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Surin Beach gets facelift, Nai Yang muddles on
PHUKET: In an effort to beautify the Surin and Nai Yang beach fronts for the high season, 100 police volunteers and three local government officials helped to clear the illegal stalls at both beaches yesterday.Cherng Talay OrBorTor (Tambon Administration Organization) Chief Administative Officer Suwat Pakobporn explained to the Gazette that it is provincial government policy to remove illegal stalls and…
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Call for stricter building law enforcement
PHUKET: Provincial government officials and the Phuket Real Estate Club today made a joint call for stricter enforcement of building regulations to be applied across the island.At the weekly meeting of the heads of provincial government offices at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, Chaloerm Rakmak of the provincial office of the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning,…
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Tour of Siam draws 150 top cyclists
PHUKET: Twenty-six teams have confirmed that they will compete in the 870-kilometer Bangkok-to-Phuket Tour of Siam 2006 bicycle race, to be held from January 15 to January 21. The event is being organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale and the Asia Cycling Federation. More than 150 international entrants are to participate, from South Africa, Australia, Denmark, Japan, USA, Singapore, the…
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Tourist complaints spark zoo check
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura inspected the Phuket Zoo on Friday after receiving written complaints from about 10 tourists about the maltreatment of animals and the quality of water in pools there.The Thailand Zoological Park Organization (TZPO), the Tourism Authority of Thailand and a number of NGOs have also received similar complaints about the private zoo, which opened in 1997.The…
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Top Condé Nast award for Phuket
NEW YORK CITY: Phuket Island has received the “Top Island in Asia 2005” award from New York-based Condé Nast Traveler magazine in its 18th annual Readers’ Choice Award. Bangkok won the “Best Asian City” award.Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket Office said, “We sent representatives from Thailand to the event. It is the first time Phuket…
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Four nabbed in B50m heroin bust
PHUKET: Three foreign men and a Thai woman were arrested yesterday on charges of attempting to smuggle 40 kilograms of heroin out of Thailand in a yacht.The arrests are understood to be the culmination of a four-month international operation involving police from Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Norway and the US.Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) Deputy Commissioner Pol Maj…
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Nation V event “a huge success’
KARON: Nearly 2,000 people, mostly from Thailand, Singapore, Japan and the US, joined the first day and night of Asia’s largest gay and lesbian party, the three-day Nation V, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel yesterday.The event features nine parties, each with a different theme, with 18 DJs from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the USA, Malaysia and Australia manning the turntables.Events…
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Clinton praises Tilly the heroine
NEW YORK: The 10-year-old British schoolgirl whose prompt action saved an estimated 100 lives on Phuket last December 26 has been praised by former US President Bill Clinton.Tilly Smith was welcomed at UN headquarters in New York on November 3 by staff of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, a Geneva-based UN agency that is trying to educate people worldwide…
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19 die on Phuket roads in September
PHUKET: Official figures from Ruampaet and Phuket International private hospitals and Wachira Phuket, Thalang and Patong government hospitals show that 19 people died on Phuket’s roads in September – seven more than in August.Eighteen people died in motorcycle crashes and one was killed in a car crash, whereas in August, 11 died in motorcycle collisions and one in a car…
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Tsunami ceremonies program unveiled
PHUKET: Beach locations in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi have been chosen for the holding of official tsunami anniversary commemoration ceremonies on the morning of December 26. Thailand is offering free flights and accommodation for two nights to relatives of those who died or went missing in the tsunami, and to those who were injured in the tsunami, so that…
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Soi Dog Foundation “now official’
PHUKET: The Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) announced on October 31 that it has been granted official foundation status in Thailand. Margot Homburg Park, President of the SDF, said that it was a huge breakthrough for the charity, and that the move would allow it to expand its operations in Phuket. She added that she looked forward to working closely with…
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Gov takes tough line on airport taxis
PHUKET: Within two weeks meter taxis will have a desk inside the arrivals hall of Phuket International Airport, and three cabs at a time will be allowed to park right outside arrivals – the sacred territory of the island’s airport limousines.The decision was made by Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura after a meeting yesterday to discuss the simmering dispute between meter taxis…
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Travel deal “should boost Chinese tourist numbers’
PHUKET: Nineteen Chinese tour operators yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to sell 25 standardized travel packages to Chinese tourists. The MOU, signed at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, will be effective for six months starting today.Prapan Yukumyat, President of the Phuket Office of the Thai-China Tourism Association, told the Gazette that since the year 2000 the number of…
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Austrian in bizarre suicide
PATONG: An Austrian tourist died of knife wounds to the chest at around midnight on Saturday. Police say that he purposely inflicted the wounds on himself.The dead man was named as Wolfgang Rodlauer, 36, a ski instructor. Pol Lt Col Prathung Pholmana of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that Mr Rodlauer was seen walking about the streets of Patong…
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Rough justice for knicker nicker
SAMUT PRAKAN: Stealing women’s underwear might be considered nothing but a prank in some countries, but it is a serious crime in Samut Prakan’s Muang District, where residents of Tambon Bangpoomai took the law into their own hands and nearly beat to death a man after he was caught pilfering panties. Yoybangpoo District Police reported the man’s arrest, which occurred…
