Month: June 2009
- Phuket News
Loan shark gang preys on Phuket sea gypsies
RAWAI, PHUKET: Police arrested a gang alleged to be loan sharks when they were attempting to collect money from members of the Rawai sea gypsy community at about 1am on Thursday.The arrests were made by Chalong Police after they received a report from the community that members of the gang had entered the community to forcibly collect on outstanding loans…
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Phuket Lions club a roaring success
PHUKET: The Lions Club of Patong Beach celebrated their Charter Night on May 29. Almost 80 Lions from clubs throughout Thailand watched on as Charter President Lion Rohn-Napa Kanjanayothee and First President Claude de Crissey were officially presented with their club Charter by former district governor Somchai Chirayus.Lions Clubs International has more than 1.4 million members in over 44,500 clubs…
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Paiboon’s fraud case starts June 23
PHUKET CITY: The Region 8 Court of Appeals will on June 23 examine witnesses and preliminary evidence in the electoral fraud case against suspended Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) president Paiboon Upatising and teammate Sawat Muchawej. Mr Paiboon and Mr Sawat were handed yellow cards by the Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok on March 19. For our previous report, click…
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Australia and New Zealand education expos in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Antipodean cousins New Zealand and Australia are set to go head-to-head in pursuit of young minds later this month, with both countries hosting education expos in Phuket. On June 16, the New Zealand Education Center and the New Zealand Embassy will host the New Zealand Education Fair 2009 at the Phuket ICT Skill Development and Learning Center at…
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Frenchman and Thai drown in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: A Frenchman and his Thai companion drowned while swimming in heavy surf off Karon Beach yesterday afternoon. After the deaths were reported to Chalong Police, rescue workers from the Phuket Ruamjai Kupai Foundation, Phuket Tourist Rescue Center and Karon Hazard Prevention Unit rushed out on surfboards and boats to find the victims. After about 20 minutes they found…
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Local youngster goes for granny
NAKHON PHANOM: While the sight of an old man marrying a young woman is not too unusual in Isarn, when it’s the other way round, it manages to raise eyebrows. Therefore, when word spread that 73-year-old Thongsuk Phutthawan was set to marry 26-year-old Somphon Chanthawong, 47 years her junior, it quickly drew the interest of the local press. The pair…
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Eggciting find for Phang Nga villagers
PHANG NGA: A wave of excitement has swept through a village in Phang Nga province over the discovery there of a giant egg of unknown origin. Maitree Yaifai, of Village 2, Tambon Kheuk Khak in Takua Pa District, said he found the egg in a dry patch of grass not far from his house when he was out fishing. The…
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17 killed, 30 injured in Krabi bus accident
PHUKET CITY: A chartered bus taking officials of the Samut Prakan Provincial Administrative Organization on a study tour overturned in Krabi this morning, killing 17 and injuring 30 passengers. The accident occurred at 6:30 am on the Phanom-Khao Tor Road in Krabi’s Plai Phraya district. Twelve passengers died at the scene; five more died at hospitals. Thirty other passengers were…
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Aussie family narrowly avoids drowning in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: A family of Australian tourists who ignored red warning flags narrowly escaped drowning at Karon Beach on Tuesday afternoon. Chalong Police identified the victims as Mr Samir Mourad, 58, his daughter Zeinab, 16, and Mr Mourad’s wife, whose first name and age were not reported. According to the report, Mr Mourad was sunbathing while his wife and daughter…
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Free concerts by Montana State University in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The Montana State University Symphony Orchestra will be performing two free concerts in Phuket over the weekend; one on Saturday at Rama IX Park (Suan Luang) on Chao Fah East Rd in Phuket City and another on Sunday at Phuket Rajabhat University in Rassada. The Phuket concerts are part of the orchestra’s Southeast Asia goodwill tour. A complement…
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Two teens arrested, confess to Phuket murder
PHUKET CITY: At a crime re-enactment held yesterday morning it took nearly 200 policemen to prevent a crowd from lynching two teenagers who have confessed to the brutal stabbing murder of an elderly woman last month. Police identified the pair as 19-year-old Hussadin “Mai” Wongrinyong of Phuket City and a 17-year-old male accomplice, whose name was withheld because of his…
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Phuket porker: mutant or miracle?
