Month: March 2010
- Phuket News
Phuket trash crisis: Tesco goes it alone
PHUKET: Tesco Lotus yesterday launched its own answer to Phuket’s long-delayed plastic bag charging scheme. The UK-based retail chain’s “Green Bag Green Point” initiative rewards customers who reuse old shopping bags with points which can be exchanged for cash coupons. Customers also receive “green points” when they buy certain environmentally friendly products. The project was launched in Bangkok on March…
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Phuket threatened as airfares soar
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: In what might look like an April Fools’ Day joke but isn’t, Thai Airways is increasing its domestic fares tomorrow in hopes that its passengers will be willing…
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Accused Australian bailed tonight
PHUKET: An Australian man accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy at an international school in Phuket is set to be released on bail this evening. Andrew Clements, 51, posted 800,000 baht in bail and will be released from Phuket Provincial Prison. Mr Clements, from northern Tasmania, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on…
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Phuket Immigration closed during holiday
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) will be closed for a week during the upcoming Songkran public holiday, the Gazette has learned. The Phuket Town Immigration office will be closed from April 13 until April 18 and any foreigners who need to register with immigration during that period are urged to do so by April 12 or on April…
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OPINION: In defense of Phuket Town
PHUKET: What’s the name of the administrative capital of this island of ours? If you answered ‘Phuket City’, you are technically correct. The Thai government raised the status of the town to ‘thesaban nakhon’ – which can be translated as ‘city municipality’ – on February 13, 2004. According to the government’s definition, a municipality needs a population of at least…
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Life after death: Bereaved family turn Phuket lifesavers
PHUKET: The family of a young Canadian man who died in a freak accident in Patong six years ago have donated six Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to Phuket hospitals and rescue foundations. Noah Yelizarov, 19, died as a result of electrical shock on October 9, 2004. He was in Phuket on holiday with three friends. Standing knee-deep in flood water…
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Phuket protest against prawn farm poisonings
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Villagers are complaining that shrimp farms in Ban Tha Rua in Phuket are poisoning the canal their livelihoods depend on. Ten residents of Bang La village said last week that shrimp farm operators were letting chemical wastewater flood into Klong Pak Ka, killing marine life. Surasak Wahlum, a 55-year-old fisherman, said, “The wastewater kills shellfish and other…
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Dane found dead in Phuket guesthouse
KATA, PHUKET: A Danish tourist died while eating pizza in a Phuket guesthouse on Thursday. A maid at Tik Place in Kata told police she grew suspicious when Mr Svend Aage Schwaback, 69, failed to check out on time. After failing to get a response from Mr Schwaback, the maid entered his room and found him lying on the bed…
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Phuket gang boots Italian off bike
PHUKET: Police arrested two minors and a 26-year-old man in Phuket on March 25 for kicking an Italian tourist off his motorcycle and stealing his cell phone, credit cards, licenses and 1,500 baht in cash. Ferdinando Rota, 50, was heading down Pracha Uthit Road towards Thepkrasattri Road around 2am when four Thais on two bikes passed him in the other…
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Phuket Gazette moves to Koh Kaew
PHUKET: After 17 years in Phuket, the last 13 of them in Phuket Town, the Phuket Gazette moves to Koh Kaew on Wednesday. Located just off the west side (northbound lanes) of Thepkrasattri Rd, the new office complex is roughly midway between the Bypass Rd and the Heroines’ Monument. If traveling north, take a left turn immediately after the large…
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Bikers descend on Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: More than 3,000 big bikers from across Thailand and nearby countries will gather in Phuket during ‘Phuket Bike Week 2010’ and celebrate the Thai Water Festival of Songkran,…
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Phuket’s praises sung – loudly
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: While not all is well in Thailand, with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatening to incite civil disobedience nationwide [see story below], Phuket continues to generate favorable…
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Accident claims two lives in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: A Frenchman and a Thai man were killed in a motorcycle accident in Phuket in the early hours of March 25. Chalong Police found Cyril Chausse, 40, dead at the scene near his smashed motorcycle. His bike collided with a motorcycle driven by Loei-native Naphatphol Hongchumphare, 25, who died on the way to hospital. Mr Naphatphol, who worked…
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Englishman found dead in Phuket home
KATHU, PHUKET: A retired businessman from England was found dead in his Phuket home on Monday. Tung Tong Police found the body of William Mann, 63, lying on a sofa in the living room of his house with a bloody tissue in one hand and a wound on the right eyebrow. Investigators found no signs of a struggle. However, there…
