Month: May 2009
- Phuket News
Austrailian tourist pays 1,000 baht fine for Phuket bar mat theft
PHUKET CITY: Australian tourist Annice Smoel pleaded guilty on Wednesday to stealing a bar mat from the Aussie Bar in Patong and paid a 1,000-baht fine (approx US$ 28.00) before leaving Phuket. Pol Maj Songserm Preecha of the Kathu Police, which operates in Patong, told the Gazette that the maximum sentence for the theft charge was one year imprisonment and a…
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Bangkok Hospital Phuket to hold “Be Healthy Fair”
PHUKET CITY: Bangkok Hospital Phuket will hold a “Be Healthy Fair 2009” from May 30 to June 6 as part of its 14th anniversary celebrations.The fair, from 9.30am to 5pm each day, will take place on the first floor of the hospital, located on Yaowarat Rd in Phuket City. The event is part of the hospital’s “Care and Share” program…
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Compulsory insurance plan for Phuket jet-ski rentals
PHUKET CITY: In the latest bid to rein in the island’s controversial jet-ski rental industry, the province is considering imposing a mandatory insurance scheme.A major aim of the policy is to cut down on the number of complaints about operators charging inflated fees for alleged damages to their machines.A meeting was held at Phuket Provincial Hall on Monday to discuss…
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Phuket Police: Aussie arrest no laughing matter
PATONG, PHUKET: Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark has defended the actions of his men in detaining Aussie holidaymaker Annice Smoel for stealing a branded bar towel from the Aussie Bar in Patong earlier this month. Col Grissak told the Gazette today that the matter was a clear case of theft and that his officers had sufficient evidence to prove her…
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Phuket property under fire: Lersuang revisited
PHUKET: Earlier this month, Web blog thephuketinsider.com and the Phuket Gazette reported on an article in the UK’s Daily Mirror about the Phuket-based Lersuang Group. The Mirror story put Lersuang in the international limelight, saying that customers were demanding their money back but offering no comments from company management. The Phuket Gazette promised to get comments from the companies involved…
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Paiboon ready to fight back
PHUKET CITY: Suspended Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising has vowed to fight an Election Commission ruling that he was guilty of vote-buying in last year’s PPAO elections. Mr Paiboon and his pink-shirted Khon Baan Rao team trounced incumbent PPAO President Anchalee Vanich Tephabutra of the Democrat Party in elections in April last year. Eleven months later, the…
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Power cut in Chalong tomorrow
PHUKET CITY: It will be lights out and fans off in parts of Chalong tomorrow, as the Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced power cuts to carry out maintenance to electric wires along Chao Fah East Rd from 9am to 2pm.The affected area will be on the west side of Chao Fah East Road all the…
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Update: Phuket tourist jailing
PHUKET / MELBOURNE (AAP): The Australian woman arrested in Phuket, Thailand for allegedly stealing a bar mat says she’s “scared, helpless and alone” and is pleading for the Australian government to intervene. Annice Smoel, who spent four days in a cramped Thai jail with three other women, described her holiday gone wrong as “totally unbelievable”. Ms Smoel, 36, from Montrose…
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Phuket FC lose to Pattani, 2-1
PHUKET CITY: Phuket FC’s dismal home form continued Sunday night, when the Sea Dragons slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat at the Surakul Stadium, losing 2-1 to Pattani. Despite taking an early lead, the reverse means that Phuket FC are still without a point in front of their home fans. The Sea Dragons started brightly and were rewarded with an early…
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Another foreign tourist arrested, jailed in Phuket
PHUKET: According to a story released this morning by AAP, Australia’s national news agency, a Melbourne mother of four is facing five years in a Thai jail after allegedly “stealing” a bar mat [‘coaster’] from a Phuket pub. The report says 36-year-old Annice Smoel was arrested by undercover police as she left the Aussie Bar in Patong on May 3.…
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Power cuts in Thalang tomorrow
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced scheduled power cuts to carry out maintenance on high voltage lines in parts of Thalang tomorrow, May 19, from 9am to 5pm. Affected areas will include Phanason Park Ville, the National Housing Authority estate at Baan Lipon, Baan Kluay, Baan Ya, Aekachai Village, Baan Tuk Sea Khuan and Baan…
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Tragic trajectory: man’s head blown off by festival rocket
SAKON NAKHON: A man had his head blown off while watching an annual homemade rocket festival in this northeastern town on May 11. The victim and his friends chose to have a drinking session in a cordoned off area where rockets were landing at the time of the incident. Police were called to the scene in Village 3, Tambon Dong…
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Paiboon suspended pending appeals court ruling
