- Phuket News
Cyberport meeting identifies challenges
PHUKET TOWN: Experts who gathered on Thursday in Phuket all agreed that the island has the potential to be a “cyberport” — a center for information technology — but that it still has challenges that need to be met. “We still need to address three important factors,” said Prof Dr Pairash Thajchayapong, president of the National Science and Technology Development…
- Phuket News
Governor backs IBAP
PHUKET TOWN: At a meeting also attended by the Senator for Phuket, Paiboon Upatising, Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi today gave his support to the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP). The Governor said that he could see IBAP’s potential as a forum in which Thais and foreigners could work together to come up with new ideas to benefit society. Also…
- Phuket News
Tough ‘B’ visa rules introduced in Penang
PENANG: In the beginning there was light. Then there was darkness. First, in September, the Thai Consulate in Penang introduced 12-month, multiple-entry non-immigrant B visas. Then, with effect from this month, the consulate began demanding a pile of paperwork, some of it consisting of copies of highly confidential company documents. According to an announcement issued by the consulate to any…
- Phuket News
Local investment at centre of IBAP meeting
PHUKET TOWN: At a public meeting tomorrow, (November 24), Phuket Senator Paiboon Upatising and Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi will join local business leaders to hear the views of a distinguished economist and a cyber-expert about the future of investment in Phuket. Addressing a meeting of the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) will be Chulalongkorn University lecturer Thitinan Pongsudhirak and…
- Phuket News
Eight Burmese in jail-break hostage drama
SAMUT SAKHON (AFP): Eight armed Burmese prisoners holding the jail governor and six of his staff hostage have broken through the gates of the prison here and driven outside the compound in a pick-up truck, police said this afternoon. Provincial police chief Major General Surasri Sunthornsarathoon said negotiators were now trying to win the release of the hostages, two of…
- Phuket News
Loch Palm murder victim “not Thai’
TUNG TONG: The police, continuing their investigation into the murder of an unidentified woman found near the Loch Palm Golf Club on October 6, have decided that she was probably not Thai. “I think the victim could not have been Thai because the clothes, bra and bikini that she wore were cheap. I’m certain she bought [her clothes] from the…
- Phuket News
Death of jet-ski operator solved
PATONG: The mystery of the jet-ski operator found dead on the rocks below Nakalay viewpoint on November 10 has been solved. In a confession to police, Kwanchai “Dum” Chookum admitted that he had caused the death of Boonsung Wassana, 26, but said that he had done so accidentally. Pol Capt Ardinan Benjasamai from Kathu police station said that Dum had…
- Phuket News
Police issue warning over gambling gang
KATA: Police have issued a warning to the public to be on the lookout for a gang of Thai con artists who use a combination of flattery, threats, insults and drugged drinks to separate people from their money. The warning came after Narumon “Mai” Busaphanag, 34, from Bangkok, reported to police that the gang had subjected her to a five-hour…
- Phuket News
International hunt for murder suspect
KAMALA: Police are trying to track down a German national, 39-year-old Walter Ober Lener, who is wanted in connection with the murder of his 21-year-old Thai girlfriend, Waraporn Tawaetwong, on Monday. The hunt began after K. Waraporn’s body was found yesterday afternoon in the house she shared with Lener. Her neck had been broken and she had been sexually mutilated.…
- Phuket News
French deputy mayor killed in bike smash
PATONG: A deputy mayor of the French ski resort of Chamonix died in a motorcycle accident in front of Phuket Simon Cabaret early yesterday morning. Pol Maj Pisit Cheanpeth of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that at around 2.30 am, the man, whom he named as Jean-François Girod, aged about 38-40, crashed his rented motorbike into a culvert at…
- Phuket News
Policeman murdered on bypass road
PHUKET TOWN: Pol L/Cpl Piyanut Singkaew, 31, of Phuket Town Police Station, was found murdered late last night opposite a deserted building on the bypass road, about 200 meters past the Gems Gallery. Responding to a call at 11 pm, police found the victim lying face down beside the road. He had been shot seven times with a 9mm pistol,…
- Phuket News
Phuket Rugby Sevens canceled
PHUKET TOWN: It was announced yesterday that this year’s Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament has been canceled. The announcement came just 10 days before the tournament was due to start. The Thai Rugby Union (TRU) blamed the cancellation on a 2-million-baht shortfall in sponsorship. No hint of these problems was given in the last meeting between organizers and sponsors, held…
- Phuket News
Four held for trying to rob currency exchange firm
PHUKET TOWN: Four men who had lost money gambling decided on Saturday to take an even bigger gamble – they held up a currency exchange company. But their luck was still bad. They came away empty-handed and were nabbed soon afterwards by police. The four, identified by police as Jaroen Sakjapitak, 42, from Sakhon Nakhon, Jantai Singkam, 34, from Loei,…
- Phuket News
Police suspect murder in death of jet-ski operator
PATONG: The body of a Thai jet-ski operator was found near the Nakalay viewpoint, near the Thavorn Beach Village Hotel, on Friday afternoon. Although the cause of death has yet to be established, the police are treating it as murder. Local fisherman, who had noticed a foul smell, discovered the body on the rocks 20 meters below the Nakalay viewpoint…
- Phuket News
Monk hacked to death with axe
PAK THO (AFP): The continuing scandals in the Thai clergy took a gruesome turn on Wednesday with the discovery of the body of a 37-year-old monk who had been hacked to death with an axe in a temple near the western Thailand border. Police said today that the body of Phra Ko Muang, who was originally from Burma, was found…
- Phuket News
Warning over fake 500-baht notes
