Month: June 2009
- Phuket
Asean meetings in Phuket: Security Act to be enforced
PHUKET CITY: Thailand will enforce its Internal Security Act in Phuket during the upcoming 42nd Asean Ministerial Meeting and related activities to be held at Laguna Phuket July 17 to 23. Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, who met with other top military brass and local leaders at Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket yesterday, said today that all preparations for the event…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket energy exhibition ends Thursday
PHUKET CITY: To mark Thailand’s “Energy Day 2009”, some 200 people took part in a six-kilometer bike ride to Saphan Hin, where a one-week exhibition and sale of energy-saving devices attracted a lot of visitors over the past weekend. Taking part in the ride and opening event on June 26 was Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Ministry of Energy (MoE) Phuket…
Read More » - Phuket
TAT bullish on Phuket tourism for 2010
PHUKET CITY: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects 14 million foreign tourists to visit Thailand next year. It also expects an additional 90 million trips by domestic holidaymakers – to Phuket, Chiangmai, Pattaya, Koh Samui and other key tourist destinations – and total revenue of 960 billion baht. If achieved, the number of inbound tourists will represent a 5.6%…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket may face draconian Internal Security Act
PHUKET: The Cabinet will today consider a proposal to apply Thailand’s Internal Security Act to Phuket during the upcoming Asean ministerial meeting which will be attended by the US Secretary of State. An informed source said this morning that the Act, if approved, would task the nation’s powerful Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), which is chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit…
Read More » - Phuket
Munchies, ornaments and much more at Phuket Four Regions Festival
PHUKET: An inexpensive array of eye-catching handmade ornamental products from around the region and a wide range of locally-made “blue-flag” edible products are currently on sale at Saphan Hin in Southern Phuket until July 2.The rows of colorful stalls were set up over the weekend for the first ‘Good Food, 4 Regions & Blue Flag Festival’, which has been organized…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket Impact: British couple fights Bangkok airport extortionists
BANGKOK / PHUKET: A British couple who were falsely accused of shoplifting at Bangkok’s Suvarnaphumi airport and were forced to pay £8,000 (approx 450,000 baht) in bribes to secure their release, are to take legal action for compensation. London’s Times Online reported today that the couple were the victims of an extortion racket that has ensnared other foreign travelers at…
Read More » - Phuket
Fire engulfs Patong beach road building
PATONG, PHUKET: In the latest fire to hit the beach road in Patong, an Indian restaurant, a tailor shop and a pharmacy were gutted in a pre-dawn blaze Thursday morning. The fire broke out at about 3am at a two-story building on the corner of Soi Post Office, just north of McDonald’s. Five fire engines from Patong Municipality were able…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket Airport staff sing for victory against swine flu
PHUKET CITY: Sing “Happy Birthday” to combat swine flu. Bizarre as it may sound, this was one of many pieces of advice given by public health officials during Phuket International Airport’s (PIA’s) “Big Clean Day” [sic] yesterday. But there is, in fact, method in the apparent madness. As one Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) officer explained to PIA staff, the…
Read More » - Phuket
12 donate land for new Phuket Airport Road project
PHUKET CITY: A provincial plan to build a second airport road took a small step forward earlier this week, thanks to 12 private landowners who donated land for the project. The handover took place on Monday night at the Ban Prujumpha School in Tambon Thepkrasattri, where the landowners personally handed over land title deeds and related documents to Phuket Governor…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket’s tourist population swells with American seamen
PHUKET: The unprecedented arrival in Phuket of five US Navy ships at the same time has given a boost to the island’s tourism industry and local economy, with about 5,700 US sailors and marines enjoying R&R on Phuket over the next few days. The USS Boxer has returned to Phuket while on an extended tour of duty that will have…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket exit strategy: German youth to plead guilty
PHUKET CITY: The German teenager arrested in Phuket in March on child sex charges will plead guilty when he appears in court next month, the Gazette has learned. German Honorary Consul Dirk Naumann said the German mission has looked at the young man’s legal situation “from all angles”. They now believe the Thai legal system does not permit someone in…
