Year: 2017
- Phuket News
Phuket police hunt for Rawai burglary suspect
PHUKET: Police are hunting for a burglar who broke into a British man’s rental house in Rawai on Tuesday. Steven Denkhag, 47, filed a complaint with Chalong Police that his belongings, 3,000 baht in cash, and several ATM cards had been stolen from his house. One of Mr Senkhag’s friends, a Facebook user named Onlyyou Formemylove, shared CCTV footage of…
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Immigration Chief says Phuket Airport now fully equipped
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport is now ‘fully equipped’ in terms of personnel and equipment to handle arriving and departing passengers, the Immigration Commissioner announced on Tuesday. He added that officials have “done their best” to reduce long queues and make immigration service faster. Long lines, delays, non-existent essential equipment, a lack of personnel and “confused travellers” all marred the opening…
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Man found dead in water tank
PHUKET: The body of an Indonesian crew member was found in a ship’s water tank yesterday morning. The ship, named Fuh Cih Fu no 68, was moored off Koh Tapao Noi in Wichit. Although the body was initially discovered by a crew member on the vessel the day before, it was not reported until about 9am yesterday, according to Maj…
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Manhunt for Phuket hit and run killer is underway
PHUKET: The search is on for a driver involved in the hit and run killing of an elderly man in Thalang yesterday. Capt Chatree Chuwichian of Thalang Police received a report of a man who was crossing the street and got hit by a pickup truck about 6am. “Witnesses claimed that a pickup truck crashed into Sangop Sookkaew, 78, and…
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Czech tourist sex-offender fined B1,000 in Phuket
PHUKET: A Czech Interpol fugitive, arrested on Tuesday for allegedly spreading HIV in both Thailand and his home country, has been fined 1,000 baht (approx US$ 35.00) by a Phuket Court for overstaying his visa by close to a year and a half. Zdenek Pfeifer, 49, was arrested at his home in Cherng Talay, where a joint task force of…
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Interpol wanted Czech pedophile arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Royal Thai Police last night arrested a Czech Interpol fugitive wanted for allegedly spreading HIV in both Thailand and his home country. Zdenek Pfeifer, 49, was arrested at the Sila apartments in Cherng Talay. He was initially charged with overstaying his visa, but will now be taken to Bangkok for processing of charges filed against him. Mr Pfeifer has…
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Phuket, Surat Thani police collaborate on B1.5mn drug bust
PHUKET: A suspected dealer was arrested with drugs worth at least 1.5 million baht at his apartment in Phuket Town on Sunday. Phuket City Police received a tip-off from Surat Thani Police that a suspect named Payoongkorn Inaksorn would be delivering drugs from Surat Thani to Phuket. Officers in Surat Thani received the information after apprehending another drug dealer who…
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Phuket International Boat Show draws crowds
PHUKET: The 2017 Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) presented by Thailand Elite was held from January 5-8 and aimed to impress with an abundance of action in the marina and waterside Exhibition Hall – and a busy boardwalk at host venue Royal Phuket Marina. Despite the unexpected rainy weather on the last two days, visitor turnout was strong, with a…
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Minor caught shoplifting at Supercheap store
PHUKET: A Phang Nga girl was arrested early this morning in Phuket after she was caught shoplifting from a Supercheap store near the Heroines’ Monument. Capt Suporn Muangkairong of Thalang Police received the report about 4am. “Staff told us that she had entered the store with a bag, but they paid no heed to it. However, the door alarms started…
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Phuket cops dress as postmen to nab B500K worth of drugs
PHUKET: A suspected dealer was busted with drugs worth about half a million baht by undercover police officers in Phuket Town on Sunday. A tip from another dealer, who had surrendered himself on Saturday, led Phuket City Police officials to the post office behind Provincial Hall. “The dealer told us that a man named Korapat Thipasak, 33, would come to…
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Profile: Tara Sudlow – A special connection with Phuket
PHUKET: Tara Sudlow is a Perth native who moved to Phuket 22 years ago, and for the last 13 years has been running her own real estate company here. “I first visited Phuket in 1986 at the age of 14. I was a very shy kid back then, always hanging around my mother. Then, I met this amazing Thai family…
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Lifeguard chief says budget cut will not impact service quality
PHUKET: The quality and number of lifeguards in Phuket will remain unaffected in the new contract despite a 10 percent cut in the budget, the president of the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) told the Phuket Gazette today. Public concern about the budget cut for Phuket’s lifeguards has been voiced by both the local and international communities here, with the California-based…
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Another taxi driver kills another motorcyclist in Phuket
