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Cook’s killing baffles police
CHERNG TALAY: Days have passed but police admit they are still baffled by the murder of a young cook from a stylish new upmarket restaurant in Cherng Talay. A fellow worker from the new Red Room restaurant found the body of 23-year-old Amporn Changthong lying beside Sri Soonthorn Rd, some 200 meters from the venue, about 3:30 am last Friday.…
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Nai Yang vendors told to move
NAI YANG: Vendors on Nai Yang Beach have been ordered by Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi to move from public land. The 47 vendors have been offered alternative accommodation about 600 meters away but at least 22 are resisting the move and are fighting it through the courts. Tanapong Apaiso, Chief of Sirinat Marine National Park, said that 14 tricycle vendors…
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Goods worth B3m stolen in yacht break-ins
AO CHALONG: Electronic and other equipment valued at more than 3 million baht was stolen in a series of robberies from yachts moored in Ao Chalong on Friday, May 30. Australian Brian Ritchie told the Gazette that about noon he discovered that his yacht, Beyond Rotto, had been broken into and that equipment worth about 1 million baht was missing.…
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Boat driver caught for robbing HK tourists
PHUKET: Six Hong Kong tourists had over 32,000 baht stolen as they were snorkelling near Phi Phi Island yesterday, but police managed to arrest the thief yesterday morning and recover the money. The thief, 22-year-old Wachira Thongsarng, is an employee of PP Adventure, which runs speedboat day-trips out of the Boat Lagoon. Wachira was taken into custody by Phuket Tourist…
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Rawai beach stalls to be moved
RAWAI: About 40 stall vendors selling food along the Rawai seafront have been ordered to vacate by the end of June in preparation for developments at the resort beach. Sixteen of the vendors will move to a new site as part of a 600,000-baht building project that will house them about 500 meters from the old location, near the Rawai…
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Municipality appeals for water conservation
PHUKET TOWN: Acting Phuket Town Mayor Pairoj Kaykina today asked Phuket Town residents to use water sparingly in the hope of avoiding water supply rationing. The appeal comes after a Phuket Town Waterworks Authority (PTWA) report confirmed that water supply from dwindling tin mine reserves will need to be restricted unless there is a sharp increase in rainfall soon. “If…
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Poor turnout for SorPorKor meeting
PHUKET TOWN: Only 67 people of the 515 people in Phuket holding SorPorKor 4-01 land occupation papers registered at a meeting with Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday. With the central government about to send dozens of investigators to Phuket to check all SorPorKor papers, Gov Pongpayome had asked SorPorKor holders to a one-hour meeting at the Phuket Provincial Meeting…
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Man drowns at Nai Harn
NAI HARN: Beach vendors yesterday discovered the body of a 19-year-old man who was swept off the rocks by a large wave at Nai Harn Beach on Sunday. Suriya Lannoi, a gas station attendant in Rawai, was standing on rocks with five friends at about 4 pm when they were all knocked into the sea by a large wave, Pol…
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New crackdown on traffic offenses
PHUKET: Police began a crackdown on traffic offenders from yesterday, as part of a fresh offensive aimed at reducing road deaths and injuries. Announcing the crackdown, which he said will continue indefinitely, Metha Mekarath of the Provincial Defense Office said that government employees caught breaking the rules of the road will face special punishment and could even lose their jobs.…
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Tourist vanishes at Bang Tao Beach
CHERNG TALAY: A 30-year-old Hong Kong man is missing, believed drowned, after he and his friends ignored advice and went swimming at Bang Tao Beach yesterday. Police named the man as Law Chun Lung. He disappeared while swimming with three companions at about 6 pm. Pol Lt Prakob Boonsan of Cherng Talay Police Station said that staff at the Laguna…
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Spa industry to get serious
PHUKET: About 150 owners of Phuket businesses running spas or offering spa services will meet to set standards and to introduce self-regulation, Pakin Raktae-ngam, President of the new Phuket Spa Business Association, announced this morning. “This is the first time a serious attempt will be made to clarify the concepts and the standards of Phuket’s spas,” K. Pakin said, adding…
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Garbage power boost on the cards
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Town Municipality and the Department of Alternative Energy are investigating ways to boost the amount of electricity produced by the Saphan Hin garbage incinerator. Energy Minister Dr Prommin Lertsuridej has asked for a report within two months on the possibilities. Dr Prommin and his team toured the incinerator when the Cabinet visited Phuket this week. The…
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Road accidents claim 18 lives
PHUKET: Eighteen people died in traffic accidents between March 20 and April 20, according to the latest statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. All the victims were on motorcycles, Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office reported. In the same period, 821 were hurt in crashes involving motorbikes, while 35 people were injured in car accidents.…
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Cyber Paradise gets B30m boost
PHUKET: The central government will spend about 30 million baht to open an office to help give birth to “Cyber Paradise”, Dr Surapong Suebwonglee, Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), has announced. The office, which is expected to be open within three months, will be in a currently vacant building belonging to the Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus,…
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Rise in seizures of illegal guns
PHUKET: Nineteen people were arrested in Phuket for illegal possession of firearms from May 1 to May 25, according to statistics from the Provincial Police, released soon after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra launched a nationwide crackdown on organized crime on May 20. However, the figures for May revealed a similar number of drug-related raids and arrests as in the same…
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OrBorJor chief to run for Parliament
