Year: 2010
- Phuket News
Police arrest Phuket’s “midnight arsonist’
PHUKET: A homeless man living under a telephone exchange box near Phuket Town has confessed to setting ablaze five cars last month, say police. Presented to the press this morning was Sangworn Toe-udtha, 37, from Phang Nga, who is now facing charges of five counts of arson. Officers on patrol yesterday afternoon recognized Mr Sangworn, who was standing by the…
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Phuket golf prodigy Pariwat drives on
PHUKET: Pariwat Pinsawat, Phuket’s top-flight 14-year-old golfer, was in devastating form last weekend at Phuket Country Club. The youngster finished top of the leader-board at the end of the two-day event to win the PCC-Mazda Championship Cup. Not only did he lift the prestigious Amateur Cup, he also went home with a brand-new Mazda2 car after firing a hole-in-one at…
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Better care needed for Phuket’s disabled
PHUKET: Vice-Governor Nivit Aroonrat has joined other leading provincial figures in a call for better facilities for disabled people in Phuket. At a fun day for the disabled at Saphan Hin, V/Gov Nivit on Wednesday voiced his support for the event, saying such activities helped to raise awareness of the problems disabled people faced in their daily lives. He also…
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Phuket police denied drug-testing center
PHUKET: THE Office of Forensic Science has denied Phuket police permission to set up its own Scientific Crime Detection Center. Phuket Police Commander Pekad Tantipong explained the request was turned down due to the lack of experienced officers to staff the center. “Urine tests [for drugs] must be overseen by experts. If the urine is not well kept and protected,…
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Phuket to drill for “night tsunami’
PHUKET: Those hoping for a lie in on Phuket’s west coast yesterday were disappointed when the Thai national anthem was played at 8am on all 19 of the island’s tsunami warning towers. Meanwhile, it was also revealed that the island’s first “night tsunami” evacuation drill would take place in Kamala later this month. Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM)…
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Phuket black spot claims another life
PHUKET: A woman was killed instantly on Tuesday night at the notorious entrance to the Anuphas Manorom housing estate, in front of Promphan supermarket on Chao Fa West Road. Witnesses told police that Nantawan Suebsa, 33, was waiting for traffic to clear before turning right into the estate when a Subaru sedan, driven by Niphon Itthipon, 37, crossed the center…
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Mentally handicapped man found dead in Phuket Town well
PHUKET: A mother looking to transfer her 36-year-old mentally handicapped son to a mental hospital in Surat Thani yesterday arrived at his house in Phuket Town to discover his body at the bottom of a 15-meter-deep well. Kusoldham Foundation workers told the Gazette that the man, Yodchawan Puttarakma, was to be taken to Suan Saranrom Hospital in Surat Thani yesterday…
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Rino in need
PHUKET: Despite the initial success of last week’s life-saving heart surgery, one week on, 10-year-old Rino Mangon Vogt, who suffers from Ebstein’s anomaly, received two lots of bad news, the Gazette has learned. The first came when cardiologist Dr Poomiporn Katanyuwong turned off the external pacemaker used to regulate Rino’s heartbeat and the boy collapsed into slumber. “He passed out…
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Phuket police seize 10,000 discs in pirate family raid
PHUKET: Police arrested six members of the same family and confiscated more than 10,000 CDs and DVDs in a pre-dawn raid north of Phuket Town yesterday. Phuket’s top-brass police led a sortie of 30 officers in the early-morning raid on three adjacent homes on Soi Han Farang in Koh Kaew. Inside the houses, police caught the family literally in the…
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Jet-ski smash turns Phuket honeymoon into tragedy
PHUKET: A Chinese couple on their honeymoon died this morning after the jet-ski they were riding on slammed into a catamaran. Police confirmed to the Gazette that the accident occurred about 11am nearly a kilometer offshore from the bridge at the south end of Patong Beach. Zhao Qiang and his fiancee Chu Fang, both 28, suffered serious trauma to their…
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Netherlands ambassador lauds honorary consuls
PHUKET: Netherlands Ambassador to Thailand Tjaco van den Hout last night praised the work of honorary consuls, saying it was a “thankless” job requiring the consuls to be available at all hours to attend to often “grisly” affairs. “I am so happy to have a consulate here to take care of an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 Dutch residents in this…
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Phuket gets nearly Bt 1bn for Asian Beach Games
PHUKET: Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa on Monday had good news for sports development on the island. Phuket had applied for 700 million baht to develop and prepare the island to host the Asian Beach Games 2014. Instead, the central government has approved nearly a billion baht, he said. “Phuket will host the Asian Beach Games in 2014, and…
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Phuket joins online congratulations to HM The King
