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Phuket ICT Center set for December 5 launch
SAPHAN HIN: As part of a government initiative to promote information and communications technology (ICT) in Thailand, Phuket Municipality and the Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) have teamed up to open the Phuket ICT Center at the Phuket Municipality Youth Center in Saphan Hin.The ICT Center, slated for a grand opening at 11:09 am on Wednesday, comprises four zones. The…
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Cigana and Blatchford win triathlon titles
CHERNG TALAY: Massimo Cigana from Venice and Briton Liz Blatchford ran, swam and cycled their way to the front of a throng of about 700 athletes from 44 countries at this year’s Laguna Phuket Triathlon on December 2.The star-studded field comprised the likes of 2007 Hawaii Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington from the UK, 2007 Ford Ironman World Champion 70.3…
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MP candidates call for local election commission to be replaced
PHUKET CITY: Six local MP candidates from four political parties held a press conference Wednesday afternoon, calling for the national Election Commission (EC) to replace all the members of the Phuket Election Commission (PEC) currently chaired by Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha.The six politicians charged that the PEC’s joint staging of an “anti-vote-buying” activity with the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor)…
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Chalong Police nab cable cutters
CHALONG: Chalong Police have arrested two suspects for late-night thefts of electric cable that left homes in Rawai and Chalong in blackout over the past month. At a press conference at Chalong Police Station yesterday morning, police identifed the culprits as Mana Sae-Tun and Sansern Klaseuk, both 23-year-old Phuket natives.The thieves were presented to the media by Chalong Police Investigtions…
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Digital Gazette takes off
(PHUKET): In a development which might surprise a number of “old media” publishers (and not surprise more modern ones at all), the Phuket Gazette‘s new “Digital Gazette” has sold 21 subscriptions into its tiny niche readership market within the first 24 hours of its launch as a paid product. Incorporating virtually the entire content of it’s now 64-page weekly hard-copy…
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Registered population continues to rise
PHUKET: As of October 31, Phuket’s official population stood at 313,835 persons, up 880 from September 30. The rise follows a provincial campaign to increase the registered population of Thais living in Phuket, as officially tallied from household registration forms, or tabien baan.Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase during the monthly meeting of the Phuket…
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Yellow-top bikers oppose vote buying
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha gave out 200 yellow crash helmets to motorcycle-taxi riders at Phuket Community Hall on Monday November 26.The color yellow symbolizes devotion to the king and are part of a campaign to discourage vote buying in the upcoming government elections on December 23.The helmets were donated by Ruam Pong Motor Co Ltd. and are adorned…
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Dutch tourist stabbed near Downtown Market
PHUKET CITY (Kom Chad Luek/Gazette): A Dutch tourist is recovering in Bangkok Phuket Hospital after being stabbed twice by a knife-wielding thief outside the Downtown Market on Ranong Rd last night.The tourist, 51-year-old Thomas De Klerk, was shopping at the market with his wife Maria Kroezen at the time of the attack, staff at the hospital told the Gazette.The victim…
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Mystery body surfaces in Klong Tha Chin
KOH SIREH: The body of an unidentified man was discovered in the Tha Chin river near Koh Sireh November 26. The body is believed to be that of an Indonesian or Burmese laborer who was attacked and then thrown into the sea, said Pol Lt Amporn Musikapan from Phuket City Police Station.Lt Amporn said, “I got a call on the…
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Five arrests in teen-stabbing case
PHUKET CITY: Five youths were arrested on Saturday for the murder of 14-year-old Theeraphong Thongklam, who died after being stabbed in the heart in the early hours of last Wednesday. Theerapong’s friend, who was riding pillion when their bike on crashed about 1 am on the night of the murder, told police that he and Theerapong were driving to Thalang…
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Incendiary behavior sparks murder at Saphan Hin
