Month: March 2009
- Phuket News
More noise promised for beaches
PATONG, PHUKET: A special committee tasked with finding ways to generate more noise and extra revenue for Phuket is moving forward with a unique plan that would allow businesses to broadcast advertisements through the island’s existing network of 19 tsunami warning towers. The project will be launched early next month in Patong, where the entire beach front is covered by…
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Slain Briton’s body identified by family
PHUKET CITY: The body of slain British sailor Malcolm Robertson was returned to shore late last night after its discovery by a fishing vessel yesterday afternoon. The recovery of the body ended a week-long search by marine police and navy vessels as well as fishing boats. For the original reports of how Mr Robertson was killed by three Burmese men,…
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McDonald’s employee survives multiple stabbing
PHUKET CITY: A McDonald’s employee was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack while on his way home from a party at a friend’s house in the early hours of Saturday, March 29.The attack took place at around 1.50am at a restaurant in front of the Bang Neaw Shrine, on Phuket Rd in downtown Phuket City.After finishing work at 10pm, 18-year-old…
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Penis prank provokes revenge rape
UDON THANI: A man arrested on March 21 confessed that he raped his friend’s wife in revenge for falling victim to a prank while drunk last year. The suspect said that he had been planning revenge for months after the victim’s husband tied his penis to his big toe when he passed out during a drinking session. Police arrested 30-year-old…
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Slain Briton’s body recovered
PHUKET CITY: After days of searching, the body of slain British sailor Malcolm Robertson was recovered by fishermen about 10 nautical miles north of Satun’s Lipeh Island at about 3pm today. A source in the Marine Police said the fishermen are now bringing Mr Robertson’s remains by boat to Tu Tae Lam Pier in Satun’s La-Ngu District, where it is…
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Man run over by bus in Thalang
THEPKRASATTRI, PHUKET: A motorbike driver run over by a bus late Saturday morning is the latest fatality in a road accident involving a salaeng, or motorcycle fitted with an illegal sidecar.Thalang Police Duty Officer Adul Nirapai identified the victim as 28-year-old Maitree Kulpor.Mr Maitree was riding his motorbike at high speed on Thepkrasattri Rd southbound in Ban Muangmai near the…
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Culture Minister vows to help sea gypsies
PHUKET: The government has set up a national-level committee aimed at resolving land rights issues and other problems affecting Moken and other sea gypsy communities in the Andaman Coast region. Minister of Culture Teera Slukpetch on Friday afternoon visited five sea gypsy villages: the Moken villages of Ban Lam Lah and Ban Hin Look Diaw in Mai Khao; the sea…
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Paiboon “not worried’ about EC ruling
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising has denied he has ever been involved in vote buying, in an interview with the Gazette. In a March 19 ruling, Mr Paiboon received a “yellow card” from the Election Commission (EC) for electoral fraud in the Thalang voting district 3 in the PPAO election held last year. For our…
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Cash giveaway creates crowds, confusion
PHUKET CITY: The first day for mid- and low-wage workers to pick up 2,000-baht checks offered under the government’s economic stimulus package saw a huge crowd form at Phuket Community Hall in Phuket City on yesterday. Many people were confused by the process, which involves first making a trip to the nearby Social Security Office to see what day…
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Heavy rains not unusual: MET
PHUKET CITY: Recent heavy rainfall in Phuket indicates that the annual transition from the dry season to the rainy season is well underway – much to the relief of water supply officials.Although many feel the monsoon rains have arrived early this year, an officer with the the Southern Meteorological Center (MET) in Mai Khao said the arrival of the monsoon…
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Police closing in on Stuart murder suspect
KATHU, PHUKET: Police believe they have identified the killer of Englishman Ian Stuart, who was bludgeoned to death in his bedroom in an office building near the Tesco-Lotus Intersection on February 23. Tung Tong Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao said he expected the suspect to be in police custody within 15 days. For our original report, click here. The suspect is…
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Burmese trio confess to killing British sailor
PHUKET: Three Burmese men arrested in Satun Tuesday have confessed to the murder of a British man aboard a sailboat.On Monday night, British couple Malcolm Stuart Robertson and his wife Linda Anne Robertson were resting in separate cabins of their 13-meter sailboat Mr Bean when they were attacked, La-Ngu Police Captain Suppaluk Chatayaporn told the Gazette.At the time of the attack,…
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Rassada junk store damaged in fire
RASSADA, PHUKET: A junk store in tambon Rassada caught fire on the evening of March 22. Nobody was injured in the blaze, which broke out at the store on Srisena Road in Village 2, tambon Rassada, shortly before 10pm. Phuket City fire trucks sent to the area managed to get the blaze under control before serious damage was done. Phuket…
