bang Tao Beach surrendered to police yesterday. Police issued an arrest warrant for Suwat Kaewkong soon after the double murder on May 10 last year and alleged that Suwat, who owns another restaurant at Bang Tao, had been involved in a…

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  • Phuket NewsMissing karaoke girl found dead in alley | Thaiger

    Missing karaoke girl found dead in alley

    PHUKET TOWN: The decomposing corpse of a missing karaoke girl from Phang Nga was found in a downtown alley on Monday afternoon, and police are investigating whether the girl committed suicide by jumping from the car park of a nearby hotel – or whether she was pushed. The body of 24-year-old Sirijit “Aom” Chuwong was recovered from an inaccessible alley…

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  • Phuket News

    Klong Bang Yai ideas floated

    PHUKET TOWN: A floating market similar to Ratchaburi’s famed Damnern Saduak was one of the suggestions put forward at a public meeting today to discuss the future of Klong Bang Yai, which flows – occasionally – in and around Phuket Town. Other ideas floated at the meeting included gentrification projects, the construction of another passenger port and a flood-defense scheme.…

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  • Phuket NewsSix “smuggled’ boats seized | Thaiger

    Six “smuggled’ boats seized

    CHERNG TALAY: Phuket Marine Police yesterday seized three jet-skis and three jet-boats worth a total of about 10 million baht during a raid on a house in Cherng Talay. Pol Lt Col Prasert Srikunnarath, Inspector of the Phuket Marine Police, told the Gazette that officers had not been provided with official documentation to show how the vessels were brought to…

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  • Phuket NewsOne dead, 11 hurt in Patong pileup | Thaiger

    One dead, 11 hurt in Patong pileup

    PATONG: A man died and 11 other people were slightly injured in a three-vehicle pileup that paralysed traffic during peak hour at one of Patong’s major intersections yesterday. A truck laden with construction tools and bags of cement came barrelling down Patong hill about 5 pm, crashing into a pickup laden with workers and a mini-bus. The force of the…

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  • Phuket News300 fake watches seized in Karon | Thaiger

    300 fake watches seized in Karon

    KARON: About 300 fake luxury-brand watches with an estimated retail value of more than 500,000 baht were seized in two sting operations in the Karon area on Friday night. Two dealers were taken into custody. Pubate Mingkwan, legal representative in Thailand for a number of well-known brands, came to Phuket from Bangkok to investigate reports that knock-off watches bearing logos…

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  • Phuket News

    Ambassador seeks 12-month visas for Filipinos

    PHUKET TOWN: Filipinos who work in Phuket should be able to obtain one-year visas instead of three-month or six-month visas, the new Philippines Ambassador to Thailand, Antonio V Rodriguez, said today at the end of his first official visit to the island. Making the plea in talks with Vice Governor Niran Kalayanamit, he noted that many entertainers and musicians were…

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  • Phuket NewsDoubt thrown on jet-ski ban plan | Thaiger

    Doubt thrown on jet-ski ban plan

    PHUKET TOWN: Following Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura’s announcement in late December that jet-skis will be phased out in Phuket over a seven-year period, the Phuket Marine Office (PMO) has set a January 31 deadline for jet-ski owners to register their machines. From February 1 the PMO will begin cracking down on unregistered machines, underage riders and other violations. But the man…

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  • Phuket News

    A chunk of change for good karma

    PHUKET TOWN: A pair of good Samaritans returned two cash checks with a combined value of 526,000 baht to their rightful owner after discovering them beneath a car on Monday. Swede Fredrik Klingvall, owner of O’Malley’s Irish Pub on Montri Rd, and his Thai friend Kraiwut Kunbaan had just finished eating lunch at a restaurant on Yaowarat Road when they…

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  • Phuket NewsMore tales from the dog pound | Thaiger

    More tales from the dog pound

    PHUKET TOWN: The dog pound design that turned out to be a dog’s breakfast has been cleaned up, say officials. Capable of holding 1,000 animals, Phuket’s pound will open for business on March 1 next year at the latest, the Chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), Sunart Wongchawalit, told the Gazette yesterday. There was consternation last year when…

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  • Phuket NewsPian gets green light for election | Thaiger

