- Phuket News
Missing boat passenger found drowned
LAEM PROMTHEP: Lifeguards from Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club yesterday found the body of missing 19-year-old Narthanong Kaewkanha floating off Koh Man, 300 meters from Laem Phromthep. K. Narthanong, a cleaner at Karon Municipality, went missing on Sunday evening after rough seas and strong winds sank the boat she was riding in. The body of the boat’s owner, Somsak…
- Phuket News
Sunset trip ends in tragedy
LAEM PROMTHEP: A man drowned and a young woman is still missing after a fishing boat sank 800 meters off Laem Phromthep around 7 pm yesterday. The body of the boat’s owner, Somsak Nakaew, 30, was discovered about 11 am today at Yanui beach. Narthanong Kaewkanha, 19, remains missing. She is believed to have drowned. Pol Lt Col Narong Nerdbuth,…
- Phuket News
Residents object to promotion of sex surgery
PHUKET (AFP): Residents of Phuket have reportedly objected to plans to promote bargain-priced sex-change surgery as a means of attracting more tourists to the island. The campaign risked harming the reputation of the southern resort, known for its white-sand beaches, reefs, nightlife and restaurants, they told the Thai-language daily ‘Khao Sod’. “I disagree with the idea of promoting tourism by…
- Phuket News
Bar crackdown dismays party-loving Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP): A government crackdown on pub closing hours in Bangkok, which has dismayed tourists and infuriated nightspot owners, drew warnings today that the campaign could also do major damage to the economy. In recent weeks, squads of police have descended on popular bar districts to enforce antiquated laws which stipulate that last drinks must be ordered at midnight and…
- Phuket News
Three arrested for bar owner’s murder
PHUKET TOWN: Thanks to a combination of sheer good luck and one officer’s good memory, police have arrested Taweewut Saeton, 31, and two minors aged 15 and 16 in connection with the rape and murder on Saturday of Pranorm Anuan, 24, the owner of the Shark Otto Bar in Soi Eric, Patong. Taweewut and one of the minors are from…
- Thailand News
Naughty cameras target women in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP): Police said today that they are investigating reports that hidden cameras have been placed in department store changing rooms to spy on women as they try on clothing and underwear. The Metropolitan Police have sent undercover women officers into the city’s stores to check for any suspicious equipment in the fitting rooms, said Pol Lt Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen.…
- Thailand News
Man with world’s longest hair dies
CHIANG MAI: A Thai hilltribesman who held the record for having the world’s longest hair has died of a stroke, leaving his elder brother to claim the title, police and local reports said Wednesday. Hmong tribesman Hoo Sateow, 77, whose lengthy locks were measured by Guinness World Records in 1997 at 5.15 meters, died in his village outside Chiang Mai…
- Phuket News
Chamber meeting fails to resolve chaos
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce held an extraordinary meeting yesterday at The Metropole hotel to resolve its membership problems, but the tense evening ended only in further disagreement. Only 59 of the 220 members attended, barely a quorum under the Chamber’s constitution. The new chairman, Pamuke Achariyachai, announced that all memberships that had previously been voided because of…
- Phuket News
One small step for a tunnel
PATONG: The planned Kathu-Patong tunnel has taken a small step closer to reality with the publication of an “inception report”, the first report on progress in the 3-million-baht pre-feasibility study for the project. The inception report was prepared jointly by Skanska Teknik Co Ltd of Sweden and Bangkok-based Water Development Consultants Co Ltd. The pre-feasibility study, which is scheduled for…
- Phuket News
Two seized yachts to be auctioned
PHUKET TOWN: Two boats, a classic Hatteras motor yacht and a small sailing yacht, are to be auctioned on August 29 at the Phuket Customs Region 5 offices on Phuket Rd. The boats were seized after their owners, both foreigners, failed to pay Thailand’s crushing 209% boat import taxes. The motor yacht, the ‘Old Crow’, which belonged to a Swiss…
- Phuket News
Thai police, FBI arrest “most-wanted” paedophile
BANGKOK (AFP): An American paedophile rated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as one of its 10 “most wanted” fugitives was arrested this morning in the Thai capital. Thai police working with FBI officers collared 48-year-old pianist Eric Franklin Rosser, who is charged with producing and possessing child pornography and exporting it to the United States. After his…
- Phuket News
Patong bar owner raped and murdered
PHUKET TOWN: The body of Pranorm Anuan, owner of the Shark Otto Bar in Soi Eric, Patong, was found in an old tin mine north of the Tesco-Lotus Supercenter early on Saturday morning. A villager who was jogging in the area found the body and notified the police around 6:20 am. When found, 24-year-old Pranorm was wearing black boots and…
- Phuket News
B500m tourist center planned for Rawai
PHUKET: A Bangkok-based businessman plans to begin work next year on the construction of a 500-million-baht tourist complex that will provide visitors with “everything they need to know” about the island’s history, culture and environment. Ramese Kanjanapokin, Executive Vice President of architectural consultancy Design 103 International Ltd, told the Gazette that the planned complex will cover 10 rai behind the…
- Phuket News
Ex-mayor to remain in custody
PHUKET TOWN: The former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, was today remanded in custody in the Phuket Provincial Prison for a further 12 days while police continue their investigations into charges against him. Dr Anan is accused of hiring hit men to kill former Pol Sub-Lt Weerapol Panrod on Luang Phor Wat Chalong Rd, Phuket Town, in December 1998.…
- Thailand News
Minitry in pubic gaffe
BANGKOK: The Ministry of Public Health issued impressive banners to be hung in hospitals around the country earlier this month. Their purpose was to promote the new 30-baht medical scheme. A few days after the banners were flying, the ministry recalled them – urgently. To make spelling mistakes in government is embarrassing enough, but this particular gaffe caused a serious…
