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New building code affects Phuket hillside projects
PHUKET: Phuket Natural Resources and Environmental officer Natthaporn Jarunkiatkhajorn has confirmed that tighter controls on building on hillside land in Phuket came into force on July 31, some two months earlier than expected. “After we receive an official letter from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Policy and Planning Division in Bangkok, we will immediately send letters informing related…
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TAT announces Thai Travel Mart 2010
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has confirmed that the Thailand Travel Mart Plus Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong Sub-region will be held from September 8 to 10 at the IMPACT Convention Center in Muang Thong Thani. The Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM+) is the country’s premier annual trade event designed to promote travel and tourism to Thailand…
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Phuket Opinion: ‘Terminal’ traffic ills can still be solved
PHUKET: Residents of Rassada Village 2 have good reason to complain about the lack of a public hearing before the construction of Phuket Bus Terminal 2 in their community. But now that the station has sat idle for seven months, it’s time for all stakeholders to sit down together and work out a solution acceptable to all sides. As long-term…
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Phuket ‘killer Brit’ has reputation for violence
PHUKET: It has emerged that Lee Aldhouse, the British man being hunted by police in connection with the murder of American Dashawn Longfellow, is “extremely violent” and has threatened to kill in the past. Sources said Mr Aldhouse first came to Phuket in 2006 to train in Muay Thai. He told people he was from Birmingham, England and had been…
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Phuket ‘Killer Brit’ suspect named
PHUKET: Chalong police have confirmed the identity of the prime suspect in the brutal stabbing death of American Muay Thai trainee Dashawn Longfellow in the early hours this morning. Case Officer Anukul Nookate confirmed to the Gazette that British Muay Thai fighter Lee Aldhouse, 28, is being sought for arrest in the murder of Mr Longfellow at his room at…
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Now you see him: Famed magician to open venue in Phuket
PHUKET: Joe Conrad, one of Asia’s best-known magicians, will be staging a regular magic show at his own venue in Patong come December. Billed as Asia’s Premier Magic Spectacular, the 90-minute show is being choreographed as family entertainment with initial prices set at 900 baht for adults and 600 baht for children. The show’s grand finale will feature a “disappearing”…
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American murdered in Phuket; Police hunt “killer Brit’
RAWAI: An American man was found stabbed to death in his hotel room near Ya Nui Beach and a search has been launched for the prime suspect, a British Muay Thai boxing student named, so far, only as “Mr Lee”. Chalong police received a report at 6am today that an American “tourist” had been murdered in his room at an…
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Phuket tuned out; ‘High-end’ again; Dengue critical
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket tuned out for $3 a night Although Phuket was to have been the first Tune hotel to open among the 24 such $3-a-night lodgings planned for Thailand, the honor, it seems, will now go to Pattaya…
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Phuket motorists warned over ‘red plate’ driving
PHUKET: Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) Chief Kanok Siripanichkorn has told the Gazette that people driving cars with red license plates have just one month to get regular “white plates” on their cars – or face the consequences. The warning for Phuket drivers follows Land Transport Department Director-General Chairat Sanguansue’s announcement of a “crackdown” on people illegally driving cars with…
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Dusit Group formally announces Phuket resort acquisition
PHUKET: Dusit International CEO Chanin Donavanik has issued the following statement regarding the group’s recent acquisition of the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket resort: “Dusit International announces the acquisition of one of its most successful properties which it has managed for the past 23 years, and one of the best performing hotels in Phuket, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, previously owned by…
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Arrested Colombians got car in Phuket
PHUKET: A set of Phuket-issued car license plates was among seized evidence presented by police today during a Bangkok press conference to announce the arrest of a Colombian couple on burglary charges. Bangkok Metropolitan Police Commander Santhan Chayanont announced the arrest of Colombians Camilo Andres Albois Gonzalez, 27 Luzda Lee Taborda Ospena, 44. Presented as evidence was a red Honda…
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Central Festival Phuket food hall now open
PHUKET: Central Festival Phuket celebrated the opening of its Central Food Hall with a ceremony on Wednesday. Chairing the ceremony was Phuket Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat. He was joined by Central Food Retail Company President Alistair Taylor, who said the 60-million-baht investment in the project would assure the facility was be the best of its kind in Southern Thailand. The…
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New Phuket bridge mars local village life
PHUKET: Residents living in Tah Chat Chai, at the northernmost tip of Phuket, have been hard hit by the roadworks and the construction of the new bridge off the island. Storm drains have been filled in by earthworks, causing their village to flood every time another rainy season deluge comes. The recent redirection of northbound traffic over Thepkrasattri Bridge has…
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Phuket woman held over theft of rental cars
PHUKET: A woman arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing cars from car rental agencies in Phuket is likely part of a car theft ring, police say. Police requested that Ms Jintawan Jarassuwimon, a 43-year-old Patong resident, report to police on Tuesday following a complaint filed the day before by Ms Monsuang Srisopa. Ms Monsuang wrote that Ms Jintawan failed to return…
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Thai Navy reveals arrest record at Phuket base
PHUKET: Statistics announced by the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command for its fleet operations in the Andaman Sea during the first eight months of 2010 show a remarkably low number of arrests for smuggling and illegal fishing over the period. The figures were revealed during a meeting at the Marine Operations Coordination Center, chaired by Royal Navy Third Fleet…
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Poisonous potions land Russian tour boss in jail
