Month: October 2004

  • Phuket NewsUS,000 reward offered over jewelry heist

    US$50,000 reward offered over jewelry heist

    BANGKOK: CB Fine Jewelry is offering a reward of US$50,000 for information that will lead to the arrest of Anthony “Dirk” De Weirdt, a Belgian national and the former factory manager of CB Fine Jewelry, in connection with the alleged theft of gems and jewelry said to total 18 million baht from the Bangkok jewelers. Bangrak District Police issued an…

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  • Phuket NewsTwo bodies found in “Burmese Cemetery’ | Thaiger

    Two bodies found in “Burmese Cemetery’

    RASSADA: The bodies of two unidentified men thought to be Burmese fishermen were discovered near the fishing docks in Tambon Rassada yesterday morning. Pol Lt Pattrawut Onchuay of the Phuket City Police told Gazette today that his department received a report of fighting involving several people just after midnight on October 28 and went to investigate. The combatants managed to…

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  • Phuket NewsRoad crackdown a boon for police | Thaiger

    Road crackdown a boon for police

    PHUKET: Statistics tallied from Phuket’s eight police districts between June 1, 2003 and September 30, 2004 recorded a total of 139,320 traffic violations.The central Government designated the 16-month reporting period as a crackdown on traffic violators, during which time police were charged with establishing checkpoints to inspect passing vehicles, the stated goal being to improve road safety. Chatchawan Munpolsri, Deputy…

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  • Phuket NewsServer swamped | Thaiger

    Server swamped

    PHUKET: Following a bulletin on Wednesday afternoon announcing that the deadline for listings in the Gazette Guide (local yellow pages) for 2005 would be Sunday night, 31 October, the Gazette web server has been under heavy pressure and has suffered sporadic downtime. In what may be a reflection of the booming economy in the Andaman region, approximately 220 new listings…

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  • Phuket NewsGambling tops crime stats again | Thaiger

    Gambling tops crime stats again

    PHUKET: In October gambling once again topped the crime statistics in Phuket, with 166 people arrested for indulging in illegal games of chance during the October 1-25 reporting period. Twenty-two of the arrests were linked to the underground lottery.Other crime figures released by the Phuket Provincial Police included 42 arrests for illegal use or possession of narcotics, with 222 tablets…

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  • Phuket NewsNight venues win “unofficial’ 2 am reprieve

    Night venues win “unofficial’ 2 am reprieve

    PATONG: Entertainment venues in Patong and Kata-Karon this evening won an interim “unofficial” reprieve from the Governor, who has said they may stay open until 2 am.In return, they have agreed to call off their protest at the football field on Thaweewong Rd.After meeting with Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura early this evening, Sompetch Moosophon, President of the Patong Entertainment Business…

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  • Phuket NewsPlague of bugs hits coconut trees | Thaiger

    Plague of bugs hits coconut trees

    PHUKET: Phuket’s coconut trees have been attacked by an estimated one billion coconut hispine beetles this year.Songwat Tiwthao, of Phuket Provincial Agriculture Office, told the Gazette that the problem was a new phenomenon, with the beetles (scientific name brontispa longissima) being found in Phuket only during the past two years. They are particularly prevalent in Chalong and RawaiThe coconut hispine…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket 100pc safe – police chief | Thaiger

    Phuket 100pc safe – police chief

    PHUKET: The island’s highest-ranking police officer gave his assurances today that there is no possibility of the recent violence in the Deep South spreading north to Phuket. The violence, said Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Suvith Othong, remains confined to the three troubled southern border provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.He said it was “impossible” for an event similar to…

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  • Phuket News“One tambon, one lawyer’ scheme launched | Thaiger

    “One tambon, one lawyer’ scheme launched

    PHUKET: Each of Phuket’s 17 sub-districts, or tambon, should soon have its own lawyer, under a new “one tambon, one lawyer” initiative.The tambon lawyers, who will be paid 7,260 baht a month, will give basic legal advice and information about state laws to residents of the tambon where they work, as well as be responsible for trying to resolve disputes.The…