SRISOONTHORN, PHUKET: The talk of the town in Thalang in recent weeks is the birth of a deformed piglet that locals feel bears a striking resemblance to Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu deity worshiped by many Thai Buddhists. The reason for their conviction is a large growth of tissue protruding from the piglet’s head that bears a striking resemblance to an…
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Phuket jungle walk marks World Environment Day 2009
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: More than 50 Phuket students on Monday morning completed an eight-kilometer jungle trek all the way from Bang Pae Waterfall to Ton Sai Waterfall, located inside Khao Phra Thaeo National Park. The event was organized jointly by PTT Exploration and Production Co (PTTEP), Radio Thailand, and the Phuket Public Relations Department. PTTEP External Relations Manager Sidhichai Jayant…
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New Phuket Chief Justice urges more mediation
PHUKET CITY: The new Chief Justice of Phuket Provincial Court held a press conference yesterday to promote greater use of the court mediation system to settle legal disputes, the backlog of which is overwhelming the provincial court system and leading to long delays between trial dates. Phuket Provincial Court Chief Justice Varangkana Sujaritkul said she will promote the use of…
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Monkey business at Phuket Provincial Hall
PHUKET CITY: A brazen monkey wandered onto the grounds of Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, making off with a belly full of fresh cucumbers after a standoff with a stunned food vendor. The unusual visit came at about 9:30 this morning at an open-air curry stall on the grounds of Phuket Provincial Hall. The monkey, one of the many pig-tailed…
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Phuket bar operators seek closing time extension
PATONG, PHUKET: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop has reacted coolly to a fresh initiative by nightlife operators to extend operating hours, saying any extension must come with Interior Ministry approval. Sompetch Moosophon, president of the Patong Entertainment Business Association, said that local business operators are facing losses resulting in staff lay-offs. Sharp declines in customer numbers have forced around 30% of…
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Phuket Governor orders probe into illegal quay at Ao Por
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Resort developers have converted a section of seaside jungle into a 200-meter-long quay at Ao Por without official permission, it has emerged.The developers used heavy machinery to uproot trees and remove earth from the hillside to create an artificial quay in Tambon Pa Khlok, near village 6.Although the work began at the start of 2008, it has…
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30-baht pay-out for stabbing victim
BANGKOK: Stabbing victim Pairat Juntub knew he was entitled to compensation, but he was staggered yesterday at the sum he got from the government. Mr Pairat has the dubious distinction of receiving the lowest amount ever given to a crime victim. “I got 30 baht (approx 86 cents in USD),” Pairat said. “I was speechless when I saw the amount.”…
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Phuket City begins cable work on Thalang Rd
PHUKET CITY: Work on the project to bury power cables along Thalang Road in Old Phuket Town got underway yesterday morning, with workers marking lines near the pavement to mark the trench that will house the conduit. The narrow trench, about half a meter wide, will run along the right-hand side of the one-way road, once the heart of Phuket’s…
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Thai Immigration crackdown on border runners
BANGKOK / PHUKET: In a crackdown on foreigners who “abuse” the tourist exemption rule allowing15-day visit extensions at border entry points, the Immigration Bureau has confirmed and informed ThaiVisa.Com of the following new regulation, which went into effect yesterday: A foreigner who has entered the kingdom four consecutive times on 15-day tourist exemption stamps will not be allowed to leave…
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Czech checks bag bandit and bites back
PHUKET: Authorities in neighboring Phang Nga province are revamping registration procedures for Burmese migrant workers while closely monitoring their activities after a worker attempted to rob a foreign dive instructor yesterday. Provincal governor Yiamsuriya Phalusuk said measures to be taken include more police patrols and possibly stricter regulations on workers traveling at night. Any Thais or employers found to provide…
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Human smuggling suspects arrested in Ranong
PHUKET CITY: Immigration Police in the early hours of Saturday arrested 34 illegal Burmese immigrants and two Thais in a raid on a house in Ranong’s Muang District, seizing notebooks listing the names of members of security forces who had allegedly been bribed to secure safe passage for the migrants. At 4am, a team of Ranong Immigration Police led by…
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Bt119m for new Rajabhat Phuket commencement hall
RASSADA, PHUKET: Work is well underway on a 119 million baht conference room and commencement hall complex on the grounds of Phuket’s Rajabhat University. A contract between the university and Bangkok-based contractor Kumjornkij Construction Co Ltd was signed in mid-November last year. The scheduled contract completion date is December 27, 2010. The project’s oversight director is Rajabhat Phuket University Associate…
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Fourth swine flu case confirmed in Thailand
BANGKOK / PHUKET: While there have been no confirmed cases of A-type (H1N1) in Phuket, the Ministry of Public Health yesterday confirmed its fourth case of the disease in Thailand – a Thai man who just returned from the US. The A-type (H1N1) flu has already hit 53 countries, killing 99. Thai Public Health Minister, Witthaya Kaewparadai, said the 50-year-old…
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Asean reaffirms regional confidence in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: The Asean Senior Officials meeting held at the Movenpick Resort and Spa from May 18 to 21 resulted in a number of agreements in addition to the previously reported agreement to hold the twice-postponed Asean Summit in Phuket next October. Manasvi Srisodapol, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asean Affairs, told the Gazette that the Phuket meetings…
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