Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Exchange firm robbed of 1 million baht
PHUKET TOWN: Two armed men stole a million baht from a currency exchange in Phuket Town yesterday. Pol Maj Sanya Thongsawas of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that Parinya Sangrangchujit, 45, manager of the exchange operation, was counting money he had just withdrawn from a bank in Phuket Town, when two neatly dressed men rang the bell. The…
- Phuket News
Ya bah bust next to police station
CHALONG: Three men were arrested on Saturday for possession of ya bah (methamphetamine) at a house just 100 meters from Chalong Police Station. Pol Capt Chokchai Suttimek of the Chalong station told the Gazette that an unidentified man called the police and told them that a ya bah deal was going to take place at Ao Chalong Bungalow. Officers strode…
- Phuket News
Fire aboard survey vessel
AO MAKHAM: A fire broke out yesterday afternoon in the refrigerator room of the vessel Chulabhorn, berthed at the Phuket Marine Biological Center Pier. The fire started while welding work was being done on pipes in the room, said Pol Capt Thanapong Mokthong of the forensic science department, but was extinguished in half an hour using the vessel’s own fire-fighting…
- Phuket News
Racha Yai auctions postponed
PHUKET: The sale by auction of two of the largest plots of land on Racha Yai Island, south of Phuket, which was initially scheduled for June 1, has been postponed to an unspecified date. Aran Sae-Lim of Harrison Auction Co Ltd, one of the two auction organizers (the other is Mel Giller & Associates), said he expects an announcement about…
- Phuket News
Helicopter rescue fails to save woman
MAITON ISLAND: The Police Aviation Division’s helicopter flew to Koh Maiton on Friday to pick up a woman who had had a heart attack. She was rushed to a hospital in Phuket Town. Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, head of the Phuket Provincial Health office, told the Gazette that he had received a phone call from Maiton Resort at 6 pm on…
- Phuket News
Thai beaches disappearing quickly
BANGKOK (AFP): Some of Thailand’s most popular beaches are disappearing as man-made structures speed up coastal erosion, reports said today. A 115-kilometer (71-mile) stretch of beaches famed amongst Thais and foreigners since the reign of King Rama VI early last century has been severely eroded, the Bangkok Post reported. The resort regions of Hua Hin, Cha-am and Petchaburi, south of…
- Phuket News
Phuket will “definitely’ impose hotel room tax
PHUKET: Hotels in Phuket are preparing for tough negotiations with the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), which has announced that it will begin collecting tax from hotels in October. The tax will be based on revenue from rooms only. The OrBorJor president, Dr Prasit Koysiripong, told the Gazette today that although the law allows the rate to be as high…
- Phuket News
Briton wins PEGS tournament
PHUKET: Andrew Marshall of the UK scored 42 points off of a handicap of 17 on Thursday, beating some 60 other players and winning the monthly Stableford tournament of the Phuket Expat Golf Society (PEGS). Second in the tournament, on the Blue Canyon Country Club’s Canyon Course, was American lawyer Brad Moore, a five-handicapper, who scored 39 points. South African…
- Phuket News
Head of child beggar racket arrested
PATONG: Tee Phan, 37, the kingpin of a child beggar racket, was arrested by Kathu police in Patong early yesterday morning. “Our motorcycle patrol was just checking along the beach road as usual. Then, around 1:30 am, we saw a group of child beggars in front of Patong Seafood Restaurant,” said Pol Capt Adinan Benchasamai. There was a crying boy…
- Phuket News
After corrupt poll, Thailand tries again
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand will make a second attempt Saturday to fill its upper house of parliament after a first round of voting under a new anti-corruption constitution was tainted by rampant vote buying. Twenty-six million voters will be called out in 35 provinces where winning candidates in the March 4 Senate polls were disqualified for cheating. But doubt has already…
- Phuket News
12 die in traffic accidents
PHUKET: Twelve people were killed in traffic accidents between February 20 and March 20, according to statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn, of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, reports that 11 of the victims died in motorcycle accidents, while one involved a bicycle. In the same period, 74 people were injured in auto accidents, while…
- Phuket News
Korean tour guide arrested
CHALONG: Phuket tourist police yesterday arrested Gon Soo Lee, 33, for acting as a tour guide without a license. Lee, a Korean national who is a guide with Club Tour, was later released on bail. Pol Capt Chokchai Suttimek of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the tourist police arrested Lee while he was with clients at an elephant…
- Phuket News
Rapist caught in the act on Patong Beach
PATONG: A 19-year-old woman from Ayuthaya was raped on Patong Beach last Friday night. Pol Maj Sa-nguan Muangtam of Kathu Police Station said that at about 11 pm on April 21, Wanchai Teanprarooyai, a 33-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, reported that a girl was being raped in a tent toward the north end of the beach near Loma Park. Police went…
- Phuket News
Major land auction to be held in Phuket
PHUKET: Two of the largest land plots on Racha Yai Island will be up for public auction here in June. Racha Yai is located about twenty kilometers south of Phuket. The total area of the island is 1,700 rai (approx 680 acres). There are currently three resorts on the island: Ban Raya, Raya Executive, and Raya Resort. There is also…
- Phuket News
Ya Bah arrests continue in Patong
PATONG: Two men were arrested in Patong on Thursday afternoon with 52 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine). Pol Lt Col Pichet Supmee of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that his officers received a report from an informant that there was a group of people selling the illicit drug in Soi Paradise Complex, off Rat-U-Thit Rd. An undercover officer was…
- Phuket News
