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Is Swedish snus a good alternative to smoking in Thailand?
With approximately 106,000 people in Thailand succumbing to smoking-related illnesses annually, people are exploring alternatives in pursuit of a safer option. And for many, the answer is Swedish snus (pronounced snoose and rhymes with goose), a traditional Scandinavian tobacco product...
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Work may be fruitless for Phuketians in Sweden
PHUKET: People tempted by offers of jobs picking fruit in Sweden have been warned by the Phuket Provincial Employment Office to check very carefully that the offer is genuine. The office pointed out that this year’s fruit harvest in Sweden is not particularly good, so demand for foreign workers is not high. But confidence tricksters working in Phuket have been…
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Phuket tops Dengue fever league
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Health Office recorded 148 cases of Dengue fever between the beginning of the year and July 23, said its director, Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, in a report issued yesterday. There were no deaths. The figure means that with an infection rate of 63.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, Phuket remains at the top of the Dengue fever league table…
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Tuk-tuk drivers in protest over access to port
AO MAKHAM: About 40 tuk tuk drivers from Phuket Town gathered in front of the gates of the deep-sea port this morning in protest at the apparent unwillingness of port authorities to allow them inside to pick up some of the 4,000 American sailors disembarking at the port on Monday. Asin Arammethappongsa, manager of the port, told the Gazette that…
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American believed murdered in Bangkok
BANGKOK, Aug 4 (AFP) – An American found dead in a central Bangkok hotel room with a plastic bag covering his head was believed to have been murdered, police said this morning. Wayne Tischbern, 58, was found yesterday when hotel staff informed police that he had spent an unusually long time in his room. Tischbern was handcuffed, there was tape…
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Deadline warning for those employing illegals
PHUKET TOWN: Employers hiring illegal labor from countries such as Burma or Cambodia have been reminded that they have until next Wednesday, August 4, to report the illegals to the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office. After that date employers face a fine of up to 60,000 baht or three years in jail, or both, if they are found to be…
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102 road deaths in first six months of 1999
PHUKET: Phuket Health Office has reported that 5,421 people were involved in road accidents in the first six months of 1999. Of these, 4,835 – 92% – were on motorcycles. In the same period, 102 people died in road accidents. Again, bikes accounted for nearly all the statistics – 94 of the dead were on motorcycles. In June 765 people…
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Australian tourist drowns, two others saved
PATONG: The body of an Australian tourist who disappeared while swimming on Monday was found last night in front of the Phuket Cabana Hotel. The tourist, named by police as Henry Ng, 27, was staying with his girlfriend at the Novotel Phuket Resort. While swimming off Kalim beach, the two were hit by a large wave. A fishermen managed to…
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OrBorJor imposes fuel and tobacco taxes
PHUKET: Banlur Tantivit, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), announced on Sunday that the organization has agreed to levy taxes on tobacco and fuel. As predicted in the Gazette (July 1, 1999, issue) the tobacco tax will be 4.54 satang per cigar or cigarette, while the fuel tax will be 4.54 satang per liter. Both taxes are already…
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Kamala sees toughest competition in election
PHUKET TOWN: Members of the newly elected Tambon Administration Organizations (OrBorTor) in Phuket will vote today to decide who will be on the three-member executive committees of each of Phuket’s 13 OrBorTor. The OrBorTor elections, which took place on July 18, generally went smoothly, with an overall turnout around Phuket of 59% of the total 85,025 eligible voters. In seven…
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“Good swimmer’ drowns at Kamala
PATONG: A British tourist drowned on Saturday at Laem Sing beach, Kamala. Police named him as Stephen Guy Douglas Desborough, aged 41. Police said that he was swimming alone while his Thai girlfriend stayed on the beach reading the newspaper. She told them that he was a good swimmer, and often swam at Kamala beach, especially when there were big…
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Police drive to boost awareness of crime
PHUKET TOWN: Police have launched a drive to raise public awareness of ways to guard against criminals, particularly burglars and snatch-and-run thieves. The drive takes the form of a card which can be hung on the doorknobs of people’s homes and which gives the following advice to cut down the risk of burglary: Before you leave the house, make sure…
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CAT opens international video conference center
PHUKET TOWN: The Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) has opened an international video conference center in Phuket, only the second in Thailand. Voravit Vorapiboonpong, chief of the Phuket Telecommunications Center explained that video conferencing was a high-tech way for people from different countries to have a meeting without having to travel, saving both time and cost. The center may be…
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TAT opens PO Box for suggestions
BANGKOK: Seree Wangpaijit, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that the TAT now has a PO Box specifically for people in the tourism industry who wish to write to the TAT to express views or make suggestions. Those wishing to use this service should write to PO Box 33, Suthisarn Post Office, Bangkok 10321. Anonymous correspondence…
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Motorbike taxi driver caught with yaba
TAMBON MAIKAO: A motorbike taxi driver, stopped yesterday at a police checkpoint because he looked suspicious, was found to be carrying 200 amphetamine (yaba) pills in the lining of his helmet. Police, who set the checkpoint at Tambon Maikao near Thalang said the 30-year-old man admitted he had bought the drugs in his home town in Phlypraya District in Krabi…
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False pregnancy lands woman in custody
PHUKET TOWN: A woman who became heavily pregnant, very suddenly, while in the Super Cheap store on Thepkrassatri Rd was arrested yesterday for the theft of two cans of tuna, two cans of rambutans and two of coconut cream, plus a pair of jeans and a pack of plastic bags. Police were called to the store after a staff member…