PHUKET CITY: The Region 8 Court of Appeals has ordered Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising and a fellow PPAO member to cease their duties following a report of electoral fraud from the Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok. PPAO Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Manop Leelasuthanon confirmed the letter and said Mr Paiboon and fellow PPAO member Sawat Muchawej…
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Phuket gardener stabs boss to death on motorbike
KOH KEAW, PHUKET: A gardener stabbed his boss to death in broad daylight as the pair were riding a salaeng (motorbike with an illegal sidecar) down Thepkrasattri Road yesterday afternoon. Around 5pm, police officers investigating what was causing a half-a-kilometer long tailback on the road arrived at the scene outside the TT&T office in Koh Keaw. Just as they arrived…
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Krabi man survives assassination attempt
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: The key witness in a trial against six security forces personnel was shot and injured in Phra Phrom District on Saturday. The victim was due to testify against the men in an attempted murder case stemming from a previous attempt on his life. Jit Jansiriwong, 52, was shot as he driving his pickup truck through Tambon Thai…
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Star mayor gunned down in Haad Yai
SONGKHLA: The mayor of Khlong Hae Town in Songkhla’s Haad Yai District was gunned down in his car on the evening of May 16. Aphichat Sangkhachat, 39, was shot at around 10:30pm as he stopped at an ATM on Ratyindee Road in downtown Haad Yai City while on the way home from a funeral at Wat Khlong Ple. He was…
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Phuket Airport to get VIP terminal for private jets
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The new director of Phuket International Airport has confirmed a plan to establish a new terminal for private jets to accommodate “VIP” passengers. Pratuang Sornkham officially took over as head of Phuket International Airport on May 12, then flew back to Airports of Thailand (AOT) headquarters in Bangkok to receive orders on a wide range of development…
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Land borders to Phuket under intensive flu screening
PHUKET: Thailand yesterday tightened the screening of people entering the country through its southern borders as Malaysia confirmed its second case of swine flu. The southern Thai borders are the land gateways to Phuket and the Andaman region’s other international resort areas. The borders are also used heavily by expatriates working in Phuket, Krabi and Khaolak for their visa runs.…
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Homeward bound: Simon Burrowes finally gets off Phuket
PHUKET: After spending a his final night in Phuket under the observation of Phuket City Immigration officers, British national Simon Burrowes finally left Phuket at 5.50pm yesterday aboard a Silk Air flight destined for Singapore, where he was scheduled to catch a connecting flight to the UK. Asked why Mr Burrowes had to spend his final night on the island…
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Thai Prime Minister does not believe in media neutrality
BANGKOK: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjiva said yesterday that he did not to want to discuss media neutrality because he did not believe that such a thing exists, pointing out that everyone has an opinion. “The point is that opinions must be expressed freely and responsibly,’ he said. He was addressing the Congress of National Media on “The media’s lesson, the…
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Thai woman bites Belgian tourist’s organ
PHUKET: A Belgian tourist in Pattaya was severely injured early Thursday morning when a Thai woman took a bite out of his penis and almost severed it, police said. The tourist, age 56, was rushed to Pattaya Memorial Hospital where doctors managed to save his organ. The hospital reported the event to police at 5:30 am. The man told police…
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Snatch bandits rob, kill elderly woman in Phuket
WICHIT, PHUKET: In one of the most heinous crimes in Phuket in recent memory, Phuket City Police are searching for two motorcycle-borne snatch bandits who stabbed an elderly woman to death on Thursday afternoon and made off with her gold necklace.Phuket City Police Inspector Wijak “The Magnet” Tarom told the Gazette the attack was reported to police at about 4pm…
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Vachira Hospital doctors save nine-bullet attack victim
PHUKET CITY: Doctors at Vachira Hospital Phuket saved the life of a 25-year-old photographer admitted to the emergency room with nine bullet wounds yesterday afternoon. Sarawut Seebatkhan, a photographer at the Baan Chang Elephant Safari camp in Rawai, was shot five times in the right arm, twice in the ribs and twice in the back in an attack in broad…
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New director for Patong Hospital
PATONG, PHUKET: Dr Taweesak Netwong, the long-serving director of the government-run Patong Hospital, has been transferred to serve as the director of Takua Thung Hospital in Phang Nga, effective from May 19. Dr Taweesak will swap positions with Dr Phumin Silaphan, currently the director of the 30-bed government hospital in Takua Thung district, just over the Sarasin Bridge from Phuket.…
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Burrowes update: more jail time possible!
