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Swedish slashers confess to Phuket police
PHUKET: Phuket City Police tonight charged two Swedish men they say confessed to the murder yesterday of 25-year-old Maksim Schantz. Police said they caught Tommy Viktor Soderlund, 26, and Johan Sebastian Ljung, 25, hiding out at Surin Sweet Hotel on Surin Beach where they had recently rented a room. The pair confessed that they tracked Mr Schantz down through Facebook…
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Sex Drugs: Will Phuket’s tourists be subjected to Night Fire?
PHUKET: Phuket is not the only town in Thailand selling fake Viagra or other illicit drugs to tourists. The nation’s capital is probably the leader. But in the most recent raids in Bangkok, at least, no tourists were arrested and none was invited to pee in a pink cup. Metropolitan police and other authorities in the City of Angels arrested…
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MET: Phuket haze ‘not a load of hot air’
PHUKET: The blanket of haze seen across Phuket today was only fog and not related to Indonesian wild fires, the top official at the Thai Meteorological Department weather center in Phuket said today. “The fog was caused by a decrease in air pressure and temperature and an increase in humidity coupled with intermittent rains, causing the air to sink,” said…
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New test center to boost Phuket drug convictions
PHUKET: A Public Health Ministry center in Phuket is now conducting drug tests on urine and blood samples provided by police in a move that is expected to boost the number of drug convictions in Phuket. The tests will be conducted at the Regional Medical Sciences Center in Phuket, just north of the Heroines’ Monument on Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang.…
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Phuket police extend manhunt for accomplice in slaying of Swede
PHUKET: Police have stressed to the Phuket Gazette that they have not identified the alleged accomplice of Tommy Viktor Soderlund, the man being sought for the murder of Swedish national Maksim Schantz last night. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Jumroon Playdoung told the Gazette that local media reports identifying a 36-year-old Swedish man as Soderlund’s accomplice in the brutal stabbing…
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Manhunt launched for Swedish suspect in slaying of fellow Swede
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have issued an arrest warrant and appealed to the public to keep an eye out for the prime suspect in last night’s murder of Russian-born Swedish national Maksim Schantz, 25. Police have launched a manhunt for 26-year-old Tommy Viktor Soderlund, also from Sweden, and another white male who are said to have recently rented a home…
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Swedish expat stabbed to death at luxury villa in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Police are investigating the stabbing murder of a Swedish man ambushed and stabbed to death as he returned to his luxury villa in Koh Kaew subdistrict last night. The murder took place in full view of neighbors. The police identified the deceased as a 25-year-old Swedish national. The name of the victim is known to the Phuket Gazette,…
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Phuket in the mood for seafood
PHUKET: The Phuket Seafood Fiesta got underway today with an official launch at Jungceylon in Phuket’s resort town of Patong. The festival offers a 10 to 20% discount on seafood dishes at more than 60 restaurants on the island from today through August 31, explained Bangonrat Shinaprayoon, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) regional office in Phuket. Coinciding…
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New Phuket bridge opens to traffic
PHUKET: The new Thao Srisoonthorn Bridge, unofficially called “Sarasin Bridge 2”, opened to traffic heading northbound off Phuket this morning. The first vehicle to trundle onto the 300-million-baht span was a van carrying Phuket Provincial Highways Office Chief Arun Sanae and his immediate superior, Sakchai Suwanprasert, head of the regional Highways Office. However, Mr Arun warned motorists that the left…
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FC Phuket still waiting for away success
PHUKET: FC Phuket’s match on Sunday against Rajapracha FC in Nakhon Pathom ended in a scoreless draw, irritating Phuket’s winless wound in its eighth away game this season. There were about 1000 spectators that showed up to cheer the Rajpracha “Crowns” at Mahidol University Salaya campus stadium. As expected, Phuket fielded three of their new players: goalkeeper, Jonathan Matijas from…
