Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Pencak Silat moved to Turkey
PHUKET: The 13th Pencak Silat Martial Arts World Championship, set to open in Phuket this Saturday, has been moved to Turkey due to the coup.The competition was originally scheduled to be held November 18 to 26, with more than 500 competitors from 25 countries registered for the event.Pencak Silat is a group of martial arts of Indo-Malaysian origin that can…
- Phuket News
Swedish bar owner in knife fight
PATONG: Bar owner Nicolas Cazus, 40, from Sweden, slashed a Thai man with a knife in a fight over a collision with a motorcycle in the early hours of November 7.Pol Lt Col Pisit Chunpet told the Gazette that police responded to a call from Cazus’s bar on Soi Sainamyen at 3:45 am.He explained that Cazus had just parked his…
- Phuket News
Jazz Royale Festival schedule announced
KARON: The Jazz Royale Festival – organized to honor HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday – will be held at Karon Beach on December 16 and 17, 2006.Among the big names to perform in the show are Kenny G, The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, and jazz great Ahmad Jamal.Tickets are priced at 1,500 baht and are available from the…
- Phuket News
Barami 8 squatters spared – for now
KALIM: Fearful of inciting a riot, municipal officials yesterday decided not to remove three squatters homes along Soi Phra Barami 8.The three homes, the first of 61 to be removed to make way for a government road-widening project, was ordered on Monday by Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat at a meeting at Kathu District office.Owners of the…
- Phuket News
Weapons seized in Kathu
KATHU: Four men were arrested yesterday after a routine inspection of their pickup at the Phra Barami Rd vehicle control point uncovered four pistols, ammunition, a walkie-talkie and two pairs of latex gloves.Tung Tong Police Deputy Inspector for Crime Suppression Pol Capt Wiwut Chumnankit said police pulled over the red-gray Mitsubishi pickup, with a Phuket license plate, at the checkpoint…
- Phuket News
American caught with fake “visa’
PHUKET CITY: Following an American man being caught with a fake permit-to-stay stamp in his work permit application, the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) has warned all foreign workers – and the companies that employ them – to remember that forgery of Immigration stamps and documents is a serious crime.At the “Governor Meets the Press” meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall…
- Phuket News
Pian authorizes Phra Barami 8 evictions
KALIM: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has reluctantly agreed to demolish three squatters’ homes on Soi Phra Barami 8, the site of a proposed road-widening project that has been delayed by the numerous illegal dwellings there.The three houses are among 61 that face eventual destruction, but are the only dwellings that the court has thus far ordered demolished. Workers will begin…
- Phuket News
Dive operators get court reprieve
PHUKET: The Administrative Court in Nakhon Sri Thammarat has ruled the new regulations affecting Phuket dive operators suspended indefinitely, pending the results of a court case challenging their legality.News of the suspension came from Aekachai Soonthorn, who has been appointed defense attorney for the province in the case. Aekachai is also Secretary to the Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad),…
- Phuket News
Chetwynd-Talbot still in Phuket jail
PHUKET CITY: Briton Paul Chetwynd-Talbot is still being held at Phuket Provincial Prison, though he is expected to be transfered to the more comfortable Klong Prem Prison in Ladyao, Bangkok, before the end of the year.Paisarn Suwannaraksa, Director of Phuket Prison, told the Gazette, “It will be more comfortable for the prisoner because he is a foreigner, and easier for…
- Phuket News
Rape-murder case awaiting forensics results
RAWAI: Police investigating the rape and murder of Phuket native Tada Sa-nguansak, 49, whose body was found in broad daylight on Friendship Beach June 28, are awaiting the results of forensics tests being carried out in Bangkok.Pol Lt Col Peerapan Meemak of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “We are waiting for tests results from the Forensic Laboratory Institute in…
- Thailand News
A bloody offal story
CHALONG: Residents of Chalong Village 10 called police on the evening of October 11 to report a pile of apparently-human organs tossed into a thicket along Saneh Soi 10. Shocked and in fear that a serial killer was on the loose, they were somewhat relieved to eventually learn that the abandoned innards were of canine, not human, origin. Responding to…
- Thailand News
I’ve got WHAT in my hair?
