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Three minors among gang of nine arrested for cable thefts in Phuket
PHUKET: A nine-member gang was arrested with 500kg of stolen copper cables and cutting tools at a construction site in Phuket this morning. The suspects included three minors, while the rest ranged in age from 28 to 46. The leader of the gang was named by police as Suriya Talad, 28, chief of the construction site in Pa Khlok where…
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Kusoldharm Foundation awards scholarships to Phuket students
PHUKET: In the spirit of giving back to the less fortunate, the Kusoldharm Phuket Foundation held a ceremony to award scholarships to deserving students in Phuket. The ceremony, titled ‘Tay-Kra-Jat’, was held at the Kusoldharm Center on Saturday and presided over by Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong. Food and necessities were distributed to more than 1,500 needy families and scholarships were…
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Phuket police hunt for ATM skimmer
PHUKET: Police are hunting for an ATM skimmer after at least 15 people last week filed complaints again about unauthorized withdrawals from their Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) accounts. The complaints were lodged at Thung Thong Police Station about ATM withdrawals made in Songkhla from Phuket-based accounts. Lt Col Ampolwat Saengrueng of Thung Thong Police revealed the details of the ongoing…
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New Zealander forgets electric kettle, suffers major fire damage to home
PHUKET: Fire-fighters rushed to put out a fire at a Kiwi expat’s house in Thalang yesterday, after he left an electric appliance switched on and forgot about it. The New Zealander’s carelessness had reportedly caused the fire. However, his associate nearby saw the blaze and alerted the authorities. “By about 5pm, two fire trucks had arrived at the home in…
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Middleman rips off 150 million baht’s worth of land from owner
PHUKET: A ‘disgruntled’ land owner claiming to have been cheated out of 150 million baht in the sale of land at Freedom Beach is now calling on authorities to resolve the matter. Peetharat Hootchai, 38, with her lawyer Pradit Chuaythani, held a press conference at the Phuket Merlin Hotel yesterday, explaining to the media that she was never paid in…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Holding the mototaxi lady
PHUKET: The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister…
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Opinion: Tour guides must be fined
PHUKET: The recent fine levied on a tour guide for removing a starfish from the sea in a marine national park has once again drawn international attention to how erratic Thai law enforcement appears to be when it comes to issues involving mass tourism, environmental conservation and foreign guests. The latest uproar in social media came after a Thai tourist…
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Major Phuket bust yields B2mn worth of drugs
PHUKET: A Phuket drug dealer was arrested in Chalong with nearly 2 million baht worth of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and ya bah (methamphetamine) by Border Patrol Police (BPP) this week. The suspect was found in possession of 8,658 ya bah pills and 15.02g of ya ice. “The arrest was made after we got a report from one of our…
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Company land under investigation after hundreds of trees destroyed
KRABI: A walled, 100-rai tract of land on Koh Lanta Noi is under investigation after the title holders ordered that hundreds of trees be cut down. More than 30 officials from the Wetland Development Office (WDO) inspected the site yesterday. WDO chief Laywisit Baripan said that machines were used to fill up the land after the trees were destroyed. “A…
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One injured in single-vehicle Phuket crash
PHUKET: A 51-year-old man was injured after he crashed his pick-up truck into an electric pole on the side of the road in Mai Khao yesterday. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived on the scene and administered first aid before transporting the victim to Thalang Hospital. “The driver’s side of the truck was tight against the pole, so rescue workers had…
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Serial thief apprehended in Phuket
PHUKET: A serial thief was arrested in Phuket early this morning, after at least ten incidents of coin theft from washing machine slots were reported by laundry shop owners in the span of a week (story here). “The suspect, Supachok Sudin, 36, is originally from Phang Nga. Over the last week or so, he has been driving around with a…
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TAT, Phuket Tourist Police come to American tourist’s aid
PHUKET: A lost American tourist, who could neither recall the name nor the address of the hostel he was staying at, was safely returned there by tourist police this morning. Boyce Reid Brown, 48, was wandering around Phuket Town on foot when he happened to find the office of the Tourism of Thailand (TAT) and stepped inside to ask for…
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Three migrant workers arrested in Phuket piracy raids
PHUKET: Police arrested three migrant workers and seized more than 300,00 baht worth of pirated goods from shops in Patong yesterday. Maj Korapon Liangboonchinda of Patong Police provided details of the arrests of two Vietnamese women and a Burmese man, all three of whom were arrested and charged for forging a registered trademark, as well as for entering, living and…
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Chinese tourists avoid charges after being caught with coral
PHUKET: Two Chinese tourists were let off with a warning after they were found taking coral out of the sea yesterday evening at Chalong Pier. “While passengers were coming ashore from a boat on the way back from Coral Island, I noticed that two Chinese tourists were carrying pieces of cloth wrapped around something that looked like coral. So, I…
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Alleged Phuket rapist arrested, denies charges
PHUKET: A woman who jumped off a Phuket Town building on Friday after having an argument with her girlfriend told police that she was raped. The 21-year-old, named by police as ‘Rat’, wrote a letter prior to the incident, in which she incriminated a man named ‘Ton’ in the alleged rape. “Upon questioning, Ms Rat gave us details of the…
