Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
“Impending tsunami’ rumors slammed
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) and Patong Municipality have dismissed as unfounded rumors circulating in Phuket and neighboring provinces that there will be a tsunami today or tomorrow.The rumors were initially sparked by a spam email two weeks ago, citing a soothsayer as predicting that a tsunami would happen between October 13 and 15.Today, in addition to people…
- Phuket News
Carnival “to be more international’
PHUKET: The annual carnival in Patong, held to mark the opening of the tourism high season, will take place this year from November 1 to 3, and has been renamed “Phuket Carnival 2005”.Phuket Tourist Association President Pattanapong Aikwanich explained that the yearly event is to have more of an international flavor. “We need to accept that 80% of Phuket’s tourism…
- Phuket News
Bypass road 6 months behind schedule
PHUKET: Work on the 111-million-baht project to widen the bypass road will be completed about six months behind schedule, in March 2006, the government official in charge of the work estimates.The artery is being widened to 24 meters in order to accommodate Phuket’s ever-growing number of vehicles. The section from Tesco-Lotus to the Darasamut School Intersection will be six lanes wide…
- Phuket News
Bar busted for underage male prostitution
PATONG: Kathu Police raided the Uncle Charlie’s Boys nightclub on Soi Paradise last Saturday night and arrested two employees on charges of pandering, including arranging the provision of sexual services by boys under 15 years of age. The bar owners, a father-and-son team, were later arrested on six charges, including violations of the Penal Code and Labour Act. Police have…
- Phuket News
Sales of gasohol soar in Phuket
PHUKET: Energy Minister Viset Jupiban has confirmed that gasohol is an effective fuel, saving users money and also reducing pollution.Gasohol, also known as E10, is developed in Thailand by the Royal Chitralada Project and is made up of 99.5% pure ethyl alcohol sourced from sugarcane, blended with gasoline in a 1:9 ratio. This results in an alternative fuel with properties…
- Phuket News
Korean guide dies in car smash
WICHIT: (Kom Chad Luek) Korean tour guide Song Won Park, 44, was killed instantly when the gray Honda Accord he was driving slammed into a power pole on Chao Fa West Rd at 2:30 am on Saturday.Witnesses said they saw Park speeding toward Chalong from the Darasamut School intersection. He appeared to lose control on the wet road in front…
- Phuket News
New banknote to commemorate end of slavery
THAILAND: The Bank of Thailand will launch a new 100-baht banknote on October 21 to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Thailand 100 years ago.The side of the banknote featuring HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej will remain unchanged.The reverse side, however, will feature a picture of HM King Chulalongkorn Rama V, who reigned from 1868 to 1910, standing above the slaves…
- Phuket News
Scam artist sparks alert in Kamala
KAMALA: Police are warning people to beware of a scam artist posing as an electrician after one foreign resident was bilked out of 1,000 baht by the man.Pol Capt Pongnarin Sutin of Kamala Police Sub-District told the Gazette that a man posing as an electrician went to the home of a foreign resident and told the man’s Thai wife that…
- Phuket News
Mom Tri plans to open international school
KATA: Famed architect and developer ML Tridhosyuth Devakul has unveiled plans to establish a new International Baccalaureate (IB) school in Phuket.Mom Tri, as he is widely known, was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday for the Villas Grand Cru, a new residential project in the Kata Hills.In 2001, Mom Tri founded the Prem Tinsulanonda International School (Prem Center) in Chiang…
- Phuket News
Landing fees for charter flights halved
PHUKET: In an effort to attract more flights to the island, Airports of Thailand (AOT) has halved landing fees for all international charter flights arriving at Phuket until December 31.The airport Director, Sq/Ldr Pornchai Eua-aree, told the Gazette that the airport had originally suggested halving fees on all services, but that the Cabinet had approved the reduction only for charter…
- Phuket News
Bizarre death in elephant camp
PATONG: Bizarre theories surround the fate of an Asian woman, probably Thai, who was found dead Wednesday morning at the Safari Elephant Camp on Siriraj Rd, between Karon and Patong.Police have speculated that she may have been assaulted by unknown assailants who tried to rape her, and was then crushed to death by one of the elephants.The woman is thought…
- Phuket News
HRH Princess Soamsavali to visit Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Princess Soamsavali will visit Phuket on October 10 to preside over the official opening of two rooms bearing the name of the Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf at Bangkok Phuket Hospital.The two rooms, the King Carl Gustaf Conference Room and the Tsunami Memorial Room, are in the hospital’s new Outpatient Building.King Carl XVI Gustaf, accompanied by Queen Silvia,…
- Phuket News
British Ecstasy dealer jailed
PHUKET: Briton Jason Crosby today pleaded guilty to charges of possession of 50 ya E (Ecstasy) tablets with intent to sell and was sentenced to nearly seven years in jail and fined 390,000 baht by Phuket Provincial Court.The court initially sentenced him to 13 years and eight months in prison and a 780,000-baht fine but, in accordance with standard practice,…
- Phuket News
11,000 hotel rooms for tsunami relatives “difficult to find’
PHUKET: (Gazette/The Nation) The Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) is unsure whether its member hotels will be able to provide the 11,000 hotel rooms requested by the government to accommodate family members of tsunami victims expected to attend the first-year memorial services in December. The official number of tsunami dead in Phuket was 279, with 620 reported missing. The disaster claimed…
- Phuket News
TTVI center to close before December 26
PHUKET: The Chalong-based Thai Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) center will close some time before the anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, police say. Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, Superintendent of the TTVI’s Thai disaster victim identification (DVI) unit, said that a written order from the Cabinet to close the center was received by the TTVI following a decision…