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New post office opens in Patong
PATONG BEACH: Today saw the opening of a new post office at 41/1 Rat-U-Thit Rd. Wisan Pongtiwattanakul, postal chief in Patong, said he hoped the new branch would make it more convenient for both Thais and foreigners, whether individuals or companies, to handle mail and money transactions. Services offered include domestic and international letter and parcel post, EMS courier, the…
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Drug-dealing duo arrested in rubber plantation
THALANG: Police raided a home in a rubber plantation in Baan Bangtak on Tuesday after undercover officers bought 10 amphetamine (yaba) pills from the occupants. Inside they found a further 65 pills hidden in a rubber-tapping can. A 41-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman were arrested and charged with possession and dealing in illicit drugs. Police said the two admitted…
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Star-crossed couple in double suicide
CHALONG: Police yesterday found the bodies of a young couple who apparently committed suicide when life became too difficult. Alerted by neighbors who called them to investigate a bad smell coming from the couple’s rented room behind Wat Sawangarom, police found the corpses of Kowit Singkasem, 22, and his four-months-pregnant wife Petcharat Sangmanee, 21. Both were hanging from a beam…
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Phuket father and son discover new snail
PHUKET: A species of tiny snail, previously unknown to science, has been discovered by a Phuket father and son who hunted for a live example for nearly two years after finding a fossil. Somnuek Pattamakanthin, 52, who set up the Phuket Seashell Museum in Rawai, and his son Somwang, 22, found a fossil of the snail in 1997 in the…
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Six arrested in drugs raid
THALANG: Police on Saturday raided a house in Baan Pru Somparn and arrested a 42-year-old woman and five men aged between 18 and 50 on charges of possession and trafficking in amphetamines (yaba). Pol. Col. Prapakorn Saksupa, superintendent of Thalang police station, said the raid uncovered 44 yaba pills, three sets of yaba-taking paraphernalia, 32,300 baht and a book listing…
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Laguna Resorts to take over Banyan Tree
PHUKET: Laguna Resorts and Hotels Plc (LRH) has announced a plan to acquire the Banyan Tree Hotel Group, an acquisition that would make it the largest hotel group in Thailand and one of the biggest in Asia. LRH’s board of directors approved the plan on July 9. It has yet to be approved by shareholders, who will meet on August…
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Ten arrested in raid on karaoke club
PHUKET TOWN: Police and Immigration officers raided the Love Karaoke club on Poonpol Rd on Tuesday and arrested two Burmese and three Laotian waitresses found to be in Thailand illegally. The also arrested five Hill Tribe women, also working as waitresses, for working outside the border control area. The 10 waitresses ranged in age from 14 to 22.
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Tong murder trial adjourned until September
PHUKET TOWN: A new prosecutor in the Danis Wayne Tong murder trial this morning asked for an adjournment in order to change the prosecution strategy. The new prosecutor, Jumronsilp Wongintra, said that he believed that the prosecution witness called for this morning’s hearing should not be heard until all other witnesses have first testified. Judge Patchara Panichawara, allowing the postponement,…
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Students in protest over electric shock victims
PHUKET TOWN: About 50 students from Rajabhat Institute yesterday gathered outside the offices of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to present a petition to the authority following the hospitalisation of three fellow-students with the effects of electric shock. (See story below.) The protest group, led by Somkit Leunrung, was told by Seree Lakaphunt of the PEA that an investigation would…
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Cameras help police keep an eye on Patong
PHUKET: Police in Patong have moved into higher technology as a way of keeping an eye on Phuket’s prime tourist area. A new closed-circuit TV (CCTV) camera system went on-line yesterday morning, along with a new operations centre where cameras can be monitored. The Kathu Police Department is the first department in the southern region to use the technology, said…
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Three hospitalised after electric shocks
PHUKET TOWN: Three young women are in stable condition in Wachira Hospital after accidentally receiving electric shocks last weekend. The three, Supanee Homrotkra, 22, Sakaoduan Sokdej, 21, and Kanya Tongdee, 21, all students at Rajabhat Institute, received electric shocks while visiting a friend in her apartment at the PT apartment complex on Trepkrastree Road. The three were on a balcony,…
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Dead man identified
PHUKET: Police have identified the body of a man found floating on Tritrang Beach last Monday. He was named as Chalermpon Janyaporn, 37, who slipped on the rocks and disappeared while on a fishing trip with three friends last weekend. The body was sent to Patong Hospital for autopsy.
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Patong car bomb puts three in hospital
PATONG: A gold shop owner, his wife and an employee were hurt yesterday afternoon when a home-made car bomb exploded after they got into their vehicle. The bomb exploded after Somkiet Sopark, 32, his wife Hongsuda, 43, and employee Sirinapa Kaopho-ngam got into the car outside the Soparks’ gold shop and residence at 18 Sirirat Road, Patong. The bomb, which…
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Policeman dies in high-speed motorbike chase
KATHU: One policeman died and another was injured last week when their motorbike crashed as they chased a gold robber. Kathu Pol Capt Kittipong Klinekaew said his station received a call that a man had grabbed a gold necklace from a woman’s neck at Phuket Highland Ville on the Samkong-Kathu Road. As the robber drove his motorcycle towards Patong, Policeman…
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Penguins storm to 51-0 victory in Phuket Rugby 7s
PHUKET TOWN: Like one of the tropical squalls that swept the Saphan Hin field from time to time during the second and last day of the Singha Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament, the Penguins RFC side – representing England – swept all before them, burying Germany under wave after wave of attacks to rack up a final score of 51-0.…
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