Year: 2006
- Cannabis News
Prostitution rates second in latest crime figures
PHUKET: Statistics released by Phuket Provincial Police show that prostitution-related crime resulted in the second-highest number of arrests, 91, in October, knocking drug offenses from its usual number two position and trailing only the perennial leader, gambling.Of the 214 people arrests for gambling-related offenses, 23 cases involved the sale of illegal underground lottery tickets.Seventy-four people were arrested for drug-related offenses,…
Read More » - Phuket News
B50,000 reward for drive-by shooter
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police officers have announced a 50,000-baht reward for information relating to a drive-by shooting last Sunday night. During the attack, on Chao Fa East Rd at 8:30 pm, gunmen in a black pickup pulled alongside a silver-colored sports utility vehicle and opened fire, hitting the car at least six times. The victim managed to drive away…
Read More » - Phuket News
Patong to try one-way traffic
PATONG: In the hope of bringing some order to Patong’s traffic chaos, on January 15 the town will adopt a one-way road system on a three-month trial.The one-way system will see Rat U-Thit 200 Pi Rd become one-way southbound and Thaweewong Rd (the beach road) one-way northbound from Prachanukhro Rd to Phra Barami Rd.Prachanukhro Rd will become one-way from Rat…
Read More » - Phuket News
Man killed in drunken mass brawl
PHUKET CITY: A young man was killed and another critically injured after being stabbed during a drunken melee that broke out in a children’s playground at Saphan Hin early Tuesday morning.Phuket City Police Investigator Pol Lt Col Somkid Boonrat identified the dead man as Sompob Chumpan, 24, who died of a single three-inch-deep stab wound to the abdomen.The other victim,…
Read More » - Phuket News
Kathu roadworks to cause tailbacks
KATHU: Motorists traveling between Kathu and Phuket City can expect traffic delays over the next year, as the narrow, hilly stretch of Wichit Songkhram Rd west of Makro is now being widened into a four-lane divided highway with sidewalks on both sides.The work is underway by project contractor Noppawong Kosarng Company, which was awarded the contract after making a 45.9-million-baht…
Read More » - Phuket News
Fire engulfs stalls along Patong beachfront
PATONG: A fire broke out on Thaweewong Rd about 4 am yesterday, destroying eight vendors’ stalls and causing an estimated 10 million baht in damages.Firefighters took two hours to extinguish the blaze.The fire broke out in a row of shops near the Holiday Inn Resort. After being notified of the blaze by Kathu Police, 10 trucks from Patong Municipality Fire…
Read More » - Phuket News
Work begins on new Bang Tao stalls
BANG TAO: After January 1, 32 beach vendors currently encroaching on Bang Tao Beach will move into small new stalls now being built for them by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor).Thalang District Chief Administrative Officer Nikorn Torhirunyapreuk told the Gazette that work is now underway on the first 11 stalls being built for the vendors, allowing them to hawk…
Read More » - Phuket News
Tsunami early-warning buoys to deploy from Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Thailand’s tsunami early-warning system will take a big step forward this month, when a high-tech monitoring buoy able to directly detect tsunami waves will be deployed about 1,100 kilometers off the Andaman Coast, near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.The announcement came during a meeting on disaster preparedness in the six tsunami-affected provinces held at the Royal Phuket City…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket Prison now a tourist attraction
PHUKET CITY: For most societies, prison is an undesirable place to which law-abiding citizens send the the community’s undesirables, i.e., the deviants, perverts and miscreants. But in Phuket, prison has become just another tourist attraction.Helping to keep alive the strong local tradition of anywhere-anytime tourism, Paisarn Suwannaraksa, Director of Phuket Prison, told the Gazette that the 1,500-inmate prison is now…
Read More » - Phuket News
“Peanut gambling’ gang caught
KAMALA: Four men, including a retired police officer, have been arrested for their participation in a “peanut gambling” swindle after a woman, whose name is being withheld at her request, was conned out of 1 million baht before reporting the racket to the police.The woman reported the con to police on November 8 and cooperated in a sting operation, luring…
Read More » - Phuket News
Pencak Silat moved to Turkey
PHUKET: The 13th Pencak Silat Martial Arts World Championship, set to open in Phuket this Saturday, has been moved to Turkey due to the coup.The competition was originally scheduled to be held November 18 to 26, with more than 500 competitors from 25 countries registered for the event.Pencak Silat is a group of martial arts of Indo-Malaysian origin that can…
Read More » - Phuket News
Swedish bar owner in knife fight
