Year: 2009
- Phuket News
Power cut on Sakdidet Road tomorrow
WICHIT, PHUKET: There will be a power cut along part of Sakdidet Road in tambon Wichit tomorrow, as the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) conducts maintenance and repair work on power lines in the area. The affected area will start near Soi Thanit and run south along Sakdidet Road all the way to the Muang Thong three-way intersection, including Soi…
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Revenue from Phuket real estate deals plummets
PHUKET CITY: In an indication that the Phuket real estate market is not quite as robust as some like to suggest, statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Land Office reveal that income on land and property sales transactions was down over 70% year-on-year over the first four months of 2009. There were a total of 1,945 transactions involving land title…
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Land tax could spur the economy
BANGKOK: A respected economist has backed a proposal that the government impose a land tax, saying the move will ease concentration of land ownership in the hands of a few rich people and open more land to agriculture. Speaking at a round table conducted by Krungthep Thurakij newspaper last week, economist Duangmanee Laovakul said the faculty’s Economic Research and Training…
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German still in Phuket Juvenile after three months
PHUKET CITY: Despite efforts by the German Embassy, a young man arrested on charges of sexually abusing minors remains in detention at the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center almost three months after his arrest. The youth, who was just 17 when he was arrested on March 9, recently spent his 18th birthday behind bars. His arrest, together with that…
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German manslaughter suspect gets bail, whereabouts unknown
PHUKET CITY: German tourist Florian Zehentmair, charged with the manslaughter of his friend Sebastian Wolff in Khao Lak, has been released on bail. Police do not know where he is staying. In another development in the case, preliminary investigation into the cause of death by the police forensics institute in Surat Thani has determined the cause of Mr Wolff’s death…
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Man loses leg in Phuket shophouse explosion
PHUKET: An explosion this morning at an air-conditioning service shop in Phuket has seriously injured two men and caused extensive damage to the single-story shophouse.According to police at the scene, a large gas tank used for servicing air-conditioning units exploded in the shop at about 10am. The shop’s owner is reported to have had his leg blown off in the…
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Phuket weather: high humidity expected to continue
PHUKET: Phuketians have been feeling the heat more than usual over the past few days with humidity high as temperatures reach 33 degrees Celsius or 91.4 Fahrenheit in Phuket.According to the Southern Meteorological Center (Phuket), the high on the heat index (HI) – the combination of air temperature and relative humidity, which makes it feel hotter than the true temperature…
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Body found on Nai Harn Beach Phuket remains unidentified
CHALONG, PHUKET: Phuket Police have yet to identify the remains of a heavily tattooed Caucasian man found washed ashore on Nai Harn Beach late last week. For the original report click here. Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Chalong Police told the Gazette today that no missing person reports have been filed to aid in identification of the body, which…
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Phi Phi tourist deaths possibly food poisoning
PHUKET CITY: The mysterious deaths of two female tourists on Phi Phi Island earlier this month were possibly caused by food poisoning, preliminary lab findings suggest. Krabi Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Pasin Noksakul told the Gazette today that researchers at the Police Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok have found signs of microbial infection in blood samples taken from…
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85 confirmed chikungunya cases in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) has set up a “war room” to halt the spread of the viral disease chikungunya, which now has 85 confirmed cases in Phuket alone. The war room, which will host regular meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, is also tasked with monitoring flu patients to see if there are any cases of infection…
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Swede dead in Phuket of apparent cocaine overdose
CHALONG, PHUKET: Police have confirmed that a 48-year-old Swedish man found dead in the room of a guesthouse late yesterday afternoon appears to have died of a cocaine overdose. The 48-year-old Swede, whose name is being withheld pending notification of kin, was found in a room at the Happy Days guesthouse, located at Chalong Bay. Chalong Police Duty Officer Thienchai…
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Phuket’s Vanich Foundation awards annual scholarships