A RUSSIAN tour company boss is behind bars for allegedly selling bottles of liquor containing the pickled remains of poisonous animals including king cobras, centipedes and scorpions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the concoctions themselves turned out be poisonous. Pattaya Police arrested Andrey Akulov, 40, on July 31 after receiving reports that one man died and others suffered strong allergic reactions from drinking…
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Burmese man found torched in Phuket
PHUKET: Police yesterday recovered the body of a Burmese rubber tapper who had been murdered in the hills overlooking the famous Patong Beach. The upper half of his body had been set alight and his hands were tied behind his back. Wissanu Itsang, who owns a rubber plantation near where the body was found, reported the gruesome discovery to Kathu…
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Dusit Deal for Phuket; Thaksin trimmed; Phuket Fantasy flourishes; Shares soar
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Dusit Deal a plus for Phuket As reported in Phuket NEWS Hound yesterday, Dusit International has acquired the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket for 2.6 billion baht. The seller was Laguna Resorts & Hotels, a local Phuket unit…
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Phuket keen to host 2015 World Weightlifting Championships
PHUKET: The Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWL) is considering proposing Phuket to host the World Weightlifting Championships in 2015. A TAWL delegation visited Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday morning to discuss the idea in a meeting chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Teerayut Eimtrakul. TAWL director Montol Chartsuwaan said Phuket was among three locations under consideration. The others are Pattaya and Hua…
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383 dengue cases in Phuket
PHUKET: There have been 383 cases of dengue fever year-to-date in Phuket, but no deaths, the Ministry of Public Health says. Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch, deputy director of the Phuket Public Health Office and an expert on the disease, said the 383 cases so far this year has already surpassed the total number of cases in 2009, when 309 were recorded…
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Phuket tourism: bigger pic needed; Phuket yachts; Surf’s up
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Call to relax constraints on tourism Phuket could benefit substantially if Thailand were to think wider in the regulation of its vital tourism industry. The Thai tourism industry needs to relax its regulations and give more access…
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Drowned Bahraini tourist was a former lifeguard
PHUKET: The drowned Bahraini tourist whose body was recovered at Karon yesterday was a former lifeguard, according to a report in the Bahrain-based Gulf Daily News website. Relatives and friends of 25-year-old Ali Abdulaziz Alsaeed, whose body was recovered early yesterday, was on holiday in Phuket with three Bahraini friends: Mohammed Mattar, Hameed Abdul Ghani and Ali Al Abdul, 24.…
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Laguna Phuket sells Dusit Thani for Bt2.62b
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket has sold the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket resort to Dusit Thani Public Company Limited for 2.62 billion baht, according to a Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) transaction report. The 226-room upscale property, opened in 1987, was the first built by visionary Singaporean hotel developer KP Ho at Laguna Phuket, an integrated resort complex built on degraded tin…
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Blackouts in Phuket tomorrow: PEA
PHUKET: The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced a scheduled blackout to carry out maintenance on high voltage power lines in Rawai and Chalong from 9am to 4pm tomorrow. Affected areas include: Rawai: Much of Nai Harn, including Saiyuan Road, Soi Kok Yang, Soi Hua Phru, Soi Kok Makham, Soi Naya and the beach road Chalong: West side of Chao…
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More Phuket Airport taxis approved
PHUKET: The Transport Ministry has formally approved a request by Airports of Thailand (AoT) to increase the number of taxis and vans that can operate at Phuket International Airport by 60. News of the approval came at a meeting chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat at Phuket Provincial Hall on Friday morning. Phuket Land Transport Office director Kanok Siripanichkorn…
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Over Bt1m seized in Phuket meth arrest
PHUKET: A former driver at a local school was arrested at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint with 200 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills yesterday evening. Acting on a tip-off, Tah Chat Chai Police led by Lt Nopparat Kongsuk pulled over a red-plated Vigo pickup at 7pm. A search of the vehicle uncovered 200 ya bah pills stashed inside a plastic bag stuffed…
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Phuket SEZ a dream?; Mega-show for Phuket; Election fraud; court begins
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Special Economic Zones: Phuket hopes remain a dream In a development sure to raise eyebrows in Phuket, Sa Kaew province has been chosen to become a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to promote trade and investment in eastern…
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Environmentalists urge amendment of Phuket development plan
PHUKET: A written appeal to amend Phuket’s General Development Plan was submitted by local environmental and community groups last week. Addressed to Gov Wichai Phraisa-ngob, the letter was received by Vice Governor Teerayut Eimtrakul who commented that a committee would be arranged to consider issues raised in the document before passing on any suggested amendments to the Department of Public…
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Phuket Bus Terminal 2: the saga continues
PHUKET: A plan by the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) to open its new provincial bus station by October 1 is in jeopardy because local residents oppose having buses do U-turns on Thepkrasattri Road, the Gazette has learned. PLTO Chief Kanok Siripanichkorn told the Gazette last week that his office hoped to have the 128-million-baht facility in operation by October…
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Phuket Opinion: More dam projects needed
PHUKET: Work on the much-needed 5.7-million-cubic-meter Klong Krata reservoir in the foothills behind Wat Luangpu Supha in Chalong can finally proceed, now that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) has finally approved a request by the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO) to use a 60-rai plot of Forest Department land needed to begin construction. The issues holding up…
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