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  • Phuket NewsPlans to solve landslide and flood problems | Thaiger

    Plans to solve landslide and flood problems

    PHUKET: The Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), Metha Mekarat, has outlined both short- and long-term plans that he hopes will reduce instances of flooding and landslides in Phuket. K. Metha told the Gazette that the recent flooding and landslides were caused both by nature and by human interference.“Some housing projects have caused watercourses to…

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  • Phuket NewsNew law aims to protect Phang Nga | Thaiger

    New law aims to protect Phang Nga

    PHANG NGA: The government is debating a new law to preserve and enhance the environment in Phang Nga. The Chief of the Phang Nga Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment, Jarin Inkeaw, said the law has been under consideration by the Office of the Council of State (OCS) since September. It will have to be presented to the Cabinet…

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  • Phuket NewsPM to review 1 am closing – Gov

    PM to review 1 am closing – Gov

    PHUKET: Following mass protests in Patong and Phuket City today, Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has informed representatives of the entertainment industry in Phuket that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will discuss closing times with the Cabinet next Tuesday (November 2).Packdee Ritthisaman, of the Phuket City Entertainment Association, told the Gazette that the Governor informed him that the Cabinet will discuss a proposal…

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  • Thailand NewsThief sparks investigation | Thaiger

    Thief sparks investigation

    BANGKOK : The remains of a would-be thief were found lying on the floor of a new home being constructed for Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and one Thailand’s wealthiest women. A construction worker arriving at the worksite on the morning of October 21 made the gruesome discovery near the back of the partly-constructed mansion, located on…

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  • Phuket NewsNight venues set for mass protest

    Night venues set for mass protest

    PHUKET: Less than one week before the official start of the high season for tourism on November 1, nighttime entertainment venue operators appear set to move forward with their planned work stoppage to protest the government’s early closing times.More than 200 bar owners, staff and others affected by the new regulations gathered at the Crocodile Pub on Soi Bangla last…

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  • Phuket NewsOne billion firecrackers, one billion baht

    One billion firecrackers, one billion baht

    PHUKET CITY: Tonight marks the end of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2004, when believers will bid farewell to thousands of Chinese warrior gods as they return to their celestial realm.Sending them on their way at 10 pm will be the explosions of no fewer than a billion firecrackers, according to the official Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) guide to the…

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  • Phuket NewsPatong Carnival to go ahead | Thaiger

    Patong Carnival to go ahead

    PATONG: Despite the gloom brought on by the enforcement of early closing hours, sparking plans to stage a mass protest next Tuesday and possibly even close all entertainment venues indefinitely from that date, the 19th Patong Carnival is still on track to run from November 1 to 3, marking the beginning of the 2004-2005 high season for tourism.This year’s activities…

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  • Phuket NewsLocals welcome first hotel on Koh Maphrao | Thaiger

    Locals welcome first hotel on Koh Maphrao

    PHUKET: Koh Keaw Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) has welcomed the news that a 600-million-baht hotel is to be built on Koh Maphrao, in Phang Nga Bay, east of Phuket City.Managing director Lily Udomkunnatum unveiled Burasari Resort’s plans for the development, the first hotel on Koh Maphrao, and the company’s third in Phuket, after the Burasari Resort, Patong, which opened in…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket works on stray dog problem | Thaiger

    Phuket works on stray dog problem

    PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura held a round-table discussion at the Provincial Hall Meeting room yesterday to outline his plan for solving Phuket’s chronic stray dog problem.About 30 people attended the meeting, including local and provincial officials and animal charity representatives.The Governor acknowledged that there were “management” problems at the Mid Road Dog Shelter in Thalang, which render the facility…

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  • Phuket NewsGerman dies from knife wounds | Thaiger

