- Phuket News
PMs enjoy “productive’ talks in Phuket
LAGUNA: Relaxed, smiling and looking like old friends, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Singaporean counterpart Goh Chok Tong today met members of the press and told them that their talks in Phuket had been, in PM Thaksin’s words, “wide-ranging, revealing and most productive”. There were three main areas of discussion – global and regional development; strengthening the Association of…
- Phuket News
Students aim to cut road accidents
PHUKET TOWN: Students from Rajabhat Institute Phuket have launched a project aimed at reducing road accidents on the island, which for its size has one on the highest road death and injury tolls in Thailand. The students, studying for master’s degrees in development strategy, will campaign to publicize telephone numbers people should call if they see bad driving they believe…
- Phuket News
Longest cake bake for Children’s Day
CHALONG: About 1,000 children are expected to turn out tomorrow to watch an attempt to produce a record-size cake for Children’s Day at Chalong Police Station. Pol. Lt. Col. Worrapong Wongjom told the Gazette that the officers there had organized activities on Children’s Day for the past six years. Last year they produced a cake 22 meters long. This year…
- Phuket News
Korean drowns in honeymoon tragedy
PHANG NGA: An idyllic honeymoon ended in horror and tragedy for a South Korean couple on Tuesday when the 33-year-old husband drowned in a boating tour accident. His young bride is due to fly home tonight, carrying her husband’s ashes. The cremation of Lee Dong Keun was due to take place just hours before his bride’s flight. Details of the…
- Phuket News
Phuket ready for visit by PMs
PHUKET TOWN: Everything is ready for this weekend’s visit to Phuket by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Singaporean counterpart, Goh Chok Tong, Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi said yesterday. The two leaders have no fixed agenda but are expected to discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues in an informal weekend retreat, with a relaxing round of golf…
- Phuket News
New prison chief invites visitors
PHUKET TOWN: The new Chief of Phuket Prison has invited groups of people, including students, to tour the prison to see facilities and watch convicts’ activities. The Chief, Panya Panatnachee, who arrived in Phuket two months ago, explained that the new activities he has introduced are batik making and the manufacture of bamboo blinds. Both products are in big demand,…
- Phuket News
Businesses, Movies and Tides
The 2003 edition of the Gazette Guide, Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’, will go on sale (at 140 baht) from January 17, with bulk deliveries to the hotels scheduled for the following day. For a list of retailers selling the Guide, or for discounts on bulk orders (10 or more copies) for guesthouses, clubs, associations and other non-profit organizations, please contact Guide@PhuketGazette.net…
- Phuket News
Undercover police nab Ecstasy pusher
PHUKET TOWN: A man accused of selling the illegal drug Ecstasy at Phuket nightspots has been arrested after selling the drug to an undercover police officer. Phuket Town’s Chief of Drugs Suppression Pol Lt Col Witoon Kongsudjai, was among officers who arrested Prasit Ploy-iam, 34, on Tuesday afternoon. “He had been selling drugs for a long time,” Col Witoon said.…
- Phuket News
Student gunned down in love triangle slaying
PHUKET TOWN: Police are hunting a gang behind the execution-style slaying of a student in a Phuket Town street on Friday night. Inquiries have led officers to believe that the killing was over a love triangle. The student, Niwat Kamplong, was shot down in Rassadanusorn Rd about 10 pm on Friday when he failed to escape his pursuers, who were…
- Phuket News
Well surrenders murder secret
THALANG: Mystery surrounds the death of a tattooed man whose body was found in a well on Friday. He was probably murdered in an argument and dumped there, police say. Rubber-cutters discovered the body in a disused well about 200 meters from workers’ cottages in Baan Maa Nik after noting a bad smell. A rescue team lassoed the body, which…
- Phuket News
Skipper hacked to death by Burmese crew
PHUKET TOWN: Police believe the Thai skipper of a fishing vessel found dead on Sunday was murdered by members of his Burmese crew and dumped in the water after an argument that ended in violence. Jirachai Krairat, 35, who had gone missing the previous night, was found floating face down with his head almost severed from his body, in water…
- Phuket News
New IT course for Phuket
KATHU: Prince of Songkla University (PSU) is to introduce a bilingual bachelor degree course in Information Technology (IT) in the Faculty of Applied Sciences from June this year, says Asst Prof Puwadon Bootrat, Director of PSU’s Phuket Community College.Prof Puwadon said, “There’s a lack of IT staff in Phuket now and this has been contributing to the high costs of…
- Phuket News
Gambling and drug arrests dip
PHUKET: The number of arrests for gambling and drug-taking has fallen slightly, police statistics for December 1-25 reveal. The figures show 180 arrests for gambling in 97 cases compared with 198 arrests in 102 cases in the comparable period of November. In the same December period, 61 people were arrested on drug offenses in 61 busts, compared with 93 arrests…
- Phuket News
PM to visit Phuket twice
PHUKET: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is scheduled to make two weekend-long visits to Phuket this month, first for a bilateral summit then for a Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party congress. The PM will make his first visit next weekend, from January 10-12, to meet Singapore’s Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and his entourage of 30 to talk about mutual economic…
- Phuket News
Hotels report bumper New Year
PHUKET TOWN: Resorts and hotels have been full over New Year and the three-star sector has solid bookings for January, but Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi anticipates a possible drop in top-end occupancy rates. “I hear that hotel bookings during the New Year holiday were good,” he told a press conference yesterday. “Three-star hotels, especially, will be full until the end…
- Phuket News
Holiday road toll sparks traffic crackdown
PHUKET: The three deaths and 468 injuries on Phuket roads from last Friday through to yesterday has prompted the Governor to order a crackdown on driving offenses. Speaking at a press conference today, Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi said, “We tried to reduce the number of accidents with police checkpoints, testing drivers for alcohol and an anti-drunk driving campaign but…