Read More » - Phuket
Beach football competition in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: Karon Municipality is organizing a five-a-side beach football tournament in early August with 74,000 baht in prize money up for grabs. The competition, being held to celebrate HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday on August 12, will kick off on August 1. The competition is also aimed at encouraging healthy lifestyles and keeping children off drugs. Match play will take…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket may benefit, but free visas backfire on honorary consulates
PHUKET CITY: The future of honorary Thai consulates around the world is in doubt following the Thai government’s move to waive tourist visa fees until March 2010. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday announced that as of today all foreigners applying for single-entry tourist visas at Thai embassies, consulates and honorary consulates will be exempt from fees. Some…
Read More » - Phuket
Fire in Kata after vigilante smoke-out
PHUKET: Wasteland opposite Kata Night Bazaar was ablaze last night following attempts to smoke out a suspected thief on the run. At 7.30pm, eyewitnesses reported seeing a Burmese man snatch a mobile phone from another Burmese male outside a tailor’s shop on the busy Thai Na Road in Kata. The man then ran off in the direction of Kata Beach.…
Read More » - Phuket
Minister announces counterfeit crackdown in Phuket
PHUKET: On an inspection tour of Soi Bangla in Patong earlier today, Deputy Minister of Commerce, Alongkorn Ponlaboot, said that the ministry was now going to get tough on the trade in counterfeit goods.“We are serious about this campaign,” he told the Gazette, adding that Thais and foreigners caught handling counterfeit goods could face fines and jail terms.Mr Alongkorn also…
Read More » - Phuket
Free visa plan backfires on Thai honorary consulates
PHUKET CITY: The future of honorary Thai consulates around the world is in doubt following the Thai government’s move to waive tourist visa fees until March 2010.The Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday announced that as of today all foreigners applying for single-entry tourist visas at Thai embassies, consulates and honorary consulates will be exempt from fees.Yet some honorary Thai…
Read More » - Phuket
Patong bars to close July 7, Asarnha Bucha Day
PATONG, PHUKET: All entertainment venues in Patong will close on July 7 to observe the Buddhist holiday of Asarnha Bucha. Sompetch Moosopon, president of the Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA), said the PEBA committee met at the Baan Sukhothai Hotel & Spa on Tuesday to discuss plans for Asarnha Bucha Day, which is a public holiday in Thailand. It was…
Read More » - Phuket
Turk becomes latest Phuket drowning victim
PATONG, PHUKET: A Turkish man is Phuket’s latest foreign drowning victim. The drowning happened at about 5pm on Wednesday, on the stretch of Patong Beach opposite the Yee Teng Complex shophouses along the beach road. Witnesses said the Turk, later identified as Deniz Coban, was at the beach with his wife and friends when he ignored the red warning flags…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket’s Tah Chat Chai to go hi-tech
PHUKET CITY: In a bid to crack down on crime, Phuket province wants to set up an automatic license plate recognition (LPR) system and other high-tech security equipment at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop on June 17 attended a demonstration of the LPR technology put on by representatives from Secom and the National Electronics and Computer…
Read More » - Phuket
Phuket second in new HIV/Aids cases
PHUKET CITY: Phuket has the second-highest per capita HIV infection rate in Thailand, the director of the Phuket Public Health Office said yesterday.Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said Phuket’s infection rate was second only to Ranong during the two-year period from May 31, 2007 to May 31, 2009.In the longer term, the total number of reported HIV infection cases at public and private hospitals…
Read More » - Phuket
Pregnant woman gunned down in Krabi
PHUKET CITY: Police in Krabi are investigating the murder of a heavily pregnant woman gunned down in her home on Saturday night.Inspector Santhi Kongsiri of the Khao Panom Police identified the deceased as 19-year-old Sunee Phukaoluan. Also killed in the attack was her unborn child, only one month from full term.The killings follow a wave of violent crimes in Phuket,…
Read More » - Other News
When relatives stay too long…
AYUDHAYA: Every family has its own unique customs, but a family in Phak Hai District recently caught national attention when it was discovered keeping the corpse of a long-dead relative in the front room of the family home. ÂCurrent guardian of the coffin, 36-year-old Samreng Yingyong, told reporters the body was that of his great-great uncle Phuangthong Lidkaho, who died…
Read More »
