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Phuket hacks back drug “growers’ in Thalang
PHUKET: Thalang police and district officers hacked open a path for progress in the war on drugs in Phuket by cutting down more than 60 kratom trees in Srisoonthorn yesterday. Despite the trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been designated a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943.…
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Phuket Police bust heroin dealers in Cherng Talay
PHUKET: Police in Phuket yesterday arrested a heroin dealer from Narathiwat, in Thailand’s troubled Deep South, seizing more than 80 grams of the drug as well as a stash of dried marijuana from one of his agents.The arrest was announced at a press conference led by Cherng Talay Police Superintendent Jirasak Siangsak yesterday morning. Col Jirasak presented to the press…
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Phuket Gazette: Book and film review
PHUKET: Oliver Stone’s new movie is Savages, a thriller about the drug trade in Laguna Beach, California. Starring a roll call of Hollywood A-listers – Blake Lively, Salma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta – the film is based on a crime novel by Don Winslow. A former Private Investigator in real life, Winslow has written 15 novels and is…
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Thailand News: Verdict delay in war weapon case
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Verdict on eight Thais in war weapon case “could take two weeks” Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: The trial of eight Thais, arrested in Myanmar on charges of possessing war weapons, was scheduled to end today, but it could take two weeks before the court…
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Thailand News: Update on drug bust; Leaders oppose curfew; Drink still flowed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Drug packaging warehouse raided after Aussie tip-off Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: A Thai warehouse for terracotta pots was searched by police who believe that it served as a transit point for illicit drugs to be smuggled into Australia. National Police chief Priewpan Dhamapong said…
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Phuket police take chainsaws to drug problem
PHUKET: Chainsaw-wielding police took a cut out of the drug-supply in Phuket on yesterday, bringing down several enormous kratom trees on Luang Poh Road. Despite kratom trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been considered a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943. The law made planting the tree…
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Phuket takes drug war to the coffee shop
PHUKET: In a marked departure from the usual line in tackling drugs on the island, Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada yesterday took time out to sit down with local village leaders and discuss the drug problem over a cup of coffee. Joined by Col Jirasak Siemsak of Cherng Talay Police Station and Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) Vice President…
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Police crack Phang Nga drug network linked to “kingpin prisoner’
PHUKET: Acting on a tip-off police raided two separate addresses in Phang Nga yesterday resulting in the arrest of six men and the recovery of drugs, weapons, cash and other valuables. The gang was reportedly controlled by an inmate at Nakhon Sri Thammar at Provincial Prison who ordered drugs to be delivered to one of the suspects netted in the…
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Phuket books: Battle of the Eco-Warriors
PHUKET: T.C. Boyle is the hardest working man in the literary business. Like the late Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, he writes seven days a week, and it shows. He has written 13 novels and nine collections of short stories. His first two novels – Water Music and Budding Prospects – are about the 18th century African explorations of Mungo Park and contemporary…
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Former monk arrested for drugs in Phuket
PHUKET: A former monk was one of six suspects arrested in drug raids in Kathu, Phuket earlier this week. Following a tip-off that a man living in a hut had been selling drugs to local youths, a Thung Thong Police drug suppression unit on Sunday raided the dwelling, located in a rubber plantation near Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu. They…
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Phuket Police armed standoff ends on a high
PHUKET: A two-hour standoff between Phuket police and an armed man ended without bloodshed last night after officers finally persuaded him to stand down. Police arrived at a home along a soi opposite Chalong Temple at about 6pm after Sawai Thongyod called them, saying her 26-year-old son was armed, acting dangerously and she feared for her safety. Her son, Sukan…
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Phuket police arrest one in Burmese dope bust
PHUKET: Phuket police arrested a man for selling drugs in Rawai on Saturday, seizing his stash of marijuana and multiple bundles of kratom leaves in the process. Acting on a tip-off, Lt Col Charan Bangprasert of the Chalong Police dispatched a team to a construction site in Rawai, where the suspect was reportedly supplying drugs to Burmese workers. The suspect,…
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Phuket police bust uncovers dope ‘brick’ in woman’s shorts
PHUKET: Phuket Police acting on a tip-off arrested two people for possession and intent to sell marijuana on Monday night. One of the arrested was a woman who had a “brick” of marijuana stuffed into her shorts. The other was a man who was already wanted for dope charges. After receiving the tip-off that “someone” was selling drugs at a…
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Japanese refugee in Phuket pot bust
PHUKET: A Japanese man fleeing the flood waters in Bangkok was caught with about 24 grams of marijuana this morning as he entered Phuket by car. Police stopped a white Honda Jazz at about 9:30am at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint for a routine inspection. In the car were three Japanese men, including Haruyuki Masuoka, 27. Police found four plastic bags…
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Ex-cop caught smuggling 4.5kg of marijuana into Phuket
PHUKET: Police at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint – the northern tip of the island – yesterday arrested a retired policeman trying to smuggle 4.5 kilograms of marijuana into Phuket.Also arrested was a man who says he was just getting a ride from Ranong to Phuket with the former officer.Police stopped Natthawut Nuengklang, 61, at 2pm to conduct a standard inspection…