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Croc makes good pillow and a snappy companion
PHICHIT: Some people like to argue about which breed of dog makes the best four-legged home security system, but a coffee vendor in this province has found that his 70-kilogram pet crocodile is just as effective at keeping burglars at bay as any Rottweiler, Pit Bull or Doberman. Prayoon “Khiat” Thong jorn, 43, bought the crocodile for 3,000 baht as…
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Not so sty-lish behavior
KHON KAEN: A man accused by villagers of having sex with a neighbor’s pig has agreed to pay the owner 500 baht in compensation. Sa-ngad Hapanna, 39, a resident of Baan Tonnoi in Muang district, filed a complaint with the village headman after neighbors alerted her the night before that they saw the man having sex with one of her…
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Monkey man says he’s there to stay
KAMALA: A man living alone in a tree high up in the Kamala Hills has drawn so much interest that the local tambon president has had to order improvements to the path leading to his jungle hideaway, lest his many curious visitors continue injuring themselves in their efforts to reach him. News of the modern-day Tarzan hit the headlines on…
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Local phone book swamps server
PHUKET: Following a bulletin last Wednesday announcing that the deadline for listings in the 2006 Gazette Guide (local “yellow” pages) would be tonight, October 31, the Gazette web server has been under heavy pressure and has suffered sporadic downtime. In what may be a reflection of the recent surge in local business confidence, approximately 480 new listings and/or updates have been entered…
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HRH to return to Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will be in Phuket again from November 12 to 14, Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura announced yesterday morning.Although the official itinerary has yet to be announced, he said that the Princess will bring with her eight of the 12 adjudicators of the Prince Mahidol Award, which is given each year in recognition of exemplary contributions to…
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Princess enjoys playtime with Thai orphans
PHUKET: Princess Maja Synke von Hohenzollern of Germany was in Phuket yesterday to enjoy a few hours of fun with 23 orphans being taken care of by the Beluga School for Life at Na Nai in Phang Nga. The school was established soon after the tsunami and is being funded for 10 years by Niels Stolberg, the managing director of…
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Police nab 7-Eleven Gang
PHUKET CITY: Police have rounded up a seven-member gang – three of them women – in connection with armed robberies of four 7-Eleven convenience stores over a five-day period, starting last Friday (October 21).Four of the gang were paraded before the press and identified as Jarin Tunrat, 26; Rungrudee Kaewchu, 27; Monya Lao-ngam, 18; and Komsan Pornlert, 27. All are…
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Tsunami siren test declared a success
PHUKET: One of Patong’s three tsunami warning towers was tested this morning, its siren being triggered remotely from the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok.Adm Thaweesak Daengchai, Adviser to the NDWC, told the Gazette he was pleased with the test and with the fact that, this time, most people seemed to know that it was a drill…
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Frenchman kills self “over debts’
PHUKET: French resident Laurent Huppe was found dead in his house in Ao Yon on Wednesday. Police say they believe he committed suicide, possibly because of heavy debt.Mr Huppe’s landlord, Donraman Srikwan, noticed a bad smell when he visited Mr Huppe’s two-story wooden home on the Baan Borrea-Khao Khad Rd in Wichit district, and found the bedroom door locked. He…
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Patong tsunami alarms to be tested
PATONG: The three existing tsunami warning towers along Patong beach will be tested between 10 am and 11:30 am on Friday this week. The testing, to be conducted jointly by the Municipality and officials from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry, is aimed at ensuring that the towers’ direct satellite links to the Nonthaburi-based National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC)…
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Jetstar begins flights to Phuket
PHUKET: Singapore-based economy airline Jetstar Asia yesterday began its four-times-weekly service from Singapore to Phuket, with tickets selling for as little as S$30 (about 725 baht) until December 15. Jetstar Asia flights leave Singapore every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:05 am, arriving in Phuket at 7:45 am. The return flight leaves Phuket at 8:45 am, arriving in Singapore…
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Mystery surrounds photographer’s murder
PHUKET CITY: A freelance photographer was gunned down on October 21 while watching TV in his house behind Suan Luang park.Pol Sub Lt Aumporn Musikapan of the Phuket City Police Station named the victim as Thavil Laksanavimol, 36, from Nakorn Sri Thammarat Province.He was watching TV at about 10:15 pm with the 14-year-old daughter of a neighbor when his assailant,…
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Phuket City police chief promoted
PHUKET: The Superintendent of Phuket City Police, Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, is one of a number of senior police who are being promoted or transferred as part of the annual national police reshuffle.Col Paween has been promoted to Deputy Commander of the Surat Thani Provincial Police. His replacement is Lt Col Natta Sawaetalaek, formerly Deputy Superintendent of Thalang Police.Also leaving…
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TTVI center closure may be postponed
PHUKET: The Thai Tsunami Victims Identification (TTVI) Center has asked the government to postpone the Bangkok center’s closure from December 26 to February 28 because it will not be able to finish its work by the end of the year.Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, Superintendent of the TTVI’s Thai disaster victim identification (DVI) unit, said that the TTVI submitted its request…
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Bird ‘flu precautions stepped up
PHUKET: Following the death of a farmer in Kanchanaburi province from bird ‘flu and the infection of his son with the disease, Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has ordered officials to step up measures to ensure there is no outbreak of the disease in Phuket.No cases of avian ‘flu have ever been recorded on the island.“I’m very serious about this, because…
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