SAPHAN HIN: Phuket City Police are investigating the fatal stabbing of man whose celebration of the Loy Kratong Festival with firecrackers allegedly angered a group of young revelers, two of whom allegedly stabbed him in the back while he was urinating.Pol Capt Sathit Nurit, Duty Officer of the Phuket City Police, identified the victim as 29-year-old Apichart Kaewpanya, a resident…
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Russian tourist dies of heart failure
PATONG: A Russian tourist died of an apparent heart attack in his room at the Patong Resort Hotel early yesterday, a local Thai newspaper has reported.Kathu Police Duty Officer Pol Capt Padungpong Duksukaew was quoted in the report as identifying the tourist as Yury Bogdanov, 58.The death was reported by 56-year-old Irina Bogdanov, wife of the deceased, the report said,…
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One reported dead, at least two injured in road accidents
PHUKET: A Russian woman has been reported to have died in an accident in Thalang late last night and a five-vehicle crash on the bypass road yesterday afternoon caused damage to several cars and left an American man in hospital.Pol Lt Sathawat Srirattanapong, duty officer of Phuket City Police, told the Gazette that the accident in the southbound lane of…
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Limo drivers vow to fight AOT over airport service
PHUKET CITY: Representatives of the Phuket Limousine and Business Services Cooperative (PBC) yesterday said they would continue to fight the Airports of Thailand (AOT) decision to slash the number of PBC vehicles operating at Phuket International Airport from 150 to 90.Following a meeting with Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit, PBC Secretary Niphon Piromrit said, “We have 110 saloon cars and 40…
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German dies in head-on smash
PHUKET: German national Werner Josef Theisen died after the Nissan NV he was driving and a pickup truck collided on Airport Rd about midday last Saturday.According to Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduang from Thalang Police Station, three vehicles were involved in the accident, which occurred as Mr Werner was driving from Phuket International Airport towards Phuket City.“Mr Werner swerved left…
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Security guards arrested for theft
KATA: Police arrested four employees of a private security firm for stealing valuables from the same people they were hired to protect: guests and staff at the Club Med Phuket resort in Kata.Chalong Police Superintendent Col Samarn Chainarong presented the four guards to the media at a press conference at Chalong Police Station yesterday morningThe first two presented were Nakhon…
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Key areas hold first Municipal elections
PHUKET: The first-ever municipal elections in Rassada, Rawai and Wichit, all upgraded from tambon administration organization (OrBorTor) to municipality (tessabaan tambon) status in August, were held November 17.In Rassada, large crowds amassed at the vote-counting center at Phuket Rajabhat University. Suratin Lian-udom, leader of Raksa Rassada, won 3,264 votes to defeat Preecha Jai-ard of Rassada Prongsai party, with 3,241 votes.Somchai…
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Teen stabbed to death in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: The latest casualty of teenage gang violence in Phuket was 14-year-old Theeraphong Thongklam, stabbed through the heart in downtown Phuket City early Monday morning.Phuket City Police Sub Lt Jakrapong Suchol said that Theeraphong, a resident of Rassada Village 7, fell off his motorbike near the Montri Rd-Phang Nga Rd intersection at 2:30 am after being stabbed by a…
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Rotary International awards One-Two-Go hero
THALANG: Rotary Club of Patong President O.B. Wetzell on November 20 presented a Rotary International “Family and Community Service Award” to Paiboon Papan, the One-Two-Go flight OG269 passenger who heroically saved the life of expat resident Robert Borland and other survivors of the crash on September 16.The ceremony was held at the offices of Thalang Trading Co Ltd , where…
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Great gobbler hunt now closed
(PHUKET): The Disaster Prevention departments of the following Phuket restaurants have now stepped in to announce traditional turkey feasts for Thanksgiving 2007 – Thursday, November 22. (See our earlier story here.) BYD LoftsPatong Beachfrom 8pm850 bahtReservations requiredTel: 076-343024/7 Don’sRawaifrom 5 pm320 bahtReservations recommended076-289314 Les AngesRoyal Phuket Marinafrom 12 noon til 9:30 pm1,500 baht076-360803 Tavern on the HillPatong Beachfrom 7:30 pm475…
