Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Phuket drug dealer arrested with B400k of ya bah pills
PHUKET: A drug dealer was arrested with about 2,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 on Thepkrasattri Rd on Saturday evening. Sarawuth Koraneesak, 23, had bought the pills in Bangkok for delivery to a customer in Phuket. He was waiting for the customer to come and collect them when he was arrested. The pills were estimated to…
- Phuket News
Phuket prisoners released on Royal pardon
PHUKET: The first batch of prisoners was released from Phuket Prison yesterday morning, following the announcement of a Royal pardon earlier this month to commemorate the start of the reign of King Rama X. Phuket Prison Commander Somkit Kammang presided over the event as a crowd of relatives stood outside the prison walls, waiting to welcome 147 inmates who qualified…
- Property
By the book: Preparing your property for sale
PHUKET: The onset of high season is here again. The monsoon rains have passed, the sun is out and businesses are preparing for the influx of tourists to Phuket. The next six months are when most buyers will visit Phuket and when most property sales occur. Phuket real estate brokers will have already been short-listing those properties they will concentrate…
- Opinion
Opinion: Risking life and limb for visa runs
PHUKET: If you are a foreigner living in Thailand, you need a visa. That’s fair enough. It’s like that all over the world. But no matter what kind of visa the foreigner has here, he or she often has to spend time and money, and frequently to risk life and limb, just to stay legal. Last week brought news of…
- Opinion
Opinion: Adieu, 2016
PHUKET: As the year draws to a close, social media have been flooded with an increasingly common sentiment: ‘Good Riddance, 2016’. Fair enough. The past year has seen so many unprecedented – many would say negative – developments that it would be futile to try to list them all here. But a few do stand out as potentially bellwether. In…
- Phuket News
Royal Thai Navy declares sand-beds “illegal’
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has overturned the Patong Mayor’s ruling regarding beach mats laid out on raised beds of sand at Patong Beach, and declared that they are, in fact, “illegal”. Rear Adm Pisai Sukawin, deputy commander of the RTN Third Area Command, handed down the verdict at a meeting yesterday afternoon, saying that regardless of the beds being…
- Phuket News
More snakes at Patong Police Station
PHUKET: Four snakes, including a king cobra, a cobra and a radiated rat snake, have invaded Patong Police Station three times this week, causing the officers there to panic and send for rescue workers. “The snakes might have come into the building during the floods, but although the floods are gone, the animals remained hiding inside,” said Patong Police Superintendent…
- Phuket News
Phuket officials demolish illegal man-made plantations
PHUKET: Thalang District locals are furious after a joint task force of government officers demolished a man-made plantation in Suan Pa Bang Kanun this week as it was reportedly encroaching on 120 rai of public forest land in Phuket. The first round of demolitions in the area took place on July 14 this year, during which five houses, a palm-tree…
- Phuket News
Public, private sectors unite against coal-fired power plant
KRABI: Representatives from 11 private and government sector organizations met in Krabi yesterday to reiterate their stance against the construction of a coal-fired power plant, which they say will adversely impact the quality of life for locals and cause billions of baht in tourism losses. Officials from the Krabi Chamber of Commerce, Krabi Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), and Krabi…
- Phuket News
Teenage driver killed in high-speed collision with 18-wheeler
PHUKET: A teenage driver was killed in a collision with an 18-wheel truck in north Phuket this morning. The accident occurred about 11:30am at the Sala Deng-Muddokkhao junction (that turns into Nai Yang Beach). “We received a report that a Diahatsu Mira had crashed into an 18-wheeler truck on northbound Thepkrasattri Road. The front side of the car was seriously…
- Phuket News
Phuket Police beef up security over holiday period
PHUKET: More than 280 Phuket police officers and volunteers gathered outside Phuket Provincial Police Station yesterday in a show of readiness to boost the safety of tourists and residents on the island over the Christmas and New Year holidays. “Security measures will be heightened from December 22 to January 15, to instill confidence in both locals and tourists who visit…
- Phuket News
Dead coral seized at meditation sanctuary
PHANG NGA: About 37 kilograms of dead coral was seized at a meditation center in Koh Yao Noi yesterday. The raid at the Mooktawan Meditation Sanctuary was conducted by officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Region 6, after Phang Nga Governor Pakkapong Tawiphat alerted them to its presence. “The coral was being used to decorate the…
- Phuket News
Thai girl named as IKEA design competition winner
PHUKET: A six-year-old Thai girl was named as one of the 10 winners of a global soft toy design competition held by IKEA, the home furnishing retailer from Sweden. The drawings were submitted as part of IKEA’s ‘Good Cause’ campaign titled as ‘Let’s Play for Change’, that aims to support the right of all children to learn, develop, and have…
- Phuket News
Poultry pilferer turns out to be six-meter python
KRABI: Snake catchers yesterday bagged a six-meter-long python outside a house in Krabi, where more than 45 chickens have gone missing this month. Home owner Suwat Maijan, 55, who has a chicken coop in his yard, called in the snake catchers when he spotted the 20-kilogram reptile slithering away from the coop, leaving a trail of dead chickens behind. “I…
- Phuket News
Raised sand beds ‘not illegal’: Patong Mayor
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup confirmed today that beach mats laid out on raised beds of sand at Patong Beach are within the 10 per cent zone and are in line with the government’s beach management rules, after pictures of the set-up went viral on social media. The pictures, which were shared and commented on by thousands of people, were…
- Property
Second phase of Cassia apartments attracts investors with assurance of 7 p/c returns
