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One-year-old boy dies, apparent victim of family abuse
PHUKET: A one-year-old boy who died at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Saturday likely died of wounds inflicted by a family member, say police. The child was brought to Thalang hospital by relatives at 11pm on Friday. He was unconscious, and his face and body were covered in bruises. “He was still breathing, but struggling, so the Thalang medical team gave…
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Two Chinese tourists mugged on the way to Cherng Talay supermarket
PHUKET: Two Chinese women on their way to a supermarket in Cherng Talay last night were attacked and robbed by two men on a motorbike.The women were walking to Tesco Lotus when the two men rode toward them.“The passenger got off the motorbike and snatched their bags, and the tourists fought to get the bags back,” said Jirasak Sungwisut of…
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Aussie taxi driver intimidates other drivers with gun, blade
PHUKET: An Australian allegedly working illegally as a taxi driver in Patong attempted to intimidate a female taxi driver yesterday afternoon with a bladed weapon and a gun. Garry Porting was arrested later in the day by Patong Police for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, explained Kathu District Chief Veera Kerdsirimongkol. Mr Porting went to the Graceland Hotel…
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Chinese tourists drowns at popular Phuket day-trip location
PHUKET: A Chinese tourist drowned at Koh Racha Yai yesterday afternoon, 14 weeks after another Chinese national drowned at the popular Phuket day-trip destination. Lin Hunhing, 30, was swimming near the island after lunch when he ran into difficulties. “There were big waves, up to two meters high,” said Thada Sodarak of the Chalong Police. “He tried to swim back…
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Seat belt saves Phuket chief judge in auto wreck
PHUKET: Phuket Court Chief Judge Parinya Chaowalittawin became a traffic-accident statistic over the weekend when he survived an accident en route to Krabi. “I was on my way to see my parents in Trang, and had left Phuket at about 4:30am on Saturday,” Mr Parinya told the Phuket Gazette.“It was about 6am and I was some two kilometers past Krabi…
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Phuket Gazette World News: US shutdown with no end in sight
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community In first day of U.S. shutdown, no end in sight Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans came no closer to ending a standoff yesterday that has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years and thrown hundreds of thousands of federal employees out…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Threat from typhoon eases [VIDEO]
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Threat from typhoon eases The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: With Typhoon Wutip rapidly heading for a downgrade to a low-pressure ridge yesterday, some Thais heaved a sigh of relief but many remained on the lookout for another coming storm. Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who…
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Phuket’s new top cop makes a stand for human dignity
PHUKET: The incoming commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, has vowed to better protect the privacy and human dignity of suspects by calling for careful consideration before staging public “re-enactments” of crimes and criminal press conferences.“I will not order a ban on officers staging such events, but I will ask the superintendents of all police stations…
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Phuket’s “Brother Pom’ leads Central taxi flock to legal co-op
PHUKET: The informal network of taxi drivers operating at Central Festival Phuket shopping mall will be registered as a formal co-operative as part of the drivers’ efforts to work as part of a fully-legal entity by November 30. The co-operative will call itself the Andaman Taxi Service Co-operative, explained network leader Pom Sukkasam, also known as “Brother Pom”. “We have…
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Tour operators warned of imposters in Similian National Park
PHUKET: The Similan Islands National Park authority has warned tour operators over a group of people posing as park officers and offering reduced entry fees to the islands. “A couple of weeks ago, a number of tour operators informed me that there was a group of people who approached them, claiming to be national park officers,” Similan Islands National Park…
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Phuket wild boars ravage football-golf greens
PHUKET: A sounder of wild boar has settled on an 18-hole “Football Golf Course” in Chalong as their preferred dining area, but in the pigs’ quest for cuisine, they’ve left damaging divots on the greens. “Our course is currently under attack by wild boars, which are rampaging through it at night and ripping up our greens,” said Neil Simmons of…
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Alarmed drunkard dumps temple bell, flees scene
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for a man who reportedly tried to sell a temple bell to a secondhand store in Thalang while drunk. Natthakarn Rattanaphan, 33, called the Thalang Police yesterday afternoon after a man arrived at her secondhand store in front of the well-known Term Fun housing estate in Baan Manik (map here). “The man, aged about…
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Phuket jet-ski thug gets first taste of swift tourist court justice
PHUKET: The first cases heard in Phuket’s tourist court, which involved a jet-ski operator who attacked two tourists on Kata Beach, were resolved less than 36 hours after the incidents happened. Danaichet Yomjinda, 25, who pled guilty to charges of assaulting the two men on Friday with a “No Swimming” flagpole, was issued a 1,000-baht fine and put on probation…
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Krabi’s Andaman Eagles swoop down on Phuket FC
PHUKET: The Islanders fell into 11th place of the 18-team Yamaha League One (YL1) as a result of their latest defeat, 3-1 to Krabi FC in a tense “Andaman derby” match on Saturday evening in Krabi Town. As a result, Phuket FC and the Krabi “Andaman Eagles” swapped rankings, the latter moving up to 9th place with 38 points –…
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Phuket hitman Rambo denies death squad charges
PHUKET: Joseph Manuel Hunter, 48 – nicknamed “Rambo” and arrested at his rented Phuket home last Thursday, as originally reported by the Phuket Gazette (story here) – has denied charges of recruiting a team of former military snipers to commit murders on behalf of two Colombian drug cartel leaders. The cartel leaders were, in fact, Drug Enforcement Administration informants posing…
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Phuket tour bus brakes fail, driver avoids disaster
