Month: June 2004
- Phuket
Tourism industry to protest oil pipeline plan
PHUKET: Vice-Governor Vinai Buapradit will represent Phuket at what promises to be a heated meeting on Friday with Ministry of Energy (MoE) officials to discuss a proposed oil pipeline from Tab Lamu in Phnag Nga to Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The proposed 240-kilometer pipeline, known as the Strategic Energy Landbridge, is intended to link oil production sources in the Middle East…
Read More » - Phuket
Friends mourn murdered dive master
PHUKET: Members of the dive community in Kata and friends of dive master Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram, 23, are mourning her loss after she was found stabbed to death in a Pattaya apartment on Friday. Police in Bang Lamung District, Pattaya, have arrested and charged Sam Van Treeck, a 24-year-old Belgian, with her murder. K. Jeab, who came from Buri Ram…
Read More » - Phuket
Democrat rallies draw thousands
PHUKET CITY: Thousands of people who turned up for two Democrat Party rallies on June 25 and 26 heard a speech by Democrat Party deputy leader Jurin Laksanavisit in which he berated the Thai Rak Thai government as a failure, and outlined his party’s platform for the upcoming general election. The well-attended rallies were held on consecutive nights, the first…
Read More » - Phuket
Cops put squeeze on soccer bookies
PHUKET CITY: Some Phuket residents are burning the midnight oil to watch Euro 2004 matches out of sheer love of the game or their homeland. But those wishing to spice up the action by placing wagers on the results had better beware: the island’s top law enforcement officer has stated that his department will continue its crackdown on gambling throughout…
Read More » - Phuket
Commander “satisfied’ with police reforms
PHUKET CITY: Six months after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for improvements to police practices nationwide, the Commander of Police Region 8 (which includes Phuket) says he is satisfied with the progress the region’s police have made in their efforts to reform themselves an d improve their public image. Pol Lt Gen Somsak Buppasuwan, Surat Thani-based commander of Police Region…
Read More » - Phuket
16 die on roads in May
PHUKET: Traffic accidents remain the No 1 killer in Phuket, with 16 people dying as the result of accidents on Phuket’s roads in May. Twelve of the 16 who died were riding motorbikes. According to the latest statistics from the three government hospitals in Phuket – Wachira, Thalang and Patong – 1,045 people were injured in road accidents in May.…
Read More » - Phuket
Thank you, 29 million times
PHUKET CITY: Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, yesterday received a bouquet of flowers to show appreciation for his arrest of a postman from Sakhon Nakhon who had stolen 29 million baht. The postal worker, Wirachai Gaiseeta, was in charge of the remittances section of the Sakhon Nakhon Post Office, and diverted money intended for remittances into…
Read More » - Phuket
No second runway “in near future’
PHUKET: Lt Cdr Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, Phuket, has denied reports in national newspapers that Phuket International Airport is to get a second runway in the near future. Cdr Boonchart told the Gazette today that there are no plans for a second runway but that the existing runway will be extended from its current 3,000…
Read More » - Phuket
Democrat roadshow heads for Phuket
PHUKET: Democrat Party Deputy Leader Jurin Laksanavisit will speak to people in Phuket on June 25 and 26 as part of his party’s nationwide Meet The People campaign. The campaign is aimed at increasing support for the main opposition party in the run-up the next general election, scheduled to take place in February next year. Democrat Party MPs Suwit Sa-Ngiamkul…
Read More » - Phuket
Immigration website launched in 10 languages
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has launched its revamped website, which now includes information about Immigration regulations and procedures in 10 languages. The website, found at https://www.phuketimmigration.com , now has Immigration information in Thai, Swedish, Russian, English, German, Norwegian, Japanese, Italian, French and Korean. Besides general immigration information for foreigners wanting to enter or stay in Thailand, the website…
Read More » - Phuket
Pian “wins’ Patong election
PATONG: Former mayor Pian Keesin, leader of the Rak Patong Party (RPP), beat rival Songserm Kepsap of the Patong Progress Party (PPP) by just 147 votes in the replay of municipal elections held yesterday. The results have yet to be confirmed by the Central Election Commission, which declared the previous election void. Of the 9,213 Patong residents eligible to vote,…