    Pian gets green light for election

    PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Election Committee (PEC) has dismissed a complaint against mayoral candidate Pian Keesin, allowing him to stand in the Patong mayoral election on February 8. Kittipong Thiengkunagrit, Director of the PEC, told the Gazette today that the PEC had carefully considered the complaint, lodged on January 19 by rival candidate Songserm Kepsap. K. Songserm presented the PEC…

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  • Phuket NewsYouth shot in second gang outrage | Thaiger

    Youth shot in second gang outrage

    CHERNG TALAY: A crowd of about 100 people massed outside Cherng Talay Police Station last night after an incident in which a young gang member shot a teenager from another gang in the leg. The victim, Jittisak “Sak” Tamtorpol, 18, was wounded at about 9:30 pm while sitting outside a mosque near his home, not far from Surin beach, said…

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  • Phuket NewsFive teens held for gangland execution | Thaiger

    Five teens held for gangland execution

    PHUKET: Five teenagers are being held by police and two more are still being hunted over the savage gangland execution of a 15-year-old youth on Koh Sireh. Khajornkiat Tongdeesuk was tied up, gagged and beaten before being taken to Naamsai beach early on Saturday where his killer fired a shotgun into his head. Police allege that another 15-year-old known as…

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  • Phuket NewsCrackdown prompts driving license surge | Thaiger

    Crackdown prompts driving license surge

    PHUKET TOWN: A crackdown by Phuket police has sparked a rush by car drivers and motorcyclists to apply for licenses, with the number of applicants jumping from an average of 65 a day to around 120. Another factor in the increase has been a change in national policy that allows people registered as living in other provinces to take a…

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  • Phuket NewsPian dismisses allegation as “a game’ | Thaiger

    Pian dismisses allegation as “a game’

    PATONG: Pian Keesin, leader of the recently-formed Rak Patong Party, has dismissed an attempt to have him barred from forthcoming municipal elections in Patong as “a political game”. As reported yesterday by the Gazette Online, the leader of the Patong Progress Party, Songserm Kepsap, has furnished officials of the Phuket Election Commission (PEC) with documents he claims show that K.…

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  • Phuket News

    TRT throws its weight into local elections

    PHUKET TOWN: The involvement for the first time of the powerful Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party should add a new dimension to Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) elections in Phuket, scheduled for March 14. This development has put two former vice-presidents and colleagues, Samroeng Chaisorn and Wisut Santikun, on opposing teams as rival candidates for OrBorJor President. K. Samroeng will campaign…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket summit meeting postponed | Thaiger

    Phuket summit meeting postponed

    BANGKOK (The Nation): The inaugural summit of five Asian nations scheduled to take place next month in Phuket has been postponed indefinitely after India’s Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, canceled due to internal politics. Mr Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party is gearing up for general elections in April or May. A new date for the summit of the five leaders of…

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  • Phuket News

    Patong protests early closings

    PATONG: More than 400 workers in Patong’s entertainment industry gathered on Saturday at Loma Park to vent their anger over government proposals to restrict the opening hours of entertainment venues to the period from 6 pm to midnight. The change, if approved, is likely to go into effect March 1. Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA) president Somphet Moosopon urged the…

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  • Phuket News

    Pian facing corruption allegation

    PHUKET: Patong mayoral candidate Songserm Kepsap and three members of the Patong Progress Team today filed a complaint with the Phuket Election Committee (PEC) against the leader of their opponents, Pian Keesin of the Rak Patong Team, claiming that K. Pian is ineligible to stand in the February 8 Patong mayoral election. K. Songserm said, “We lodged the complaint in…

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  • Phuket NewsOut with foreign touts | Thaiger

    Out with foreign touts

    PATONG: Phuket Immigration officers rounded up 24 foreigners over the weekend and charged them with illegal entry into Thailand and working without permits. They are now being held in a Phuket Immigration Police cell awaiting deportation. The operation was aimed at enforcing Article 38 of the Immigration Act of 1979, which has long been ignored by many guesthouse owners. Under…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket Air “won’t join fares war’

    PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Air will not be joining the cheap-tickets war sparked by the launch of Air Asia, its Chief Executive Officer said today. Group Capt Patana Tareekes was speaking at Phuket International Airport, where the inaugural flight of Phuket Air’s new five-times-weekly service, linking Haad Yai with Ranong via Phuket, landed at 10:30 this morning. “We are not going…