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Missing Aussie tourist found alive and well in Phuket
PHUKET: Missing Australian tourist Geoffrey Hoffmann has been found alive and well. Mr Hoffmann disappeared while going for a morning walk at the lake at Karon Park on Saturday. His family raised the alarm after he failed to return four hours later. Their concern was heightened by the fact that Mr Hoffmann suffers from short-term memory loss. Mr Hoffmann’s brother-in-law…
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Final countdown
PHUKET: “It is not an easy draw. You have to be really, really focused and play every game like a final – but that will be another manager’s job.” England’s Italian manager, Fabio Capello, leaves advice for the next head on the chopping-block, that is the national team’s managerial role. Capello was present for the 2014 World Cup qualification draw…
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Van crash kills two Phuket buffalo, tourists safe
PHUKET: Three people were injured early this morning when a Phuket passenger van slammed into two buffalo, killing both. Thalang Police were notified of the accident at 1:30am. At the scene they found a Toyota passenger van with its front smashed in and its three passengers slightly injured. The driver, identified as 43-year-old Suchart Kaow-ian, was taking two foreign tourists…
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Aussie on holiday in Phuket reported missing
PHUKET: A worried Australian family on holiday in Phuket is urging anyone who identifies Geoffrey Hoffmann, 77, to contact them immediately. Mr Hoffman was last seen walking near the lake at Karon Park this morning. Mrs Hoffmann told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that she arrived with her husband, sister and brother-in-law on a family holiday to Phuket on Tuesday.…
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It’s Official: Phuket Town still the worst for drugs
PHUKET: Phuket Town has maintained its place as the top district in upper Southern Thailand for drug crime, an accolade the popular tourist town has held for the past three years, a Bangkok health official was told yesterday. The news was revealed at a meeting of the Phuket Provincial Anti-Drug Committee at Provincial Hall. Regular chiefs on the committee include…
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Hurtling Phuket hill boulders continue to threaten resort
PHUKET: Heavy rains in Phuket over the past week have caused more boulders to hurtle downhill into the L’Orchidee Residences in Patong. Although the boulders were smaller than the original two-tonne “devil’s marbles” that crashed into the resort at the beginning of this month, they have still caused damage and much concern, said Wassana Yukhunthon, the resort’s public relations manager.…
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Phuket tourism operators warned to prepare for AFTA
PHUKET: Phuket tourism operators were warned very plainly yesterday that they must become game-changers if they want to stay in business after 2015. The warning was fired at the Phuket Creative Tourism Forum held at Royal Phuket Marina. The forum was organized by the Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) in conjunction with Phuket Rajabhat University’s Faculty of Management Science. Somprasong Khomapat,…
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Phuket parents furious over teacher hitting young children
PHUKET: A Phuket temple’s daycare program is under fire after video footage surfaced allegedly showing a long-time teacher beating her students. About 200 parents and children gathered at Wat Thepnimit daycare center in Wichit today to complain about the teacher and the subsequent firing of four other teachers who parents claim were responsible for exposing the abuse, not inflicting it.…
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FC Phuket to resume league campaign on Sunday
PHUKET: FC Phuket will kick off the second half of the Thai Premier League (TPL) Division One 2011 season this weekend in Nakhon Pathom. Phuket face Rajapracha FC, or the “Crowns”, who sit 7th in the table, two places ahead of Phuket in 9th position. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon, club secretary Soranun Sanae, clarified details of this…
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Phuket ‘luggage truck’ in fatal collision
PHUKET: Police are awaiting test results to confirm whether alcohol was a factor in a fatal traffic accident this morning involving a luggage-transport truck and a motorbike. Thalang Police responded to reports of the crash in Srisoonthorn Subdistrict – about 300 meters north of the Heroines’ Monument – shortly after 1am. At the scene was a bronze-colored Isuzu D-Max pickup…