PHUKET: The Bank of Thailand has issued a statement advising banks and the public on how to identify forged 500-baht notes currently circulating in Thailand. “The counterfeit notes are printed on thinner paper [than the real ones] and the surface of the paper is more slippery than genuine notes,” explained Boonserm Jitsamreang, the marketing officer of Bank of Asia, Phuket…
- Phuket News
“Leaking policeman’ case: two more arrested
PHUKET TOWN: Two more people involved in the robbing of an off-duty immigration police officer – who had stopped to take a leak on a football field – were arrested today. The first arrest in the case was made on Tuesday when Prathueng Intarachuenchom, one of two armed robbers, was found at the Phuket International Hospital where he was being…
- Phuket News
Four charged with million-baht “black money’ scam
PATONG: Police on Wednesday charged four West African men with swindling a Patong restaurateur and his brother out of one million baht, using a classic “black money” scam. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, named the four arrested men as: Gala Sompson, 24, and David Woshington Je, 23, both from Liberia, and John Cacosta, 30, and Goodrid…
- Phuket News
Phuket people “should handle environmental problems’
PHUKET: The Phuket Environment Committee (PEC) is to push for the island to have its own Environmental Protection Office, members said today, because Phuket is the county’s most important resort. Up to now, they said, environmental problems that have cropped up in Phuket have been addressed very slowly because there has been no organization in the province that was directly…
- Phuket News
Monk disrobed after telephone sex
BANGKOK (AFP): A senior monk left the Buddhist clergy today after he was caught engaging in phone sex, officials within the monkhood say. Phra Si Visuthyarn, deputy abbot of Bangkok’s Tritosthep temple, delivered his resignation this morning, an official told AFP. The monk quit after religious officials in the Sangha Supreme Council received a tape recording of him having phone…
- Phuket News
Kathu police boss moving to new post
PHUKET: Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station – which is also responsible for Patong – is to move on Friday to a new post as a deputy provincial commander of Nakhon Sri Thammarat Provincial Police. He will be replaced by Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, currently the litigation deputy superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station. Pol Col…
- Phuket News
Hotel tax row: Governor steps in
PHUKET: The island’s new Governor, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has stepped into the furious row between Phuket’s hotels and the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) over the OrBorJor’s new tax on hotel room revenue. After a five-hour closed meeting last Wednesday with representatives of both sides, the Governor ruled that the hotels must pay the tax, but that the OrBorJor must revise…
- Phuket News
Fire in Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: A fire on Saturday night caused damage estimated at 500,000 baht to a house on Sakdidet Rd. Four fire engines arrived within 20 minutes of being alerted by a neighbor. About 80% of the house was destroyed by the blaze. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, though an electrical short…
- Phuket News
Abbot accused of rape in latest monk scandal
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai police were today investigating allegations that a Buddhist abbot repeatedly raped an 11-year-old girl who lived with her mother inside his temple compound. The case is the third this week in which a senior member of the nation’s clergy has been accused of a serious criminal offence. On Thursday, an abbot and his girlfriend were charged with…
- Phuket News
Air passenger figures rise by 13 pc
PHUKET: Passenger throughput at Phuket International Airport in September was up by 13% compared with the same month last year, according to figures just released by airport officials. The number of people arriving or departing on domestic flights rose by about 7% to 140,470, while 98,008 people used the airport for international flights, representing a 24% increase. Cargo shipments, however,…
- Phuket News
Two more parties name parliamentary candidates
PHUKET: Two more political parties have named candidates to run in the national elections which, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai announced today, will take place on January 6. The New Aspiration Party, which is led by Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Pol Capt Chalerm Yoobamrung, has named Prasert Tantibutsapan to run for District 1. The Chart Thai Party, led by former Prime…
- Phuket News
Injured activist well enough to make statement
THALANG: Environmental activist Siripoj Cheechang, severely injured in what appeared to be an assassination attempt on October 4, was yesterday well enough to make a full statement to officers investigating the incident. But investigators are having trouble getting witnesses to come forward, and have had to resort to issuing subpoenas to force them to make statements. K. Siripoj, who is…
- Phuket News
Phuket bus service a step closer to reality
PHUKET: Phuket Town is one step closer to having the bus service that has been promised for so long. The Provincial Administration Organization – which earlier announced its intention to take over the bus project from a private company, after the plan stumbled in the wake of soaring fuel prices – has received the official go-ahead from the Phuket Provincial…
- Phuket News
English resident killed in bike crash
PATONG: An English resident of Phuket died in a motorcycle accident at the intersection of Thaweewong Rd and Phrabaramee Rd early on Saturday morning. Pol Maj Pisit Cheanpeth of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that at around 2.30 am, the man, whom he named as 27-year-old Robert William Mark McCartney, ran into a light pole on the road from…
- Phuket News
Golf match raises 400,000 baht for charity
PHUKET: The golf tournament organized by the British Business Association of Phuket (BBAP) on October 14 raised a grand total of 400,665 baht for charity, the BBAP has announced. Despite occasional heavy showers, the contest, at the Blue Canyon Country Club, drew 121 players. Of the total raised, 300,000 baht will go to the Phuket Old People’s Home for construction…
