Month: August 2007
- Phuket
“Compromise’ reached on illegal Korean guides
PHUKET: South Korean Ambassador Han Tae-Kyu met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit yesterday to discuss the thorny issue of Korean tour guides working illegally in the province, but with few tangible results other than an agreement “to compromise”on the issue.Meanwhile, the terms of a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed by Korean tour operators in Phuket are under review…
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TAT targets Indian travelers
PHUKET: Representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Southern Region 4 Office will tomorrow set off for the subcontinent as part of a nine-day “Amazing Thailand Roadshow to India 2007″, with stops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.The road show, with funding by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), will promote Phuket tourism and facilities to Indian travel agencies,…
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Yellow-top brigade rides safe
PHUKET: In a bid to promote safety on Phuket’s roads, the Phuket Provincial Office and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) joined a nationwide campaign on Tuesday to persuade more riders to wear crash helmets.As part of the celebrations of HM Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday this year, Bangkok-based Road Accident Victims Protection Co Ltd is producing motorcycle helmets…
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Wai the need for violence?
PHITSANULOK: Religious institutions are intended to be places of peace and goodwill, but a temple in Phitsanulok recently proved to be anything but when a monk who thought a nun had disrespected him responded by beating her.At 9 am August 21, Maechi Phronchon Chomphukpan, 53, a nun at Wat Ban Khek in Nakhon Thai District, walked into the local district…
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Bounty of bras reveals a sad tale
ROI-ET: Stories of men dying in strange circumstances while dressed in women’s clothing are not so unusual. A few years ago the BBC reported that an up-and-coming UK Conservative Party Member of Parliament was found dead with “a black bin liner over his head and wearing stockings and suspenders”.Police in Roi-Et Town, however, were initially left a bit flummoxed by…
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Temples tricked by ladyboy’s lies
SAMUT PRAKAN: The life of a Thai ladyboy is full of challenges that most members of Thai society could hardly fathom – let alone deal with. On the bureaucratic front, this can be seen from the current debate raging on whether to let those who have undergone “sex reassignment surgery” use the title “Miss” on their ID cards.Before it even…
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Rampant rapist eludes vengeful vigilantes, police
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A group of irate villagers in Nakhon Sri Thammarat Municipality launched a vigilante squad July 31 to try to track down an inhalant-addicted rapist from whom not even dogs, pigs and banana trees were safe. A meeting was held at 1:30 pm that day at the house of Phairot Mathayawut, head of the local Volunteer Crime News…
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Super-sized surprise
BANGKOK: Following a report by a 30-year-old woman on July 25, Buppharam police thought they had a rapist at large. Upon more detailed questioning of the suspect, it turned out that the large problem was actually the size of the man’s member.A woman, who police named only as “K. Phen”, 30, told police that a taxi driver had taken her…
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A severed engagement
PHUKET: On August 1 a man was admitted to Phuket International Hospital with an unusual injury: his penis was almost completely severed after his fiancee, suspicious that he was still seeing an ex-girlfriend, attempted to cut it off.The incident was reported to Capt Sathit Noorit, Duty Officer at Phuket City Police Station, who led an investigation team to the hospital.…
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Guns, drugs and an empty casket
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: When a funeral goes on for several weeks and is protected by a gang of armed men, you can usually bet that it’s for someone important. But a funeral in Thung Yai held for a fictitious money-spinning witch doctor left villagers confused when the funeral’s organizers started selling “lucky” lottery tickets.The funeral was reported to the Nakhon…
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Conman captured at local cockfight
KAMALA: After a two-month search, a local trickster who conned a 55-year-old woman out of a million baht in a land scam was finally arrested – at an illegal cockfight in Nakhon Sri Thammarat.Lt Col Monsak Srisuwan from Kamala Police Station said that Phuket City Resident Benja Wongdara had been trying to sell a plot of land.K. Benja told police…
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OrBorTor elections set for October 7