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Statistical Office (PPSO) has launched an online “book” for well-wishers to post birthday messages for HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. HM The King will celebrate his 83rd birthday this Sunday. The PPSO website is part of a nationwide project by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology to gather 9,999,999 congratulatory messages by December 7. Praphat Pukngam,…
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Foreigner appointed as advisor to Phuket Governor’s office
PHUKET: Who is that foreigner standing next to the governor welcoming HRH Princess Sirindorn to Phuket? There he is again, with the party greeting President Jimmy Carter. He can be seen quietly slipping in and out of meetings with the governor, vice governors and the many ambassadors and senior government officials who visit Phuket every year. Now, for the first…
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Big bikes to roar into Phuket
PHUKET: More than 2,000 bikers from around Thailand and Southeast Asia are set to come roaring into Phuket next month for Southern Big Bike Party and Charity 2010. Organizer Kittiwong Jansattham met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall last week to finalize arrangements for the event, activities for which will be centered at Saphan Hin Public Park December 17…
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Phuket golf series heating up
PHUKET: The race to become Phuket’s top amateur golfer is beginning to heat up with five qualifying rounds of the Phuket-Times.Com Amateur Open already completed. There are eight events in total, culminating in the season-ending Master’s Final next year that will determine who will be crowned the island’s best amateur golfer. Laong Cameron is the current Order of Merit leader,…
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New Phuket marina will not affect drug trade: poll
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette online readers are skeptical that the opening of the new Chalong Marina will have much of an impact on drug trafficking on the island, results of the latest readers’ poll reveal. The poll question asked readers: “Officials hope the opening of the new Chalong Marina, with improved Customs and Immigration controls, will lead to a decrease in…
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Petroleum exploration underway off Phuket
PHUKET: State oil firm PTT is conducting a study off the coast of Phuket that could lead to test boreholes being drilled there by 2012, the company says. The work falls under the second phase of work being carried out by PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, or PTTEP. Visit Coothongkul, PTTEP vice president in charge of projects in…
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BIS touch rugby tourney in Phuket open to all
PHUKET: British International School Phuket will host a “touch rugby” mini-tournament on Saturday. The tournament and post-event gathering at the Spice Island in the Boat Lagoon marina is open to everyone – no matter what gender, age or fitness level. Participants do not need to know the rules as they will be explained to you beforehand, and individuals will be…
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Cigana, Granger reign supreme at Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: It was a big day of former champions at the 2010 Laguna Phuket Triathlon yesterday, as Italian Massimo Cigana and Australian Belinda Granger took top honors. The pair were in dominant form in their respective races, crossing the finish line well ahead of the chasing pack, which included a host of top professional athletes and more than 800 amateurs…
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Central Festival Phuket to get Bt.5bn upgrade
PHUKET: Central Retail Corporation (CRC) has announced a .5 billion baht facelift of the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall that will include the opening of its fourth floor.The renovation, the first since the complex opened in September 2004, will be completed by the beginning of next year. It is intended to cash in on the recovery of the Phuket tourism…
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Phuket hails Rino’s recovery
RINO Mangon Vogt, a 10-year-old suffering from a rare and congenital heart condition known as Ebstein’s Anomaly, had his successful life-saving operation in Bangkok. The Phuket Gazette first ran the story on August 17, which was picked up by the ThaiVisa website and this media attention led to the generous donations needed to pay for expensive treatment, including 750,000 baht…
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Phuket Opinion: Dogs trump humans against drugs
PHUKET: A police officer this week was able to sniff out thousands of poorly-concealed ya bah (methamphetamine) pills being smuggled onto the island in a car at the Tah Chat Chai police checkpoint. (See story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.) This raises the question of why detection dogs are not…
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FC Phuket 2 – 0 Bangkok FC
PHUKET: FC Phuket had a solid 2-0 win over Bangkok FC last night and now sit tied at the top of the table in Group B play in the “mini-league” for promotion to Division 1 of the Thai League. In other Group B matches, Rayong FC drew at home to Chainat FC 1 – 1, while Loei City drew with…
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Phuket police seeking “white guy’ sneak thief
PHUKET: Police believe a Caucasian man carried out a burglary in Kalim around midnight Tuesday, while the Canadian homeowner and his wife were asleep in their bedroom. The Canadian, who asked to remain anonymous, said he discovered something was wrong only when he could not find his laptop computers around 9am the next day. In all, about US$ 5,000 dollars…
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Illegal worker “sweep’ to target Phuket
