Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Smiling bag-snatcher caught, alive
PHUKET TOWN: The smiling bag snatcher who grabbed at least 11 purses in Phuket over the last month, including five in one 24-hour period, was nabbed by police after committing another crime at Tesco Lotus Supercenter on Thursday night. On Wednesday, Pol Col Chalit Thinthanee, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police, ordered his officers to catch the bag-snatcher “dead or alive”.…
- Phuket News
Police to get “anti-terrorist’ equipment
PHUKET: Following instructions from Phuket Provincial Governor Charnchai Soontharamut, police have ordered 85,000 baht worth of metal detecting equipment in order to “increase public safety” in Phuket. The equipment, which is scheduled for delivery at the beginning of July, consists of two Super Scanners and an Inspector G-100. The Super Scanner is a hand-held metal detector similar to those used…
- Phuket News
Japanese tourist drowns at Koh Hey
CHALONG: A Japanese tourist, Makoto Kato, drowned at Koh Hey Island this afternoon, not long after eating his first meal on the island. Pol Maj Sanae Panmee of Chalong Police Station said, “The victim’s guide told us that Mr Kato ate lunch, during which time he drank some beer, and then went snorkeling. “We still don’t know exactly how he…
- Phuket News
Thai Rak Thai announces MP candidates
PHUKET: The Thai Rak Thai Party has named its candidates for Phuket’s two parliamentary seats in the general election that must be held before the end of this year. Yada Palimapan, a member of the Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), is to stand for Voting District 1, which covers Phuket Town apart from Tambon Rassada and Tambon Koh Kaew. Hiran Thepsiri-amnuoy…
- Phuket News
Bag-snatchers must be caught, “dead or alive’
PHUKET TOWN: The top policeman in Phuket Town, Pol Col Chalit Thinthanee, has issued instructions that a group of bag-snatchers are to be caught “dead or alive” after a huge surge in bag thefts in Phuket Town. Eleven cases have been reported in the past three weeks, five of them on Saturday and Sunday alone. All the thefts were from…
- Phuket News
Jumbo problem returns to Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP): Elephants are returning to Bangkok after being banished three months ago, forcing a showdown with authorities who say they have no place in the busy city. “Thirty-eight elephants have returned to the city since mid-May and are living around Ramkamheng,” a Bangkok suburb, veterinarian Alongkorn Mahannop of the Dusit Zoo told AFP today. “There is no food for…
- Koh Samui News
Dutchman charged in Koh Samui murder
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai police investigating the strangling of an elderly Dutch woman on the southern resort island of Koh Samui said today that they have arrested a fellow Dutch national. Helmut Johan Beute, a 35-year-old from Enschede, was arrested yesterday after police found the body of 65-year-old Martha Johanna Jansen, from Haarlem, in her holiday bungalow on Saturday. She had…
- Phuket News
OrBorJor agrees to lower tax on hotels
PHUKET: Lobbying by hoteliers has convinced the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) to reduce the amount of tax it will levy on hotel room revenues. The hotel tax is one of three local taxes the Thai Constitution allows the provincial OrBorJor to levy. The other two apply to fuel and tobacco, both of which were implemented in Phuket last year.…
- Phuket News
Shortage of tour guides causes problems
PHUKET: The island is suffering from a serious shortage of licensed tour guides, giving rise to increasing complaints from tourists, a meeting called by the Phuket Chamber of Commerce heard on Wednesday. While there are 363 licensed tour operators in Phuket, there are just 135 licensed guides, those at the gathering heard. The meeting – which brought together representatives of…
- Phuket News
15,000 sign Luang Por Cham petition
PHUKET: A petition signed by more than 15,000 people urging a Bangkok academic to retract remarks he made about Wat Chalong’s revered former abbot, Luang Por Cham, has been submitted to Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut’s office. The petitioners hope to pressure Dr Poowadon Sonprasert, a sociology professor at Kasetsart University, to retract negative comments he recently made about Luang Por…
- Phuket News
Robbers stab German resident to death
CHANTABURI (AFP): A 52-year-old German man was stabbed to death in a bungled robbery in eastern Thailand yesterday. One of the three men suspected of killing him has been shot dead, police said. Dieter Meyer, from Frankfurt, was found dead early yesterday in the Kitchakud district of Chantaburi Province, Pol Lt Komon Cholcheep said. He had been stabbed five times.…
- Phuket News
Teens in “Romeo and Juliet’ double suicide
THALANG: Two Thai teenagers drowned in a reservoir in Thalang yesterday evening in what police believe may have been a double suicide echoing the classic tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet”. Pol Capt Suwarid Prommul of Thalang Police Station said that the two – food shop worker Maitree Kumvisete, 19, and Chanida Tiyapongpattana, 16, a student at Phuket Vocational College –…
- Phuket News
Angel Air suspends services
BANGKOK (AFP): Private airline Angel Air said today it is looking for partners after suspending all flights due to financial problems. The airline, which was given an operating permit by the government in 1998 as part of a broad plan to liberalize Thai aviation, said in a statement it was looking for help from another airline. “Angel Air has recently…
- Phuket News
General coy about new job as minister
PHUKET AIRPORT: Pol Gen Pracha Promnog was playing his cards close to his chest when he flew into Phuket today, just hours after resigning as Thailand’s Chief of Police amid announcements that he will be appointed Minister of Labor. Chart Pattana leader Korn Dabbarangsri, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister, announced on TV that Gen Pracha would be named…
- Phuket News
Pattana Kathu Party wins landslide victory
KATHU: The Pattana Kathu Party has won a landslide victory in the Kathu Municipal Council elections that took place on Saturday, winning 11 of the council’s 12 seats. Two thirds of the municipality’s 9,732 registered voters cast ballots. Each was able to vote for as many as 12 candidates. Prasert Kaokijpaisarn, the leader of Pattana Kathu, gathered the highest number…