Read More » - Phuket
Fake visa stamps probe faltering
PHUKET: The investigation into the alleged issue of 20 fake entry permits by a Phuket-based visa service company appears to have stalled at the Sadao Police Station, which is now in charge of the case. Last December Phuket Immigration officers seized 20 passports with forged exit and entry stamps during a raid on the visa and accounting company, but were…
Read More » - Phuket
D-day for Phuket strays
THALANG: The great round-up of stray dogs in Phuket destined for the island’s new dog pound will start on Monday and is expected to continue until August 11. Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) Chief Sunart Wongchawalit announced the plan at a meeting with other provincial officials yesterday at the Phuket Provincial Hall. More than 1,000 stray dogs will be brought…
Read More » - Phuket
Adopt-a-highway scheme in the works
PHUKET CITY: The provincial government is to launch two ambitious schemes aimed at beautifying Phuket. The Phuket Provincial Highways Office (PPHO) has already received 2.4 million baht in provincial funds to beautify the five-kilometer stretch of road connecting Phuket International Airport to Thepkrasattri Rd, and is now developing an “adopt-a-highway” scheme intended to spruce up the entire 40-km length of…
Read More » - Phuket
Land official murder case stalled
PHUKET: The investigation into the murder in April last year of land official Pongtorn Hiranyaburana has gone cold and police officials have stopped interrogating witnesses, citing lack of evidence. Pol Col Ronapong Saikaew, Superintendent of Investigation of Police Region 8, told the Gazette today, “We have to investigate more and check to see if the evidence found at the scene…
Read More » - Phuket
Spas get a healthy boost
PHUKET CITY: Jurai Skulpuak, Head of the Health Consumer Protection Division of Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO), yesterday announced that spas that have been approved by the PPHO as “health business” will not be classified as “entertainment” venues. K. Jurai told the Gazette, “Spas will not be forced to comply with the same legal health requirements as massage parlors, and…
Read More » - Phuket
Rawai vendors ordered to leave
RAWAI: Roadside vendors along Rawai Beach, where the issue of illegal vendors has been a persistent irritant for years, have been given eviction notices and have until July 3 to leave. On that date, officers of Rawai Tambon Administration Organization and the Muang District Office will check whether they have moved. If they have not, they will be forcibly removed,…
Read More » - Phuket
Dead whale washed ashore
NAI YANG: A dead sperm whale washed up on Nai Yang Beach last night. The whale, 10 meters long and weighing around 3 tonnes, is thought to have been about 40 years old when it died,. Kongkiat Kittiwattawong, a biologist at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) in Cape Panwa, told the Gazette, “It was impossible to determine very much…
Read More » - Phuket
Breakout duo recaptured
PHUKET CITY: Two detainees – a Filipino and a Liberian man – who broke out of the Phuket Immigration Office on June 10 while awaiting deportation, were both recaptured within days of their bid for freedom, much to the relief of the officer who was supposedly guarding them. The men – who had just completed sentences in Phuket Provincial Prison…
Read More » - Phuket
New election ordered for Patong
PATONG: Thailand’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has declared the Patong Municipal elections of February 8 void and handed “yellow card” warnings to both parties in the poll. On June 11, the decision was passed to the apparent winners, the Patong Progress Party (PPP) of Songserm Kepsap, and to the rival Rak Patong Party (RPP) of Pian Keesin. A new election…
Read More » - Phuket
Leading researchers to attend Aids talks
NAI YANG: Professors John and Deborah Greenspan, acknowledged as being among the world’s leaders in the field of oral manifestations of HIV infection, will attend the 5th World Workshop on Oral Health and Disease in Aids conference at the Pearl Village Hotel from July 6-10. The couple have been involved in HIV research since the early 1980s when the first…
Read More » - Phuket
Port Blair talks end in optimism
PORT BLAIR: Talks between a visiting Thai delegation and their counterparts in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands ended with no decisions but on a distinctly positive note. The 63-strong Thai delegation, including local and central government representatives, private sector figures and naval personnel, and led by Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, visited the islands’ capital, Port Blair, from Friday to Sunday.…
Read More »
- 1
- 2