    German dies from knife wounds

    RAWAI: Hans Jurgen Ottmar Bayer, 37, from Germany, died on Monday night from knife wounds sustained in a fight with his live-in partner, Nakorn Koipud, 25, at their home in the Happy Home housing estate.Pol Capt Chana Sutthimas, of Chalong Police Station, said that Nakorn told police she was slicing vegetables in the kitchen at about 9 pm, when Mr…

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  • Phuket NewsTAT backs F1 powerboat race | Thaiger

    TAT backs F1 powerboat race

    PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has agreed in principle to give the Phuket Chamber of Commerce the 30 million baht it requested to bring F1 powerboat racing to Phuket next March.The decision was made today at Kata Beach Resort after the Vice-Governor of the TAT, Santichai Euajongprasit, and the Director of the TAT office in Phuket, Suwalai Pinpradub,…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket Immigration “best in South’ | Thaiger

    Phuket Immigration “best in South’

    PHUKET: Pol Col Witawat Buranasompop, Superintendent of the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO), today announced that his office has been chosen as the best immigration office in the south for its level of service and the improvements it has made.The PPIO received the award from Immigration Division 3 on September 30, Col Witawat said, proudly adding that PPIO Deputy Superintendent…

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  • Phuket NewsMyanmar upheaval “no cause for concern’ | Thaiger

    Myanmar upheaval “no cause for concern’

    PHUKET CITY: The current political upheaval in Myanmar should not cause any material changes to the position of Burmese labourers in Phuket, the Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Office, Pol Col Witawat Buranasompop, said today.Col Witawat told the Gazette that his office had been advised by the national immigration office to monitor Burmese labourers on the island in the wake of…

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  • Phuket NewsUnderground power plans delayed by funds hurdle | Thaiger

    Underground power plans delayed by funds hurdle

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) will start to install underground power cables in Phuket City and Patong … when the money can be found for the project.PPEA Manager Amorn Sang-hearn told the Gazette today that the PPEA had earmarked Thalang Rd in Phuket City and Thaweewong Rd in Patong as the first places where power cables would be…

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  • Phuket NewsEarly hours will cut flesh trade – Gov

    Early hours will cut flesh trade – Gov

    PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has revealed a long-suspected but until now unstated reason for the new rules mandating 1 am closure of entertainment venues – the need to reduce prostitution.The Governor was responding to threats by entertainment business leaders in Patong to close their doors indefinitely from October 26 to protest recently introduced rules requiring venues in entertainment zones…

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  • Phuket NewsVice-Governor to move | Thaiger

    Vice-Governor to move

    PHUKET CITY: Phuket Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong has been appointed Deputy Director-General of the national Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD).V/Gov Pongpow was officially informed of his new appointment yesterday and will take up his post on October 26. His replacement as Vice-Governor has yet to be announced.He told the Gazette that one of his tasks in his new job would…

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  • Thailand NewsA cut above | Thaiger

    A cut above

    CHON BURI: An enraged woman in Chon Buri’s Banglamung District cut off her partner’s penis at about 2 am on October 18, the second such incident in a month in the same province. The victim, 24-year-old furniture shop employee Songram Yospanya, explained that his long-term partner Rungnapa Pongaree, 32, felt neglected after he took on a “minor wife”. It should…

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  • Phuket NewsWork permit rules tightened | Thaiger

    Work permit rules tightened

    PHUKET: Changes to the criteria for granting work permits were quietly introduced in Phuket on October 8, tightening many of the rules, closing some loopholes and clarifying some gray areas.Labor Department offices around the country received the new rules in an order dated September 30 and signed by the Director General of the Department of Employment, Juthathawat Intharasuksri.The main points…

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  • Phuket NewsNight venues threaten indefinite closure | Thaiger

    Night venues threaten indefinite closure

    PHUKET CITY: Entertainment venues throughout Phuket are set to close their doors for an indefinite period on October 26 in protest against the government’s new early-closing policy.Sompetch Moosophon of Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA) told the Gazette that PEBA members had decided to take the drastic decision to close their businesses at a meeting on Saturday at The Metropole hotel.According…