- Phuket News
Andaman ordeal ends on Karon beach
KARON: Four Indonesian fishermen and their boat ended up on Karon beach yesterday after a three-week ordeal at sea, drifting with a broken engine. Pol Maj Sana Pandee of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette today, “I was informed by the Navy that a foreign vessel was sitting on Karon beach.” When he arrived at the beach, he said, he…
- Thailand News
Teamwork key when they took the bus
NAKHON NAYOK: On the evening of July 15, a local florist called the police to report that her bus had been stolen. She told them that she was just about to get into bed when she heard the engine start up. By the time she got outside, the bus was already moving away. She ran after it for some time,…
- Thailand News
Governor threatens to curse rubbish bin thieves
BANGKOK: Bangkok’s no-nonsense Governor Samak Sundaravej has threatened to put a curse on the city’s rubbish bins to halt a rash of thefts. Samak said yesterday that he was forced to resort to black magic to protect the roadside bins after ordinary measures, such as warnings of legal action, failed to make any impact. “A curse, saying that if a…
- Phuket News
Phuket woman wins top “Mum” award
CHERNG TALAY: Phuket native Ladda Pongjarean, 51, the housekeeping supervisor at The Chedi resort, has been awarded this year’s Best Mother award for enduring difficult circumstances. The award is one of 15 Best Mother awards handed out on Mother’s Day (August 12) in Bangkok by HRH Princess Soamsavali. The annual awards have various categories and are given to mothers who…
- Phuket News
Upbeat ending to narcotics conference
CAPE PANWA: The 5th Thailand-Burma Drug Law Enforcement Cooperation Meeting has ended on an upbeat note, participants said today. In a press conference held at noon at the Cape Panwa Hotel, officials from Thailand and Burma announced that it was decided at the one-and-a-half-day meeting to set up three “Border Drug Trafficking Control Centers” on the Thai-Burmese border. These will…
- Phuket News
Journalists slam government over press freedom
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai journalists and academics have attacked the government over what they say is an unprecedented attempt to control the press and curtail media freedom, a report said today. At a meeting organised by the Thai Journalists Association, participants accused Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration of using its business links and strong mandate to intimidate the media. “Unlike in…
- Phuket News
HRH Princess Chulabhorn here tomorrow
PHUKET: HRH Princess Chulabhorn Valayalaksana will arrive in Phuket tomorrow (August 16) for a three-day visit, which will include a performance in a concert of traditional Chinese music and dance at the Royal Phuket City hotel in Phuket Town. Her Royal Highness will arrive from Chiangmai at 11:30 tomorrow morning, going first to the Dusit Laguna Resort Hotel and then,…
- Phuket News
Safari firm ordered to move elephants
RAWAI: Baanchang Safari Phuket was today given until October 1 to remove its 13 elephants from premises next to a local school, or face prosecution. The order was given at a meeting at the offices of the Rawai Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor). “Muang Phuket School lodged an official complaint about the elephants and we asked for them to be removed…
- Phuket News
Governor coy over CEO appointment
PHUKET: Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi today deflected questions about Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s plan to turn Phuket into an experimental province with a Chief Executive Office, or CEO, instead of a governor. At his bi-weekly press briefing, Gov Pongpayome pointed out that the name of the CEO will be announced by the government at the end of next week. “Don’t ask…
- Phuket News
Call for flood-relief donations
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Public Welfare Office (PPWO) today urged the public to donate water, food, clothing and cash for the thousands of people left homeless by the recent floods in northern Thailand and Isarn. Worst hit in the floods were seven villages in Phetchabun province’s Lom Sak district. Agence France Presse reported this afternoon that 90 corpses have…
- Phuket News
Environmentalist warns of action over expo center
MAI KHAO: Thanu Naep-nien, spokesperson for the environmentalist group Wildlife Fund Thailand, today warned that action will be taken if protected sea turtles that lay their eggs on Nai Yang Beach, in Sirinart National Park, are affected by the proposed international convention and exhibition center (CEC). “If the site is near Nai Yang beach, it will affect every sea turtle…
- Phuket News
Christina Aguilar booked for StarAid 2001
CHERNG TALAY: One of Thailand’s most popular singers, Christina Aguilar, will be headlining this years’ StarAid 2001 charity gala dinner, which will be held at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket on September 29. Ms Aguilar will perform two 30-minute sets, accompanied by her own band and four dancers. Also performing will be the Phuket-based Safari Band. In addition to the…
- Phuket News
Man found dead with 37 stab wounds
KOH SIREH: The body of a murdered man was found washed ashore near the Rassada Fishing port on Thursday morning. Pol Lt Khaneung Pitakkullatorn of Phuket Town Police Station said that he arrived at the scene at 8.30am to find the 25- to 30-year-old man lying face up, dressed only in a blue T-shirt and green underwear. He had been…
- Phuket News
Murder-suicide in Kuku
PHUKET TOWN: Two bodies were discovered yesterday morning in a rented room on Soi Tah Cheen, Baan Kuku, apparently the victims of a murder-suicide. Pol Lt Kanuang Pitakkulthorn of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that police broke down the door to the room after receiving complaints from neighbors about a bad smell. Inside, they found the body of…
- Phuket News
International call rates slashed
PHUKET: The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) has announced that it has cut its overseas call rates between 7% and 40%. In addition to these savings, those making international calls between 7 am and 9 pm on Sundays receive a further 20% discount. Phone calls to Australia and North America now cost 22 baht a minute at peak rate (between…