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed late last night in a head-on collision with a taxi in Cherng Talay. Lt Col Rassada Kluengwong of Cherng Talay Police received reports of the incident at about 1:50am. “We arrived to find the body of 43-year-old Sarayuth Duangjan lying face down on the asphalt in the middle of the road,” said Col Rassada. “Rescue…
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Police hunt for shooter of injured Burmese woman
PHUKET: A woman was shot during a ya bah (methamphetamine) ‘exchange’ at a Burmese workers’ camp yesterday morning. Capt Kraisorn Boonprasob of Thalang Police received reports of the incident from 41-year-old Mongkol Wongpradit, the caretaker of the camp located in Thalang. “Chan, a worker at the camp, told us that two Thai men on a white motorbike approached him and…
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Phuket officials request hotels, vendors to curb flow of wastewater
PHUKET: Cherng Talay officials have asked hotels and vendors to stop the discharge of wastewater onto Surin Beach. The request was issued after locals voiced concern on Sunday over stinking, trash-bearing wastewater flowing from a large sewage pipe near the beach. “We have had this problem for at least a year now, but now it has worsened terribly,” complains a…
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Property: Angsana Beachfront Residences attract global interest
Advertorial: PHUKET: The Banyan Tree Group’s launch of Angsana Beachfront Residences, its inaugural investment in resort style living in Thailand at Laguna Phuket, Bang Tao Beach, is already being hailed a success. Over 60% of the beachfront luxury branded condominiums have been sold since the project was announced last month (story here). “We are receiving a level of response in…
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Finance: Next phase of tech revolution may be here
PHUKET: While many have been focused on Brexit, problems in Europe, the Middle East and the US elections, a technology revolution has quietly marched toward its most important phase, that is not being recognized by the mainstream media (which is focused on making predictions about where the market will go in 2017). The tech revolution is alive and well and…
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Across the Land: What the new airport means for Phang Nga
PHUKET: It’s been three months since the new Phuket International Airport terminal was officially opened, but the moans and groans about the efficiency of the airport remain, with passengers complaining of long delays at immigration counters – whether inbound or outbound. Even the domestic terminal has seen long queues waiting for luggage, and a chaos of cars, taxis and limousines…
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Man killed in bike crash at Bang Wad dam
PHUKET: A 37-year-old man was killed in a bike crash at Bang Wad dam near Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority last night. Kathu Police officers and rescue workers arrived at the scene about 10:30pm to find the body of the victim, named Teerayut KittiKhun, lying on the road with his bike thrown to the side. “Rescue workers administered CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation],…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Burning in Thai Hell
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Opinion: Need to practice responsible journalism
PHUKET: As a regional tourism and transport hub, Phuket has an important role to play in easing the hardship of the hundreds of thousands of people who have been affected by the worst flooding in the Thai south in decades. Our island is fortunate to have been spared the kind of severe flooding that has stricken much of the region…
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Routine bus inspection yields four drug, alcohol-related arrests
PHUKET: A routine inspection of a passenger bus resulted in four seemingly unrelated arrests at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint yesterday. A passenger, back-up driver and bus attendant were apprehended for possession of drugs, whereas the bus driver was arrested for drunk driving and driving with an expired licence. “The bus was headed from Nong Khai to Phuket. We stopped it…
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Royal Thai Air Force pilot killed in Children’s Day airshow crash
SONGKHLA: A fighter jet pilot was killed in a fiery crash during a Children’s Day airshow in Hat Yai, Songkhla this morning. The pilot, Squadron Leader Dilokrit Phattawee, was flying a Gripen 39c at Wing 56, Air Division 4 airbase, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) announced in their official statement. RTAF spokesman Pongsak Semachai said a committee would be…
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British couple say they were ‘raped and robbed’ in Phuket
PHUKET: A British couple have alleged that they were robbed and raped while visiting Phuket during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The couple, who were named by Belfast Live as Gerald Drumgoole and Michael Burnett, said they were attacked and robbed of 400 pounds and their iPhones after their drinks were spiked at a Phuket bar on New Year’s…
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Phuket prepares to celebrate Children’s Day 2017
PHUKET: Prepare for the hustle and bustle of a day full of entertainment and fun activities as Phuket celebrates Children’s Day tomorrow. The first Children’s Day in Thailand was held in 1956, and since then government leaders have annually branded the event with a slogan. Celebrated on the second Saturday of every year, the slogan created by Prime Minister Gen…
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Drunk foreigner hits parked car and runs off into the woods