PATONG: Bar owner Nicolas Cazus, 40, from Sweden, slashed a Thai man with a knife in a fight over a collision with a motorcycle in the early hours of November 7.Pol Lt Col Pisit Chunpet told the Gazette that police responded to a call from Cazus’s bar on Soi Sainamyen at 3:45 am.He explained that Cazus had just parked his…
Read More » - Phuket News
Jazz Royale Festival schedule announced
KARON: The Jazz Royale Festival – organized to honor HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday – will be held at Karon Beach on December 16 and 17, 2006.Among the big names to perform in the show are Kenny G, The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, and jazz great Ahmad Jamal.Tickets are priced at 1,500 baht and are available from the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Barami 8 squatters spared – for now
KALIM: Fearful of inciting a riot, municipal officials yesterday decided not to remove three squatters homes along Soi Phra Barami 8.The three homes, the first of 61 to be removed to make way for a government road-widening project, was ordered on Monday by Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat at a meeting at Kathu District office.Owners of the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Alcohol advertising ban threatens Johnnie Walker Classic
BANGKOK (The Nation): Riche Monde, distributor of Johnnie Walker whiskey, has urged the government to decide within two weeks whether it can use the logo and brand to promote the upcoming Johnnie Walker Classic golf event at Blue Canyon Country Club in Thalang.If the government bans the use of the logo and brand, as well as prohibits the company from…
Read More » - Phuket News
Weapons seized in Kathu
KATHU: Four men were arrested yesterday after a routine inspection of their pickup at the Phra Barami Rd vehicle control point uncovered four pistols, ammunition, a walkie-talkie and two pairs of latex gloves.Tung Tong Police Deputy Inspector for Crime Suppression Pol Capt Wiwut Chumnankit said police pulled over the red-gray Mitsubishi pickup, with a Phuket license plate, at the checkpoint…
Read More » - Phuket News
American caught with fake “visa’
PHUKET CITY: Following an American man being caught with a fake permit-to-stay stamp in his work permit application, the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) has warned all foreign workers – and the companies that employ them – to remember that forgery of Immigration stamps and documents is a serious crime.At the “Governor Meets the Press” meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall…
Read More » - Phuket News
Pian authorizes Phra Barami 8 evictions
KALIM: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has reluctantly agreed to demolish three squatters’ homes on Soi Phra Barami 8, the site of a proposed road-widening project that has been delayed by the numerous illegal dwellings there.The three houses are among 61 that face eventual destruction, but are the only dwellings that the court has thus far ordered demolished. Workers will begin…
Read More » - Phuket News
Dive operators get court reprieve
PHUKET: The Administrative Court in Nakhon Sri Thammarat has ruled the new regulations affecting Phuket dive operators suspended indefinitely, pending the results of a court case challenging their legality.News of the suspension came from Aekachai Soonthorn, who has been appointed defense attorney for the province in the case. Aekachai is also Secretary to the Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad),…
Read More » - Phuket News
Chinese take FIVB gold in Phuket
KARON: It was an all-China final in the Swatch FIVB Phuket Thailand Open international women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday. The last stop on the FIVB world tour pitted third-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi against compatriots Tian Jia and Wang Jie in the final.Xue and Zhang went on to win in the third all-Chinese final of this season’s FIVB tour.…
Read More » - Phuket News
Chetwynd-Talbot still in Phuket jail
PHUKET CITY: Briton Paul Chetwynd-Talbot is still being held at Phuket Provincial Prison, though he is expected to be transfered to the more comfortable Klong Prem Prison in Ladyao, Bangkok, before the end of the year.Paisarn Suwannaraksa, Director of Phuket Prison, told the Gazette, “It will be more comfortable for the prisoner because he is a foreigner, and easier for…
Read More » - Phuket News
Rape-murder case awaiting forensics results
RAWAI: Police investigating the rape and murder of Phuket native Tada Sa-nguansak, 49, whose body was found in broad daylight on Friendship Beach June 28, are awaiting the results of forensics tests being carried out in Bangkok.Pol Lt Col Peerapan Meemak of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “We are waiting for tests results from the Forensic Laboratory Institute in…
Read More » - Thailand News
A bloody offal story
CHALONG: Residents of Chalong Village 10 called police on the evening of October 11 to report a pile of apparently-human organs tossed into a thicket along Saneh Soi 10. Shocked and in fear that a serial killer was on the loose, they were somewhat relieved to eventually learn that the abandoned innards were of canine, not human, origin. Responding to…
Read More » - Thailand News
I’ve got WHAT in my hair?