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Peeping Tom’s tricks exposed
UDON THANI: Police are questioning the owner of a woman’s dormitory after residents found CCTV cameras hidden in their bedrooms and bathrooms. The cameras were first spotted by 24-year-old Phornphat Kimsee as she was taking a shower in the early hours of February 28. Miss Phornphat, who manages a branch of fast food chain Chester’s Grill, said she looked up…
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New reef guarding Phuket ecosystems
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources has sunk 1,310 concrete blocks into the Andaman Sea off Phuket to create an artificial reef aimed at protecting the marine life of Sirinath National Park. The reef lies 3,000 meters from the coast, marking the area where sea fishing is forbidden. It extends from Sarasin Bridge in Mai Khao…
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Breaking through: Phuket road near completion
WICHIT, PHUKET: The final stages of construction are set to begin on a long awaited road connecting the bypass road near HomeWorks to Ekwahnit Road behind Surakul stadium. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop swung the project into action by helping demolish a wall with a sledgehammer on March 24. The 550-meter-long road, running behind Darasamuth School, was expected to have been…
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Phuket bike tragedy: three young lives lost
PHUKET: Three young women sharing a motorcycle died instantly in Phuket when a car traveling in the opposite direction veered into the wrong lane and hit them head on, police say. The accident took place around 4am on Chao Fa East Road close to the Kisalai Swimming Club near Kwang Road on Tuesday. Chuleeporn Primprai, 18, Pattarawan Boonpachuen, 20, and…
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Phuket rescuer: Italian’s boat “did not capsize’
KAMALA, PHUKET: An elderly Italian man found unconscious on a dinghy in Phuket’s Kamala Bay on Friday reportedly complained to his girlfriend of chest pains before setting out. Dinu Costa, 71, was later pronounced dead by doctors at Patong Hospital. Some local media reported that Mr Costa died after waves caused his boat to capsize. However, Phuket Ruamkatanyu Foundation rescue…
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Phuket yacht enthusiast ‘Boo’ dies
PHUKET: Local yachting enthusiast Boo Meesuk died this morning in Malaysia after falling ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. Boo had been in a coma for more than two and a half weeks at a hospital in Terengganu. In a statement to members of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC), Mick Kealy said, “It is with deep regret that…
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Phuket’s orange bike guard arrives
PHUKET TOWN: Orange clad volunteers on bicycles are patrolling Saphan Hin park in a new drive to make people feel safe at night New chief of Muang District, Supachai Pochanukul, wants to end the violent crime that has made the park a ‘no go’ area for some after dark. “Saphan Hin park is a location that tourists and locals alike…
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Private jets to rise in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Thai business aircraft operator MJets has opened the country’s first dedicated fixed-base operation (FBO) at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport to exploit the growing demand for business aviation throughout…
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Phuket beach clear of killer jellies
NAI HARN, PHUKET : The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has found no evidence of deadly jellyfish on Nai Harn Beach.After the hospitalization of a four-year-old boy last week due to a jellyfish sting, PMBC researchers sampled the area by sweeping the waters with two nets at depths of 1.1 and 1.4 meters.The operation netted seven jellyfish of the painful…
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Fundraiser for Phuket yachtsman Boo Meesuk
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) in Phuket will host a fundraising event on Friday for local yacht enthusiast Boo Meesuk. About two and a half weeks ago, Boo fell seriously ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. His condition was critical by the time the rest of the crew managed to get him to a hospital in Terengganu,…
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Phuket slaying: man murdered for making noise
RASSADA, PHUKET: Police are hunting two men they believe stabbed a neighbor to death in Phuket on Sunday night for making too much noise in an apartment block. Ponsan Noi-oonsaen, a 41-year-old Chiang Mai native, died around 10:30pm after being stabbed at least five times in the chest with what were described by a witness as “foot-long knives”. Thirty-year-old Teeradech…
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Aussie awaits Phuket drug trial
PHUKET: An Australian man arrested for possession of marijuana in Phuket faces a possible prison sentence of up to a year and a fine of up to 20,000 baht. Richard Beaver, 28, was arrested on March 16 by Chalong Police and presented in court the next day. The tourist, who is currently out on bail, is awaiting formal charges to…
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Fires rage again in Phuket
KOH KAEW, PHUKET: A forest fire threatened to scorch nearby communities in Phuket yesterday as it blazed through uninhabited forest. The fire began around 2:00pm in a stretch of forest about 300 meters from Tha Reua shrine, next to Jee Teng Villa in Koh Kaew. Fire engines from five local organizations were dispatched to the spreading blaze and had the…
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Readers’ Poll: Have protests put Phuket in the red?
