Hot News
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Songkran crime sweep nets hundreds of suspects
PHUKET: More than 1,500 arrests related to drug, illegal firearms, gambling and other criminal activities were made in Phuket and the surrounding provinces between April 1 and 17. “In the raids, a total of 171 suspects were arrested for firearms offences. A total of 165 unregistered guns were seized along with 750 rounds of ammunition, as well as two bombs…
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Australia set to legalise cultivation of medical cannabis
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia set to legalise cultivation of medical cannabis Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Australia is expected to legalize the cultivation of cannabis for medical or scientific purposes with a bill introduced to parliament on Wednesday – the first step towards doctors eventually prescribing it to patients…
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Dirty dozen picked up in mass Phuket raid
PHUKET: A large task force swept up twelve suspects wanted for a series of crimes ranging from illegal drugs and firearms, to their role in the Thalang Police Station riot (story here). “The joint mission on Sunday saw 120 officers from local police forces, Thalang District and the Royal Thai Navy make 12 arrests with 12 search warrants,” said Phuket…
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Phuket drug dealer busted with 11kg of marijuana
PHUKET: Police arrested a 22-year-old man for possession of about 11 kilograms of marijuana, an illegal firearm and other drug paraphernalia at a location near Bangkok Hospital Phuket yesterday evening. “We received a tip-off that Subinnimit Rakvet, 22, was dealing marijuana in the Talad Yai area, making deliverers on his Kawasaki Ninja motorbike,” said Maj Ritthichai Choomchuy of the Phuket…
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Three types of marijuana to hit Uruguayan pharmacies in 2016
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three types of marijuana to hit Uruguayan pharmacies in 2016 Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Uruguayans will be able to choose from three varieties of state-sanctioned cannabis when marijuana starts being sold in pharmacies in the small South American country next year, the National Drug Board…
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Region 8 Police seize more than 100 guns in crackdown
PHUKET: Region 8 Police sized more than 100 firearms, including one weapon of war, in a week-long crackdown ahead of tomorrow’s Loy Krathong festivities (story here). “Region 8 Police and local officers in Surat Thani, Nakorn Sri Thammarat, Chumphon, Ranong, Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket conducted massive raids to get guns and drugs off the streets this week,” said Chalermkiat…
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A Decade Ago: Chasing the white dragon
PHUKET: Headlines about methamphetamine, kratom, marijuana and even a little cocaine find their way into the Phuket Gazette fairly regularly. But, heroin… that’s a beast that rarely surfaces on this paradise island. There was of course 22-year-old John Cawley, who was busted for running ‘birdie powder’ from Phuket to Koh Samui in 2013, but smack in general is either very…
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Six busted in Vegetarian Fest anti-drug campaign
PHUKET: Six people were arrested on Tuesday as part of an island-wide anti-drug and crime campaign during the Vegetarian Festival. Three Thais and three Russians were apprehended in Patong after officers received separate tip-offs from police sources. Russians Evan Klepinskovski, 29; Nikola Klesko, 30; and Maxim Fedorenko, 27, were each arrested for possession of more than four grams of marijuana,…
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High schoolers use e-cigarettes to vape marijuana – U.S. study
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community High schoolers use e-cigarettes to vape marijuana – U.S. study Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Nearly one in five high school students who said they used electronic cigarettes to vaporize nicotine also used them to vaporize pot, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 Connecticut teens.…
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Post Office continues to deliver illegal drugs to Phuket
PHUKET: Illegal drugs are continuing to be delivered by the Thai Postal Service, despite concern being raised nationally early last month, said the Thalang District Chief last week. The confirmation came on Saturday morning as officers arrested Siriphop Jaitrong, 35, as he was picking up 5.4 kilograms of kratom leaves from the Pa Khlok Post Office. Thalang District Chief Veera…
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Opinion: Packed prison
PHUKET: Credit is owed to the government for finally coming through with funding to build a much-needed and long overdue new prison for Phuket. It is well known that the existing Phuket Provincial Prison is dangerously overcrowded. With a maximum capacity of just 800, the 115-year-old facility currently holds more than 3,000 inmates – a recipe for disaster if ever…
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National park pot dealer busted with 2.5kg
PHUKET: A Khao Lak-Lamru National Park employee was snagged with more than two kilograms of marijuana during a sting operation on Monday. Kathachai Panboonthong, 36, confessed to police that he had been dealing drugs to international tourists and teens in the area for a ‘long time’, Takuapa District Chief Manit Pianthong explained. “When we searched his motorbike we found 2.5kg…
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Alleged Aussie drug dealer netted in Patong
PHUKET: An Australian alleged drug dealer was arrested in Patong on Tuesday in possession of cocaine and marijuana. Named by police as Miki Michael Lee, 48, the Aussie was caught in a rented room on Soi Nanai with 1 gram of cocaine and 29.3g of marijuana. “Our undercover officers informed us that Mr Lee was selling cocaine and marijuana to…
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Special Delivery: Drug network uses social media, post office
PHUKET: Enormous quantities of drugs are being shipped to Phuket through the Thai Postal system as island dealers buy in bulk through online social media platforms. “It has become more difficult catching drug dealers after they started using social media applications such as LINE and Facebook to buy and sell their products,” Director of the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) Sithisak…
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Opinion: Thailand’s embarassing ‘war on drugs’
PHUKET: The recent revelation that the Thai Postal Service is being used to transship large quantities of illicit drugs is just the latest in a long list of embarrassments in our country’s effort to combat recreational drug use. As far back as 1943, the government passed the Krathom Act in a bid to halt declining revenues from the government-taxed opium…
