Month: August 2010
- Phuket News
Phuket Bus Terminal 2: the saga continues
PHUKET: A plan by the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) to open its new provincial bus station by October 1 is in jeopardy because local residents oppose having buses do U-turns on Thepkrasattri Road, the Gazette has learned. PLTO Chief Kanok Siripanichkorn told the Gazette last week that his office hoped to have the 128-million-baht facility in operation by October…
Read More » - Opinion
Phuket Opinion: More dam projects needed
PHUKET: Work on the much-needed 5.7-million-cubic-meter Klong Krata reservoir in the foothills behind Wat Luangpu Supha in Chalong can finally proceed, now that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) has finally approved a request by the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO) to use a 60-rai plot of Forest Department land needed to begin construction. The issues holding up…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket drowning victim identified
PHUKET: Police have identified the body of a man found washed up at Ao Yon over the weekend as that of Rawai resident Abdulloh Thaodaeng, aged 46. Phuket City Police were notified that a body was discovered lying face up on Ao Yon beach in tambon Wichit at about 2:30am yesterday. Police were initially unable to identify the corpse, clad…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket Poll: Foreign tourists lax on Thai culture
PHUKET: Foreign visitors to Phuket make some, but not considerable, effort to understand and respect Thai culture, the results of the latest Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll reveal. A total of 325 readers took part in the two-week survey, posted on July 22, 2010. The poll followed a report by the local Culture Ministry office that a foreigner running a restaurant…
Read More » - Phuket News
FC Phuket breeze past Hatyai FC, 2-0
PHUKET: The Division Two South title in the AIS Regional League is within easy reach for FC Phuket following a comfortable 2-0 win against Hatyai FC at Surakul Stadium yesterday evening. FC Phuket went into the match brimming with confidence, having put together back-to-back league wins after the surprise loss to Yala FC. FC Phuket started the match brightly, but…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket wet market to open this month
PHUKET: Although vendors and city officials continue to haggle over costs, the new wet market on Ranong Road will open by the end of the month, Phuket City Municipality says. Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana and city council members met with vendor representatives at Phuket City Hall on Monday. Provincial Deputy Governor Teerayut Eimtrakul served as chairman of the meeting…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket preps for Indians; Swiss steers Serenity Phuket; Bridge bomb
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket prepares for Pow Wow Phuket will be hosting an annual meeting of tour guide operators from India from Sept 24-27. A total of 1,500-2,000 representatives from the Association of Indian Tourist Guides will take part. Phuket…
Read More » - Phuket News
Andaman Motor Expo underway in Phuket
PHUKET: The Andaman Motor Expo 2010 is underway on the first floor of Central Festival Phuket’s HomeWorks complex. Among the makes on display are Toyota, Isuzu, Mazda, Proton, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, BMW and Volvo. Companies selling car accessories and finance firms also have booths and displays. There are also classic cars on display, including a replica of the #53 Herbie “The…
Read More » - Phuket News
Work begins on new Phuket Town road
PHUKET: Construction began yesterday on a new road that will link Saphan Hin to Chao Fa East Road in Phuket Town. With an axe-chop to a cement bag, Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop kicked off the opening ceremony at 9:30am with Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana, Phuket MP Raywat Areerob and Phuket Rural Roads Office Director Teeraporn Jirarattanakorn. The ceremony took…
Read More » - Phuket News
New hope for Phuket bus station
PHUKET: The new terminal for inter-provincial buses will open for service in October, Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) Chief Kanok Siripanichkorn has told the Gazette. Work on the 128-million-baht facility was completed in early December last year, but the station has sat idle ever since. “Bus terminals like this are usually handed over to local organizations to manage. Initially, Rassada…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket government offices to close for Mother’s Day
PHUKET: All Thai government offices, including Phuket Immigration, will be closed August 12 and 13 for the birthday of HM Queen Sirikit. Her Majesty’s birthday on August 12 is also celebrated as Mother’s Day in Thailand. “Our office will be closed on August 12 and 13, and will reopen on August 16,” Phuket Immigration Chief Col Panuwat Ruamrak confirmed to…
Read More » - Phuket News
