Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Phuket Carnival kicks off in Patong
PHUKET: The celebration to launch Phuket’s tourism high season starts today and runs through November 3, from 9 am to midnight daily. Previously known as the Patong Carnival, it has been revamped and dubbed Phuket Carnival 2005.The annual parade, from near Phuket Simon Cabaret, along Prachanukhro Rd to Thaweewong Rd and then north to Soi Bangla, takes place from 4…
- Phuket News
Travel deal “should boost Chinese tourist numbers’
PHUKET: Nineteen Chinese tour operators yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to sell 25 standardized travel packages to Chinese tourists. The MOU, signed at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, will be effective for six months starting today.Prapan Yukumyat, President of the Phuket Office of the Thai-China Tourism Association, told the Gazette that since the year 2000 the number of…
- Phuket News
Austrian in bizarre suicide
PATONG: An Austrian tourist died of knife wounds to the chest at around midnight on Saturday. Police say that he purposely inflicted the wounds on himself.The dead man was named as Wolfgang Rodlauer, 36, a ski instructor. Pol Lt Col Prathung Pholmana of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that Mr Rodlauer was seen walking about the streets of Patong…
- Thailand News
Rough justice for knicker nicker
SAMUT PRAKAN: Stealing women’s underwear might be considered nothing but a prank in some countries, but it is a serious crime in Samut Prakan’s Muang District, where residents of Tambon Bangpoomai took the law into their own hands and nearly beat to death a man after he was caught pilfering panties. Yoybangpoo District Police reported the man’s arrest, which occurred…
- Thailand News
The Poodle Poo incident on Soi Green Soda
KARON: The owner of two Karon beer bars has filed a complaint with the Chalong Police against a neighbor who, she says, threw dog excreta at her. Yindee Sutipakdi, 39, filed the complaint against 22-year-old Piyathida Muangbang, after the latter drove up to her home on a motorcycle and hurled a bag containing poodle poo at her. The two women…
- Thailand News
Not so sty-lish behavior
KHON KAEN: A man accused by villagers of having sex with a neighbor’s pig has agreed to pay the owner 500 baht in compensation. Sa-ngad Hapanna, 39, a resident of Baan Tonnoi in Muang district, filed a complaint with the village headman after neighbors alerted her the night before that they saw the man having sex with one of her…
- Thailand News
Monkey man says he’s there to stay
KAMALA: A man living alone in a tree high up in the Kamala Hills has drawn so much interest that the local tambon president has had to order improvements to the path leading to his jungle hideaway, lest his many curious visitors continue injuring themselves in their efforts to reach him. News of the modern-day Tarzan hit the headlines on…
- Phuket News
Local phone book swamps server
PHUKET: Following a bulletin last Wednesday announcing that the deadline for listings in the 2006 Gazette Guide (local “yellow” pages) would be tonight, October 31, the Gazette web server has been under heavy pressure and has suffered sporadic downtime. In what may be a reflection of the recent surge in local business confidence, approximately 480 new listings and/or updates have been entered…
- Phuket News
Tourism industry worries about labor shortage
PHUKET: The island’s tourism industry is suffering a shortage of skilled staff because many workers left the island during the slump after the tsunami, Dechar Peukpattanaruk, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Labor Office, said today.He said that although many people are applying for the estimated 4,000 vacancies in Phuket’s tourism industry, very few of them have the appropriate qualifications or…
- Phuket News
Princess enjoys playtime with Thai orphans
PHUKET: Princess Maja Synke von Hohenzollern of Germany was in Phuket yesterday to enjoy a few hours of fun with 23 orphans being taken care of by the Beluga School for Life at Na Nai in Phang Nga. The school was established soon after the tsunami and is being funded for 10 years by Niels Stolberg, the managing director of…
- Phuket News
Police nab 7-Eleven Gang
PHUKET CITY: Police have rounded up a seven-member gang – three of them women – in connection with armed robberies of four 7-Eleven convenience stores over a five-day period, starting last Friday (October 21).Four of the gang were paraded before the press and identified as Jarin Tunrat, 26; Rungrudee Kaewchu, 27; Monya Lao-ngam, 18; and Komsan Pornlert, 27. All are…
- Phuket News
Tsunami siren test declared a success
PHUKET: One of Patong’s three tsunami warning towers was tested this morning, its siren being triggered remotely from the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok.Adm Thaweesak Daengchai, Adviser to the NDWC, told the Gazette he was pleased with the test and with the fact that, this time, most people seemed to know that it was a drill…
- Phuket News
Princess arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn arrived in Phuket today to take part in a Tod Kathin ceremony, during which people donated money to Wat Luang Phu Supa in Chalong.The wat is the residence of Abbot Luang Phu Supa who, at 111 years of age, is the oldest Abbot on the island.After the ceremony the Princess traveled to Baan Nam…
- Phuket News
Patong tsunami alarms to be tested
PATONG: The three existing tsunami warning towers along Patong beach will be tested between 10 am and 11:30 am on Friday this week. The testing, to be conducted jointly by the Municipality and officials from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry, is aimed at ensuring that the towers’ direct satellite links to the Nonthaburi-based National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC)…
- Phuket News
Jetstar begins flights to Phuket
PHUKET: Singapore-based economy airline Jetstar Asia yesterday began its four-times-weekly service from Singapore to Phuket, with tickets selling for as little as S$30 (about 725 baht) until December 15. Jetstar Asia flights leave Singapore every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:05 am, arriving in Phuket at 7:45 am. The return flight leaves Phuket at 8:45 am, arriving in Singapore…
- Phuket News
Mystery surrounds photographer’s murder
