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Phuket Governor orders probe into illegal quay at Ao Por
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Resort developers have converted a section of seaside jungle into a 200-meter-long quay at Ao Por without official permission, it has emerged.The developers used heavy machinery to uproot trees and remove earth from the hillside to create an artificial quay in Tambon Pa Khlok, near village 6.Although the work began at the start of 2008, it has…
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30-baht pay-out for stabbing victim
BANGKOK: Stabbing victim Pairat Juntub knew he was entitled to compensation, but he was staggered yesterday at the sum he got from the government. Mr Pairat has the dubious distinction of receiving the lowest amount ever given to a crime victim. “I got 30 baht (approx 86 cents in USD),” Pairat said. “I was speechless when I saw the amount.”…
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Phuket City begins cable work on Thalang Rd
PHUKET CITY: Work on the project to bury power cables along Thalang Road in Old Phuket Town got underway yesterday morning, with workers marking lines near the pavement to mark the trench that will house the conduit. The narrow trench, about half a meter wide, will run along the right-hand side of the one-way road, once the heart of Phuket’s…
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Thai Immigration crackdown on border runners
BANGKOK / PHUKET: In a crackdown on foreigners who “abuse” the tourist exemption rule allowing15-day visit extensions at border entry points, the Immigration Bureau has confirmed and informed ThaiVisa.Com of the following new regulation, which went into effect yesterday: A foreigner who has entered the kingdom four consecutive times on 15-day tourist exemption stamps will not be allowed to leave…
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Human smuggling suspects arrested in Ranong
PHUKET CITY: Immigration Police in the early hours of Saturday arrested 34 illegal Burmese immigrants and two Thais in a raid on a house in Ranong’s Muang District, seizing notebooks listing the names of members of security forces who had allegedly been bribed to secure safe passage for the migrants. At 4am, a team of Ranong Immigration Police led by…
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Bt119m for new Rajabhat Phuket commencement hall
RASSADA, PHUKET: Work is well underway on a 119 million baht conference room and commencement hall complex on the grounds of Phuket’s Rajabhat University. A contract between the university and Bangkok-based contractor Kumjornkij Construction Co Ltd was signed in mid-November last year. The scheduled contract completion date is December 27, 2010. The project’s oversight director is Rajabhat Phuket University Associate…
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Fourth swine flu case confirmed in Thailand
BANGKOK / PHUKET: While there have been no confirmed cases of A-type (H1N1) in Phuket, the Ministry of Public Health yesterday confirmed its fourth case of the disease in Thailand – a Thai man who just returned from the US. The A-type (H1N1) flu has already hit 53 countries, killing 99. Thai Public Health Minister, Witthaya Kaewparadai, said the 50-year-old…
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Asean reaffirms regional confidence in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: The Asean Senior Officials meeting held at the Movenpick Resort and Spa from May 18 to 21 resulted in a number of agreements in addition to the previously reported agreement to hold the twice-postponed Asean Summit in Phuket next October. Manasvi Srisodapol, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asean Affairs, told the Gazette that the Phuket meetings…
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Phuket beach gets green carpet
PHUKET CITY: The beach at one of Phuket’s most popular recreational areas has been inundated with bright green seaweed since the middle of May. The affected area is at the tip of Saphan Hin park, which juts out into Phuket Bay. Fisheries specialist Ukkrit Sataphumin of the Phuket Marine Biological Center at Cape Panwa said the seaweed was first reported to…
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Phuket Health and Wellness Festival 2009
PATONG, PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office in association with the Phuket Spa Association, public and private hospitals, and government agencies in Phuket will hold the “Phuket Health and Wellness Festival 2009” from June 11 to 13 at the Jungceylon Shopping Complex in Patong. The event is aimed at promoting Phuket as a hub for Thai and foreign tourists…
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Englishman collapases, dies in Rawai
RAWAI, PHUKET: An Englishman living in Phuket collapsed and died of apparent heart failure at a pharmacy in Rawai on Wednesday afternoon.According to witnesses, 59-year-old John Powell entered the pharmacy to buy some medicine but then collapsed.Chalong Police were notified of the death at about 3:30pm.They rushed to the scene, a pharmacy in the Baan Saiyuan residential estate, with rescue…
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Phuket remains free of swine flu
PHUKET CITY: While the viral disease chikungunya continues to spread in Phuket, the island has yet to record a single case of infection with the A(H1N1) virus that causes swine flu, PPHO Director Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang told the Gazette today. Two foreign tourists – one Australian and one Norwegian – were briefly quarantined and tested for A(H1N1), but both tested…
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Chikungunya cases in Phuket: 349
PHUKET CITY: Cases of chikungunya continue to rise in the province, with 349 confirmed cases in Phuket – and the actual figure is probably far higher. The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) yesterday confirmed that 331 Thais are receiving hospital treatment for the disease, along with 18 Burmese immigrants. Two foreign tourists – one from Korea and one Scotsman –…
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Phuket youth incarceration: German ambassador speaks out
PHUKET CITY: German Ambassador to Thailand Dr Hanns Schumacher has spoken out in defense of the German teenager currently incarcerated in the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center on charges of sexually abusing minors. In an interview with the Gazette, Dr Schumacher said he believed the evidence against the youth justified the investigation, but expressed hope that the court would…
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Punchup in Phuket: Oleydong defends WBC belt this afternoon
PATONG, PHUKET: WBC straw-weight champ Oleydong Sithsamerchai has been busy shedding pounds to meet the 105lb limit for his WBC title defense against Muhammad Rachman of Indonesia this afternoon. At a press conference held at the the Bangkok Residence Hotel on Soi Sansabai on Tuesday, Oleydong and Rachman posed for photos with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop. The fight will take…
