News
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From nuptials to nightmare
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A wedding celebration turned to hasty funeral preparations when a respected guest accidentally shot himself in the head while trying to fire a shot into the air to welcome the groom’s procession to the bride’s home. Pol Lt Col Worote Sukger, Deputy Superintendent for Investigations of the Pakpanang District Police, received a report of the incident at…
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Chancy chat at chick shop
TRANG: An employee at the Trang branch of Tesco Lotus had a lucky escape April 19 when an angry KFC worker attempted to shoot him at point blank range with a shotgun. The cartridge, however, misfired. About 10 am, Sombun Sikhajan, 31, was working in the tape section as usual when Phichet Kanmak, 33, who worked at the store’s branch…
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Kathu Chief moves to close Safari Pub permanently
PATONG: Kathu District Chief Khantee Silapa will ask Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit to order the permanent closure of Safari Pub as the venue has been caught repeatedly trading after hours, most recently early Friday morning.Chief Khantee told the Gazette, “I have ordered the police to watch the Safari Pub closely and to not allow it to reopen. This will be…
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Public Prosecutor defers Valentino land charges
BANGKOK (Kom Chad Luek, The Nation): Prosecutors in the land encroachment case against Malaysian Tan Teik Hai, better known as “Valentino”, and his associates have delayed bringing the trial to court as they are still waiting for the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) to submit more evidence.The first Public Prosecutor’s hearing of the case was held yesterday morning at the…
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Officials call for post-tremor calm
PHUKET: The Phuket Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) has asked people in beach areas to remain calm after tremors were felt in Patong and Kamala this afternoon.The call for calm followed reports of an earthquake in Indonesia, at 3:02 pm, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale ODPM officer Damri Sungsap told the Gazette, “The earthquake was centered at the north…
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Island’s official population up by 2,262
PHUKET: Between March 21 and April 20, Phuket’s three District Offices registered 2,262 new residents, bringing Phuket’s official population to 315,557.Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase to Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit during the monthly meeting of the Phuket Provincial Security Committee yesterday.There were 1,881 new registrations during the previous reporting period, from February 21 to March…
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Crocodiles spotted at city tin mine lagoon
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office (PPFO) is warning the public to stay away from an abandoned tin mine on the south side of town, following reports by local residents that two or three crocodiles were spotted there yesterday morning.Provincial officials are trying to track down and catch the dangerous reptiles, but thus far to no avail.Aroon Kerdsom, Chief…
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Drunk falls down well, drowns
CHALONG: Police are treating the death of a Chalong man whose body was recovered from a well in the Soi Palai area Monday afternoon as an accident.Pol Lt Col Sanguan Muangtham of the Chalong Police told the Gazette that the victim was probably drunk, fell down the well and drowned.“This is not a big case, just a guy getting drunk…
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Immigration Chief denies offering private security service
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) Superintendent Pol Col Ittipon Atchariyapradit has dismissed claims that the PPIO will launch a private security service, contrary to claims being made in an advertising flier currently being circulated on the island.The flier claims that, “A special task force will work together with an approved Security Company in order to provide and equip…
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Engine fire sinks Phi Phi ferry
PHI PHI ISLANDS: More than 100 tourists were safely rescued by the Krabi Marine Police today after a fire broke out on the ferry they were taking from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi Don.Phuket Marine Police Officer Lt Col Prathueng Srilamontree identified the vessel as Jet Wave 3, which departed from Rassada Harbor in Phuket this morning bound for Koh…
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Police shooting sparks Koh Yao mob
PHANG NGA: Some 100 angry villagers on Koh Yao Noi descended upon the Koh Yao Police Station on Saturday after a youth, who was shot by a police officer the day before, died from his injuries.The villagers arrived around 1 pm with the body of 20-year-old Theerawut Kumuda, who died 10 am Saturday morning.Pol Col Jakkarit Srisuwan, Superintendent of the…
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Nok Air, One-Two-Go to launch Phuket-Haad Yai flights
PHUKET: After almost two years with no flights connecting Southern Thailand’s two busiest airports, lost-cost carriers Nok Air and One-Two-Go will launch regular services between Phuket International Airport and Haad Yai International Airport.From May 15, Nok Air flights using 150-seat Boeing 737-400s will depart Phuket daily at 2:05 pm and reach Haad Yai at 2:45 pm. The return leg will…
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NESDB meets Governor over development issues
PHUKET CITY: A representative from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit today to discuss a wide range of development issues facing the island.Thanin Pa-Em, Director of Competitive Development Office of the NESDB, explained that he was in Phuket to review and follow up on projects supporting development of the island, such as projects…
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Lamma CC hot at Cricket Sixes scorcher
KARON: Lamma CC from Hong Kong are hot favorites to win the Montpelier Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2007 after beating 2005 champions and pre-tournament favorites Corner Tigers from Pakistan in the first day of play yesterday at the recently returfed Karon Stadium.Round 2 of the tourney was played today under a scorching Phuket sun, with both Lamma CC and Corner…
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Immigration denies dive shop crackdown