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Police catch ‘Ko Jorn’ murderer
KATHU, PHUKET: Tung Tong Police have arrested a man suspected of the fatal stabbing of a 62-year-old moneylender almost two years ago. Manop Khobwet, 33, was drinking with friends at his house in tambon Maifard in Trang province when police arrived and took him into custody at around 6pm on March 23. The victim, Kajorn “Ko Jorn” Somnam, died in…
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Man killed on yacht, piracy suspected
ANDAMAN SEA, SATUN: The Phuket Gazette has received reports of an alleged act of piracy in the Andaman sea yesterday that has left one ‘western’ man dead.A number of Burmese fishermen are currently being interrogated at La-Ngoo Police Station in Satun province in connection with the incident.Police told the Gazette that a foreign woman informed Tarutao National Park rangers of…
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Canadian condo owner claims false arrest
PHUKET CITY: A Canadian man who has lived in Phuket for over a decade has been arrested for working illegally in Thailand, a charge he claims stems from a dispute over maintenance fees with one of the co-owners of a condominium complex in which he owns five units. Phuket Immigration Police, led by Investigations Inspector Suparerk Pankosol, yesterday afternoon arrested…
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Phuket’s glorious past preserved on Thalang Road
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Town’s former glory as a tin mining center is still reflected in the elegant Sino-Portuguese shophouses of Thalang Road, the main thoroughfare in Phuket’s Old Town. The TAT, Phuket City Municipality, the Thai Peranakan Association and the Old Phuket Town Club together held an event last week aimed at promoting Thalang Road as a cultural discovery route…
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Rubik’s Cube challenge coming to Patong
PATONG, PHUKET: Fingers will be busy in Patong on the afternoon of April 5, when Jungceylon hosts Phuket’s first-ever Rubik’s Cube Speed Challenge as part of its International Toy Festival. Anyone capable of solving a 3×3 Rubik’s Cube in under three minutes is invited to register at the Toys “R” Us booth in the Port Zone at Jungceylon from March…
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Dead beggar still unidentified
PHUKET CITY: Police and local officials are still unsure of the identity of the homeless man found dead outside a lumber yard on Thepkrasattri Rd yesterday morning. The thin, dark-skinned man was found dead on a bench in front of the Sahamaithai Co Ltd on Thepkrasattri Rd at about 9am. Phuket Duty Officer Anek Mongkol estimated his age at “over 50”.…
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Isarn Colorful East OTOP Fair ends tonight
PHUKET CITY: Tonight is the last chance to attend the popular Isarn Colorful East One Tambon One Product (OTOP) Festival at Saphan Hin. Despite some unseasonably rainy weather, the fair has been a big hit with island residents for its nightly entertainment and wide variety of reasonably priced foods and drinks. Among the most popular fare has been traditional Isarn…
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Gov Wichai presents plans for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: New Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop presented his plans for Phuket to more than 200 government officers at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Wednesday March 18. As Phuket is a tourist destination and a gateway to Thailand, Gov Wichai said he will focus on solving problems related to land, traffic, flooding, entertainment venues, business and drugs. “Phuket’s environment…
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Homeless man found dead in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: A homeless man who has lived on the streets of Phuket City for years was found dead in front of a lumber yard on Thepkrasattri Road this morning. Police have yet to identify the man, even though he was well known to local residents as an itinerant beggar. The man’s body was found in a siting position with…
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EC hands PPAO President Paiboon a ‘yellow card’
PHUKET CITY: The Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok has “yellow-carded” Phuket Provincial Administration Organization President Paiboon Upatising and a fellow PPAO member for electoral fraud in Thalang and has recommended that new elections be held to fill both seats.According to a press release on the EC website, the ruling was decided during a March 19 meeting of the EC, in which rulings…
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Two trawlers seized, 15 crew arrested
KARON, PHUKET: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources officials yesterday morning seized two vessels and arrested 15 crew members caught trawling off Kata Beach. The seizures and arrests followed reports by members of a local conservation group that the vessels had for a week been seen operating in an area just 300 to 400 meters offshore, near the tiny Koh…
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Bt70m expected from room tax in 2009: PPAO
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) expects to collect about 70 million baht from its controversial hotel room tax, put in place in 2000 as a way of raising funds to improve public services and tourism infrastructure. PPAO President Paiboon Upatising said that 60 million baht was collected in 2008 from 217 hotels that agreed to pay the…
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It’s a snap! Busted boner puts owner in sick bay
