News
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Traffic held up for three hours after truck spills plywood load
PHUKET: Tah Chat Chai Police suspect the driver of an articulated truck that spilled its load of plywood sheets all over the road last night, bringing traffic to a standstill, lost control of his vehicle when he took a sharp bend at high speed in wet conditions. The Phuket-bound 18-wheeler spilled its entire load on the notoriously dangerous curve, a…
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Tsunami remembrance ceremony held on 12th anniversary of disaster
PHUKET: About 200 locals, tourists and provincial dignitaries gathered at Patong Beach yesterday evening to hold a candle-lit remembrance ceremony in front of Loma Park on the 12th anniversary of the deadly tsunami that struck the island on the morning of December 26, 2004. Official figures state that the tsunami killed 5,398 people and that more than 3,700 disappeared in…
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Microsoft aims to use IT to battle human trafficking
PHUKET: Microsoft Thailand last week organized a project to educate youth about computers and Information Technology to equip them with the knowledge and tools to fight human trafficking. The project was chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Teera Anantaseriwidhya, at Prince of Songkla University’s Phuket Campus. The campaign is being held at seven campuses throughout the country, including, in addition to…
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Island View: Unchecked road rage in Phuket
PHUKET: As far as road safety in Phuket goes, authorities always highlight ‘speeding’ and ‘helmetless riding’ as the major causes of the appalling number of ‘accidents’ and deaths on the road. However, a relatively overlooked area – in my opinion – is road rage. One recent incident involved a 21-year-old Thai man who threw a large rock at a passing…
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Tsunami memorial ceremonies held in Phuket
PHUKET: The 12-year anniversary for the victims of the devastating 2004 Tsunami was held this morning at several memorials on the island. The Tsunami pulverized the Andaman coast with waves up to 100 feet high. More than 5,000 people died and 3,700 remain unaccounted for to-date. At about 9am OrBorTor Mai Khao arranged Buddhist, Islamic and Christian rites’ services at…
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Phuket drug dealer arrested with B400k of ya bah pills
PHUKET: A drug dealer was arrested with about 2,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 on Thepkrasattri Rd on Saturday evening. Sarawuth Koraneesak, 23, had bought the pills in Bangkok for delivery to a customer in Phuket. He was waiting for the customer to come and collect them when he was arrested. The pills were estimated to…
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Phuket prisoners released on Royal pardon
PHUKET: The first batch of prisoners was released from Phuket Prison yesterday morning, following the announcement of a Royal pardon earlier this month to commemorate the start of the reign of King Rama X. Phuket Prison Commander Somkit Kammang presided over the event as a crowd of relatives stood outside the prison walls, waiting to welcome 147 inmates who qualified…
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Opinion: Risking life and limb for visa runs
PHUKET: If you are a foreigner living in Thailand, you need a visa. That’s fair enough. It’s like that all over the world. But no matter what kind of visa the foreigner has here, he or she often has to spend time and money, and frequently to risk life and limb, just to stay legal. Last week brought news of…
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Opinion: Adieu, 2016
PHUKET: As the year draws to a close, social media have been flooded with an increasingly common sentiment: ‘Good Riddance, 2016’. Fair enough. The past year has seen so many unprecedented – many would say negative – developments that it would be futile to try to list them all here. But a few do stand out as potentially bellwether. In…
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Royal Thai Navy declares sand-beds “illegal’
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has overturned the Patong Mayor’s ruling regarding beach mats laid out on raised beds of sand at Patong Beach, and declared that they are, in fact, “illegal”. Rear Adm Pisai Sukawin, deputy commander of the RTN Third Area Command, handed down the verdict at a meeting yesterday afternoon, saying that regardless of the beds being…
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More snakes at Patong Police Station
PHUKET: Four snakes, including a king cobra, a cobra and a radiated rat snake, have invaded Patong Police Station three times this week, causing the officers there to panic and send for rescue workers. “The snakes might have come into the building during the floods, but although the floods are gone, the animals remained hiding inside,” said Patong Police Superintendent…
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Phuket officials demolish illegal man-made plantations
PHUKET: Thalang District locals are furious after a joint task force of government officers demolished a man-made plantation in Suan Pa Bang Kanun this week as it was reportedly encroaching on 120 rai of public forest land in Phuket. The first round of demolitions in the area took place on July 14 this year, during which five houses, a palm-tree…
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Public, private sectors unite against coal-fired power plant
KRABI: Representatives from 11 private and government sector organizations met in Krabi yesterday to reiterate their stance against the construction of a coal-fired power plant, which they say will adversely impact the quality of life for locals and cause billions of baht in tourism losses. Officials from the Krabi Chamber of Commerce, Krabi Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), and Krabi…
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Teenage driver killed in high-speed collision with 18-wheeler
PHUKET: A teenage driver was killed in a collision with an 18-wheel truck in north Phuket this morning. The accident occurred about 11:30am at the Sala Deng-Muddokkhao junction (that turns into Nai Yang Beach). “We received a report that a Diahatsu Mira had crashed into an 18-wheeler truck on northbound Thepkrasattri Road. The front side of the car was seriously…
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Phuket Police beef up security over holiday period
PHUKET: More than 280 Phuket police officers and volunteers gathered outside Phuket Provincial Police Station yesterday in a show of readiness to boost the safety of tourists and residents on the island over the Christmas and New Year holidays. “Security measures will be heightened from December 22 to January 15, to instill confidence in both locals and tourists who visit…
