News
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Villagers back Yamu marina plan
PHUKET CITY: In the latest in a back-and-forth dispute between opposing village groups, developers and the governmen, about 200 villagers from Baan Yamu in Pa Khlok staged a peaceful demonstration outside the Phuket Provincial Hall on May 29 to show their support for a controversial marina project at Cape Yamu. The planned 60-million-baht project, to be constructed by The Yamu…
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Decha calls for volunteers
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch once again called for more police officers and civil defense volunteers in a meeting this morning at ST Hotel. Comparing Phuket to Las Vegas, he said that more officers are needed to keep Phuket safe, especially after the recent bombings in Haad Yai. At the Phuket Provincial Security Committee meeting, chairman…
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Liverpool legends to conduct soccer clinics
PHUKET: Former Liverpool stars Ian Rush and John Barnes will conduct an hour-long soccer clinic for underprivileged schoolchildren June 5 at Tesco Lotus.A clinic hosted last year by Tesco Lotus in Bangkok with Rush proved so successful they decided to follow up this year with clinics in Chiang Mai and Phuket – and the addition of fellow former Liverpool star…
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OrBorTor Wichit aspires to municipality status
PHUKET: The President of Wichit Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) has requested for the Governor of Phuket to upgrade the OrBorTor to the status of a town municipality, skipping the usual tambon municipality step. The upgrade is needed to reflect the rapid growth of the area’s economy and population, OrBorTor President Kreetha Saetan claims.Phuket Muang District Chief Wirawat Janpen, however, advised…
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Copyright crackdown urged
PHUKET: Representatives from national copyright and trademark enforcement agencies this morning met with more than 30 police officers from Police Region 8 today, including Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Decha, to encourage the officers to crack down on intellectual property infringements. Phuket, Koh Samui and Ao Nang were specifically targeted because of their high number of foreign visitors,…
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2.9 billion baht requested for waste management
PHUKET (Gazette, The Nation): Phuket has requested a 2.9 billion baht budget from the central government to fund a four-year plan to manage waste disposal and water treatment on the island. The request includes an allocation of 1.3 billion baht to build a second incinerator.The plan was discussed at a workshop at the Phuket Merlin Hotel chaired by Vice-Governor Worapoj…
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Gulu’s goal: to bring mega-yachts to Phuket
KOH KAEW: Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) developer Gulu Lalvani yesterday held a press conference to outline his vision to develop Phuket as the world’s top yachting destination – including his plan to build Zoran Island, a new island off the coast to site a deluxe marina complex capable of berthing mega-yachts.“I am very pleased that at the beginning of this…
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Nation seminar sold out
PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s economic strengths and weaknesses were under the microscopes of prominent local and national leaders during “The Drivers of the Economy in Phuket” seminar at The Metropole hotel yesterday.The sold-out event, part of a number of activities to mark the Nation Group’s 36th anniversary, drew many notable speakers from government, industry and tourism sectors and focused on ways Phuket could…
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Miniature elephant or mammoth scam?
TAK: Taking a break from bashing his cousins in the Karen National Union, a sergeant major from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) reportedly crossed the Thai border recently with an unusual piece of merchandise, one he came to hawking at an extraordinary price. Sgt Maj Tinai, from the DKBA 999 Division, claimed to be in possession of none other…
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Student rape report denied by police
RASSADA: An unknown intruder broke into a room in a women’s dormitory yesterday afternoon and assaulted a 16-year-old student, but police are denying reports in the local Thai-language media that the girl was raped.Duty Officer Capt Attapol Wannasaengthong of the Phuket City Police responded to the report of the attack, which took place at about 5:15 pm at a women’s…
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Phuket’s klong to be cleaned Saturday
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Municipality is organizing a “Clean Up Klong Bang Yai” day on Saturday, May 26, as part of its activities to mark World Environment Day on June 5.The cleanup will take place along a two-mile stretch of Klong Bang Yai, Phuket’s longest watercourse, from the Thipkiri Bridge to the Phra-Aram Bridge in Phuket City. Volunteers are invited…
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Warrant served on thumb-chopping insurance fraud suspect
KATHU: Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police yesterday served a search warrant at the home of alleged insurance fraudster Pichet Porntatipong, who insurers claim chopped off his own left thumb with a butcher’s knife in order to collect 16 million baht in claims on some 30 different insurance polices. Lt Col Akkarat Limsangkard, Deputy Commander of CSD Sub-Division 5, called K.…
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Man bites dog
“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.” PATHUM THANI: The above quote, often attributed to 19th-century New York Sun editor John B Bogart, is the standard maxim given to young journalists to remind them what is newsworthy and what is not. It…
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Press conference to clarify “Zoran Island” plan
PHUKET: Following reports that a man-made island was ready to be built off the east coast of Phuket to accommodate a marina for mega-yachts, the marketing manager at Royal Phuket Marina [RPM] clarified that the project is still in the early planning stages and faces many obstacles before it can become a reality. RPM Marketing Director Wilaiporn Titimanaaree told the Gazette that developer…
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Phuket economy, lifestyle under scrutiny
PHUKET: With tourism resilient and the local property and investment markets sullied by strong central government resistance to globalism, business people in Phuket find themselves at a crossroads. They wonder if the legendary Thai welcome accorded overseas tourists can continue to work its magic amid the walls against foreign land ownership. Will the walls fall? Or will they, along with…
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Phuket and Japan’s Hyoko to be “sistered” soon