999 rare trees to honor Mother’s Day in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality mark Mother’s Day, which in Thailand is on the August 12 birthday of HM Queen Sirikit, with a variety of public activities at Suan Luang Park on August 9. The activities include the planting of 999 yang na, or “hairy-leafed apitong”, trees. The Kata-Karon Hotel Business Association, together with Krungthai Bank, the Rotary Club of Tungkha…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket PAD protest; oil drills defended; Bangkok bombs; economy booms
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket PAD adding fuel to temple fire Phuket members of the People‘s Alliance for Democracy are on their way to Bangkok this morning to join a rally at Government House. The Phuket contingent wants to help the…
Read More » - Phuket News
German-Thai couple nabbed for Phuket burglary
KAMALA: A German and his Thai girlfriend were arrested Wednesday for burglary and possession of stolen goods after the couple’s alleged victim spotted one of them carrying her missing handbag in Kamala, police said. Natthapakin Kuanchaipruek, superintendent at Kamala Police Station, presented Karsten Lange, 45, and his girlfriend Pattranit Morida, 29, at a press conference yesterday. Police said Mr Lange…
Read More » - Phuket News
2nd Phuket Traditional Costume Contest on Sunday
PHUKET: The second-annual Phuket Traditional Costumes Contest will be held on August 8 from 2pm to 4pm at the Thalang National Museum, the museum’s director Atchima Nookhong announced August 2. Ms Atchima said the traditional costumes show the cultural identities of Phuket people, displaying the diversity of origins of people co-existing on the island for a long time. “Globalization has…
Read More » - Phuket News
Preah Vihear protest: Phuket PAD off to Bangkok
PHUKET: Phuket members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy will travel to the capital tomorrow to join a rally at Government House, where they will pressure the government to resolve the ongoing dispute over the Preah Vihear temple. Preah Vihear temple, built on the hilly border between Thailand and Cambodia, was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice…
Read More » - Phuket News
Six confess to drug charges in Phuket
PATONG: Kathu Police held a press conference on Tuesday to announce the arrest on Monday of six drug suspects, all of whom confessed to being members of a major drug ring selling ya bah (methamphetamine) and ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) to tourists in Patong. The conference was chaired by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Superintendent Kosol Watrakon and Kathu Police Superintendent…
Read More » - Cannabis News
Brit biker sets record for Thai King
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Away from his home in Chiangrai for more than three months, British expat Alan Bate completed his trip around the world in honour of His Majesty the King of Thailand yesterday and set a new record…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket Police: ‘Serial suicide’ girl a con artist
PHUKET: The “suicidal” teenage girl who threatened to hurl herself from a pedestrian walkway in Phuket Town yesterday is actually a serial con artist who has tried similar scams in other parts of the country, police say. Phuket City Police Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit told the media today that police left Phuket yesterday to escort 19-year-old Orasa Lapruek back to her…
Read More » - Phuket News
Mother’s Day photo contest by Radio Thailand, Phuket
PHUKET: The Radio Thailand office in Phuket is holding a digital photo contest with the theme of “The bond between mother and child” in celebration of national Mothers’ Day on August 12, which is the 78th birthday or HM Queen Sirikit. All submissions will be judged on beauty, creativity and how well they express the stated theme. Images must original…
Read More » - Phuket News
Baba Peranakan mass wedding in Phuket Town
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is organizing a mass wedding ceremony in the “Baba Peranakan” (Straits Chinese) tradition to take place in Phuket Town this month. The colorful event, organized jointly with the Phuket Peranakan Association (PPA) and Phuket City Municipality, will take place August 14 and 15. It is intended both as a celebration of Peranakan culture…
Read More » - Phuket News
Business brisk at Phuket City Pawnshop
PHUKET: The general state of the economy – not World Cup gambling – is responsible for brisk trade at the Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop, officers say. The shop, on Kamorapat Road in Phuket Town, currently has 480 million baht out on loan to 31,280 customers, according to a release by the municipality. Borrowers appear to be pawning more valuable items,…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket crash helmet campaign: fines start July 1, 2011