PHUKET CITY: Vachira Phuket Hospital on Wednesday morning received a transfer patient in a lot of pain from a somewhat embarrassing illness – a broken penis. Being transferred from Patong Hospital as he was, one might assume that the patient had done the damage in an over-energetic nocturnal romp. However, the patient – a 28-year-old Phang Nga native who understandably…
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Briton gets 18 years, nine months for ATM fraud
PHUKET CITY: Despite confessing to charges against him, a British man has been sentenced to 18 years and 9 months in prison for ATM fraud. Mark Hubert Veerasawmy, 45, received the sentence at Phuket Provincial Court several weeks ago, British Honorary Consul Martin Carpenter said. Mr Veerasawmy was arrested in February last year together with his son Sonny, 20. Phuket…
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General Apirak to be transferred
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong has confirmed that he has been promoted to the position of Commander of General Staff – Division 8, effective April 1. Maj Gen Apirak said that the transfer to Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani was ordered by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban. General Apirak’s replacement as Phuket Provincial Police Commander is said…
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Annual English essay awards announced
BANGKOK: A student from Yothinburana School in Bangkok has been named the national winner of the 5th Annual Junior IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards for Thailand. Pawida Krachai of Phuket Wittayalai School is the Southern winner, as judged by the editorial staff of the Phuket Gazette. Paphawi Leksakundilok, 16, came top from about 900 entries in the nationwide contest under the theme “Once Upon…
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Family of accused boy speak out on child molestation charges
PATONG, PHUKET: A 17-year-old German boy arrested on March 9 on child molestation charges is himself a victim of abuse, his family and German diplomats claim. German Ambassador Dr Hanns H Schumacher on March 16 met Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong to discuss the case, which began with the arrest of British national Dax J Young on child molestation…
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Monkey kills owner with coconut
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A coconut collector in Nop Phitam District was killed after his favorite monkey dropped a coconut onto his head on February 25.Leurit Chanchum, 48, from Village 4 Tambon Krung Ching, was hired by a neighbor to collect coconuts using his trained macaque. When the monkey was up the tree, it threw down some coconuts to its owner.…
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British expat killed in head-on collision
KARON, PHUKET: A British man was killed after his SUV slammed into a six-wheel truck in the early hours of Wednesday, March 18. Colin Richmond, 51, is thought to have died instantly in the crash, which happened at 1.30am at the Koktanode Junction on Patak Road in Kata. When he tried to overtake another car, his Toyota Sport Rider moved…
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Kamala protest ends after 20-hour blockade
KAMALA, PHUKET: A 20-hour blockade of the Kamala-Patong Road ended at around 5:30pm yesterday after Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima spent most of the morning negotiating a settlement. The protest began at Kamala Police Station at around 7pm on Tuesday. By 9pm, a 500-strong mob had used vehicles to seal off the main road. The roadblock inconvenienced many people, including tourists…
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New box jellyfish found at Ao Nambor
CAPE PANWA, PHUKET: Marine biologists think they have discovered a tiny species of the venomous box jellyfish never seen before in the waters around Phuket. Dr Somchai Bussarawit, Chief of Museum and Aquarium at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) said on March 18 that the specimen was discovered at Ao Nambor, the same area where almost 40 specimens of…
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‘Random’ drug testing continues in Patong
PATONG, PHUKET: Drug testing taking place at popular nightlife entertainment venues in Patong has yet to result in any arrests of foreigners in connection with illegal drug use. Kathu Police are focusing mainly on Thai patrons and the bar staff in their mandatory urine testing, which gives on-the-spot results for three ‘recreational’ drugs: ya bah (methamphetamine), ya ice (crystal methamphetamine)…
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Teen killer arrested after return from Ranong
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have arrested a man wanted for the January 2 shooting of 17-year-old Anukul Boonwong. Phuket City Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit identified the suspect as Sulaimarn “Chuk” Wetkla, who was presented with an arrest warrant and taken into custody in front of his home in Rassada Village 7 at 11 pm yesterday. Details of the arrest were announced…
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Kamala roads blocked by protesters
PHUKET, KAMALA: Roads in Kamala have been blocked by protesters since yesterday evening. About 400-500 Kamala residents gathered at an intersection near Phuket Fantasea at 8pm on Tuesday evening to protest the local police station’s handling of crime in the area. The protests began at 7pm when a crowd gathered outside the station. The protesters later set up tents and loud speakers…
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