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All a-bout love
RAYONG: Many Thais are fond of a wager and high stakes betting on muay Thai bouts is certainly nothing unusual. The organizers of a charity Thai boxing night in Rayong, however, claimed to have a world first when two Assistant Village Chiefs went head to head in the ring to fight – not for a large sum of cash, but…
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Hitman hit
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A gunman-for-hire listed on the Police Region 8 most-wanted list was whacked, not by zealous cops or victims’ relatives out for revenge, but by his long-suffering companion as he lay asleep in bed. At 10 am on March 30, Chawang District Police Inspector Lt Col Sompong Prohmreuangchart received a report of a shooting at house number 134…
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Holed up
SRISAKET: When the stresses of life and the pressure to be polite become too much, the idea of retreating into a little place to get away from it all can be quite tempting. This is exactly what one man in Srisaket province has done – for the past 20 years. While out visiting his charges in the province’s Nam Kliang…
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Fists of fury
LOP BURI: Not used to being on the receiving end of beatings, officers in Lop Buri’s Baan Pong District Police Station were given a nasty shock when a speed-crazed former World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight world champion contender stormed into the station in frenzy in the morning of March 5. Police told reporters that Sgt Maj Ithipol Sawatdee was sitting…
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Of monks and munitions
KALASIN: Police arrested 38-year-old monk Phra Phornphanom Sommai February 26 after villagers reported seeing him shouldering a gun while sitting pillion on a motorbike speeding through Nong Hua Ling village, Kuchinarai district. When police caught up with him, they found that he was drunk, said Maj Somchai Phukongchana, Investigating Inspector at Kuchinarai District Police Station. Police then went to search…
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Invincible amulets?
KALASIN: Hubris often comes before a fall, but the demise of one superstitious man in Kalasin province perhaps came more predictably than most. The body of the man in question was found in a small shack in a forest of this northeastern province. Maj Phabun Titiyan, an Inspector at Kalasin Muang District Police station, said that the victim had been…
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Teen arrested with murder victim’s gun
PATONG: Police arrested Theerasak Sae-Ong, 18, last Friday after he was found carrying a short-barrel shotgun that he claimed he bought from Pongsakorn “Kho” Naksuk, who was shot dead on the south side of Phuket City a week earlier.Sub Lt Naruewat Putthawiro of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that a security guard at Night Station Pub and Disco on…
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Elderly Brit run over, killed
RAWAI: An elderly British man attempting to cross Wiset Rd in the early hours of April 10 died after being run over by a car about 300 meters from the Sea Shell Museum.Chalong Police Station Duty Inspector Lt Col Chokchai Sutthimek identified the victim as Alan H White, aged 81.Mr White was staying on Soi Sailom in Rawai at the…
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Policeman charged over temple brawl
CHALONG: Chalong Police have charged a Crime Suppression officer with disturbing the peace following a brawl at a Songkran fair at Wat Karon.The officer, named by police as “Sgt Maj Bird”, or better known as “Ja Bird”, has not been suspended from duty.Lt Col Peeranut Chatinkaew, a Crime Suppression Inspector at Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that he was…
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Chindapol injured in college shooting
PHUKET: A young member of the Chindapol clan, one of the largest families on the island, remains unconscious after being shot outside Phuket Vocational College in Saphan Hin Sunday night as he was waiting for a friend.Maj Sarit Butnongsang, Duty Inspector of Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette, “The injured youth is Duangdon Chindapol, 18. He was shot by…
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Historic bank to be converted to a museum
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Municipality will renovate two Sino-Portuguese buildings in the heart of Phuket City with the aim of preserving the town’s cultural past.The old Chartered Bank building at the intersection of Phuket Rd and Phang Nga Rd until recently housed the Phuket City branch of Siam City Bank, but will soon be converted to a cultural museum.The Sino-Portuguese…
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Tourist killed in Kata accident
KARON: A 34-year-old English tourist, Lee Jonathan Thomas Pettit, died in a motorbike accident in Kata about 4 am April 10.Lt Col Chockchai Sutthimek, Duty Inspector at Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that Mr Pettit was driving at high speed along Kata Rd when he was involved in a scrape with a motorbike waiting to turn right onto Ket…
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Phuket ready “To Be Number One’ province
PHUKET CITY: Phuket is one of two provinces in the South to compete in the To Be Number One Province finals, to be held on June 22 at the IMPACT Arena in Muang Thong Thani, in suburban Bangkok.Phuket will also be represented in the To Be Number One Community, by Baan Lipon Khao Lan; and in the To Be Number…
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West Sands to build water park
MAI KHAO: Central & City Developments has announced it will build Phuket’s first “water park” as part of its six-billion-baht West Sands Resort and villa project.The 150-million-baht park will cover 6,400 square meters and feature state-of-the-art water rides, all to be designed and built by Canadian water park design specialist WhiteWater through its office in Korea.West Sands Sales and Marketing…
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Only one Songkran road death in Phuket so far
PHUKET: With tomorrow the last day of the official Songkran holidays, the Phuket Provincial Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) has announced that there has been just one road accident death in Phuket since April 11.ODPM Chief Aroon Kerdsom told the Gazette, “We have the total number of deaths from road accidents from April 11 to 15 – and…
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Soft opening for Phuket Welcome Gate