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Turkey emergency prompts appeal for help
(PHUKET): American pilgrims on Phuket are up in arms at what appears to be a conspiracy by the island’s restaurateurs and F&B managers to deprive them of a basic gastronomic right: their annual indulgence in a feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce….Wesley Gobbler, head of the Special Investigations Unit of the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, told…
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Bars closed in Rawai, Wichit and Rassada
PHUKET: Municipal elections underway in Rawai, Wichit, and Rassada today have resulted in a closure of all entertainment venues selling alcohol, according to Election Commission law.Initial reports reveal that turnout has been strong at Rassada’s seven polling stations, two of which are located near Supercheap on Thepkrasattri Rd.“It has been very busy and we expect [voter] turnout to exceed 70%…
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Italian tourist dies in bathroom fall
PATONG: An Italian tourist died on Thursday from head injuries sustained after an accidental fall in the bathroom of his hotel.Pol Maj Vicharn Suwansit of Phuket City Police identified the deceased as Mr Luca Magozzi, 47.Mr Magozzi was rushed to Patong Hospital after he slipped on the bathroom floor of his hotel in Patong early Thursday.After slipping into a coma, he…
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Man drowns at Kata Beach
KATA: An elderly German tourist on holiday with his wife drowned at Kata Beach late Thursday afternoon.Chalong Police duty officer Capt Parichat Jaturonpan identified the deceased as Rudolf Breidach, 67, a guest at the Thavorn Palm Beach Hotel in Karon.Mr Breidach, his wife and a female friend, also German, went swimming about 5 pm. There were no Phuket Provincial Administration…
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Teenage ladyboy slain in Patong
PATONG: Kathu Police are investigating the grisly murder of a teenage ladyboy whose strangled and beaten body was discovered near the road to Tri Trang Beach on Monday morning.Kathu Police Superintendent Pol Col Grissak Songmoonnark identified the victim as 19-year-old Thanawoot Wiriyananon. A native of Phatthalung province, K. Thanawoot worked in the Patong nightlife industry, he said.“About 11:30 am, we…
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Boomtown or bust!
PATTANI: With bombings in the Deep South regrettably almost a daily occurrence, it comes as little surprise that some might refer to the region as a “boomtown”. In fact, the Deep South is also in the middle of its own little “gold rush”, though the object of the hopeful prospectors desire isn’t gold, but a mysterious black ore thought to…
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Police baffled: Burglary or buggery?
NAKON SRI THAMMARAT: When villagers in Chawang District heard the abbot of a local temple shouting he was being assaulted by a thief on October 14, they naturally rushed to assist. When police, led by Lt Samphan Wathanasong, arrived, they came upon a throng of more than 10 people happily beating the suspected thief and abbot assaulter. Police put a…
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Knife-wielding burglar arrested
PHUKET: Police have arrested a burglar who broke into a home near Tesco-Lotus Sunday night and repeatedly slashed its female occupant with a knife before fleeing.Pol Capt Supachai Petchsakul of Phuket City Police said that the attack happened about 11 pm in a residential area off Songkhla Rd in Tambon Rassada, near the Tesco-Lotus intersection.The attacker, later identified as Rawai…
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Former Phuket Governor jailed for 36 years on child-sex charges
BANGKOK (Nation, Kom Chad Luek, TNA): Chalerm Phromlert, who was Phuket Governor from 1987 to 1991, was sent to Pathum Thani Prison yesterday after the Supreme Court upheld his 36-year jail sentence for multiple counts of statutory rape.Judge Samart Ardnarong handed down the verdict against Chalerm, who was accused of having sex with four schoolgirls aged between 13 and 16…
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Phuket prepares for national elections
PHUKET CITY: Crowds of supporters turned out to cheer Phuket’s national political party representatives as they registered their candidacies and drew lots to be assigned their ballot numbers at Phuket Community Hall on Monday.Eight candidates representing four of the five political parties running in the December 23 national election turned out on the first day of registration.Registration closes on Friday.The…
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