- Phuket News
Danish tourist drowns
PHUKET: A Danish tourist, named by police as Per Gregersem, 67, drowned off Raya Island on Thursday afternoon, while another tourist was saved from a similar fate off Patong. Mr Gregersem and his family, who were staying in Karon, went to Raya Island to enjoy an afternoon of swimming and sunbathing. After swimming for about half an hour, Mr Gregersem…
- Phuket News
Rain brings flooding in Patong
PATONG: About 10 hours of torrential rain overnight left many streets and businesses in Patong flooded. Patong Municipality councilor Surasak Maneesri said the worst flooding was in Rat-U-Thit 200 Phi Rd at the junction near Sai Namyen School, where the water reached 80 centimeters, while lower parts of the beach road were flooded to a depth of 20 centimeters. “There…
- Phuket News
Police bust karaoke selling ya bah
PHUKET TOWN: Teerawit “Jiew” Saefu, the 32-year-old owner of Nong Kim Karaoke on Soi Sri Sena, was arrested during a police raid on Tuesday on drugs charges. Two minors were also arrested. Pol Maj Sanya Thongsawat of Phuket Town Police Station said that sources had informed him that ya bah (methamphetamine) was for sale at the karaoke bar, near the…
- Phuket News
Valhalla raid nets 5 underage girls
PATONG: Five underage girls were detained yesterday afternoon and charged with performing improper acts in public during a raid on the Valhalla Entertainment complex on Soi Sunset. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, said he received a call from Jenjira Heepkaew, 37, who said that she worked at Valhalla as a cook’s helper. She urged the police…
- Phuket News
Dog pound to be built in Rawai
RAWAI: Samart Jaranyanont, Chief of Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), has announced that a dog pound is to be built on a two-rai plot behind Wat Sawangarom to provide a home for Phuket’s stray dogs. K. Samart told the Gazette that the Phuket Public Works Office is currently drawing up construction plans for the pound, which will keep healthy dogs…
- Phuket News
Policeman held for smuggling Burmese
PHUKET TOWN: Acting on a tip-off, police today arrested 15 Burmese illegal immigrants. They also arrested three Thais who were bringing the Burmese into Phuket, one of them a police officer from Ranong. The Burmese were riding in two pick-up trucks and a car when they were stopped at 5 am, halfway between Thalang and the Heroines’ Monument, by officers…
- Phuket News
Foot-and-mouth outbreak
KATHU: An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease discovered in Baan Mai Riab is now under control, according to Samart Jaranyanont, Chief of Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO). The PPLO was alerted to the presence of the disease on February 12 by a veterinarian who discovered the disease among a herd of water buffaloes. PPLO officers discovered that 67 animals had been…
- Phuket News
Passengers taken off cruise ship
AO MAKHAM: About 250 passengers aboard the cruise ship Andaman Princess were taken off the vessel yesterday afternoon after a bilge pump broke down near Maiton Island. “The problem arose in the engine room at 4:30 pm when a pump stopped working and the ship began to list,” said Narong Chinsot, Phuket Operations Manager of the Andaman Princess. K. Narong…
- Phuket News
Seized luxury yacht to be auctioned
PHUKET TOWN: A luxury motor yacht, which was seized when its Singaporean owner failed to pay import duty, is to be auctioned on March 20 at Phuket Customs Region 5 on Phuket Rd. The yacht’s owner kept it more than six months in Phuket without paying the crushing import duty of about 200%. The yacht, a Sealine T46 built in…
- Phuket News
Provincial road tax revenues soar
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Land Transportation Office (PLTO) collected more than 93 million baht in road taxes last year. This continues the trend of higher year-on-year revenues. In 1998, the PLTO collected nearly 80 million baht, while in 1999 it collected more than 85 million. These figures exclude taxes levied on motorcycles. The PLTO says it expects to collect even…
- Phuket News
New dad ends up in handcuffs
PHUKET: Robert Clarke received more than he bargained for when he visited his Thai wife at the Bangkok Phuket Hospital after she gave birth to their child. As he watched over her early on Friday morning, police officers marched in and arrested him. Pol Capt Anukul Nuket of Phuket Town Police Station said that the Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok had…
- Phuket News
Fire rips through Patong stalls
PATONG: A fire raged through a collection of vendors’ stalls near Ocean Plaza on Thaweewong Rd early on Saturday morning, causing damage estimated at 20 million baht. Firefighters took about one hour to put out the fire. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that no one was hurt in the blaze. The forensic science…
- Phuket News
One dead, 21 hurt in bus crash
KAMALA: A guide from Bangkok-based tour company Mandarin Express was killed when the bus he was in crashed not far from the Thavorn Beach Village. Twenty-one other guides from the same company were injured in the accident, three of them seriously. The bus was taking the guides from Phuket FantaSea to Patong when the driver lost control after the brakes…
- Phuket News
Karaoke crackdown coming
PHUKET: Police in Phuket are to crack down on karaoke bars, Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, said on Thursday. In a speech to assembled police patrol officers from across the island, Gen Kongpol said that the anti-karaoke drive would focus particularly on juke-box karaoke bars, most of which are to be found in Phuket…
- Phuket News
New bikes for police
PHUKET TOWN: Police in Phuket this week took delivery of 73 motorbikes for use in patrol duty, as part of a nationwide project by the Royal Thai Police to upgrade police patrol transport. At a ceremony on Thursday at Phuket Town Police Station, the commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, handed over 14 motorbikes to…
- Phuket News
Burmese beaten to death, dumped