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Hungarian dope smuggler arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Hungarian national Kocsis Szabolcs Laszlo, 41, was presented to the press in Bangkok by Immigration Bureau commissioner Sakda Chuenpakdee yesterday after his arrest in Phuket on March 15. Mr Laszlo was wanted for allegedly smuggling 35 kilograms of marijuana from the Netherlands to Hungary on seven occasions, Lt Gen Sakda explained. The Immigration Commissioner said that police had arrested…
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Arrested ATM skimmers thought to be part of larger network
PHUKET: Police are investigating whether or not two Frenchmen who were arrested in Krabi for skimming ATMs in Krabi and Phang Nga are part of a network that includes five French nationals who were arrested for skimming in Phuket on February 28 (story here). Julien Patrick Alandis, 22, and Adrien Char Baptiste Hemour, 21, were arrested yesterday by Krabi City…
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Russian tourist caught in Phuket cocaine bust
PHUKET: Police have arrested a Russian tourist for selling cocaine at a shopping center car park in southern Phuket after he tried to sell the drugs to an undercover police officer. Officers arrested Anton Rybak, 25, on Friday after a sting operation at the car park of the Makro store in Rawai, said Lt Col Kritsana Yardkham, senior inspector of…
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Phi Phi resort partner, dive boat captain arrested
PHUKET: Police arrested a dive boat captain who is also a co-owner of a bungalow resort on Phi Phi Island for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia yesterday. Acting on a tip-off, officers arrived at the house of 45-year-old Preecha Riabrieng, in Rassada, at about 6:30pm. “We received information from a source about a suspected drug dealer operating on Phi…
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Police raid nets “unusual’ quantity of cough syrup
PHUKET: Police are investigating a shipment of more than 35,000 bottles of cough syrup, suspicious that at least some of the order was destined to be used in an illegal cocktail made with kratom leaves. At about 2pm on Tuesday, Phuket City Police and officers from the Phuket Custom House suppression unit seized 35,700 bottles of cough syrup to be…
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Phuket dope peddler nabbed in Patong sewing shop sting
PHUKET: Police arrested a 54-year-old man in Phuket yesterday for possession of 1.5 kilograms of kratom*, which he sold through his sewing shop on Nanai Road. Undercover officers entered the no-name shop in Patong at about 5:30pm and asked Prasert Chookong if he had any kratom for sale. Mr Prasert obliged, and was promptly arrested. “We bought 20 fresh kratom…
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Scores arrested in Beach Games crime crackdown
PHUKET: An island-wide crime sweep during the Asian Beach Games resulted in more than 150 arrests and turned up scores of weapons, illegal drugs and counterfeit items, Phuket’s top cop revealed yesterday. “We must maintain Phuket’s good image and uphold the policies of the Royal Thai Police. It is our job to keep everyone safe and to prevent crime,” Phuket…
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Billion-baht Belgian pot dealer arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Immigration officers arrested Belgian national Patrick Lagrou, 55, who was wanted on an Interpol notice as a fugitive drug dealer, as he was attempting to leave Phuket on Saturday night. Mr Lagrou is renowned as the biggest marijuana grower in Belgium’s history, amassing a fortune of 25 million euros – more than a billion baht – in assets before…
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Pre-emptive strike: Phuket Police net drugs, guns ahead of Loy Krathong
PHUKET: A recent crackdown on drugs and guns in Phuket has resulted in mounting concern over muggings during the Loy Krathong Festival this week. “There will be a great number of tourists and locals participating in the festivities, and we know that criminals look to take advantage of people during events like this,” Arayaphan Pukbuakao, a deputy commander of Phuket…
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Frenchmen, Nigerian snared in Phuket B1mn cocaine, marijuana busts
PHUKET: Police netted three foreign and three Thai drug suspects, and seized more than 1 million baht of cocaine and marijuana in two separate busts in Phuket over the weekend. Officers made the first arrests on Saturday when they were called to a residence in Sabai Village in Kathu after neighbors reported sounds of a fight. “At 1:40am, police arrived…
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Woman caught smuggling drugs in pumpkins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Woman caught smuggling drugs in pumpkins The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday caught a woman allegedly trying to smuggle in marijuana and amphetamines stuffed in pumpkins. Kanjana Srijuisai, 37, was arrested at a border checkpoint in Ubon Ratchathani after returning from Laos. Noticing her…
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Navy marines arrested in Cambodia with fake dollar notes valued at $7.5 million
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Navy marines arrested in Cambodia with fake dollar notes valued at $7.5 million The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has suspended from duty three marines after they were arrested in Cambodia for carrying fake US dollar banknotes. The fake notes had a…
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Dutch pot lord arrested in Pattaya
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dutchman, Thai wife nabbed for trafficking pot The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Dutchman and his Thai wife were arrested yesterday in Pattaya for allegedly conspiring to sell marijuana via a network in the Netherlands that reportedly earned Bt600 million to Bt800 million per year.…
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One Phuket post office, seven boxes, two days, eight drug arrests
PHUKET: Police arrested eight men over a two-day period as they collected boxes containing kratom from a Phuket post office. Suspicions were aroused when seven well-wrapped boxes, all the same size and all about the same weight, arrived on the same day from Bangkok. “One of the staff at the Phuket Post Office notified us and we sent plain clothes…
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Patong Police sweep party town for illegal weapons
PHUKET: Only one gun was discovered during a sweep for illegal firearms in Phuket’s premier party town early this morning. The five-team sweep composed of Patong Police officers and Civil Volunteers raided five targets after securing search warrants from the Phuket Provincial Court, Lt Col Suttichai Chairat of Patong Police told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “We received orders to…
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