- Phuket News
Phuket boosts security after Bali bomb blasts
PHUKET: Police are stepping up security across the island following three suicide bomb blasts in Bali on Saturday that claimed at least 19 lives and injured 133 people, Pol Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth, the new Phuket Provincial Police Commander, told the Gazette today.He called for tourists not to be put off by seeing a greater police presence on the street.“I…
- Phuket News
Vegetarian Festival begins
PHUKET: Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival has begun with the raising of bamboo go teng poles at each participating temple. Gods are then invited down the poles to join in the celebrations. Shrines around the island performed the same ceremony at exactly 5:09 pm Sunday.Minister of Energy Viset Jupibal chaired the opening ceremony at Phuket City’s Jui Tui Shrine, with more than…
- Phuket News
New police chief asks for feedback
PHUKET: The new commander of Phuket Provincial Police has asked for more help and feedback from Thais and also from foreigners, both tourists and those who live here.Pol Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth, previously Deputy Commander of Phang Nga Provincial Police, took up his new post in Phuket today.Maj Gen Decha was at Phang Nga Provincial Police for a year, and…
- Phuket News
Patong-Kamala redevelopment to start this month
PHUKET: Work on the long-awaited Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) post-tsunami redevelopment projects for Patong and Kamala beaches will get under way in October, with first-phase landscaping work on both projects to be completed by the end of November, officials say.On June 13, the TAT received approval from the Budget Bureau of 194.7 million baht for the three-phase Patong project…
- Phuket News
HRH Princess Sirindhorn to visit Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will visit Phuket and Phang Nga in October and again in November, Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura announced this morning.On October 26, Princess Sirindhorn will be in Phuket to take part in a Tod Kathin ceremony, during which people donate money to a wat, at Wat Luang Phu Supa in Chalong, residence of Abbot Luang…
- Phuket News
Phuket “disaster academy’ opens
THALANG: The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Academy, Phuket Campus, opened on Monday at the old Phuket Provincial Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) in Tambon Sri Soonthorn. It is one of six schools nationwide set up to help prevent disasters and minimize their effects.The plan for this scheme was approved by Cabinet in July last year and by the…
- Phuket News
Dead man found floating in canal
KOH SIREH: Local villagers yesterday morning found the body of an unidentified dead man floating in Klong Tha Chin, which separates Koh Sireh from Phuket.The body had 10 stab wounds to the neck and the base of the skull.The police believe that the victim, between 25 and 30 years of age, was killed more than two days before his body…
- Thailand News
Monkey on your back
CHIANG RAI: Having a monkey on one’s back might sound like the very definition of hardship, but for a dog in Mae Sai it is a labor of love. Guests at the Kung Pao 38 Restaurant in Mae Sai are greeted by a rather unusual welcoming committee when they arrive: a four-year-old Labrador retriever and “Jockey”, an orphaned baby monkey…
- Thailand News
The young lad and the sea
PATONG: A 15-year-old German boy tried to drown himself at Patong Beach after his parents forbade him to see again a ladyboy he had met on Soi Bangla. On the evening of September 12, the boy – whose name was not released because he is a minor – was ordered to stay in his room by his parents, who feared…
- Phuket News
Phuket gets another “sister’
PHUKET CITY: Nearly three years after the idea was first floated, Phuket and Hainan Island, in China, are now “sisters”.The special status relationship was ratified on Sunday with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura and Hainan Governor Wei Liucheng, at the Royal Phuket City Hotel.The MoU, which became effective immediately, states having the…
- Phuket News
Medium restraint during veg fest – Governor
PHUKET (Gazette, Kom Chad Luek): Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has urged mediums at this year’s Vegetarian Festival not to be too extreme during the street parades that are to take place from October 3-11. At the same time the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phuket believes the festival will attract more than 50,000 tourists.Gov Udomsak, said he ordered supervising officials…
- Phuket News
Tentative steps toward ending airport taxi deadlock
PHUKET: The Phuket Vehicle Service Co-operative and Confederation (PVSCC) has held its first meeting to try to solve the impasse between airport limousine drivers and meter taxi operators.The committee comprises members of the Airport Limousine and Business Service Co-operative, Phuket Taxi Service Co-operative (green license plate car service), Phuket Small Four-wheel Co-operative (tuk-tuk service), and Patong Motor Taxi Service. The…
- Phuket News
Anti-terrorist drill “a success’
AO MAKHAM: Although admitting that there were some “communication problems”, Phuket Provincial Administration Officer (Palad) Vichan Busapavanich hailed today’s anti-terrorist exercise at Phuket Deep Sea Port in Ao Makham as “a success”.The hypothetical scenario involved of a band of terrorists taking hostages in a building at the port, where they detonate an explosive device. In the exercise, the building was…
- Phuket News
“Too many mobile phones’ for tsunami SMS warning system
PHUKET CITY: Ministers and high-ranking officials are able receive a tsunami warning SMS from the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) but other mobile phone users are not yet able to receive messages because of delays.Dr Smith Thammasaroj, appointed to establish the NDWC, made his comments at a recent seminar held at the Phuket Royal City Hotel. The seminar was attended by…
- Phuket News
Soi Dog Foundation closed as ‘warning’
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) on September 16 ordered the Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) in Tambon Rassada to suspend operations on the grounds that it is not in compliance with Thai law because it is not registered under the name of a Thai veterinarian.PPLO Chief Sunart Wongchawalit told the Gazette that Phuket has up to 17 animal rescue…