PHUKET: A special task force of government officers will sweep through Phuket and arrest and likely deport any foreigners found working illegally, the Gazette has learned. The move follows the creation of a Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) task force set up to identify and arrest any foreigners found working without appropriate permits. Headed by PPEO chief Noppadol Ployudee, the…
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Gov lauds PPAO sponsorship of Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: Ahead of the 17th Laguna Phuket Triathlon this Sunday, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha has lauded the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) for becoming an official sponsor of the event for the first time ever. The annual triathlon kicks-off a week of sporting and social activities culminating with the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship the following Sunday on December 5,…
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Business Air increases Phuket – South Korea flights
PHUKET: Bangkok-based airline Business Air has announced plans to increase flight frequency on its service connecting Phuket with Incheon, South Korea. The extension to the carrier’s existing Phuket – Incheon route will make it easier for holidaymakers to travel between the two destinations during the high season for tourism. Business Air already runs four weekly flights from Phuket to Incheon,…
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New tsunami buoys off Phuket by new year: NDWC
PHUKET: Two new Italian-built tsunami direct detection units will be installed off Phuket by the end of the year, the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has revealed. NDWC Director Somsak Khaosuwan said the two units, known as “tsunameters”, will be located about 400 to 500 kilometers offshore. Although the exact locations have yet to be determined, one of the units…
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Phuket VIPs greet cruise ship passengers
PHUKET: Phuket officials gathered in Patong yesterday to welcome 900 tourists who arrived from Indonesia aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Wannaprapa Suksomboon, deputy director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket, said her office hopes to encourage more Indonesian tourists to visit Phuket. Officials from the TAT, Patong Municipality and Kathu Police welcomed the tourists as…
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Phuket Immigration launches online hotel guest registration drive
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration is warning hoteliers they could soon face fines if they fail to register their guests’ details though the agency’s new online database. Phuket Immigration Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak made the announcement at an instructional seminar at the ICT Center in Saphan Hin earlier this month. “After one month, we will look at how the system is performing. We…
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Case closed on bizarre murder-suicide in Phuket restaurant
PHUKET: Police have closed the case file on the bizarre murder-suicide that shocked Phuket Town earlier this month. Diners at Khrua Pailin Restaurant were stunned when restaurateur Bundit Anurakbundit stood up from a table of friends, walked across the restaurant floor to his sister-in-law Wassana Jarit and shot her in the head point-blank. He then turned the gun on himself.…
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British expats’ Phuket home burgled
PHUKET: A British couple living in Rawai returned home from dinner last night to find their house burgled, with several valuable items stolen. Charles Stuart Crompton and his wife left their home in Soi Natai at 8:30pm on Tuesday night and went out for a meal. When the couple returned home two hours later they found their house had been…
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Phuket’s most wanted: DEA souvenirs
PHUKET: Officers from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) met with their Thai counterparts in Phuket yesterday to discuss when and where they will hand out souvenir items bearing images of some of the “most wanted” drug traffickers in Asia. Attending the meeting at Tourist Police headquarters in Phuket Town were DEA Group supervisor David McConell and special agents Scott…
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British PM: Phuket, I’m not coming
PHUKET: British Prime Minister David Cameron will cancel a planned family holiday in Phuket over the Christmas holidays following concerns about negative publicity and Thailand’s human-rights record, the British press has reported. Matt Chorley, political correspondent at The Independent, wrote that Prime Minister Cameron had faced claims that the trip would be viewed as showing support for the government of…
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Phantom of the ape paw
PHUKET: A bizarre dream has convinced a woman in Phrae province that a pile of stones her husband dug out of a mung bean field are the fossilized hands of prehistoric apes. In typical Thai fashion, residents of the village in Tambon Naphoon in Wangchin District are now queuing up to see the “hands” in order to divine winning lottery…
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Phuket Poll: Will the new Chalong Marina curtail the drug trade?
PHUKET: Officials hope the opening of the new Chalong Marina, with improved Customs and Immigration controls, will lead to a decrease in drug trafficking on the island. How much of an effect on the island’s drug trade do you expect the new facility to have? Have your say in the new Phuket Gazette readers’ poll by clicking here or on…
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