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Phuket murder suspect blames constant bullying
PHUKET: A fishing boat crew member was arrested for stabbing a co-worker to death last night, claiming that “constant bullying” led him to do so. “The incident occurred at about 10pm at Rassada Pier on a fishing boat named Chok Veerachai. We found the body of Pornchai Wongkan, 42, lying inside the boat, covered with blood,” said Lt Col Rachan…
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Another foreign couple wanted for committing sex acts in public
SAMUI: Police are searching for an unidentified foreign couple who were seen ‘getting intimate’ at the side of the road at Nathorn Beach in Samui this morning. A video of the incident, about a minute and 45 seconds long, was posted on a Facebook page titled ‘Ruam Pon Khon Mui‘. The couple were seemingly unconcerned about making a spectacle, as…
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Serial coin thief wanted for swiping thousands from Phuket laundries
PHUKET: Police are searching for a serial thief suspected of stealing thousands of baht from washing machine coin slots in a series of at least 10 incidents over the past week. The thefts took place in Phuket Town, with a number of users posting warnings and details on social media. Facebook user Chon Pokaiyapat shared details of some of the…
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Ministry denies blocking Google services following connectivity issues
PHUKET: The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society denied that the government ordered the blocking of Google and YouTube after a technical issue with Thai internet provider 3BB meant that customers were unable to access Google services on Saturday, the Thai National News Bureau reported today. The issue seemed to affect anyone trying to access the sites from a Thai…
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One arrested, four escape police custody at national park
PHUKET: One suspect was arrested while four others escaped after police charged them with harming marine life and using fishing equipment in a national park area. The incident unfolded at Mu Koh Lanta National Park. “Last week, we received reports from divers that there was a yacht anchored at Koh Ha and that the people on board were suspected of…
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Australian yacht crew rescues fishermen from sinking boat
PHUKET: Crew members of an Australian tourist’s yacht yesterday afternoon rescued three fishermen from a sinking boat in Vichit. Lt Wirach Pudpuang of the Marine Police received reports of the incident at about 4pm. “Two Thai fishermen, Adisak Kaewbamrung and ‘Phy’, and Burmese fisherman ‘Din’ were fishing at Koh Tapao Noi off Ao Makham when their boat started leaking and…
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Russian couple fined for sex in a Phuket tuk-tuk
PHUKET: Police have fined a Russian couple 500 baht each after a video clip of them appearing to have sex in the back of a tuk-tuk in Karon went viral. The 28-second clip was posted on Friday and shows a man and a woman moving suggestively in the tuk-tuk with the woman’s shirt lifted to expose her torso. Karon Police…
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One dead in Phuket after fatal overtake attempt
PHUKET: A man was killed last night after he crashed head-on into a minivan in Sakoo. Lt Thanakarn Uchanarasamee of Sakoo Police and rescue workers received the report at about 8pm. “Van driver Vitavat Jongsathichacorn, of PPKK Tour Service, told us that he was taking two Australian tourists to the airport while the motorcyclist, Panakorn Boonrong, was coming from the…
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Thai tourist apologizes for starfish selfie, tour guide fined
TRANG: A Thai tourist apologized yesterday on social media for taking selfies with a starfish at a national park in Trang province, while her tour guide was ordered to pay a fine. Earlier on Thursday, the tourist’s selfies with a starfish went viral. She was widely condemned, as there is a ban on removing marine animals from from the sea.…
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Broken-hearted woman jumps off Phuket building
PHUKET: An agitated woman with relationship troubles was injured this morning after she jumped off the third floor of a building in Phuket Town. This is the second case of its kind within two days – the first incident took place early morning yesterday when another girl nearly drowned in the sea at Saphan Hin (story here). “Today’s incident took…
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Elderly couple returns lost British passport, bank book and cash
PHUKET: An elderly couple this morning returned a wallet containing a British passport, bank book and cash totalling more than 150,000 baht at Pakbang Beach in Rawai. Prayong Sukkaew, 79, and his wife were collecting bottles at about 6am to sell for money when they spotted the wallet, picked it up and handed it over to Rawai Police officers. “We…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Farang is always wrong
PHUKET: The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister…
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Opinion: Jealousy is a powerful motivator
PHUKET: Phuket was in the international news spotlight again last week, this time for the heartbreaking murder of an 11-month-old baby girl, hanged by her own father in Nai Thon (story here). Most readers will already be familiar with the tragically short life of Natalee ‘Biw’ Wongtalay, whose execution went viral after her late father, 21, chose to post it…
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Army commander outlines new agenda for Phuket
PHUKET: The new Army Region 4 commander has announced his agenda for Phuket, ticking off a list of at least a dozen problems he feels need urgent resolution. During his visit last week, Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanit said that he was “generally satisfied with the state of tourism in Phuket”, but that getting rid of ‘powerful people’ and officers who…
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Phuket Police search for missing 11-year-old boy
PHUKET: Police are searching for an 11-year-old boy who was reported missing by his family on Tuesday night. Panaphat Chumrak (‘Nong Nu’) disappeared from his home in Soi Pasak 4, Don Chom Tao Road in Cherng Talay at about 8:30pm. “Nong Nu is about 132cm tall, weighs 30kg and has short hair. He was last seen wearing a red and…
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