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  • Phuket NewsNo bird ‘flu on Phuket – official | Thaiger

    No bird ‘flu on Phuket – official

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Commercial Office has reassured consumers that no cases of avian ‘flu or diarrhea have been reported on Phuket – although huge numbers of chickens elsewhere in Asia have been affected. Archint Ongsakul, a commercial technician from the PPCO, told the Gazette today, “Phuket has no problem with this disease.” A watchdog group, the Consumer Force Association…

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  • Phuket NewsLow-price airfare “open to all’ | Thaiger

    Low-price airfare “open to all’

    PHUKET TOWN: Confusion at some airline sub-agencies may have led to some customers missing out on a low-cost airfares promotion by Thai Airways International, an airline spokesman admitted today. “Perhaps some sub-agencies were not properly informed,” Viset Sontichai, Upper-Southern Thailand District Sales Manager for THAI, told the Gazette. “It’s possible that some agencies lost the correct information. THAI has about…

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  • Phuket NewsGov backs earlier bar closing | Thaiger

    Gov backs earlier bar closing

    PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today came down squarely behind Bangkok’s push to introduce early closing for all entertainment venues. He added that he did not believe the island’s tourist trade would be affected because it was Phuket’s natural beauty that visitors came to see, an argument repeatedly put forward by his predecessor, Pongpayome Vasaputi. The governor’s comments put…

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  • Phuket News

    Patong plans early-closing protest

    PATONG: About 150 people from Patong’s entertainment industry met today to discuss measures to oppose government proposals to close the country’s nightlife at midnight. Hundreds more are expected to take part in a full-scale protest at 3 pm on Saturday. Talk of preemptive closures of bars in Patong from 1 am on January 19 was denied by local police as…

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  • Phuket NewsIsland to get ‘up to standard’ abattoir | Thaiger

    Island to get ‘up to standard’ abattoir

    PHUKET TOWN: In an effort to improve food safety standards in Phuket, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) and Provincial Livestock Office have agreed to get together to build a 60-million baht slaughterhouse in Kathu using a government-subsidized 5% loan from the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Bank. PPLO Chief Sunart Wongchawalit told the Gazette today that the facility, to…

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  • Phuket NewsMystery over Russian girl’s death | Thaiger

    Mystery over Russian girl’s death

    CHERNG TALAY: Mystery surrounds the death of a 10-year-old Russian girl vacationing with her family at the five-star Dusit Laguna Resort Hotel. Police said they suspected the girl might have been electrocuted, but a senior Dusit manager rejected this theory, saying the hotel was awaiting the conclusions of doctors who were examining the body. The girl, named by police as…

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  • Phuket NewsEnglish boost for Phuket Town school | Thaiger

    English boost for Phuket Town school

    PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Thai Hua School has reached a 3-million-baht agreement with the Singapore-based Stamford education group to expand the teaching of English at the school. Sombat Atiset, the President of the Kusolsongkroh Foundation, the charitable organization that runs the school, said that the new English course will be launched at the beginning of this year’s first semester, in…

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  • Phuket NewsReminder on foreigners’ wages | Thaiger

    Reminder on foreigners’ wages

    PHUKET: Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen, Deputy Inspector of the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO), has reminded foreigners that, starting on July 10 this year, new minimum wage requirements will come into effect for foreigners seeking one-year permits to stay in Thailand on the basis of holding work permits. He said the new rates, which will nearly double the minimum wage…

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  • Phuket NewsSeven glue sniffers arrested | Thaiger

    Seven glue sniffers arrested

    PHUKET TOWN: Seven glue sniffers came unstuck early yesterday morning when police officers on patrol caught them enjoying their preferred form of substance abuse, inhaling the vapor of rubber-based glue. Pol Col Apirak Hongthong, Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, and a sortie of officers were on their nightly midnight-to-6 am patrol when they came across five youngsters sniffing glue…

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  • Phuket NewsLaguna “confident’ on tin mine titles | Thaiger

    Laguna “confident’ on tin mine titles

    THALANG: James Batt, Joint Managing Director of Laguna Resorts & Hotels, has hailed as “good news” the announcements by various officials that the land titles for the 13 plots on which the hotel complex is built are legitimate. Both the Provincial Land Office and the provincial version of the Committee to Solve Problems of Encroachment on State Land (KorBorRor) have…

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