Hair styling has long been a key part of the female beauty regimen, regardless of what fashions have come and gone. Hair accessories, however, do not usually come flavored, lubricated or coated in spermicidal jelly – well, not until now. The latest rage in hair products was brought to light by some young women in Chiang Mai, who discovered that…
- Thailand News
18 wheels of karma
A would-be car thief was given a crushing dose of justice on the motorway between Bangkok and Pattaya, after his bid to rip off a taxi driver’s vehicle ended with him being flattened by an 18-wheel truck. Taxi driver Nirit Luangjan, 40, picked up a passenger in Bangkok one day early last month, driving the fare all the way to…
- Thailand News
Mystery of the missing robbers
A young Irishman who was treated for a head injury at Patong Hospital told police he was attacked and robbed while entering his hotel room. However, Police discounted his version of events – saying he was probably too drunk to remember what actually happened. Pol Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Kathu Police identified the self-proclaimed “victim” as an Irishman…
- Phuket News
US Olympic champs through to FIVB semi-finals
KARON: Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, top seeds for the FIVB Phuket Thailand Open being held at Karon Beach this weekend, secured a place in the semi-finals by defeating fourth-seeded Nila Ann Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen of Norway 21-17, 19-21, 15-11 in 48 minutes.The win extended Walsh and May-Treanor’s winning streak in the tourney to 11 matches The duo…
- Phuket News
B1m fugitive arrested in Phitsanuloke
PHITSANULOKE (The Nation): Fugitive murder suspect Thai-American national Saner Wonggoun was arrested yesterday at a market in Phitsanuloke province.The former US Air Force non-commissioned officer pleaded guilty to a murder charge filed by local police in California for the murder of his pregnant wife Sopha in 1994, police said.The arrest came just seven days after Thai and US authorities announced…
- Phuket News
Jimmy Carter visits tsunami-struck village in Phuket
TAH CHAT CHAI: Former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday visited villagers at the north end of the island who lost their homes to the tsunami. New homes were provided for them by Habitat for Humanity, a charity headed by Carter.Villages gave a heartfelt welcome to Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who were accompanied by US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce,…
- Phuket News
Phuket beaches fail “5-star’ award
PHUKET: Visitors seeking a “five-star” beach experience in Thailand will have to head to either Krabi or Satun, as none of the eight beaches in Phuket monitored by the Pollution Control Department (PCD) will be awarded the coveted “5-Star Tourist Beach” rating for 2006.Dr Pornsook Chongprasith, Director of the PCD’s Marine Environment Division, told the Gazette that only three beaches…
- Phuket News
Misbehaving medium beaten and arrested
KATHU (Kom Chad Luek): Tung Tong Police are preparing to file charges of “deceiving the public” against a mah song (“spirit medium”) who pretended to skewer his tongue with a sword during this year’s vegetarian festival, but in fact ran the blade through a pig’s tongue that he had secretly concealed in his mouth to fool onlookers.The incident was reported…
- Phuket News
Hazy days
PHUKET: The mysterious haze that descended on Phuket yesterday is the result of a high-pressure system centered in China and local atmospheric effects and not related to forest fires in Sumatra, the island’s top weatherman has told the Gazette.Chumnong Chitpukdee, Director of Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) Phuket, said that low visibility along much of Thailand’s Andaman Coast was from…
- Phuket News
New Governor warns of ‘problems’
PHUKET: Bangkok native Niran Kalayanamit was promoted to Governor of Phuket yesterday following the weekly Cabinet meeting in Bangkok.Cabinet approved the promotion as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle of 60 Ministry of Interior officials.Governor Niran, 52, has been Phuket Vice-Governor for the past five years, moving to the province after tenure as Director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the…
- Phuket News
New board members take control of Blue Canyon
THALANG: Yongyos Palanitisena has announced that a four-man committee comprising himself, Chaichana Ratanatraiwirat, Wisut Srisangkaew and Nuntaporn Asumpinapong will oversee the running of Blue Canyon Country Club (BCCC) in place of the full board of Murex, the company that owns the BCCC.Yongyos made the announcement following an October 29 meeting, at The Metropole hotel, attended by seven newly-appointed members and…
- Phuket News
Valentino and wife released on bail
BANGKOK (The Nation): Well-known Phuket resident Tan Teik Hai, aka “Valentino”, and his wife Suwaphat Kheereephon were released on bail of 600,000 each on October 29 following their arrest on charges of encroaching on a vast plot of beachfront land on Koh Yao Yai in Phang Nga.Tan, a Malaysian national who serves as the honorary consul to Morocco, and his wife,…
- Phuket News
Illegal Nai Harn resort raided
NAI HARN: Two construction foremen were arrested and their equipment seized on Wednesday in a raid by forestry officials on a resort complex being built illegally on protected forest land above Baan Krating Jungle Beach at Ao Sane, accessible from the road that runs through Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club.The raid was carried out by 30 volunteers and officials…
- Phuket News
B1m reward for US-Thai fugitive
BANGKOK: Thai and US law enforcement officials today announced a 1-million-baht reward for information leading to the capture of Saner Wonggoun, a most-wanted US fugitive believed to be hiding in Thailand. Saner, alias “Shorty” or “Buck”, is wanted in connection with the 1994 murder of his pregnant wife and their eight-month-old unborn child. Saner, born in Nakon Nayok Province in…
- Phuket News
Thousands turn out to mark Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET CITY: More than 10,000 people took part in a parade on Monday as part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. The parade included representatives of 18 shrines, many businesses as well as students from schools around Phuket . The procession started at 4 pm at Queen Sirikit Park on Thalang Road and walked along Phuket Rd to Saphan Hin, where…
- Phuket News
Nominee crackdown halves new company registrations
PHUKET: Only 76 new companies were registered in September – compared with 135 and 132 during the same month in 2005 and 2004, respectively – following the August 15 announcement from the Ministry of Commerce that rules regarding foreign partnerships would be strictly enforced.Veerachai Tantiwathanavallop, Chief of the Phuket Commercial Registrations Office, told the Gazette that the number of new…
- Phuket News
Phuket Carnival to be record-breaker
PATONG: This year’s Phuket Carnival, a celebration held to ring in the official start of the high season for tourism, is being touted to be the biggest ever with a record 3 million baht in funding provided by the Phuket Tourist Association. This year’s activities will be centered along Thaweewong Rd, between Soi Bangla and the Holiday Inn on Soi…
- Phuket News
The party’s over
KATA-KARON: After six ground-breaking Nation parties – four in Singapore and two in Phuket – the gay and lesbian portal Fridae.com drew the curtains in Phuket when the last track of the three-day event, spun by Australian DJ Kate Monroe, trailed off into cheers at around 8 am this morning at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort & Spa.The 1,500-plus revelers,…
- Phuket News
Another man gunned down
RASSADA: A Kathu man was gunned down while riding his motorcycle near Phuket Rajabhat University around 1:30 am on Wednesday.The man, identified by police as Panumas Chusawas, 23, was killed by at least four .38mm bullets while riding, with a friend riding pillion, along the Ban Kuku-Samkong road.The friend was unharmed and notified police. He declined to reveal his name…