RASSADA, PHUKET: The Boonrod Ekapojna Vanich Foundation on Thursday presented its annual scholarships totaling 105,400 baht to 30 needy students. This event took place at the Vanich Estate on Thepkasattri Rd in Rassada. The scholarships were presented to the lucky recipients by foundation vice-presidents Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr and her brother Apirak Vanich. Foundation chairman Boonrod Ekapojna Vanich, now 73 years…
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Phuket kids eyed by Ronald McDonald clinic
PHUKET CITY: The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Thailand Foundation, in association with the Thai Red Cross Society, the Top Charoen chain of optical shops, and Bangkok’s Phyathai Hospital, gave free eye exams to hundreds of Phuket students earlier this week. The event, at a mobile eye clinic parked on the grounds of the Phuket City Municipality offices, was attended…
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Fuelish mistake at PTT Phuket station in Chalong
CHALONG: A mix-up at a gas station in Chalong caused large headaches for a number of motorists on Monday morning. Staff refuelling the PTT station on Chao Fa West Road near Wat Chalong accidentally pumped 500-600 liters of diesel fuel into the station’s benzene 91 tank. A number of customers who thought they were getting benzene 91 ended up with…
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Body of Caucasian found washed up on Phuket beach
RAWAI, PHUKET: The heavily tattooed body of an unknown Caucasian man washed up on Nai Harn Beach yesterday. The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, with its skull exposed. Police believe the man died several days before the body was discovered. One local newspaper carried a graphic photograph of the body, clothed only in a pair of red underpants,…
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Phuket Pinoy sports fest underway
PHUKET: The second stage of the four-part “Pinoy Sports Fest 2009” will take place at the QSI International School on Sunday, May 24. The event which is helping to bring together Phuket’s 850-strong Filipino community is being held over four consecutive Sundays and has attracted some 200 competitors. The term Pinoy is now commonly used among Filipinos to describe themselves.…
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Young Brit dies in Phuket motorbike smash
PHUKET CITY: A young British teacher died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident on Chao Fa East Road in the early hours of yesterday morning.Phillip Ian Mussell, 24, was returning to his home in the Chalong area following a night out drinking with friends at the Roxy Bar in Phuket City when the accident happened at around 3.45am.Duty Officer Kitthiphum…
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Power cut in Phuket City tomorrow
PHUKET CITY: Residents of downtown Phuket City will be without power from 9am to 2pm tomorrow as the Phuket Office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) carries out maintenance and repair work on power lines.The affected area will include areas along Montri Road starting from near the post office and running south though the Pearl Intersection and on to Surin…
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Thai senator stunned by ‘new media’
PHUKET: Thai people have little “need” for multiple media outlets such as cable TV and websites since most spread misinformation, Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositakul opined yesterday. “Do we really need so many media channels? And how could we “control” a large number of media channels, anyway?” Rosana asked at a seminar entitled “How to Reform the New Media”, held by…
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Melbourne mum reunited with kids after Phuket ordeal
PHUKET CITY: Australian holidaymaker Annice Smoel is safely home after leaving Phuket on a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok at 9pm yesterday, then catching a connecting flight to Melbourne. During a visit to the Phuket Immigration Office yesterday, accompanied by her husband Darren, Ms Smoel was smiling broadly in the knowledge that her departure from the ‘Land of Smiles’ was…
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Tossaporn pushes for Phuket conference center and sports complex
PHUKET: Funds for Phuket’s long-awaited convention center are to be included in next year’s budget, according to Phuket MP Tossaporn Thepabutr. If the budget is approved, the center could be finished within three years.The convention center has been on the drawing boards for well over a decade. The center was initially proposed to be built on reclaimed land off Saphan…
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Gloomy outlook for Phuket tourism
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) has forecast that Phuket hotels will see average occupancy rates dip to as low as 25-30%, compared to 60% in the summer season last year. Citing a number of negative factors, PTA Vice President Bhurit Maswongsa said the spread of the type-A (H1N1) flu virus was one of the main problems hitting the…
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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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