Year: 2009
- Phuket News
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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Asean summit postponed until October
PHUKET CITY: Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya today announced the postponement of the Asean summit in Phuket from the middle of next month to late October. Delegations of several countries found the June schedule too inconvenient, he said. But while the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government has cited the busy schedules of other heads of state, some skeptics believe unsettled political…
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Pressure drop in Phuket City
PHUKET: Is your water tank almost empty? Now might be a good time to fill it. Residents of parts of Phuket City will be without water for about an hour starting at around 4pm today, the Phuket City Waterworks has announced. Affected areas will include much of downtown Phuket City, including Damrong Road, Maeluan Road, Phuket Road, Srisuthat Road and Srisena Road. There will…
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Local PAD commends Phuket red shirts, but issues warning
PHUKET CITY: The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) spokesperson for Phuket has commended the local “red shirt” group for its commitment not to disrupt the upcoming Asean-led summit meetings in June, but vowed to mobilize PAD members to prevent any incursion onto the island by red shirt protesters from other parts of the country. Phuket PAD coordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn this…
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Phuket property developer blamed for flooding
PATONG, PHUKET: As the monsoon season approaches, Patong residents fear that unusually prolonged flooding on a section of Nanai Road will only get worse. Despite efforts by Patong Municipality to rectify the problem, the section of Nanai Road has remained permanently under three feet of water for the past few weeks. It has become such a constant fixture that local residents have nicknamed the stretch…
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Thailand confirms first two cases of swine flu
PHUKET CITY: Thailand yesterday confirmed its first two cases of Influenza 2009 in patients who had returned from Mexico.Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said tests carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States and the Thai Medical Science Department had confirmed the A(H1N1) virus in samples from the two Thai nationals.“There are two confirmed cases…
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Phuket red shirts vow no disruption to Asean summits
PHUKET CITY: Members of the Phuket branch of the National United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) this morning visited the Governor’s Office to protest government plans to invoke the Internal Security Act in Phuket during the upcoming Asean summit. Dressed in their trademark red shirts, a group of about 20 UDD members led by Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwittayaporn presented…
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Phang Nga murder linked to land dispute
PHUKET CITY: The recent murder of a village headman on the island of Phra Thong in Phang Nga’s Kuraburi District, about a four-hour drive north of Phuket, may have been related to a land dispute, local police said. The Thai-language Siangtai Daily newspaper recently carried a report of the killing on the Phang Nga mainland, close to the island. On…
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Four Chikungunya cases reported in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Chikungunya, the viral disease that is sweeping the Deep South, has now surfaced in Phuket, according to the Phuket Provincial Health Office. A press release issued by Kusuma Sawangpan of the Disease Control and Prevention Division confirmed four cases of the disease on the island, with all the patients being treated at Vachira Phuket Hospital. The vector for…
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UK man dies in motorbike crash
RAWAI, PHUKET: An accident in the early hours of Sunday morning left one British tourist dead and a Thai man seriously injured. Tourist Kenneth Nicholas Ibrahim, 27, was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a truck outside the Sai Yuan Bungalows in Rawai. The Thai driver of the truck was also seriously injured. Mr Ibrahim, a semi-professional…
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Abhisit, in Phuket, confirms Security Act for Asean summits
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has confirmed the government intends to invoke the Internal Security Act during the Asean summits scheduled to be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort in mid-June. The announcement came at a press conference at Phuket International Airport last night. PM Abhisit was on his way back to the capital following a secret…
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Yala beat Phuket FC, 1-0
PHUKET CITY: Surakul Stadium remains less than a fortress for Phuket FC as the “Sea Dragons” were once again beaten on home soil, this time suffering a 1-0 defeat to last-place Yala. With the win, Yala picked up their first-ever points in the league after four consecutive losses. After five matches in the fledgling Division 2 of the Footbool Association…
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THAI to launch direct Oslo-Bangkok flights
PHUKET CITY: In a move that could provide some help to Phuket’s summer season tourism prospects, Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced the introduction of direct flights between Bangkok and Oslo, Norway. The service, to be inaugurated on June 15, will make THAI the first southeast Asian carrier to serve passenger demand between Norway and Thailand. THAI’s Bangkok-Oslo route will…
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PM confident Phuket Summit to be peaceful
PHUKET CITY: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday the Asean-led summits in Phuket next month will not see a repeat of the Pattaya fiasco as his government had a good new security plan in place. The government was ready for the summit and would enforce the internal security law to have more power to handle the situation, he said in…
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More than rooms for sale at Thai hotels
PHUKET: More than 100 hotels and resorts in Thailand are now for sale, as operators succumb to the impacts of the economic crisis and political unrest, industry insiders say. The number is expected to rise if the situation does not improve within two years, said Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of one of Thailand’s largest hotel chain operators, Dusit International.…
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Phuket Police train for Asean summit
PHUKET CITY: There was more action than usual at Phuket City Police Station yesterday when some 300 local police took part in crowd control and anti-riot training under the watchful eye of Royal Thai Police Region 8 Commissioner Santarn Chayanon. The special training is in the run-up to the Asean+3+6 summit, tentatively scheduled to take place at the Hilton Phuket…
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