Advertorial World-class developer of premium resorts, hotels and residences, The Banyan Tree Group is enticing investors to Cassia Phuket apartments at Laguna Phuket with a promise of 7 per cent returns over three years for owners. With the first phase already sold out, the second phase of the contemporary upmarket two-bedroom apartments in the grounds of the Laguna resort are…
- Phuket News
American found with slashed neck in Phuket rental room
PHUKET: An American man was found dead, with deep slashes to his neck, at a rental room in Rawai about 7pm last night. Police suspect he may have taken his own life but have not ruled out other possibilities. “Inside the bathroom, we found the body of the 62-year-old victim (whose name is being withheld) lying face up, with a…
- Phuket News
Three foreigners killed in early morning visa run van crash
PHUKET: Three foreigners died and six others were seriously injured when the van they were travelling in crashed into a house in Phang Nga this morning. The foreigners were on their way from Phuket to Satun for a visa run with KBV Phuket Visa Run company, when the van crashed in Bang Tuey sub-district. Police and emergency responders rushed to…
- Phuket News
New Phang Nga airport plans make headway
A TRANSPORTATION mega-project north of Phuket under development by Bangkok Airways has been tentatively named the Phang Nga-Andaman International Airport. In what is being envisaged as either a public-private-sector partnership or a solely private investment, tourism-industry sources have confirmed that Bangkok Airways is in talks with Phang Nga province for a large-scale land lease for the facility, with the environmental…
- Phuket News
Phuket gambling den raid results in 12 arrests
PHUKET: A dozen people were arrested in a raid on a gambling den located at a house in Wichit yesterday afternoon Most of the gamblers were tour guides, it was reported. The raid by a joint task force comprising 41st Military Circle and Wichit Police officers was carried out after a month of surveillance following complaints by neighbors of illegal…
- Phuket News
Monks, clerics bless Samkong Underpass for tunnel’s official opening
PHUKET: Officials, monks, clerics and guests gathered at Samkong Underpass for the official grand opening ceremony of the traffic tunnel in central Phuket this morning. Phuket Vice Governor Teera Anantaseriwidhya and Highways Department Chief Construction Engineer Parinya Sangsuwan were among those present at the event, for which the underpass was closed off from 10pm last night until noon today (story…
- Bangkok News
Demolition execs charged over 4 Bangkok deaths
BANGKOK: Police have charged the managing director and engineer of a demolition firm over the collapse of an eight-storey building in Bangkok that killed four workers on Friday. Boy Ocean Star Company had insisted that it subcontracted the job to another firm, Mega Tools.However, police have charged Boy Ocean Star managing director Mana Kaewmanee and the firm’s engineer Kittipong Yootairomboon…
- Phuket News
One dead, another injured in gruesome Phuket collision
PHUKET: One tourist died and another was severely injured in a horrifying collision with a taxi, while riding their motorbike southbound on Thepkrasattri Road, in front of Baan Jee Teng this afternoon. Part of the deceased’s foot was sliced off and was still attached to the bike, while he also suffered serious injuries to his neck and head. The other…
- Phuket News
Samkong Underpass to be closed for opening ceremony
PHUKET: For the second time since its completion on October 31, the Samkong Underpass will be shut off to the public – this time from 10pm tonight to midday tomorrow for an official grand opening ceremony to be held on-site. The ceremony is scheduled for 7am-9am tomorrow, with Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan and Highways Department Chief Construction Engineer Parinya Sangsuwan…
- Phuket News
Phuket man drowns while diving for clams
PHUKET: A Phuket man drowned while diving for clams in a swamp in Kathu yesterday morning. The incident occurred near a cement factory on Wichitsongkram Road. Police arrived at the scene to find the body of the victim, named only as Wirot, lying on the ground. His friend, Narong, was waiting at the scene. “Mr Narong told us that he…
- Phuket News
German tourist suffers brain hemorrhage after fight over bar tab
PHUKET: A German tourist was knocked unconscious from a severe head injury early yesterday morning, following a noisy brawl with bouncers at a Bangla Road bar. Thomas Rapp, 31, reportedly racked up a 2,000 baht bill following a night of heavy drinking at Dragon Night Bar on Soi Freedom. “Staff and other witnesses told us that Mr Rapp and a…
- Thai Life
Profile: Silvano Stabile – Taking Phuket radio to new heights
PHUKET: It’s not everyday that you meet someone who inspires you and makes you look forward to what life has in store. A chat with Silvano Stabile, Phuket’s radio extraordinairé and the voice behind the popular Phuket radio show Voice of the Lizard, gives you exactly that. He was born in Italy, but moved to France at a young age.…
- Phuket News
Cobra captured in Chalong home
PHUKET: Snake catchers were called out to a house in Chalong yesterday to capture a large adult cobra that had hidden among antique jars in a store room. “We had to be really careful capturing this one, a female cobra, to make sure we didn’t damage the fragile jars, which were Chinese antiques,” said volunteer snake catcher Sayan Thummapan. Mr…
- Thailand News
Two demolition workers killed in Sukhumvit building collapse
BANGKOK: Two construction workers were killed in Bangkok yesterday when an eight-storey building under demolition on Sukhumvit Soi 87 collapsed. Rescue workers, police and fire-fighters continue their search for the workers this morning, as they are believed to be trapped under the debris. It was initially reported that four workers were in the building, said Noppadol Chaipanya, head of the…
- Phuket News
B20k bounty put on prison breaking teen
PHUKET: Police today announced a 20,000 baht reward to help track down a 19-year-old who escaped police custody after he was apprehended in Phuket Town for a failed robbery attempt on Wednesday. The teen, named Chaiwalan Pennuanong, was arrested after he and an accomplice snatched a bag from a female student. The girl chased them down and crashed into their…