PHUKET: Faulty brakes almost resulted in a tour bus smashing into a house on Patong Hill last night, in a near-repeat of an accident that occurred at almost the same location about four months ago (story here). “No injuries were reported. The Daow Duang Mai Travel company bus had no passengers. It was only carrying tourists’ luggage when the accident…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Berlusconi plunges Italy into chaos; Air strike on Syrian school; US faces Fed Govt shutdown; Nigerian massacre; Space FalconX launches
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Italian politics in crisis after Berlusconi pulls support Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Silvio Berlusconi’s bid to push Italy into new elections faces a test on Monday when he meets lawmakers from his centre-right party who have shown growing unease over his shock decision to pull support from…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Floods hit, more rain coming; High hopes for baby panda; Govt urged to consider BRN proposal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM visits Prachin Buri as flood crisis intensifies The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The flood crisis in Prachin Buri was the focus of attention yesterday amid forecasts of more rain on the way and fears that local industrial estates could be submerged.The eastern province has been the…
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Russian dive instructor drowns at Racha Noi Island
PHUKET: A Russian dive instructor who worked in Phuket drowned off Racha Noi Island on Saturday afternoon.Denis Lipatov, 39, was at the island with friends when he developed a cramp while swimming at about 5pm. By the time he was rescued he was unconscious, and efforts to resuscitate him failed.His friends returned to Chalong pier with his body, where they…
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Rubber protests yield gains in Phuket
PHUKET: Rubber protests in recent weeks in Southern Thailand are now paying dividends for plantation owners in Phuket and the rest of the nation. Though the direct demands of the protests, which included a government subsidy for sheets of rubber were not met, the government has allocated a total of over 21 billion baht to be paid out to households…
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Samkong underpass construction set to begin in November
PHUKET: Construction is to start on the 850-million-baht underpass at the Samkong intersection in mid-November.“We have already started to clear the area in preparation for the construction,” Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Luedwonghad told the Phuket Gazette this week.“We will start by digging up the median strip on the bypass road north of the Samkong intersection,” he said.Drivers should be…
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Iran paying it back; Anti-coco mission crashes; Sudanese hit with tear gas; Global warming mankind’s fault
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Iran makes payments on old loans to World Bank Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Iran resumed payments on old loans to the World Bank, the bank said on Friday, just as the country held the highest level conversation with the United States in more than three decades.The poverty-fighting…
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Army to battle pad kaphrao; Abhist warns PM over amendment; Big three to reduce prices
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai Army ready: We shall fight them in the kitchens Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Royal Thai Army has declared war on pad kaphrao. A sign banning the spicy stir-fried basil dish has appeared in the canteen at the Office of the Army Secretary in Bangkok. Evidently…
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Video Report: Transnational drug lord Hunter deported, new Thai search laws enacted
PHUKET: High on the United States authorities’ most-wanted list, Joseph Manuel Hunter was deported back to the US this morning, days after the Prevention and Suppression of Transnational Organized Crime Act was enacted in Thailand. Mr Hunter, 48, who was arrested in Phuket by officers from Phuket Immigration and the Crime Suppression Division on Wednesday (story here). He was taken…
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All invited to Islamic New Year fiesta in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Everyone, regardless of faith, has been invited to mark the Islamic New Year with a fiesta and keynote speakers in Phuket Town on November 8 and 9. “The event to honor Hijrah 1435 [the upcoming Islamic New Year] will be held on November 8 and 9 at Sanaam Chai Field (map here), opposite Provincial Hall in Phuket Town,” said…
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Police boost ranks as high season approaches
PHUKET: Much needed police boots will march onto the island in mid-November to help protect the swelling numbers of tourists and the general population of Phuket as officers ready for high season. “Our ranks will grow by 146 officers by mid-November,” said Phuket Provincial Deputy Commander Saneh Yawila. On September 25, 49 more officers will take station on Phuket and…
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Phuket Opinion: Hailing a new era
Prasat Pechwang, 56, is a Phuket native. He earned a BA from King Mongkut’s University of Technology in North Bangkok, majoring in Electrical Engineering. He started working at Saudi Oger Company Ltd in 1981 and moved to We-Ef Lighting Company Ltd in 1987. He has been a taxi driver with Phuket Taxi Meter Service Company Limited for ten years. Here,…
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Phuket Opinion: The testing paradox
PHUKET: Obtaining a driver’s license on our island is a paradoxical task.It is an ostensibly simple process, all done within one building and in eight hours, driving lessons optional – which may rev your confidence up – but it’s fussiness has been known to trip up even those with decades of driving experience.A mere inch of yellow line-overstepping during the…
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Police ordered to carry out weekend blitz on crime
PHUKET: One of Thailand’s top-ranking police officers has ordered Phuket law-enforcement authorities to ramp up their crackdown on all forms of crime over the weekend as part of a blitz to improve tourists’ confidence in safety. Gen Wuthi Liptapallop, a national-level adviser to the Royal Thai Police, was in Phuket yesterday to review progress made in the island-wide crackdown launched…
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Gunman Dj Bee on the run
PHUKET: Police suspect Dj Bee and his two alleged accomplices in the gunning down of man in Phuket’s party town of Patong on Sunday have fled the island. “The court issued an arrest warrant yesterday for Wanchit Sornsaree (also known as Dj Bee), Tookta Saleekoop and Moe Than Daroo for attempted murder and the possession of an illegal firearm and…
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