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Kamala Fest 2010 underway in Phuket
KAMALA, PHUKET: The three-day Kamala Fest 2009 got underway this morning with a fishing competition, followed by a fancy parade in the afternoon. The official opening ceremony will be at the auspicious time of 6:39pm, when Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop will ring a bell to declare the festival open. There will also be a fireworks display. Song and dance performances…
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Soccer for seniors in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office is organizing a soccer tournament for seniors – and those under 38 years of age need not apply. Play in the first Senior Chai Field Cup soccer tourney kicks off Friday, January 15 at the Chai Field, opposite Phuket Provincial Hall on Narison Rd in Phuket Town. Teams of up to 12 players of any…
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Phuket tourism in high gear with last-minute bookings
PHUKET: For the last few weeks, a steady rise in the island’s hotel reservations indicate a strong start for the 2010 tourism season.According to the Phuket Tourist Association, which since 1980 began monitoring information and trends for the island tourism industry, hotel bookings have increased considerably compared with the same period last year.According to Phuket Tourist Association president Somboon Jirayut,…
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Phuket kids have their day
PHUKET: Tomorrow is Children’s Day. Around Phuket, many government, public and commercial venues will be putting on free entertainment for the island’s little people and their families. Normally restricted government offices will open their doors and to allow young visitors inside for educational tours and information. Strong moral values, health and education are an important message promoted and rewarded on…
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Love triangle turns deadly in Phuket
PHUKET: Police have arrested two people for the brutal stabbing murder of a Kathu town council member in a Phuket Town hotel late yesterday afternoon. Lt Col Pitakpon Sompong said staff at the Park Inn Hotel on Luang Phor Rd contacted police at 6:30pm yesterday to report a heated argument taking place inside Room 30. Just as police were arriving…
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Dutch consular outreach visit to Phuket
PHUKET: The Dutch Embassy will hold a consular outreach trip to Phuket on Wednesday, January 13. Peter Trimp, head of the Dutch Embassy’s Consular Affairs section, will be at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Phang Nga Road in Phuket Town from 10am to 12:30pm that day to provide a number of consular services to Dutch residents of Phuket and…
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Canadian confesses, pays fine at Phuket Court
PHUKET: Canadian tourist Ivan Bob Anwar, who was involved in a punch-up with a Patong tuk-tuk driver earlier in the week, has been ordered to pay a 1,000 baht fine after confessing to assault charges. Mr Anwar, 51, paid the fine at Phuket Provincial Court earlier today after pleading guilty to charges of assault against tuk-tuk driver Tassanarit Damthong, 30.…
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Phuket City police nab thieving teens
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police on Tuesday morning held a joint press conference to announce the capture of four young men arrested on various theft charges. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Thantipong presented the first suspect, identified as 23-year-old Thepkrasattri resident King Polasan. Despite the first name, the youth’s recent actions were anything but regal. Mr King was arrested at…
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UPDATE: Phuket tuk-tuk assault case
PHUKET: A Patong tuk-tuk driver charged with assault for allegedly beating a Canadian tourist has been granted bail. Tassanarit Damthong, 30, handed himself in at Kathu Police Station at 3pm on Tuesday. He was arrested and charged with the assault of Canadian tourist Ivan Bob Anwar, 51. Mr Anwar claimed he was punched five times after refusing to pay 150…
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Mystery hanging in Rawai woods
PHUKET: The body of a man presumed to be of European descent was discovered hanging from a tree in a secluded area of Rawai yesterday afternoon.Police were unable to identify the deceased but said he was Caucasian, about 180cm tall and estimated to be in his 40s.He had been dead for about eight hours before his body was found, police said.A local…
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Fabio: Grazie Mille Phuket
KAMALA, PHUKET: Italian tourist Fabio Fanzani was reunited with his lost wallet today after an appeal was launched on this website yesterday. Kamala Police had been trying in vain to contact the owner of the wallet after it was found by a Thai tourist, Ms Khanungnit Kwanyao, at Surin Beach and handed over to authorities over a week ago. When…
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More tuk-tuk trouble in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: A Canadian tourist was hospitalized after being punched repeatedly in an attack involving a tuk-tuk driver yesterday afternoon. Ivan Bob Anwar, 51, told the Gazette that he was punched five times in the attack, which resulted in a large gash above his left eyebrow requiring five stitches. He also sustained a bloody nose and bruising to his face.…
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Disabled to help Phuket City Police with CCTV monitoring
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are moving forward with a plan to have disabled people monitor closed-circuit television (CCTV) security cameras, but the project will be limited to those who can get up the stairs to the fourth-storey CCTV control room on their own. Phuket City Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit told the Gazette yesterday that his department is working with the Phuket…
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Crackdown on roadside food vendors in Wichit
WICHIT, PHUKET: Wichit Municipality has made an ambitious New Year’s resolution: to rid public roads of food vending carts and trolleys. Wichit Mayor Kreetha Saetan said the municipality and local public health workers have pleaded with mobile food vendors for over a year not to set up along public roads, especially in the market area across from the Phuket Villa…
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Phuket holiday road toll: 8 dead, 92 injured
PHUKET CITY: Final figures are in for this year’s ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign in Phuket and they are depressing indeed with eight dead – almost triple the number from last year, when three died. Figures released by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) today showed that 82 reported accidents left 92 people with injuries requiring…