PHUKET: The four-year terms of eight tambon administration organizations (OrBorTor) in Phuket ended yesterday, with elections to replace them to be held on October 7, Phuket Election Commission (PEC) Director Supap Akkam has told the Gazette.Would-be representatives in the eight constituencies will be given from September 4 to 8 to register their candidacies with the Phuket Election Commission (PEC).Polling in…
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Spice scare threatens local producers
PHUKET (Nation): Tests on southern-style shrimp-chili paste and spicy-fish curry samples from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi found that about half contained microbes or excessive levels of preservatives, a researcher from the Ministry of Public Health’s Regional Medical Sciences Center in Phuket said on Tuesday.News of the findings could affect sales of the foods, which are often sold as souvenirs…
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Half of Phuket’s population still unregistered
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit’s campaign to encourage people to register themselves as citizens of the island resulted in some success this month, with Phuket’s official population increasing by 1,231 to 324,891 people between July 21 and August 20.Launched last year, the campaign seeks to increase the number of Thai citizens whose names appear on household registration forms.Muang District saw…
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Electrified fence at forest temple
LOPBURI: More than 200 people from Baan Nong Kam in Lopburi’s Muang District held a protest June 27 to drive out a local abbot, whom they accused of setting up an electrified fence to keep villagers away from his forest temple.One of the protest leaders, 58-year-old Charoen Wongpao, told reporters that Phra Khru Palatwiroj Ophaso, Abbot of Wat Suwanahong Forest,…
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Wanted for TV: Property reports from Brits and Thais
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has learned that ITV, the oldest and largest commercial television network in the UK, is currently making a prime-time, one-hour documentary about British people who own a property abroad. The program will feature a wide range of experiences from individuals buying or building holiday homes or a permanent residence overseas. It will air on ITV1 early…
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Annual “turtle’ festival underway
PHUKET CITY: The incessant rain today did not stop Phuket City’s ethnic Chinese from turning out en masse to pay their respects to the dead on the first day of the annual “Por Tor” festival.The festival, officially opened by Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit at 1 pm, saw hundreds lighting joss sticks and offering cakes in the shapes of turtles, the…
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Bitter lover murders rival
PHUKET CITY: A birthday party turned bloody in the early hours of Monday morning when local painter Sorapong Waimitta, 28, was stabbed to death in what police believe was a love crime.Lt Col Somkid Boonrat, investigation inspector at Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette that K. Sorapong was drinking with his brother and about 10 male friends, one of…
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ATM card scanners found in Patong
PATONG: Police are warning credit card and bank card holders to exercise caution when using ATMs and other “swipe” machines in Patong after an ATM on Soi Bangla was found fitted with devices capable of recording card data and pin numbers.Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark told the Gazette that Patong police received a call from an English tourist about…
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B34m of “fake’ goods destroyed
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Police incinerated fake goods worth some 34 million baht at Phuket City Municipality Incinerator on August 25.The imitation brand-name goods, totaling 68,809 items, were seized in raids over the past four years. The contraband included clothes, watches, bags, shoes, sunglasses, VCDs, DVDs and electronic games.Overseeing the burn-off was Police Region 8 Deputy Commissioner Maj Gen Worawet…
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Bank, Bass, Boss make Sgt Major’s day
PHUKET CITY: Staff at the maternity ward at Vachira Phuket Hospital received a treat on Sunday when Pol Sgt Maj Supat Ruangsri and his wife K. Thipawan arrived to have their triplets delivered.The couple arrived from their home in Phang Nga Town after K. Thipawan, who was eight months pregnant, started having contractions about two hours earlier.Sgt Maj Supat, an…
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Floyd still standing
PATONG: Keith Floyd, renowned British celebrity chef and owner of Floyd’s Brasserie at Burasari Resort, flew home this morning as planned in order to continue with his UK theater roadshow Floyd Uncorked – putting paid to rumors that he is suffering ill health.Rumors about Floyd’s health began circulating after he collapsed on Saturday evening while taking time out from cooking…
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