PHUKET TOWN: An unidentified man believed to have been a Burmese fisherman was found dead in front of the Fish Marketing Board’s refrigerated warehouse on Soi Si Sena just after midnight on Wednesday. “Motorbike taxi drivers witnessed a pickup truck with several Burmese in the back make a U-turn in front of the warehouse and then leave,” said Pol Capt…
- Phuket News
Bloody robbery at currency exchange
PHUKET TOWN: An employee at the Bank Thai PLC currency exchange booth on Tilok Utit 1 Rd was brutally attacked in a robbery this afternoon. At about 3:15 pm, a foreign customer, wanting to change some money, peered into the window of the booth in front of the Ocean Shopping Mall. She saw the employee, 44-year-old Urai Taweekul, lying on…
- Phuket News
Thailand a hub for illegal wildlife products
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand has become a regional center for the illicit trade in products made from endangered animals, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) said this afternoon. During a three-month study, the WWF found more than 33,000 animal products in Bangkok made from internationally protected species, in all worth about 160 million baht (3.7 million dollars). Items made from…
- Phuket News
Austrian drowns at Patong beach
PATONG: Austrian Herbert Kodat, 60, drowned off Loma Park at Patong Beach on Monday afternoon. According to witnesses, Mr Kodat went for a dip to cool off after sunbathing. He swam out about 30 meters from the shore. A jet-ski operator sitting on the beach saw Mr Kodat waving for help and went to rescue him, but by the time…
- Phuket News
18 Burmese “waitresses” arrested
PATONG: Phuket Immigration Police officers last night arrested 18 Burmese “waitresses” at the Phatpong Karaoke on Taweewong Rd. They also arrested Wicharn Sakatekarn, 32, the manager of the establishment, on charges of harboring illegal immigrants. Pol Col Apirak Hongthong, superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Office, said he had received a tip-off that there were Burmese women working illegally at the…
- Phuket News
One dead, four injured in plane fire
BANGKOK (AFP): At least one person was killed and four others were injured when a Thai Airways Boeing 737-400 burst into flames this afternoon on the tarmac at Bangkok’s domestic airport, police and airport officials said. Police Major General Amnuay Ditkavee, Bangkok’s deputy police commissioner, told reporters at the airport that the dead body of a Thai Airways crew member…
- Phuket News
Governor vs Burmese in ping-pong
PHUKET TOWN: The Governor of Phuket admitted yesterday that he feels like a ping-pong player when dealing with illegal Burmese workers, who are expelled one day only to return the next. Speaking at the mass expulsion of 305 illegal Burmese workers caught in Immigration Police raids between February 27 and March 1, Gov Pongpayome Vasaputi said, “It makes me feel…
- Phuket News
Work permits: Governor gets tough
PHUKET: With effect from yesterday, a new multi-department committee will vet all work permit applications in Phuket, Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi announced today. The committee will also check extensions and renewals, and all information will be added to a central database accessible to all the departments whose chiefs are members of the committee. These departments are the Commercial Registration Office…
- Phuket News
Tourist figures up by 10.7pc
BANGKOK, (AFP): International tourist arrivals to Thailand grew 10.7% last year, to 9.57 million, according to figures released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Although the average length of stay decreased slightly, to 7.7 days, tourist spending in Thailand was up, at 3,850 baht a day. The TAT estimates that tourism generated revenue of 292.6 billion baht in 2000, up…
- Phuket News
Bookmaker gunned down
PHUKET TOWN: A restaurant owner, who was also a bookmaker specializing in gambling on soccer matches, was murdered on Tuesday morning outside his restaurant on Phuket Rd. The victim, Supachart “James” Panumassakul, 36, from Phuket, owned the Khrua New James restaurant, opposite the Imperial hotel on Phuket Rd. A witness told police that she was waiting for a friend on…
- Phuket News
9-year-old raped during burglary
NAI HARN: Nervous residents of Nai Harn Villas are awaiting the conclusion of a police investigation into three burglaries, during one of which a nine-year-old European girl was raped, and are hoping that an arrest will be made soon. The rape took place in the early hours of Saturday after the burglar got into the bedroom where the girl was…
- Phuket News
Slow start to Governor’s email hotline
PHUKET: Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi’s entry into cyberspace at the beginning of the month has so far received a lackluster response. “We receive only one or two emails a day,” the Governor’s secretary, Boonchai Somjai, told the Gazette. Every morning, K. Boonchai checks the email and then prints copies of relevant messages for the Governor’s in-tray. About 70% of the email…
- Phuket News
Villagers find hanged man
PHUKET TOWN: Villagers found the hanged body of an unidentified man on Monday evening on a hill about two kilometers to the east of Kuan Din Dang Rd and Soi Panieng, in Tambon Rassada. Pol Capt Chaum Kaosrisuwan of Phuket Town Police Station said he was informed by Sataporn Pokaboot, phuyai baan of Moo 6, Tambon Rassada, that the villagers…
- Phuket News
Employment Services Office moves
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO) – which, among other activities, issues work permits – yesterday moved from Phuket Villa 1 to purpose-built premises on a one-rai site on Soi Sakdidet 1. Kopit Temsongsai, the ESO chief, said the move had been made because the old offices were too small and the department wanted to have its…
- Phuket News
Urgent call for O negative blood
PHUKET TOWN: The Bangkok Phuket Hospital has appealed for urgent donations of type O negative blood for a patient in its intensive care unit. The patient, Hans Lorenzet, 42, of Germany, has a liver complaint which has caused internal hemorrhaging, and is in urgent need of blood. Potential donors are asked to report to the reception desk at the hospital.