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“Monk’ hash mule nabbed at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: A Nepalese “monk” was caught on Saturday at Phuket International Airport (PIA) with eight kilos of hashish in his luggage. The haul was said to be worth an estimated 800,000 baht. The suspect, Hise Chhiring Tamang, was presented at a press conference yesterday by PIA Customs Director Montira Cherchoo. Also present was PIA Deputy Director Thani Chuangcho, who said…
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Phuket Police anti-drugs campaign targets kids
PHUKET: About 300 students yesterday began their first day of an “anti-drugs camp” as part of a new campaign by Phuket City police targeting youngsters. The children, from schools throughout Phuket Town, gathered at Srinagarindra The Princess Mother School Phuket (or “Chalermprakiat School“) in Saphan Hin for the four-day camp, which ends on Thursday. “Drug addiction is still a big…
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Phuket Gov first to be drug tested
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha today passed a drug test as part of the grand opening ceremony for the new drug testing center in Phuket. The governor officiated at the the event at the Regional Medical Sciences Center in Thalang this morning and offered a urine sample which was then screened for all five classes of illegal narcotics. After a…
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New test center to boost Phuket drug convictions
PHUKET: A Public Health Ministry center in Phuket is now conducting drug tests on urine and blood samples provided by police in a move that is expected to boost the number of drug convictions in Phuket. The tests will be conducted at the Regional Medical Sciences Center in Phuket, just north of the Heroines’ Monument on Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang.…
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Guns, fights and ganja – but no election violence: Police
PHUKET: The police crackdown in Phuket in the run-up to the July 3 election landed a bumper haul of guns, drugs and arrests – but resulted in no arrests for violence related to the election. A total of 45 factory-made and homemade guns were seized and 350 people were arrested for drugs since May 12, according to statistics issued today…
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Korean owner of Phuket snake farm busted with drugs
PHUKET: The Korean owner of a Phuket snake farm was arrested at the Thai border with Cambodia this morning when he tried to smuggle ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and marijuana into the Kingdom. The Korean, identified as 51-year-old Eun Sooyong, was passing through a security checkpoint at the Phrom Daen border crossing in the Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaew Province,…
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Cops to be drug tested: Phuket Police chief
PHUKET: The new Phuket City Police chief today announced plans to introduce drug testing for police nationwide to ensure that the force remains completely drug free. “Police are the last line of defense in society’s war on illegal drugs, so if they themselves are involved, then its ‘game over’,” Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai told a press conference today.…
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Ex-Phuket police officer’s house burns
PHUKET: The abandoned home of a former policeman went up in flames last night in what police suspect was a fire lit accidentally by people who broke inside to take drugs. Phuket City Municipal firefighters received a report of the fire on Phul Pon Road Soi 13 at about 11:30pm. Firefighters arrived quickly, but their fire truck could not access…
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German’s Phuket stay goes to pot
PHUKET: A 33-year-old German man is facing deportation after being found overstaying his visa and in possession of half a gram of marijuana. Chalong Police stopped Nico Bergmann about midday on Sunday as he drove through a checkpoint in Soi Thanuthep. Officers, led by Lt Col Weerayut Sitthirattanakul, believed Mr Bergmann was acting suspiciously and searched his car. In his…
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PHUKET OPINION: Saving lives is not an ‘internal affair’
PHUKET: The dismissal en masse of Patong-based volunteer rescue workers by the Kusoldharm Foundation once again raises the need for better standards in emergency medical rescue services – not just in Patong, but across all of Phuket. As a privately administered organization, the Kusoldharm Foundation has the right to dismiss volunteers whose conduct is inappropriate, but to terminate the services…
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Thieving meth-heads arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: The crime spree of three drug-addicted thieves came to an end on Monday, following a series of arrests that began when one gang member was caught smoking ya bah (methamphetamine). The trio were presented to the press at a conference held at Phuket City Police Station on Wednesday. Phuket City Police Commander Pekad Tantipong identified the accused as Adisorn…
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Phuket Police pinch pot peddlars
PHUKET: Phuket City Police yesterday arrested two men for possession of eight bars of dried marijuana. Phuket City Police Inspector Wijak “The Magnet” Tarom identified the pair as Iruphan “Heng” Latae, 34, and Worrapoj “Roos” Sairaya, 29. Lt Col Wijak and his team noticed Mr Iruphan acting suspiciously outside an unnamed apartment block on Soi Siangtai, off Thepkrasattri Rd southbound…
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August drug cases up 70% year-on-year: Phuket Police
PHUKET: August has seen a 70% jump in the number of reported drug cases year-on-year in Phuket, according to statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police. According to the statistics, 333 were people arrested in 305 drug cases last month, a 70.1% increase on the number of cases reported in August 2009. However, the numbers for last month were down…
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Five murders in Phuket in June
PHUKET: June proved a murderous month for Phuket as a wave of violent crime swept across the island with five murders and 14 cases of manslaughter being reported, according to the latest crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police. Among the unsolved cases is that of the murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, 33, whose naked body was discovered…
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Love in Phuket: Thai-foreigner marriages that fail
PHUKET: Thai-foreigner relationships accounted for well over half of all contested divorces in Phuket last year, according to the new chief justice of the Phuket Provincial Juvenile and Family Court (PPJFC). Chief Justice Methinee Thipmonthian said at a press conference earlier this month that in 2009 there were 24 Thai-foreigner divorces contested in Phuket, out of a total 36 cases…
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