PHUKET: Plans are afoot to add the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo to Phuket’s growing list of sister cities.On May 21, Phuket Japanese Association President Kazushi Miyashita met with Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit and Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Southern Region 4 office to discuss the idea.Mr Miyashita told reporters he has already met the Vice Governor…
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Evacuation drills planned for June 30
PHUKET: Evacuation drills will be conducted in all tsunami-risk areas on the island on June 30, Phuket Vice Governor Tri Augkaradacha has announced. The drills will be coordinated jointly by the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), the local office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) and local administrative bodies where the exercises will take place. The areas…
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Night of drug checks turns up only one positive
PHUKET CITY: A urine check of 155 customers at seven nightspots in Phuket City on the night of May 17 turned up only one possible case of drug use, police reported.Phuket City Administrative Officer Adul Chuthong, along with Phuket Provincial Health Officer Anuntaporn Pattanapan, Phuket City Police Pol Capt Sombat Thanawut and about 10 volunteers conducted the unannounced checks, which…
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Man denies chopping off thumb to grab insurance
PHUKET (Gazette, The Nation): Kathu apartment owner Pichet Porntantipong, who stands accused of chopping off his thumb to collect 16 million baht in insurance, on May 21 insisted he suffered a mishap in the kitchen and welcomed a police investigation.“I’ve got nothing to hide…I’m ready for the police to investigate the facts,” he said.He declined, however, to go into the…
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Film fest coming to Jungceylon
PATONG: The first-ever Phuket Film Festival will be held from September 30 to October 6 to mark the opening of the SF Cinema, due to open soon at Jungceylon Shopping Center in Patong. The state-run Andaman News service this morning reported the Tourism Authority of Thailand as saying it hopes the festival will become an annual event.The film festival will…
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Mobile diabetes clinic to tour Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) is organizing a year-long mobile diabetes test clinic aimed at testing 50,000 people who fall into high-risk categories for the disease.Reporting to Phuket Vice-Governor Smith Palawatvichai at the “Governor Meets the Media” event at Phuket Provincial Hall on the morning of May 15, PPHO Chief Dr Wanchai Sattayawutthipong said the outreach project…
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Princess to visit Jungceylon tribute to HM the King
PHUKET: HRH Princess Soamsavali will preside over a tribute to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday, to be held at the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong on May 19.The event, to begin at 7 pm, will include a multimedia show entitled “The Art Inspiration from the King” featuring images projected on the water curtain in Jungceylon’s fountain. Princess Soamsavali will…
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OrBorJor launches low season lifeguard training
PHUKET: Phuket’s hazardous low-season beaches will be guarded by 100 lifeguards who are being trained at Phuket Community College this week.The lifeguards are being trained as part of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) lifeguard project. The training program was developed with the help of the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Command.The project aims to reduce the number of drownings…
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Police urge gold shops to tighten security
PHUKET CITY: Phuket police have requested local gold shops tighten security and limit their trading hours to help police better patrol the shops. The call follows a reported spike in the number of gold shop robberies nationwide.Police met more than 50 local gold shop owners at Phuket City Police Station yesterday to discuss the request along with other possible ways…
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Cyclone prompts local weather warning
PHUKET: The Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) issued a regional weather warning for Southern West Thailand at 4 pm today after tracking a Tropical Cyclone “01B” in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone has winds of up 75kmh and has been causing unusually rainy conditions along the Andaman Coast over the past few days. At 1 pm today the depression…
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Job fair offers more than 1,000 positions
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) will hold its annual job fair at Phuket Merlin Hotel on Thursday and Friday from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. PPEO Chief Nataya Anudit said that the PPEO has more than 1,000 vacancies waiting to be filled, ranging from rubber tappers to higher-level hotel employees. “We have about 115 businesses looking for…
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Peruvian drug “mules’ busted at airport
PHUKET: Two Peruvians were arrested at Phuket International Airport on Tuesday while attempting to smuggle 1.6 kilograms of internally concealed cocaine into the country. Police said that the drugs had a street value of about 4 million baht. Phuket Airport Immigration Office Superintendent Pol Col Surasak Atthapanyawanich told the Gazette that the arrests followed a tip off from Phuket-based Narcotics Suppression…
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Gazette appoints new Managing Director
PHUKET: Oranee ‘Ann’ Pienprasertkul has been elected Managing Director of the Phuket Gazette Co Ltd, with responsibility for all operating divisions and products of the company.Now in her eighth year with the Gazette, K. Oranee joined as an advertising sales person. She became marketing manager in 2002 and was appointed General Manager in 2005.The Bangkok native is a graduate of…
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File work permit renewals early, says new PPEO Chief
PHUKET: The new Chief of the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) has called for holders of work permits to apply for renewals at least three working days before their current permit expires.Nataya Anudit, who took over as PPEO chief two weeks ago, told the Gazette that the reminder aims to reduce the number of foreigners whose work permits needlessly expire…
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Gambling tops crimes stats again
PHUKET: Gambling remains the most commonly caught crime on the island with 239 arrests made from April 1 to April 30, according to statistics released by Phuket Provincial Police.Prostitution climbed into number two position, with 92 arrests.There were 71 people arrested in drug-related cases, of which 33 were for ya bah (methamphetamine)-related charges – three for selling, 20 for possession…
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