PHUKET: The public awareness part of the Phuket City Police “100% motorcycle helmet use” campaign will run another full year before offenders will face fines, it has been announced. The campaign, which began in April, is intended to bring helmet use in Phuket City Police District to 100%, both among operators and their passengers. July 1 this year was initially…
Read More » - Phuket News
Cockfighting a gamble in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world about Thailand, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Initially reported by the Phuket Gazette on Monday, a raid on a cockfighting ring in Phuket on Sunday has caught the attention of online gambling journal ‘Gaming Zion’, which in a report filed last night looks…
Read More » - Phuket News
Rough seas off Phuket through Thursday
PHUKET: The Meteorological Department (MET) has issued a weather advisory warning of rough offshore conditions over the next two days. Issued at 4pm today from the MET headquarters in Bangkok, the warning calls for strong monsoonal conditions across the country, causing heavy seas in both the Andaman Ocean and Gulf of Thailand from today through Thursday. All shipping should proceed…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket students prevent suicide leap
PHUKET: A group of Satree Phuket School students were able to talk a troubled teenager out of committing suicide by jumping off the pedestrian footbridge near their school this morning. Satree Phuket 12th-grade student Nat Koeypoekaisan said he was walking over the footbridge that spans Thepkrasattri Road when he noticed the young woman climbing over the handrail, facing out over…
Read More » - Phuket News
FC Phuket 2 – Satun United 1
PHUKET: First-place FC Phuket won a key football match on Sunday, with a clutch 2-1 road win over second-place Satun United. Satun United, coming off a 1-0 win over Hatyai FC, were in high spirits for the match against FC Phuket, who won the first encounter played at Surakul Stadium in March by a score of 2-0. In second place…
Read More » - Phuket News
Chinese firm interested in light rail project for Phuket
PHUKET: Representatives of a mainland Chinese construction conglomerate paid a visit to the Phuket Governor today to discuss the possibility of building a light-rail public transport system for Phuket. Francis Soo of Ershisanye Construction Group met Gov Wichai Phraisa-ngop at Provincial Hall this morning to express his firm’s interest. Founded in 1953, Ershisanye is engaged in construction engineering, mining development…
Read More » - Phuket News
42 arrested at Phuket cockfight
PHUKET: Forty-two people were arrested and charged with gambling following a raid at a Phuket cockpit yesterday afternoon. The raid, led by Crime Suppression Division Area 5 Inspector Sitthikiat Srichan, came at 1:30pm at a rubber plantation area off Soi Suanwat in Rawai Village 1, behind Rawai Temple. Among those arrested were two women, one of whom was pregnant. All…
Read More » - Phuket News
‘Farang’ killed in motorbike crash on Patong Hill, Phuket
PHUKET: Police are trying to learn the identity of a Caucasian man killed early Sunday morning in a motorcycle accident on Phuket’s infamous Patong Hill road. Kathu Police Duty Officer Nitikorn Rawang received a report of the accident at 4am yesterday. Together with Kusoldharm Foundation workers he rushed to the scene at Kuan Yang curve on Phra Barami Road where…
Read More » - Phuket News
Dems in Phuket: unity sought, top cop consoled
PHUKET: During a Democrat Party seminar in Phuket over the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban urged fellow Democrat MPs from throughout the south to take a creative, friendly approach in trying to mend the fractious issues dividing the country. DPM Suthep was speaking at a party seminar entitled “Join Forces and Solve the National Crisis” at the Phuket Merlin…
Read More » - Phuket News
Thai jails swamped with inmates
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: The number of prisoners in Thailand’s 143 jails is now well over capacity, with more than 200,000 inmates around the country. About 60 per cent have been jailed for drug offences, Corrections Department chief Chartchai Suthiklom says. In…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket beach deaths: Airlines, airport could help cut the toll
PHUKET: The full onset of this year’s monsoon season has brought with it a sadly predictable rise in the number of drowning deaths, most among foreign tourists who ignored not only the red warning flags, but also, in some cases, verbal warnings from lifeguards about the dangers. The latest casualty was a Romanian tourist who, like so many before him,…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket to stay green up top
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Phuket’s Natural Resources and Environment department head Ong-art Chanachanmongkol has announced that the 80-metre height limit on new construction will remain in place, according to Property Report magazine. Some had speculated that the limit might be dropped on…
Read More »