TAH CHAT CHAI: About 1,000 elderly people from around Phuket took part in an Elderly Day Ceremony at the Phuket Welcome Gate last Wednesday to preserve Thai culture during Songkran and encourage people to realize the importance of elderly members of the community.Although the official opening for the Welcome Gate has yet to be organized, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor)…
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Valentino faces encroachment charges
BANGKOK (The Nation): Malaysian national Tan Teik Hai, better known known as Phuket’s former honorary consul to Morocco “Valentino”, 56, is facing charges involving encroachment on more than 1,000 rai on Koh Yao Yai. After completing its investigation into a development project on Koh Yao Yai, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) recommended prosecution against Tan and his in-laws Bunlert…
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Seven “zones’ for Songkran sanook
PHUKET: Tawichart Intararit, Chief of the Phuket Provincial “Cultural Office” (PPCO), has asked people to restrict water-throwing festivities to seven zones in Phuket during the Songkran holiday, which is expected to begin in earnest on Friday.K. Tawichart defined the zones as: Saphan Hin in Phuket City; Rawai Beach; Laem Promthep; Karon Beach, Nai Yang Beach; Surin Beach and Patong Beach.Having “water-play”…
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THAI to add 20 flights for Songkran
BANGKOK (The Nation): Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced it will add 20 special flights on domestic routes to Chiang Mai and Phuket from Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports, numbering 5,200 seats, in order to serve passengers traveling during the Songkran holiday.THAI President Apinan Sumanaseni said THAI would add 11 domestic flights between Suvarnabhumi and both Chiang Mai and Phuket,…
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Cabinet approves Business Act amendments
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Cabinet has approved the revised amendments to the Foreign Business Act, but it remains uncertain whether the bill will pass the National Legislative Assembly.The NLA will debate the amendments on April 18. Some 50 of its members have railed against the changes, saying they jeopardize foreign investment.Commerce Minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet has said he is ready to…
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Tata Young in Phuket
PATONG: More than 1,000 people from the Tata Young Fan Club traveled to Phuket to enjoy Tata Young’s live concert last night, held to mark the grand opening of Jungceylon. Tata, a 26-year-old Thai-American, became a superstar in Thailand at the age of 15 and launched a successful international career with the release of her first English-language album I Believe…
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Four arrested in pirate DVD sting
PATONG: About 13,000 pirate DVDs were confiscated and four vendors were arrested in raids by police at Jintana Plaza Market around 6 pm on April 4.After Capt Nikom Tienhao, an Inspector at the Children, Juveniles and Woman Division’s Sub-Division 3, led the sting on the vendors, officers moved in and confiscated 13,000 DVDs, including 139 pornographic movies.Sub Lt Naruewat Phutthawiro,…
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Violent crime rises by 130%
PHUKET: Crime statistics for March 1 to March 31 released by Phuket Provincial Police show that reports of violent crime in Phuket rose by 130% compared with the same period last year.Three murders and nine attempted murders were reported, with two and eight arrests made respectively. There were 27 reports of assault with 16 arrests made and eight reports of…
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Dead baby found floating off Saphan Hin
PHUKET CITY: A dead baby boy was found floating near the mouth of Bang Yai canal in Sapan Hin on Thursday.The grisly find was reported to police at 8:30 am by a tourist.Lt Col Somkid Boonyarat, an Investigating Inspector at Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette that the body was that of a baby boy of Thai appearance.Doctors estimate…
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Gang rivalry blamed for violent death
WICHIT: Police suspect gang rivalry as the motive behind the killing of a young Thalang man whose body was found riddled with bullets early on Saturday. Pol Lt Col Sompong Boonrat, a Deputy Inspector at the Phuket City Police Station, identified the victim as Pongsakorn “Kho” Naksuk, 24.Pongsakorn was shot several times in the upper arms, head and back with a…
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Dam dirty dealings in Chalong
PHUKET: The Irrigation Department has almost completed negotiations to acquire all of the land needed to build the Klong Krata Reservoir in Chalong, but the project now faces an unexpected new hurdle because some landowners have been excavating and trucking away topsoil from the project site.Theerachart Sangkaha, the Irrigation Department official in charge of the project, informed Governor Niran Kalayanamit…
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Daily tsunami warning tests deferred
PHUKET: Testing of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) tsunami warning system, scheduled for this morning, was canceled by the agency out of fear that it could create a public panic in areas where the public had not been adequately informed.Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, who heads the Nonthaburi-based NDWC, told the Gazette this morning that a comprehensive system test will take…
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Eight teenagers nabbed for muggings
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Wednesday rounded up eight teenagers suspected of at least two gunpoint muggings.Police reported that the boys – all aged 16 or 17 – confessed to two attacks, one at Saphan Hin on Tuesday and one at Khao Rang viewpoint on March 29. In both cases, the boys used knives and a homemade short shotgun to…
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Dugong dies in illegal trap
PA KHLOK: A 126-kilogram male dugong was found dead in an illegal fish trap in Pa Khlok Bay on Monday.The discovery was reported to the Phuket Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Office (MCRC) by Juroon Rachaphol, a local conservation activist, at 7:30 pm.A 20-strong team of MCRC officers and volunteers were led to the site. They found the animal stuck…
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B100,000 reward offered for Karon murder suspect
KARON: A 100,000-baht reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Suban Pon-iamsaen, 40, the prime suspect in the murder of Mala Peng-iam, who was gunned down in her Mala Seafood beachfront restaurant on March 27.Suban owns the restaurant next door to Mala Seafood.Police believe that the killing was the climax of a long-running feud between the…
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