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  • Phuket NewsRoad death toll shows improvement | Thaiger

    Road death toll shows improvement

    PHUKET: Official figures for the year to September 20 show 122 deaths of people on motorcycles on the roads of Phuket, 15 more in cars, and one on foot for a total of 138.The figures are an improvement on those for the same period of 2003, when 145 died on Phuket’s roads, 139 of them while riding motorbikes.Sixteen people died…

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  • Phuket NewsPatong flooded again | Thaiger

    Patong flooded again

    PATONG: Phuket’s favorite entertainment district flooded again last night, less than a week after heavy rains inundated the town on the nights of October 9 and 10, leaving one tourist dead by electrocution.After several days of partly sunny weather, the skies opened again last night.Vichit Phuangsombat, Director of the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) told the Gazette that 69 millimeters…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket “still free of bird ‘flu’ | Thaiger

    Phuket “still free of bird ‘flu’

    PHUKET: With the official start of the tourism high season just two weeks away, the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) has reconfirmed that Phuket is still free of bird ‘flu.The head of the PPLO, Sunart Wongchawalit, said today that his office had once again checked all the poultry farms in Phuket and had found no sign of the disease.The PPLO…

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  • Phuket News5-4-3-2-1-blastoff!

    5-4-3-2-1-blastoff!

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Highways Office (PPHO) has installed “count-down” traffic lights at three points on Thepkrasattri Rd.The Chief of the PPHO, Wanchai Wattanasiri, said the installation of the new lights – which show how many seconds are left before the signal changes – is aimed at cutting the number of accidents resulting from people running red lights.The new lights,…

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  • Phuket NewsDuty-free zone hits bureaucratic speed bump | Thaiger

    Duty-free zone hits bureaucratic speed bump

    PHUKET: The committee responsible for drafting a plan to establish a duty-free zone in Phuket has postponed its October meeting in order to give new members time to review the details of the scheme.No date has been set for the next committee meeting.The delay follows the latest reshuffle in Thailand’s bureaucracy, during which key members of the committee were transferred…

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  • Phuket NewsThaksin, Badawi tackle border issues

    Thaksin, Badawi tackle border issues

    LAGUNA PHUKET: In two hours of consultation yesterday, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi discussed progress on initiatives aimed at improving bilateral ties and improving security in the troubled region along the border between the two countries. The initiatives, laid out in the nine-point Joint Development Strategy (JDS) Action Plan signed by the…

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  • Phuket NewsJeab murder suspect escapes to Belgium | Thaiger

    Jeab murder suspect escapes to Belgium

    PATTAYA: Sam Van Treeck, the 24-year-old Belgian tour leader accused of the brutal stabbing murder of Phuket-based dive instructor Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram, is now back in his home country after fleeing Thailand while out on bail. The Belgian Consul in Bangkok, Hilde Van Inthoudt, confirmed that Van Treeck arrived in Belgium on Friday, but denied emphatically that the embassy had…

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  • Phuket NewsTHAI offers cut-rate Bangkok-Phuket flights | Thaiger

    THAI offers cut-rate Bangkok-Phuket flights

    PHUKET: Thailand’s national airline, THAI, is slashing the price of flights between Phuket and Bangkok by nearly 1,000 baht for two months from November 1.The special fare of 1,700 baht one-way will be available for passengers who book “e-tickets” over the Internet and fly between November 1 and December 31. The full one-way fare is 2,625 baht.In a promotion called…

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  • Phuket NewsTourist electrocuted during rains

    Tourist electrocuted during rains

    PHUKET: A 19-year-old Canadian tourist was electrocuted by a downed power cable in Patong during Saturday’s torrential rains.Noah Yelizarov, of Richmond, was found on the sidewalk near the Jintana Hotel. A broken electrical cable was nearby.Firefighters used a piece of wood to move the cable away and retrieve Mr Yelizarov’s body, but he was pronounced dead at Patong Hospital.Hospital director…

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