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Anchalee, Raywat confirmed as Phuket MPs
PHUKET: The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) has confirmed Democrat candidates Raywat Areerob and Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr as Phuket’s two Members of Parliament. News that Mrs Anchalee had been confirmed as MP for Phuket 1 constituency broke on Wednesday. However, MP Raywat told the Phuket Gazette that his seat as an MP was endorsed on July 21. “The ECT was…
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New GM appointed for Phuket’s renowned Boathouse
PHUKET: Marie Laure Fleury, formerly the resort manager at the upscale Triasara, Phuket, has been appointed General Manager of the Boathouse, the renowned 37-room boutique resort on Phuket’s Kata Beach. Effective immediately, Ms Fleury will oversee the lead-up to the reopening of the resort in October, the Gazette was told today. The Boathouse resort and its adjacent Oasis Restaurant have…
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House and home expo opens in Phuket
PHUKET: More than 50 exhibitors from across Thailand today unveiled their products for the first time in Phuket at the opening of the Architect & Engineering Exhibition 2011. Products on show at the expo, now in its 11th year, run the gamut from construction materials through to custom-made home decor items. The theme of this year’s A&E expo is “New…
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Archaeologist confirms 2,000-year-old relics safe in Phuket
PHUKET: An inquiry into the whereabouts of ancient beads, ceramic vases and glass shards excavated by a Phuket archaeological team in 2005 has revealed that the artifacts are safe on the island. The relics are all estimated to be more than 2,000 years old. A letter of complaint was filed with the Crime Suppression Division by Sutha Pratheep Na Thalang…
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FC Phuket shatter Glass Rabbits in friendly 2-1 win
PHUKET: FC Phuket proved once again that it can conquer a Premier League team in a deserved victory over Bangkok Glass Football Club (BGFC) on Tuesday in Pathum Thani. Phuket dispatched Thai Premier League (TPL) side Sri Racha in the Toyota Cup earlier this month in a two-leg encounter, 4-3 on aggregate. Tuesday’s outing at Ho Saeng Chai Stadium was…
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Phuket Live Wire: AIS rolls out 3G coverage
PHUKET: Finally, it’s here! 3G has arrived on Phuket and will be available later this month. AIS marketing and sales manager, Paiboon Rinsakul, gave a ground-breaking presentation at the Computer Clinic meeting last Sunday. Mr Paiboon demonstrated AIS’s new HSPA 3G service, with full internet access over AIS’s about-to-be-released wireless network. In front of 50 observers at the meeting, Mr…
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Phuket flight forced back to Bangkok now on the ground in Phuket
PHUKET: The Thai Airways flight that was forced to return to Bangkok this morning due to bad weather has safely landed in Phuket with all 316 passengers on board. “Flight TG301 left Suvarnabhumi Airport at 7:35am and was to land in Phuket at 9am,” said Boonlert Nuanla-or, chief of the Thai Airways critical information unit. “But when the plane arrived…
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Phuket police claim “breakthrough’ with drug mule bust
PHUKET: Police believe they have made a major breakthrough in breaking a Phuket drug delivery chain that leads all the way to Bang Kwang Prison in Bangkok. A provincial anti-drugs task force together with Border Patrol Police from Takuapa in Phang Nga arrested Prapan “Ae” Nammali during a sting operation in Saphan Hin Village on Sunday night. The arrest was…
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‘Surf House’ to promote Phuket surfing
PHUKET: Phuket surfing culture got a boost today with a major retailer opening a “surfing center” at Jungceylon shopping mall in Patong. Quiksilver Surf House opened today to promote the upcoming Quiksilver Thailand Surf Competition 2011 and to grow Phuket’s surfing culture, Quiksilver Retail (Thailand) Ltd General Manager Surached Mungthong said. “I would like to help expand the surfing community…
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Phuket landslide kills Burmese migrant worker
PHUKET: A Burmese migrant worker was buried alive at a Phuket construction site this morning when a large pile of dirt slid into the trench he was working in. Min Hla Thein, 45, was working on a large drainage system at the Phuket Villa 5 project in Wichit when the landslide filled the 2.5-meter ditch, police said. Phuket City Police…
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