PHUKET CITY: Simon Burrowes may have to spend a night in a cell at the Phuket City Immigration Office while his case is processed, the Gazette has learned. An officer at immigration said Mr Burrowes should be able to leave the country tomorrow after “some paper work” is completed. This might mean he will have to spend a night in…
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Burmese woman dies in stabbing attack
PATONG, PHUKET: A Burmese woman last night died of stabbing injuries sustained while fighting off attackers in a workers’ camp in Kalim early yesterday evening. Patong Police Duty Officer Nitikorn Rawang was informed that a Burmese woman, identified only as “Aa-eeka”, underwent emergency treatment for deep lacerations to the arms and chest after being rushed to Patong Hospital at about…
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German, 57, dies in Phuket after severe vomiting
PATONG, PHUKET: A 57-year-old German national died on the way to a Phuket hospital in the early hours of May 12 with symptoms similar to those of two tourists who recently died on Phi Phi Island in Krabi. The deceased, later identified as Ernst Hermannweid, had been staying at the Sky Inn Hotel in Patong. Mr Hermannweid had gone for…
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Simon Burrowes misses flight from Phuket!
PHUKET CITY: It seems that British tourist Simon Burrowes’s troubles in Thailand will never end. His flight out of Phuket left at 3pm today, but, in a situation that is all too familiar to Burrowes, he was not on it. Immigration officials at the airport told him they wanted to make some “additional inquiries” before permitting him to board the…
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Two Phuket teens die in motorbike crash
PHUKET: Two teenagers were killed instantly when the motorbike they were riding crashed into the back of an 18-wheel truck on Thepkrasattri Road on Wednesday evening. The two youths, both residents of Tambon Thepkrasattri, were identified as 18-year-old Tanongsak Mingpijarn and 16-year-old Suriya Madanon. At the time of the accident the victims were traveling home on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, not…
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Good to go! Simon Burrowes flies out today
PHUKET CITY: Today is a big day for British tourist Simon Burrowes. If all goes to plan, he will be escorted through Customs and Immigration at Phuket International Airport, finally leaving the island on a 3pm flight to Bangkok. From there, he will fly home to the UK, thus ending a saga that has intrigued the British and local press…
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German held for manslaughter in Khao Lak
KHAO LAK, PHANG NGA: Phang Nga Police are investigating the death of a young German tourist found dead on the beach in Khao Lak early yesterday morning. The body of 21-year-old Sebastian Wolff of Munich, covered in cuts and bruises, was discovered about 30 meters from the Briza Beach Resort and Spa at about 6:30am. Police estimated the time of…
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Phuket Poll: How do we brand the virus?
PHUKET: It’s all about ‘branding’, baby, and the Phuket Gazette Poll is asking for your views on how a tourist-oriented community might best brand a pest. Two weeks ago, we learned that the island had lost its romantic rainy season, traditionally known as “The Low Season”. The Low got summarily canceled and “Summer Season” was ushered in. (The weather itself,…
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Thief lifts trousers
BANGKOK: A shopper at Carrefour supermarket had an embarrassing journey home after a thief stole his trousers while he was on the toilet on May 8. Kasin Siriwichit, 24, reported the incident to Thong Lor Police. Mr Kasin said that around midday he went to use the toilet at the Rama 4 Rd branch of Carrefour. In the cubicle, he…
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One night, two missing members
RAYONG: Staff at Rayong Hospital had a busy night on April 27, when two men with severed penises were brought in for emergency treatment. The first patient, a 31-year-old from Pluak Daeng District, arrived at around 1am. He was bleeding profusely from a wound near what had not long before been the base of his penis. Surgeons were able to…
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Belgian member survives toothy attack
CHONBURI: A Belgian man in Pattaya early this morning suffered what might be every man’s greatest secret fear, when his Thai girlfriend bit his penis and almost severed it, police said. The 56-year-old tourist, whose name was reported in the Thai media, was rushed to the Pattaya Memorial Hospital, where doctors managed to save the organ. The hospital reported the…
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Like a Virgin? Aussie carrier seeks Phuket entry
PHUKET CITY: At a time when the Phuket tourism industry could use some good news, Australian low-cost carrier Virgin Group has applied for permission to begin a daily service from Australia to Phuket, according to a company press release published this morning by online Australia-based tourism industry newsletter etravelblackboard. If approved, it would be Virgin Group’s first destination in Thailand.…
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Phuket Film Festival canceled
PHUKET: The Phuket Film Festival, scheduled for June 4 to 11, has been canceled. The festival organizer, Scott Rosenberg, sent out a press release yesterday afternoon to call off the event. He cited fears of Phuket being in an “armed state” a few days “after” the festival as his reason for the cancellation. “We sincerely apologize to our partners, our…
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