Key Buddhist date now a UN international day
BANGKOK: United Nations member countries have reached agreement that Buddhism’s Visakha Bucha Day will henceforth be recognized by those countries as an official UN “international day”. It marks the first time that the world body has established such a day based on religion. The announcement was made yesterday by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Fellowship of…
- Phuket News
Bus service launch delayed again
PHUKET TOWN: The date for the launch of Phuket Town’s first real bus service has been postponed for at least another month because PB Holdings, the operator, has not yet been able to find all the buses it needs. The launch of the service has been plagued with delays. Originally planned for May of last year, the date was pushed…
- Phuket News
Police deny Tamil Tigers report
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Marine Police today denied a report in a major daily newspaper that they had recently checked and then released a speedboat that might have been used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to transport supplies from Phuket to an LTTE base on an island nearby. The LTTE have been waging a long and bitter civil…
- Phuket News
Fried chicken terribly costly for Mercedes lady
PHUKET TOWN: A woman who parked her car briefly on Friday found herself half a million baht poorer when she got back behind the wheel. Pol Capt Anukul Nookate of Phuket Town Police Station said Lynchee Somsak, 42, stopped her car on Luang Por Wat Chalong Rd to buy fried chicken. She told the police that, because the chicken vendor…
- Phuket News
Westerner’s body found in Suan Luang Park
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a Western man was found floating in the lagoon at Suan Luang Park on Chao Fa Nai Rd on Saturday morning. Pol Col Chalit Tintanee, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said the man, as yet identified, is estimated to have been about 25 to 30 years old. He was about 180 centimeters tall and…
- Phuket News
Chalerm denies masterminding assassination attempt
BANGKOK (AFP): The deputy leader of Thailand’s main opposition party denied masterminding the attempted assassination of a prosecutor who was allegedly investigating his sons, reports said yesterday. “A man like me does not need to hire anyone to kill someone else. I would do it myself,” the Bangkok Post quoted Police Captain Chalerm Yubamrung, deputy leader of the New Aspiration…
- Phuket News
On-the-ball bellboy bags burglar
KATA-KARON: The alertness of a bellboy at the Marina Cottage Hotel, who heard a guest-room door close when he knew that the family staying in the room were all at dinner, resulted in the red-handed arrest of a burglar. Pol Lt Teerawat Leamsuwan of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “The guests staying in the room that was burgled [a…
- Phuket News
Permanent residence window about to close
BANGKOK: The Immigration Bureau has issued a reminder that, barring the remote possibility of an extension, June 30 is the deadline for foreign investors to apply for “special investment” permanent residence status in Thailand. Normally, those applying for permanent residence must hold a non-immigrant visa and reside in Thailand on a one-year-visa extension basis for three years consecutively. The period…
- Phuket News
Kao Mai Party denies election accusations
PHUKET TOWN: The OrBorJor Kao Mai Party, which swept into power in the Provincial Administration Organization elections (OrBorJor) on February 4, today denied in court accusations leveled at it by the losers in the election, the Pattana Tongtin Party. In the first hearing into the accusations, the Phuket Provincial Court this morning heard the charges filed by 10 of the…
- Phuket News
Tourists hurt by long-tail propeller
PATONG: A Swedish father and his son were badly lacerated on Thursday when a long-tail boat ran over them as they swam at Freedom Beach, just south of Patong. Pol Capt Boonlert Onklang of Kathu Police Station said that the father and son, whom he named as Olle Sundin, 43, and Maenus Sundin, 15, were apparently under the water when…
- Cannabis News
Marijuana dealer arrested
CHALONG: Police yesterday arrested Pan Inraksa, 40, in Rawai for possession of marijuana with intent to sell the drug. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the police had received reports that many people living in Baan Bangkontee, Moo 4, in Rawai had recently been robbed. The people believed that the robbers were local teenagers,…
- Phuket News
Police drop charges against dive instructor
CHALONG: Police today dropped charges against a foreign dive instructor who was arrested at the end of February for working without a tour-guide license. The charge was dropped on the grounds that a diver working in Thailand does not require such a license, contrary to assertions made earlier by the Phuket Tourist Police. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which…
- Phuket News
Chuan ally named to replace Sanan
BANGKOK (AFP): The deputy leader of the ruling Democrat Party, Banyat Banthadtan, is to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai announced today. Banyat’s appointment will fill the two Cabinet posts left vacant by Sanan Kachornprasart who resigned last week after being accused of filing a false financial statement with the National Counter Corruption Commission.…
- Phuket News
Phuket to ‘get tough’ on jet-skis
PHUKET: Phuket is to get tough on jet-ski operators again, it was decided yesterday at a meeting of officials from across the island. Chaired by vice-governor Amnuay Sanguannam, the meeting brought together officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), district offices, the Harbor Department, the Marine Police, the Tourist Police and other police. Representatives from the local jet-ski industry…
- Phuket News
Jet-ski race organizers slam Phuket
PHUKET: The Jet Sports Boating Association of Thailand (TJSBA) has hit back at Phuket for declining to host the Thai Airways International-Jet Sports King’s Cup Thailand Open 2000 jet-ski races. The criticism came soon after the Governor of Phuket, Charnchai Soontharamut, and about 30 others from different associations on the island turned down the TJSBA’s proposal on the grounds that…