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Office Superintendent Pol Col Ittipon Atchariyapradit has denied that Immigration officers were involved in what seems to have been a shakedown attempt at a Patong dive shop.He believes the men were impostors.In an email sent to the Gazette, it was explained that on April 3 a foreign dive instructor emerged from the company’s dive training pool, where he had…
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Gazette takes flight on Dragonair
PHUKET: From next Friday, April 27, the Phuket Gazette will be on board all inbound Dragonair flights from Hong Kong. Dragonair relaunched its direct daily Hong Kong-Phuket service in December, with CEO Kenny Tang saying, “We are excited about returning to Phuket, a destination that we first flew to in December 1986. We are confident that the route will be…
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One-way surveys yield contradicting results
PATONG: The results from two public opinion surveys of Patong’s one-way traffic system are in – one says the public is in favor of keeping the system, the other says it is not.Prince of Songkla University, Phuket campus, surveyed 759 people in Patong, with 60% saying that are satisfied with the one-way system, but 40% saying they are not happy…
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Five die in one-car accident
PHUKET CITY: Five Thai tourists from Krabi died after the pickup they were traveling in slammed into a power pole near Super Cheap on Thepkrasattri Rd early yesterday morning.The tourists were driving back to Krabi about 5 am when the driver lost control of the car, which careered off the road and into a power pole in front of Sor…
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Third death in the last hours of Songkran
KATHU: In the fading hours of the government’s “seven days of danger” road safety campaign over the Songkran holidays, a 17-year-old motorbike rider died after his motorcycle and a Toyota Fortuner collided at the junction of Wichit Songkram Rd and the entrance to Bang Wad Dam.At yesterday’s ‘Governor Meets the Press’ meeting it was explained that Eakasit Khamnoi was driving…
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B50.6m Mining Museum built, to open in December
KATHU: Work is complete on the 50.6-million-baht Kathu Mining Museum building, which is expected to open to the public by December.Project consultant and a well-known local historian Sommai Pinphutthasilp told the Gazette that construction of the museum building, located on the Kathu-Koh Kaew Rd, began in September 2005.Work was completed about six months after the original target date of October…
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All a-bout love
RAYONG: Many Thais are fond of a wager and high stakes betting on muay Thai bouts is certainly nothing unusual. The organizers of a charity Thai boxing night in Rayong, however, claimed to have a world first when two Assistant Village Chiefs went head to head in the ring to fight – not for a large sum of cash, but…
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Hitman hit
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A gunman-for-hire listed on the Police Region 8 most-wanted list was whacked, not by zealous cops or victims’ relatives out for revenge, but by his long-suffering companion as he lay asleep in bed. At 10 am on March 30, Chawang District Police Inspector Lt Col Sompong Prohmreuangchart received a report of a shooting at house number 134…
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Holed up
SRISAKET: When the stresses of life and the pressure to be polite become too much, the idea of retreating into a little place to get away from it all can be quite tempting. This is exactly what one man in Srisaket province has done – for the past 20 years. While out visiting his charges in the province’s Nam Kliang…
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Fists of fury
LOP BURI: Not used to being on the receiving end of beatings, officers in Lop Buri’s Baan Pong District Police Station were given a nasty shock when a speed-crazed former World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight world champion contender stormed into the station in frenzy in the morning of March 5. Police told reporters that Sgt Maj Ithipol Sawatdee was sitting…
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Of monks and munitions
KALASIN: Police arrested 38-year-old monk Phra Phornphanom Sommai February 26 after villagers reported seeing him shouldering a gun while sitting pillion on a motorbike speeding through Nong Hua Ling village, Kuchinarai district. When police caught up with him, they found that he was drunk, said Maj Somchai Phukongchana, Investigating Inspector at Kuchinarai District Police Station. Police then went to search…
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Invincible amulets?
KALASIN: Hubris often comes before a fall, but the demise of one superstitious man in Kalasin province perhaps came more predictably than most. The body of the man in question was found in a small shack in a forest of this northeastern province. Maj Phabun Titiyan, an Inspector at Kalasin Muang District Police station, said that the victim had been…
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Teen arrested with murder victim’s gun
PATONG: Police arrested Theerasak Sae-Ong, 18, last Friday after he was found carrying a short-barrel shotgun that he claimed he bought from Pongsakorn “Kho” Naksuk, who was shot dead on the south side of Phuket City a week earlier.Sub Lt Naruewat Putthawiro of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that a security guard at Night Station Pub and Disco on…
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Elderly Brit run over, killed
RAWAI: An elderly British man attempting to cross Wiset Rd in the early hours of April 10 died after being run over by a car about 300 meters from the Sea Shell Museum.Chalong Police Station Duty Inspector Lt Col Chokchai Sutthimek identified the victim as Alan H White, aged 81.Mr White was staying on Soi Sailom in Rawai at the…
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Policeman charged over temple brawl
CHALONG: Chalong Police have charged a Crime Suppression officer with disturbing the peace following a brawl at a Songkran fair at Wat Karon.The officer, named by police as “Sgt Maj Bird”, or better known as “Ja Bird”, has not been suspended from duty.Lt Col Peeranut Chatinkaew, a Crime Suppression Inspector at Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that he was…
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Chindapol injured in college shooting
PHUKET: A young member of the Chindapol clan, one of the largest families on the island, remains unconscious after being shot outside Phuket Vocational College in Saphan Hin Sunday night as he was waiting for a friend.Maj Sarit Butnongsang, Duty Inspector of Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette, “The injured youth is Duangdon Chindapol, 18. He was shot by…
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