PHUKET TOWN: Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), is expected to stand at the next parliamentary election as a Thai Rak Thai (TRT) government candidate in Phuket, a province traditionally regarded as a stronghold for the opposition Democrat Party. While his declaration at this stage is still not official, it was confirmed by Dr Yada…
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Policeman indicted over Phuket slaying
PHUKET: A Songkhla police officer has been charged with conspiracy to murder Phuket businessman Visanuwat Ngamjun, Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Police Station, said today. K. Visanuwat was shot dead with three bullets to the head by a motorcycle-riding assassin while he was driving out of the car park at the Big C supercenter on February 28.…
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Market vendors protest forced move
PHUKET TOWN: More than 150 market traders of the popular downtown market on Ranong Rd gathered at Provincial Hall this morning to protest their forced relocation to a site on Bangkok Rd by Thursday. If they do not move by Thursday, they each face a fine of 2,000 baht a day. Of the 300 vendors at the market, 88 unlicensed…
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Jobs go as hotel downturn bites
KARON: About 14,000 workers have been laid off from Phuket hotels in the wake of the tourism industry downturn, Yaowalak Yangyean, Chief of Phuket Social Security Office, told the Gazette today. Other workers have been told to take more days off each month. With tourist arrivals in Thailand reported to be 76% down this May on the same month last…
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Cabinet says “no’ to tourism cash boost
KARON: The central Government has refused to provide any direct financial assistance to Phuket tourism businesses suffering from the effects of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars). Speaking after the Cabinet meeting at the Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort today, government spokesman Maj Sitha Thiwaree said, “Instead of giving money to help Phuket tourism the Government will set up a tour package…
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“Healthy’ Phuket for B400 million
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) is seeking 400 million baht from the Government to speed the island’s recovery after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) scare led to a tourism downturn. Dr Narongsak Angkasuwapala, Director of the Department of Health Service Support, met with local officials and representatives from the private sector on Sunday morning as a prelude…
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ACD calls for united tourism revival
CHERNG TALAY: A three-day gathering of members of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Tourism Business Forum has concluded with a call for regional cooperation on reviving tourism and in dealing with future emergencies. Business executives and government officials from the 18-nation ACD met at the Laguna Beach Resort until Saturday and will meet again in Chiang Mai next month. Discussions…
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Cabinet talks Phuket in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: A Cabinet meeting in Phuket on Monday will discuss the effect of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) scare, the 100-billion-baht plan to develop the island, health tourism and the plan for a software park. Local Thai Rak Thai party leader Dr Yada Palimapan and Chawalit Na Nakhon, Vice-President of the Region 11 Community Relations Committee, listed the…
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Gov compiles “influential people’ list
PHUKET: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi is to meet with officials to help him prepare a list of “people of influence” in Phuket to send to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Prime Minister has given provincial governors 30 days from May 21 to supply lists of powerful people allegedly linked to illegal activities, including corruption, killings, vice, gambling and smuggling.…
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Life no longer in the Patong night
PATONG: A number of Patong nightspots have closed down temporarily due to the sharp decrease in tourism in the resort town. Chairat Sukbal, owner of Safari Pub, told the Gazette that many entertainment venues were forced to shut down because the lack of trade meant they were no longer able to pay staff wages. He attributed the lack of tourists…
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Police launch vendor raids
PATONG: Officers from the Phuket Provincial Commercial Office (PPCO) and Kathu Police Station last night launched a series of raids on unlicensed businesses and pirate goods with unannounced inspections of 30 vendors’ stalls. PPCO Deputy Chief Tharadol Thongruang said that the raids, between 8 pm and 9:30 pm, turned up just one unlicensed business on Thaweewong Rd selling Game Boy…
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Computer whiz wins spot in US Olympiad
PHUKET TOWN: A Phuket student has been chosen as one of the four computer science students to represent Thailand in the International Science Olympiad competition, to be held in Wisconsin, USA, in mid-August. Nawanol Theera’ampornpan, an 18-year-old student in Mattayom 6 at Phuket Wittayalai School, will join between 600 and 800 students from more than 100 countries in the event.…
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Last phone call traps man’s killers
TAH CHAT CHAI: Two men, caught at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint early today after stabbing a man to death, were apprehended because of the victim’s last mobile phone call. Soonthron Nabin, 33, and Adul Katesiri, 32, who identified himself to police as Thanapolpan Katesiri, were arrested at the checkpoint on Phuket’s border after officers had been warned to look out…
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Charges in Tong murder case dismissed
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Court has dismissed all charges against the five men accused of participation in the murder six years ago of American businessman Danis Wayne Tong. The five accused – Belgian businessman Hugo Vandervelde along with Thais Manit Panme, Pratin Praktong, Prajuab Sukkong and Pairat Raksawong – were all freed by the court for lack of evidence, Pol…
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Suspect held in Big C Slaying
PHUKET: Police are confident they have a strong lead in one of the recent spate of killings on Phuket and that breakthroughs in other slayings may follow soon. Col Apirak Hongtong, Deputy Commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, told the Gazette that a suspect was being held in Haad Yai, Songkla, over the killing at the entrance of the Big…
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