Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Landslide stops Patong Hill traffic
KATHU: A landslide early this afternoon close to the crest of Patong Hill brought traffic to a standstill as rain continued to blanket Phuket. Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong told the Gazette that earth and large branches tumbled onto Prabaramee Rd, on the Patong side of the hill near the Pun Tao Kong Chinese shrine, causing huge traffic jams in both directions.…
- Phuket News
Auction of car numbers planned
PHUKET: Phuket will be the first province outside Bangkok to stage an auction of desirable car registration numbers. A total of 301 numbers will go on the block at the auction at the end of next month at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. Prasit Amarapan, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO), said that the auction follows two similar,…
- Phuket News
Tourist arrivals up 30pc despite rains
PHUKET: While heavy rains and flooding have stopped many Thai tourists from visiting Phuket and the Andaman region, the number of foreigners arriving on the island is up by 30% compared with the same time last year. Napasorn Kakai, the Deputy Director of the local Tourism Authority of Thailand office, today told the Gazette, “We expected to have more Thai…
- Phuket News
Officials sing Phummisak’s praises
PHUKET TOWN: All the officers of Phuket Town Municipality – about 1,000 of them – turned out to say farewell to Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok at an outdoor buffet at the Phuket Incinerator on Wednesday night. Groups of officers sang K. Phummisak’s praises – literally – in tributes to the man who leaves office on December 24, when he…
- Phuket News
Speed up land probe, Gov urges
PHUKET TOWN: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today urged officials looking into alleged land title abuses on the island to speed up their investigations and to work together in a more analytical way. After talking in detail to some 25 officers at the Provincial Hall, the Governor told media that the land issue needed to be resolved because delays could damage the…
- Phuket News
Robber’s golden luck runs out
PHUKET TOWN: If you bought a fortune-telling ticket that said, “You will have luck in everything you wish to do,” what would you do? According to police, if you were Arthit Srithep, you’d rob a gold shop. Arthit, 24, a native of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, robbed a gold shop in Phuket Town on Tuesday, walking out with bracelets worth 328,500…
- Phuket News
Purachai launches “Happy Families’ project
PHUKET TOWN: Visiting Deputy Prime Minister Purachai Piemsomboon today announced that Phuket will be one of two pilot provinces in the Government’s new “Happy Family Skills Training Project”. The project is intended to provide useful skills to couples who wish to raise happy and healthy families. The other province chosen was Prachin Buri. K. Purachai, formerly Thailand’s second most powerful…
- Phuket News
Phuket seafood passes contaminants test
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket seafood has a clean record so far in a crackdown on the use of preservatives and other chemical additives, Pramual Rakjai, chief of Phuket Provincial Fishing Port, said today. He told the Governor’s regular media conference that fishing boats, dealers and vendors would come under scrutiny as the checks continue in the national campaign. The project, which…
- Thailand News
Fight night down at the wat
SRISAKET: Monks may not often lose their tempers but two did go head-to-head in a heated dispute recently over who got to sit closer to the temple abbot during a merit-making ceremony. The unfortunate incident occurred at Wat Jiang Isrimongkolworaraam in Srisaket province, where devotees had gathered for lunch and a merit-making ritual, to be performed by chief provincial monk…
- Thailand News
Man discovers screw worm
NAKHON NAYOK: Watch out Pfizer – a fireman who recently gobbled down fistfuls of live earthworms on TV claims the slimy, dirt-eating creatures give him extra stamina in bed. And unlike Viagra, they don’t cost 400 baht each. Paisit Chanta, 39, said he’d been eating worms since he was 10, when he got hungry while fishing. His wife, Chuleeporn Chanta,…
- Thailand News
A cow of a day
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: Cows, women, motorcycle owners and rubber plantation workers in Nakhon Sri Thammarat’s Tung Song will sleep better this month in the knowledge that an ex-convict is back in police custody after confessing to a spate of motorbike thefts and some thoroughly repugnant crimes. Tung Song police pulled over the suspect, 37-year-old Boontham Chanasongkraam, as he was riding…
- Phuket News
Amsterdam murders trigger Phuket raid
CHALONG: A Bangkok-based Dutch police officer joined four Drug Suppression Unit officers in a weekend raid on the Phuket home of a Dutchman who was murdered in Amsterdam and was suspected of involvement in the international illegal drugs trade. Saturday’s 6 am raid on the home of Jules Leo Jie at Land and Houses Park led to the discovery of…
- Phuket News
Carnival set to open high season
PHUKET TOWN: About 5.2 million baht is to be spent on this year’s Patong Carnival from November 1 to 3 to mark the opening of the tourist high season. Live music will be performed nightly over the Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Other highlights will include a beach-cleaning campaign, fireworks, a mini-marathon, the Miss Andaman Patong Contest and beach volleyball and…
- Phuket News
Farang heavies in Muay Thai tangle tonight
SAPHAN HIN: Two Europeans heavyweights will tangle in the main event of tonight’s Thai boxing fights at Saphan Hin Stadium, starting at 8 pm. The match, the first international Muay Thai event held on the island, is expected to be a cracker, pitting two 24-year-old boxers from rival gyms in Kata. Fighting out of the Phuket Muay Thai Gym will…
- Phuket News
Healthy profit tipped for airport
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket International Airport is expected to increase its profit by 1.4% this year despite the Sars crisis, a gathering to mark the airport’s 15th anniversary heard on Wednesday. Lt Cdr Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, Phuket, said that revenue for the first eight months of this year was 784 million baht, well on track…
- Phuket News
Foreign husbands still tied in knots