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Dead coral seized at meditation sanctuary
PHANG NGA: About 37 kilograms of dead coral was seized at a meditation center in Koh Yao Noi yesterday. The raid at the Mooktawan Meditation Sanctuary was conducted by officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Region 6, after Phang Nga Governor Pakkapong Tawiphat alerted them to its presence. “The coral was being used to decorate the…
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Thai girl named as IKEA design competition winner
PHUKET: A six-year-old Thai girl was named as one of the 10 winners of a global soft toy design competition held by IKEA, the home furnishing retailer from Sweden. The drawings were submitted as part of IKEA’s ‘Good Cause’ campaign titled as ‘Let’s Play for Change’, that aims to support the right of all children to learn, develop, and have…
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Poultry pilferer turns out to be six-meter python
KRABI: Snake catchers yesterday bagged a six-meter-long python outside a house in Krabi, where more than 45 chickens have gone missing this month. Home owner Suwat Maijan, 55, who has a chicken coop in his yard, called in the snake catchers when he spotted the 20-kilogram reptile slithering away from the coop, leaving a trail of dead chickens behind. “I…
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Raised sand beds ‘not illegal’: Patong Mayor
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup confirmed today that beach mats laid out on raised beds of sand at Patong Beach are within the 10 per cent zone and are in line with the government’s beach management rules, after pictures of the set-up went viral on social media. The pictures, which were shared and commented on by thousands of people, were…
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15 Nepalese tourists injured in Surat Thani bus crash
SURAT THANI: Fifteen Nepalese tourists were injured when their chartered bus lost control in heavy rain and crashed into a tree in Surat Thani’s Tha Chana district early yesterday morning. Five of the tourists are in critical condition. Police officers and rescue workers from Tha Chana rushed to the accident scene on the southbound lane of Asia Highway 41 in…
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Three foreigners killed in early morning visa run van crash
PHUKET: Three foreigners died and six others were seriously injured when the van they were travelling in crashed into a house in Phang Nga this morning. The foreigners were on their way from Phuket to Satun for a visa run with KBV Phuket Visa Run company, when the van crashed in Bang Tuey sub-district. Police and emergency responders rushed to…
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New Phang Nga airport plans make headway
A TRANSPORTATION mega-project north of Phuket under development by Bangkok Airways has been tentatively named the Phang Nga-Andaman International Airport. In what is being envisaged as either a public-private-sector partnership or a solely private investment, tourism-industry sources have confirmed that Bangkok Airways is in talks with Phang Nga province for a large-scale land lease for the facility, with the environmental…
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Phuket gambling den raid results in 12 arrests
PHUKET: A dozen people were arrested in a raid on a gambling den located at a house in Wichit yesterday afternoon Most of the gamblers were tour guides, it was reported. The raid by a joint task force comprising 41st Military Circle and Wichit Police officers was carried out after a month of surveillance following complaints by neighbors of illegal…
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American tourist reunited with stolen possessions
KOH SAMUI: A Thai couple was arrested on Sunday for the theft of an American tourist’s bag from a hotel room in Koh Samui the previous day. Christopher Rusciano, a pilot for American low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, was staying at Ark Bar Beach Resort, where the incident occurred. “On Saturday night, Mr Rusciano left his room to meet his friend,…
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Demolition execs charged over 4 Bangkok deaths
BANGKOK: Police have charged the managing director and engineer of a demolition firm over the collapse of an eight-storey building in Bangkok that killed four workers on Friday. Boy Ocean Star Company had insisted that it subcontracted the job to another firm, Mega Tools.However, police have charged Boy Ocean Star managing director Mana Kaewmanee and the firm’s engineer Kittipong Yootairomboon…
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One dead, another injured in gruesome Phuket collision
PHUKET: One tourist died and another was severely injured in a horrifying collision with a taxi, while riding their motorbike southbound on Thepkrasattri Road, in front of Baan Jee Teng this afternoon. Part of the deceased’s foot was sliced off and was still attached to the bike, while he also suffered serious injuries to his neck and head. The other…
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Samkong Underpass to be closed for opening ceremony
PHUKET: For the second time since its completion on October 31, the Samkong Underpass will be shut off to the public – this time from 10pm tonight to midday tomorrow for an official grand opening ceremony to be held on-site. The ceremony is scheduled for 7am-9am tomorrow, with Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan and Highways Department Chief Construction Engineer Parinya Sangsuwan…
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Pick-up truck burnt to a crisp in Phuket
PHUKET: Two minor explosions rocked Thalang this morning when a pick-up truck caught fire in the southbound lane of Thepkrasattri Road. The vehicle was burnt to a crisp with an estimated 600,000 baht in losses incurred. The driver of the vehicle escaped unharmed mere moments before the flames erupted. “The blue Toyota Vigo belonged to 34-year-old Wichai Buasri, who was…
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German tourist suffers brain hemorrhage after fight over bar tab
PHUKET: A German tourist was knocked unconscious from a severe head injury early yesterday morning, following a noisy brawl with bouncers at a Bangla Road bar. Thomas Rapp, 31, reportedly racked up a 2,000 baht bill following a night of heavy drinking at Dragon Night Bar on Soi Freedom. “Staff and other witnesses told us that Mr Rapp and a…
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Cobra captured in Chalong home
PHUKET: Snake catchers were called out to a house in Chalong yesterday to capture a large adult cobra that had hidden among antique jars in a store room. “We had to be really careful capturing this one, a female cobra, to make sure we didn’t damage the fragile jars, which were Chinese antiques,” said volunteer snake catcher Sayan Thummapan. Mr…
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