- Phuket News
All saved as ferry burns and sinks
PHUKET: Courageous ferry skippers who came alongside a burning tour boat today in Phang Nga Bay saved all 166 passengers and three crew. There were no injuries. The ferry, the 30-meter “Phuket Cruiser 2”, left Rassada Quay on the east side of Phuket Town for Phi Phi Island at 8 am. About an hour later, fire broke out in the…
- Phuket News
World’s biggest croc celebrates birthday
BANGKOK (AFP): The world’s biggest crocodile celebrated his 28th birthday today with a cake and a whole chicken at a private zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok. “Yai”, whose name means “Big”, is six meters long and weighs 1,114 kilograms, zoo officials said. The massive reptile, a cross between the fresh-water and salt-water breeds of crocodile, entered the Guinness Book…
- Phuket News
Two American teens die in road smash
KARON: Two American teenagers on a motorcycle were killed in a traffic accident on the road to Patong yesterday evening. Pol Capt Chana Sutthimas of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that at around 7.30 pm, John James Haney and William Richard Knox, both 18, were in a collision with a van belonging to Phuket Simon Cabaret. The two boys…
- Phuket News
Slow start for petition against professor
PHUKET TOWN: A petition aimed at pressuring a prominent academic into withdrawing remarks he made about about a revered former abbot of Wat Chalong and to apologise to the people of Phuket has taken off slowly, with only 1,000 or so signatories so far. As reported in the Gazette Online’s Daily News yesterday, Kasetsart University professor Dr Poowadon Songprasert has…
- Phuket News
Swiss expatriate drowns
KATA: A 71-year-old Swiss expatriate, Walter Ledermann, who lived near Chalong Circle, drowned after going swimming in front of Club Med at Kata on Monday evening. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of Chalong Police Station said, “At 2 pm [on Monday], Mr Ledermann told his wife Pang, before she went out, that he was planning to go swimming. When she got…
- Phuket News
Governor checks out mini-sub
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut, accompanied by the Phuket Harbour Master, officers from the Royal Thai Navy and local police officers, went to Koh Sirae this afternoon to examine the mini-submarine located by Gazette reporters. The visit came after K. Charnchai saw pictures taken by the Gazette and reprinted in an English-language daily newspaper. After taking photographs and measuring…
- Phuket News
Phuket won’t be base for rebels – Surin
BANGKOK (AFP): Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday evening that Thailand will make every effort to prevent its territory from being used as a base by Tamil Tiger rebels fighting the government of Sri Lanka. Speaking after a dinner at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, K. Surin said that although one person was detained in connection with the submersible,…
- Phuket News
Open invitation to high-level “IT City” meeting
PHUKET TOWN: The organizers of a seminar to discuss the plans for turning Phuket into a “Cyberport and International City” have issued an invitation to all interested parties to attend the high-level meeting next Wednesday (June 14) at the Pearl Hotel in Phuket Town. Seventy seats will be allocated to members of the public, on a first-come, first-served basis. Speakers…
- Phuket News
Gap between rich and poor widens in Thailand
BANGKOK (AFP): The gap between rich and poor in Thailand has continued growing since the 1997 Asian economic crisis as more people slip below the poverty line, a cabinet statement said today. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said in its latest study sent to the cabinet that some 7.9 million Thais live below the poverty line on…
- Phuket News
Mystery mini-sub found on Koh Sirae
KOH SIRAE, PHUKET: Gazette staff today located and photographed the mini-submarine that has been at the center of a controversy over the presence of Tamil rebel operations in Phuket. But so far, the discovery of the mini-sub raises more questions than it answers. The part-finished sub is about five meters long and is large enough to hold two, perhaps three…
- Phuket News
Marine Police deny mini-sub report
PHUKET: Senior officers of the Phuket Marine Police today strenuously denied a news story in the Bangkok Post which asserted that authorities here had found a mini-submarine being built for Sri Lanka’s rebel Tamil Tigers. According to the Post, “Thai authorities” stumbled on the half-built 10-meter mini-sub in a shipyard in Koh Sirae, just outside of Phuket Town. Quoting “sources”,…
- Phuket News
Mud flies in Kathu election campaign
KATHU: With only eight days to go, the contest for 12 seats on the Kathu Municipal Council is becoming increasingly heated. On Wednesday, Somwong Torwong, candidate number 10 of the Kathu Ruamjai Party, was disqualified because it was found he is registered as living in Patong, not Kathu. As the application deadline was last month, Kathu Ruamjai, led by Suthep…
- Phuket News
Free window tint checks on offer
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket transportation officials say they have started providing free window tint tests for motorists. The tests are intended to help drivers comply with a law that has already gone into effect, but which will not be enforced until June 1 next year. The new law prohibits vehicles from having windows that block out more than 60% of light.…
- Phuket News
About-face on tinted windows
PHUKET: Phuket’s top traffic policeman, Pol Lt Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, has responded with resignation to yesterday’s announcement in Bangkok that a new law barring heavily tinted windows in vehicles will not be enforced for at least a year. “So what can I do?” said Lt Col Teeraphol. “I don’t make law. I enforce it. So it will be another year…
- Phuket News
German held for stealing from Lotus
PHUKET TOWN: A German tourist was arrested Monday evening after allegedly stealing goods worth almost 30,000 baht from the Tesco-Lotus Supercenter. According to a police report seen by the Gazette, Uwe Gayer, 32, was observed queuing up at a payment counter with a full cart. Soon afterwards, Saranya Nathoongnui, a member of Lotus’ Prevention Before Loss Department, saw him turn…