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Constitution Court yesterday issued a ruling that won’t make it any easier for foreign men married to Thai wives to become Thai citizens. The ruling effectively means that men born overseas will still be subject to complicated citizenship procedures. Foreign women married to Thai men are currently allowed to seek Thai nationality without having to go…
- Phuket News
PTA chief calls for more open skies
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Tourist Association President Pattanapong Aikwanich believes Thai Airways should only fly international routes and leave domestic flights to smaller, more competitive airlines. He aired this belief today in welcoming the return of Phuket Air to two local high-season routes, adding that if aviation were divided in this way, Phuket would more quickly become a hub for southern…
- Phuket News
Karma raid suspects out on bail
PHUKET: The three people arrested in Sunday morning’s raid on the Karma Lounge Music CafĂ© in Karon have been released on bail. One of those charged, Reinhard Haiber, spoke with the Gazette, and confirmed that both he and his girlfriend, Tassanee “Lek” Pompasa, were released yesterday after posting bail of 200,000 baht each. Haiber said that the American arrested in…
- Phuket News
Expo center to be built at Saphan Hin
PHUKET: Phuket’s International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) will be built on land reclaimed from the sea off Saphan Hin, a site favored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) but opposed by many island residents. The controversial decision is understood to have been made yesterday when Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak met with the TAT Governor Juthamas Siriwan, Phuket…
- Cannabis News
Three held after Karma Lounge drug raid
KARON: The Karma Lounge Music CafĂ© in Karon is likely to be closed after police raiding the place allegedly found the illegal drugs Ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and marijuana there, as well as a lesbian sex show underway, Governor CEO Udomsak Usawarangkura said. Police carried out the raid at 2:30 am on Sunday and said they seized a gram of cocaine,…
- Phuket News
Alleged murder masterminds get bail
PHUKET TOWN: Murder suspects Wipa Jantong and her husband Sompong Jantong, charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the May 5 slaying of Prasert and Thavorn Trairat, were released from the Phuket Provincial Court Prison on Friday after posting bail of 1.5 million baht each. The couple were arrested on October 1 in front of the offices of the Phuket…
- Phuket News
Offshore oil plan causes alarm
KARON : A plan to unload large quantities of crude oil in the open sea north of Phuket and store it in Phang Nga has brought expressions of concern from Pamuke Achariyachai, Chairman of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, at a meeting with senior government ministers over the weekend. But his objections may be too late. “We are afraid of…
- Phuket News
Patong faces anti-drugs “X-ray’
KATHU: Patong will come under “X-ray” scrutiny in the government’s current campaign to eliminate drugs, Phuket Governor CEO Udomsak Usawarangura said yesterday. Speaking at an anti-drugs concert at the Kathu District Office, the Governor said, “Phuket is moving to get rid of the 5% left [of people involved in drugs]. The marked area is Patong, where we must strictly ‘re-X-ray’.…
- Phuket News
Flooding swamps Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: More torrential rain overnight triggered landslips and flooding that has left many streets in Phuket Town looking like rivers, with gridlock being the order of the day. Cleaning up and making repairs will cost 50 million baht in municipal funds, new Governor CEO Udomsak Usawarangkura said this morning. The latest downpour topped up a wild and wet start…
- Koh Samui News
Dulwich mulls opening school on Samui
KOH SAMUI: Dulwich International College (DIC) may open its doors on Koh Samui following a recent decision by the college’s governing body to go ahead with a feasibility study. “The study will, we hope, provide the evidence to support such a venture. The initial response from all parties has been overwhelmingly [favorable],” said DIC Headmaster, David Cook. If the study…
- Phuket News
Four arrested for double homicide
THALANG: Four people have been arrested in connection with the May 5 shooting murders of Prasert and Thavorn Trairat, 67-year-old parents of Thepkrasattri Mayor Prasong Trairat, at their shophouse home in Thalang. One more suspect, identified as the shooter, remains at-large. According to police sources, the hit on the elderly couple was carried out by a team of three hired…
- Phuket News
Third bus route under consideration
PHUKET TOWN: The town’s bus service may be expanded to include a third route, it was announced yesterday. The announcement followed the signing of a one-year extension of the contract between Andaman Trans (Thailand) and the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) to manage the OrBorJor‘s bus company. OrBorJor Deputy President Samroeng Chaisorn told the Gazette, “The bus service is going…
- Phuket News
Phuket masseuses get hands-on training
PHUKET TOWN: Practitioners of traditional Thai massage are getting some hands-on training this week, thanks to a workshop sponsored by the Department of Skill Development [DSD] and the Royal Spa and Health Club. The training, being held October 2-6 on the 2nd floor of the Big C Supercenter, is intended to improve the skills and professionalism of the island’s masseuses.…
- Phuket News
Phuket flooded in wet season washout
PHUKET: Torrential rain throughout the morning left houses on the island knee-deep in floodwater, blocked major roads, caused landslides and turned much of Phuket Town into a giant traffic jam. Metha Mekarat, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), told the Gazette that he had received reports that 18 bungalows on low-lying land in Soi Tanod,…
- Phuket News
New Gov aims for transparent administration
PHUKET TOWN: Transparency in government and sorting out Phuket Town’s traffic congestion were the issues that the island’s new Governor CEO, Udomsak Usawarangkura, chose to highlight on his first day in office yesterday. Phuket needs to involve locals and visitors in an open style of government, and to ensure the safety of the four million overseas tourists who visit each…