PHUKET TOWN: With the latest red-shirt protests driving business away from Bangkok, we’re asking our readers about the effect the demonstrations have had on the Phuket tourism industry. Have the protests had a negative effect? Have they had a positive influence due to tourists being rerouted from Bangkok to Phuket? Or have they had no effect whatsoever? Have your say…
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FC Phuket trounce Pattani
PHUKET: FC Phuket cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Pattani yesterday to solidify their status as the Division Two (southern section) league leaders. Goals from Diarra, Poramut and Sarach sealed the win as Pattani were able to offer little more than token resistance. The Southern Sea Kirin dominated early possession with the visitors struggling to string passes together. Pattani…
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Australian teacher held for sex abuse in Phuket
CHALONG, PHUKET: An Australian man has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a four-year-old male student at an international school in Phuket. Andrew Clements, 51, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on Friday. The arrest came after a Thai woman told police Mr Clements abused her son in a toilet at Phuket International Academy…
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Phuket set to talk technology
PHUKET: Software Park Phuket is hosting free weekly activities for people interested in discussing and learning more about technology. The first session, on April 1, will be on using Twitter as a marketing and interpersonal communications tool. Subsequent sessions will cover Facebook, effectively using a Gmail account, protecting your PC from viruses and malware, and creating and maintaining blogs. The…
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Phuket resorts may benefit from Malaysian challenge
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: In defiance of the rudiments of free-market economics, Thailand’s neighbor Malaysia is raising – not lowering – room rates at its five-star hotels in order to compete more…
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Phuket fraud: ladyboy purchases hard time
PATONG, PHUKET: A transsexual supermarket cashier was arrested in Phuket for stealing the chief of Kathu District’s credit card and using it to buy a notebook computer. Sarayut Yunu, a 24-year-old employee at a well known Patong supermarket, failed to return Kathu District Chief Siriphat Phathakul’s card after a transaction on March 12. After Mr Siriphat left the store, Pattani…
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Bank cards, deposits at peril in Phuket
PHUKET OPINION: Two recent fraud cases, and a third one currently under investigation by this newspaper, highlight the continuing need for personal vigilance in protecting funds deposited in local banks. Last week a Phuket supermarket cashier admitted to buying a laptop computer using a credit card belonging to none other than the chief of Kathu District, Siriphat Phathakul. [See front…
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Phuket calm as protests intensify
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Thousands of opposition activists paraded through Thailand’s sprawling capital on Saturday in a bid to attract people from Bangkok’s middle classes to their anti-government campaign. Reuters reports that…
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Phuket blackout: the power of an hour
PHUKET: The dark hour is approaching when Phuket residents will join the rest of the world in turning lights off as part of Earth Hour 2010. At 8:30pm on March 27, entertainment venues and homes across the island are expected to plunge into darkness as part of the global climate change campaign. The first Earth Hour was in 2007, in…
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Update: Phuket Murder of Dr Somchai
PHUKET TOWN: Police are investigating possible connections between the murder of Dr Somchai Wongbunterng and an altercation between the victim and a group of teenagers earlier this week. Dr Somchai was gunned down outside his own clinic just after noon in Phuket Town on Thursday. Jack Mai, one of the doctor’s employees, told police that two men pulled up in…
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