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Karon tuk-tuk driver gets bail
CHALONG, PHUKET: The Karon tuk-tuk driver accused of attacking a family of French tourists with a metal pole on December 26 turned himself in to police and was released on bail, the Gazette has learned. Chalong Police Inspector Chana Suthimas identified the alleged attacker as 32-year-old Likhit Thaengthae, a resident of Karon. Mr Likhit appeared at Chalong Police Station at…
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Snatch-and-run bandits nabbed in Phuket
KAMALA, PHUKET: A pair of of English tourists will leave Phuket today with no pictures of their holiday to show friends back home – thanks to the depredations of a trio of thieves in Kamala. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Thantipong and Kamala Police yesterday afternoon held a press conference to announce the arrest of two men wanted in connection…
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Phuket holiday road toll: 6 dead, 85 injured
PHUKET CITY: Going into the last day of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign there were six dead and 85 injuries from 79 reported accidents in Phuket. One of the dead was an Australian. Statistics from the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) show Muang District had the highest numbers, with four dead…
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Wild car crash in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Like a scene out of a Hollywood action movie, an out-of-control car plowed through market stalls in the Samkong area of Phuket Town yesterday morning, leaving scores of motorbikes damaged and one woman with a broken arm. Phuket City Police were informed of the accident at 9am. Arriving at the scene, opposite the Dairy Hut restaurant on Hongyok U-thit…
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Hazardous waste separation drive to launch in Phuket
PHUKET: A project aimed at separating used electrical equipment from the solid waste stream will kick off with special activities on Saturday, which is National Children’s Day in Thailand. The force behind the project is the Phuket chapter of the Business and Professional Women’s Association of Thailand (BPW-Phuket). Chapter president Pornpinit P. Suwan met with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngpop at…
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Readers’ Poll: CCTV expansion in Phuket Town
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) is installing 53 more CCTV cameras in and around Phuket Town at a cost of 17 million baht. The stated aim is to improve security for residents and tourists alike. The PPAO says it plans to extend coverage to other parts of the island, including Chalong, in the future. Do you think this…
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The Sam Van Treeck case: five years on
PHUKET CITY: Thailand’s five-year effort to extradite fugitive murder suspect Sam Van Treeck to stand trial for the stabbing murder of Chompoonut ‘Jeab’ Kobram in Pattaya in 2004 appeared to take a step backwards on December 31 when a Belgian court granted his release from prison on a conditional basis. Van Treeck, a former tour guide in Thailand, was charged…
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OPINION: Public transport a blot on the Phuket landscape
PHUKET: Last week, a family of French tourists were savagely assaulted with a steel shaft at Kata Beach when they attempted to park their rented car for a late afternoon spell of sun and fun on the sand. The attack occurred in front of the local Municipality Office opposite the Kata Beach Resort, and right next to a police post.…
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Phuket holiday road deaths at provincial average – so far
PHUKET: New Year’s Day in Thailand saw 686 road accidents kill 70 people and injure another 737, bringing the cumulative casualty count for the long holiday to 238 deaths and 2,725 injuries from 2,510 accidents. Of the 238 deaths, 3 have been recorded in Phuket, in line with the average for the country’s 78 provinces. But Phuket’s serious injury count,…
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Boy, age 10, Phuket’s first drowning victim of 2010
RAWAI, PHUKET: A ten-year-old boy celebrating New Year’s Day with his family at Nai Harn Beach is the first drowning victim of the year in Phuket. Duty Officer Chingchai Duangsuwan of the Chalong Police identified the victim as 10-year-old Apichet ‘Nong Max’ Srinakarak, a student at Wat Thep Nimit School in Wichit. Notified of the drowning at 5pm, Chalong Police…
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Friendly frogs draw tourists to temple
AYUDHAYA: Tourists have been flocking to a temple in the old capital district to get close to a group of tame frogs that have taken up residence in a lotus pond. The frogs sit happily on lotus leaves, allowing tourists to stroke and play with them. They even allow photos to be taken, free-of-charge. Phrakhrupradit Kijjarak, 46, the abbot of…
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New Year’s Eve shooting murder in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: Police are searching for the gunmen who shot and killed a man celebrating the New Year holiday early yesterday morning in what police believe was a revenge killing by rival gang members. Chalong Police Investigator Boonlert Onklang identified the deceased as 24-year-old Wanchai Withaya, a Chalong resident. Police received a report of the shooting at the popular Icon…
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53 more CCTV cameras for Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) has provided 17 million baht in funding for the installation of 53 more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in and around Phuket Town. PPAO President Paiboon Upatising met with Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Thantipong and other high ranking police officers on Wednesday morning at the CCTV monitoring center in Phuket City Police Station.…
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Phuket divided over concerts on Karon Beach
PHUKET: The results of the Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll closed yesterday show that opinion is divided over whether Karon Beach is an an appropriate venue for mass-audience, outdoor concerts like the ‘Roy Fest’ held in September. Readers were asked which of four responses best match their views on the following question: “With the ‘Roy Fest Phuket Music Festival’ in September…
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Phuket jet-ski woes continue
PATONG, PHUKET: Despite the mandatory insurance scheme for rental jet-skis that went into effect last month, problems between jet-ski operators and tourists persist and scores of unregistered jet-skis continue to operate in Patong Bay. Marine Transport Department officer Songchai Na Nakorn told the Gazette forty-one jet skis in Patong are currently out of service because their insurance applications are still…
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