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Incarcerated German youth’s mother died on Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The mother of the German youth incarcerated in the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center on charges of sexually abusing minors died last month, the Gazette has learned. The woman, who will not be named in order to protect the youth’s identity, died in Vachira Phuket Hospital on April 23. She was 56 years old. The youth was…
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Phuket FC holds tryouts for foreigners tomorrow
PHUKET CITY: The long-awaited Phuket FC football club recruitment tryout for foreign talent will take place at at Saphan Hin Stadium starting at 4:30pm tomorrow. With the Sea Dragons languishing in the bottom half of the table, Phuket FC manager Mr Somsak is hoping to find some gems amongst Phuket’s expat population to relaunch the team’s dismal start to the…
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Land purchase through Thai spouse forbidden: Land Dept
PHUKET CITY: The director general of the Land Department has reiterated that foreigners using Thai nominees to buy land anywhere in the country will have their land title deeds revoked if caught – even if the nominee in question is a lawfully wedded spouse.Land Department Director Anuwat Meteewiboonwut made the comments during a recent stop in Phuket as part of a…
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Phuket PO Box 101 is a hit, says governor
PHUKET CITY: The number 101 is a cinch to remember for those who have read George Orwell’s grim parable of totalitarianism Nineteen Eighty-Four or taken a freshman college class. Whether this fact figured in Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop’s thinking when he launched PO Box 101 – an address any Phuket resident can use to inform the governor, anonymously, of crimes…
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Bt20m for tourism improvements in Rassada
RASSADA, PHUKET: In a recent meeting, Rassada Municipality agreed to allocate almost Bt20 million to improve landscaping and build new facilities near the causeway leading to Koh Sireh, in a bid to promote tourism and improve the quality of life for local people. The work will take place near the Malikaew embankment in the Koh Sireh community in Rassada Village…
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Revenue from Phuket real estate deals plummets
PHUKET CITY: In an indication that the Phuket real estate market is not quite as robust as some like to suggest, statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Land Office reveal that income on land and property sales transactions was down over 70% year-on-year over the first four months of 2009. There were a total of 1,945 transactions involving land title…
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Land tax could spur the economy
BANGKOK: A respected economist has backed a proposal that the government impose a land tax, saying the move will ease concentration of land ownership in the hands of a few rich people and open more land to agriculture. Speaking at a round table conducted by Krungthep Thurakij newspaper last week, economist Duangmanee Laovakul said the faculty’s Economic Research and Training…
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German still in Phuket Juvenile after three months
PHUKET CITY: Despite efforts by the German Embassy, a young man arrested on charges of sexually abusing minors remains in detention at the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center almost three months after his arrest. The youth, who was just 17 when he was arrested on March 9, recently spent his 18th birthday behind bars. His arrest, together with that…
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German manslaughter suspect gets bail, whereabouts unknown
PHUKET CITY: German tourist Florian Zehentmair, charged with the manslaughter of his friend Sebastian Wolff in Khao Lak, has been released on bail. Police do not know where he is staying. In another development in the case, preliminary investigation into the cause of death by the police forensics institute in Surat Thani has determined the cause of Mr Wolff’s death…
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Phuket weather: high humidity expected to continue
PHUKET: Phuketians have been feeling the heat more than usual over the past few days with humidity high as temperatures reach 33 degrees Celsius or 91.4 Fahrenheit in Phuket.According to the Southern Meteorological Center (Phuket), the high on the heat index (HI) – the combination of air temperature and relative humidity, which makes it feel hotter than the true temperature…
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Body found on Nai Harn Beach Phuket remains unidentified
CHALONG, PHUKET: Phuket Police have yet to identify the remains of a heavily tattooed Caucasian man found washed ashore on Nai Harn Beach late last week. For the original report click here. Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Chalong Police told the Gazette today that no missing person reports have been filed to aid in identification of the body, which…
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Phi Phi tourist deaths possibly food poisoning
PHUKET CITY: The mysterious deaths of two female tourists on Phi Phi Island earlier this month were possibly caused by food poisoning, preliminary lab findings suggest. Krabi Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Pasin Noksakul told the Gazette today that researchers at the Police Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok have found signs of microbial infection in blood samples taken from…
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85 confirmed chikungunya cases in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) has set up a “war room” to halt the spread of the viral disease chikungunya, which now has 85 confirmed cases in Phuket alone. The war room, which will host regular meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, is also tasked with monitoring flu patients to see if there are any cases of infection…
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Phuket’s Vanich Foundation awards annual scholarships
RASSADA, PHUKET: The Boonrod Ekapojna Vanich Foundation on Thursday presented its annual scholarships totaling 105,400 baht to 30 needy students. This event took place at the Vanich Estate on Thepkasattri Rd in Rassada. The scholarships were presented to the lucky recipients by foundation vice-presidents Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr and her brother Apirak Vanich. Foundation chairman Boonrod Ekapojna Vanich, now 73 years…
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Phuket kids eyed by Ronald McDonald clinic
PHUKET CITY: The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Thailand Foundation, in association with the Thai Red Cross Society, the Top Charoen chain of optical shops, and Bangkok’s Phyathai Hospital, gave free eye exams to hundreds of Phuket students earlier this week. The event, at a mobile eye clinic parked on the grounds of the Phuket City Municipality offices, was attended…
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