Hair styling has long been a key part of the female beauty regimen, regardless of what fashions have come and gone. Hair accessories, however, do not usually come flavored, lubricated or coated in spermicidal jelly – well, not until now. The latest rage in hair products was brought to light by some young women in Chiang Mai, who discovered that…
Read More » - Thailand News
Trio of transgressors
Three monks welcomed the end of Buddhist Lent, called Ork Pansa, with an over-indulgence in bad habits this year: one crashed his pickup drunk-driving, one forced himself on a young woman, and another shot and killed a fellow monk… all on the nights of October 7 and 8. The first, a monk from Buri Ram, celebrated the end of Lent…
Read More » - Thailand News
18 wheels of karma
A would-be car thief was given a crushing dose of justice on the motorway between Bangkok and Pattaya, after his bid to rip off a taxi driver’s vehicle ended with him being flattened by an 18-wheel truck. Taxi driver Nirit Luangjan, 40, picked up a passenger in Bangkok one day early last month, driving the fare all the way to…
Read More » - Thailand News
Mystery of the missing robbers
A young Irishman who was treated for a head injury at Patong Hospital told police he was attacked and robbed while entering his hotel room. However, Police discounted his version of events – saying he was probably too drunk to remember what actually happened. Pol Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Kathu Police identified the self-proclaimed “victim” as an Irishman…
Read More » - Phuket News
US Olympic champs through to FIVB semi-finals
KARON: Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, top seeds for the FIVB Phuket Thailand Open being held at Karon Beach this weekend, secured a place in the semi-finals by defeating fourth-seeded Nila Ann Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen of Norway 21-17, 19-21, 15-11 in 48 minutes.The win extended Walsh and May-Treanor’s winning streak in the tourney to 11 matches The duo…
Read More » - Phuket News
B1m fugitive arrested in Phitsanuloke
PHITSANULOKE (The Nation): Fugitive murder suspect Thai-American national Saner Wonggoun was arrested yesterday at a market in Phitsanuloke province.The former US Air Force non-commissioned officer pleaded guilty to a murder charge filed by local police in California for the murder of his pregnant wife Sopha in 1994, police said.The arrest came just seven days after Thai and US authorities announced…
Read More » - Phuket News
Foreign teachers: eligible bachelors only need apply
PHUKET: Schools across the island will ask Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit to petition the Ministry of Education (MoE) to ease new regulations requiring all new teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree and to pass an extensive background check before they can begin work.The decision was made at a meeting at the Phuket Educational Service Area (PESA) office on…
Read More » - Phuket News
Jimmy Carter visits tsunami-struck village in Phuket
TAH CHAT CHAI: Former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday visited villagers at the north end of the island who lost their homes to the tsunami. New homes were provided for them by Habitat for Humanity, a charity headed by Carter.Villages gave a heartfelt welcome to Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who were accompanied by US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce,…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket beaches fail “5-star’ award
PHUKET: Visitors seeking a “five-star” beach experience in Thailand will have to head to either Krabi or Satun, as none of the eight beaches in Phuket monitored by the Pollution Control Department (PCD) will be awarded the coveted “5-Star Tourist Beach” rating for 2006.Dr Pornsook Chongprasith, Director of the PCD’s Marine Environment Division, told the Gazette that only three beaches…
Read More » - Phuket News
Misbehaving medium beaten and arrested
KATHU (Kom Chad Luek): Tung Tong Police are preparing to file charges of “deceiving the public” against a mah song (“spirit medium”) who pretended to skewer his tongue with a sword during this year’s vegetarian festival, but in fact ran the blade through a pig’s tongue that he had secretly concealed in his mouth to fool onlookers.The incident was reported…
Read More » - Phuket News
Hazy days
PHUKET: The mysterious haze that descended on Phuket yesterday is the result of a high-pressure system centered in China and local atmospheric effects and not related to forest fires in Sumatra, the island’s top weatherman has told the Gazette.Chumnong Chitpukdee, Director of Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) Phuket, said that low visibility along much of Thailand’s Andaman Coast was from…
Read More » - Phuket News
THAI boosts flight services
BANGKOK: Thai Airways International (THAI) on Tuesday increased its weekly number of domestic flights from Bangkok to Phuket from 77 to 82. The increase is part of its route extension and adjustment plans to cope with an expected increase in air passenger traffic during the northern winter period. The extra flights will continue until March 24, 2007. Service on the…
Read More » - Phuket News
New Governor warns of ‘problems’
PHUKET: Bangkok native Niran Kalayanamit was promoted to Governor of Phuket yesterday following the weekly Cabinet meeting in Bangkok.Cabinet approved the promotion as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle of 60 Ministry of Interior officials.Governor Niran, 52, has been Phuket Vice-Governor for the past five years, moving to the province after tenure as Director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the…
Read More » - Phuket News
New board members take control of Blue Canyon
THALANG: Yongyos Palanitisena has announced that a four-man committee comprising himself, Chaichana Ratanatraiwirat, Wisut Srisangkaew and Nuntaporn Asumpinapong will oversee the running of Blue Canyon Country Club (BCCC) in place of the full board of Murex, the company that owns the BCCC.Yongyos made the announcement following an October 29 meeting, at The Metropole hotel, attended by seven newly-appointed members and…
Read More »