PHUKET CITY: A freelance photographer was gunned down on October 21 while watching TV in his house behind Suan Luang park.Pol Sub Lt Aumporn Musikapan of the Phuket City Police Station named the victim as Thavil Laksanavimol, 36, from Nakorn Sri Thammarat Province.He was watching TV at about 10:15 pm with the 14-year-old daughter of a neighbor when his assailant,…
- Phuket News
Rape charges dropped
PATONG: Rape charges against two Thai singers have been dropped at the request of the alleged victim, 18-year-old “Anna” (not her real name), a tourist from Holland. Pol Lt Weerapong Rakhito of Kathu Police Station said, “The case was closed because the victim came to us with her lawyers to ask to have the charges dismissed. I did not ask…
- Phuket News
TTVI center closure may be postponed
PHUKET: The Thai Tsunami Victims Identification (TTVI) Center has asked the government to postpone the Bangkok center’s closure from December 26 to February 28 because it will not be able to finish its work by the end of the year.Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, Superintendent of the TTVI’s Thai disaster victim identification (DVI) unit, said that the TTVI submitted its request…
- Phuket News
Bird ‘flu precautions stepped up
PHUKET: Following the death of a farmer in Kanchanaburi province from bird ‘flu and the infection of his son with the disease, Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has ordered officials to step up measures to ensure there is no outbreak of the disease in Phuket.No cases of avian ‘flu have ever been recorded on the island.“I’m very serious about this, because…
- Phuket News
Security camera plan gets a boost
PHUKET: The provincial government has moved forward with its plans to introduce surveillance cameras in tourist areas to increase security and boost the island’s image as a safe holiday destination.Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura, during his weekly “CEO meeting” attended by provincial government and other public officials, said that the estimated budget of 50.7 million baht will cover constructing, equipping, maintaining and…
- Phuket News
Meridien Khao Lak owner raps TAT
KHAO LAK: The owner of another leading Khao Lak resort has backed the opinions of La Flora owner Sompong Daowpiset over the lack of support the resort area has received from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) since the tsunami.Speaking just after the reopening of his Le Meridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort on Friday, ML Vitya Chakrabandhu told…
- Phuket News
New vice-governors arrive
PHUKET: As Vice-Governor Supachai Yuvaboon prepares to move on to a new post in Bangkok, two new vice-governors have arrived to replace him and Vinai Buapradit, who was promoted to Governor of Phang Nga on October 1.The two new vice-governors are Vorapoj Rattasima and Pongsak Playmek, who were previously vice-governors of Samut Songkram and Samut Sakorn respectively.K. Supachai, who arrived…
- Phuket News
Gov solves sand hassles
PHUKET: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has given approval in principle for Australian resident Stafford Steer to buy sand from Nai Harn Beach and spread it on a beach volleyball court he plans to open soon.At a meeting with the Governor yesterday, Mr Steer explained that he will require some 20 truckloads of sand to cover the 360-square-meter court off Soi Suksan…
- Phuket News
Major plans revealed for Ao Phuket
PHUKET CITY (Gazette, Nation): After a lull of 10 months, the Ao Phuket development project – a plan to build a mini-city on reclaimed land in the bay off Saphan Hin, is once again gathering momentum. Plans include a convention and exhibition center, and a casino.Today at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall. chaired by the Interior Ministry Deputy Chief…
- Phuket News
At least four dead in Burmese massacre
RASSADA: Four Burmese fishermen were murdered yesterday in what appears to have been the slaughter of the crew of one boat by the crew of another at the fishing port.One badly injured man is in Wachira Phuket Hospital, and police believe that more bodies may yet turn up.Phuket City Police Station Inspector, Pol Maj Yongyuth Krongmalai, told the Gazette this…
- Phuket News
Tsunami memorial website launched
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial government has launched a website to commemorate the December 26 tsunami. The website, www.phuketremembers.com, which is in Thai and English, has a section for the posting of personal tributes, including photos of people lost to the tsunami; a memorial guestbook where people may post personal thoughts; and a photo gallery showing the damage caused on December…
- Phuket News
Police press for Talbot to be tried for murder
PHUKET CITY: Kathu Police today turned over to the Provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office the case file on Paul Chetwynd-Talbot, who stands accused of the murder of his girlfriend, fellow Briton Debra O’Hanlon, on July 31.Chetwynd-Talbot has been held in custody since he surrendered at the Kathu Police Station on the evening of August 3 and confessed to killing 31-year-old Ms…
- Phuket News
La Flora owner lashes out at govt, TAT
KHAO LAK: The Minister of Interior, ACM Kongsak Wantana, said yesterday that he was proud of the speed with which Thailand was recovering from last December’s tsunami.Speaking at the reopening of the 200-million-baht La Flora Resort & Spa, which originally opened the day before the tsunami, the Minister said, “After inspecting many places [in Thailand] affected by the tsunami I…
- Phuket News
Scandinavian charter airline sees record bookings
PHUKET: Copenhagen-based My Travel Airways, one of Europe’s largest charter operators, is seeing record bookings to Phuket for the imminent high season, says its Head of Information, Torben Andersen.“The sales situation in Scandinavia is very good,” Mr Andersen told the Gazette by email. “In Denmark we have sold seven out of 10 seats for the coming season. That is 10-15%…
- Phuket News
Ruampaet hospital to close
PHUKET CITY: After being open for 26 years, Phuket’s first private hospital, Phuket Ruampaet Medical Center on Phuket Rd, will close on November 30.Dr Mitr Theva-Aksorn, the hospital’s Director, told the Gazette, “We don’t have the money to continue the lease on the building, so we have to stop operating.”The hospital opened on November 22, 1979, with 36 inpatient beds.…