PHUKET: A drunk foreigner ditched his car and ran off into the woods after he smashed into a parked vehicle in Kathu yesterday. Lance Corporal Prawattinun Fuengfoo of Kathu Police received reports from locals at Bang Thong Village, who claimed that they tried to chase down the intoxicated driver of a white Toyota Vios but could not catch him. “The…
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Construction company ‘warned’ for discharging wastewater
PHUKET: A building contractor, KMIT Construction, was let off with a warning for discharging murky brown rainwater onto Tri Trang Beach today. Patong Municipality officials went on site to investigate the source of the brown water flowing directly onto the beach, following complaints regarding the issue by concerned local residents who may have thought it was bio-contaminated. The locals told…
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Indian, Pakistani expats unite for flood donation drive
PHUKET: The Indian and Pakistani expat communities on the island have joined hands to help flood victims in the south of Thailand. Since Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan’s announcement of a flood donation drive last Friday (story here), locals and expats have organized their own efforts to help the more than one million people so far impacted by the deluge. Firoz…
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Audits, vendor registration among proposed beach management rules
PHUKET: Following the Royal Thai Navy’s ruling declaring raised beds of sand at Patong Beach ‘illegal’, local officials emphasized beach management rules and mulled new measures at Phuket City Hall yesterday afternoon. The meeting was chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Sanit Sriwihok and other officials in attendance included Kathu District Chief Sayan Chanachaiwong, Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsub, police and army…
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Property: Banyan Tree redefines grandeur
Advertorial PHUKET: The Banyan Tree Group has unveiled designs for a selection of five-bedroom villas adjacent to Bang Tao Beach on the west coast of Phuket. With the infrastructure already complete, the Group is inviting interested parties to make appointments for private viewings of the newly-launched ‘Banyan Tree Grand Residences’. “The Banyan Tree Group is renowned around the world for…
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Gardening: Returning to the scene of the crime
PHUKET: I was recently asked to return to the scene of a crime. Well, not an actual one, but an on-site consultation at which I was asked how the neglected common parts of an estate might be given – literally – a new lease on life. This is a high-end residential estate with spectacular villas perched on a precipitous hillside…
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Arrest warrants issued for university students in police scandal
BANGKOK: Dozens of medical and engineering university students now face arrest warrants for their alleged roles in cheating during police officer entrance exams last month at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB). Criminal arrest warrants were issued today for about 51 university students and a Bangkok city regulation enforcement officer, after MPB Training Centre Chief Colonel Uthen Nuiphin filed cheating complaints…
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Bang Ku Underpass to open temporarily during Royal visits
PHUKET: One northbound lane of the Bang Ku Underpass will be open from January 14-20 to ease the flow of traffic during two upcoming Royal visits next week. “We have received a request from traffic police to temporarily open the lane, as Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana will visit the island on January 16 and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha…
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Phuket’s serial top-up machine thieves caught red-handed
PHUKET: Two cellphone top-up machine thieves were charged in Thalang yesterday after they confessed to committing the act at least six times in order to obtain money to buy the locally illicit drug krathom. A 22-year-old suspect named by police as Attaphol Panyasak, accompanied by a minor, were seen stealing the machines on CCTV. “We had received reports over the…
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Escaped prisoner prompts jail security upgrade request
PHANG NGA: Phang Nga Police officials are planning to request the Royal Thai Police to improve the standard of nationwide prison locks after a prisoner used a three-inch metal wire to escape from Takuapa Police Station on Tuesday. The runaway prisoner, named Panom Sirikul, 36, was recaptured yesterday, following which police made him demonstrate the lock-picking technique that reportedly took…
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On Deck: Two voices are better than one
PHUKET: Recent comments from Weerasak Kowsurat of the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) caught my eye, and could have profound repercussions for Thailand’s yacht charter industry. The following is excerpted from a December 23 article in The Nation: “TCEB chairman of the board Weerasak Kowsurat said … providing MICE visas and MICE work permits to business travellers … could…
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Leaky Phuket domestic terminal pictures go viral
PHUKET: Pictures of plastic buckets put in place to collect water leaking from the roof of Phuket International Airport were posted on social media yesterday. A Facebook page titled Siang Prachachon Khon Phuket (The Voice of Phuket Citizens) shared a post with the caption: “This is the condition of the walkway at Phuket International Airport. There are holes in the…
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