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2.9 billion baht requested for waste management
PHUKET (Gazette, The Nation): Phuket has requested a 2.9 billion baht budget from the central government to fund a four-year plan to manage waste disposal and water treatment on the island. The request includes an allocation of 1.3 billion baht to build a second incinerator.The plan was discussed at a workshop at the Phuket Merlin Hotel chaired by Vice-Governor Worapoj…
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Gulu’s goal: to bring mega-yachts to Phuket
KOH KAEW: Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) developer Gulu Lalvani yesterday held a press conference to outline his vision to develop Phuket as the world’s top yachting destination – including his plan to build Zoran Island, a new island off the coast to site a deluxe marina complex capable of berthing mega-yachts.“I am very pleased that at the beginning of this…
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Nation seminar sold out
PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s economic strengths and weaknesses were under the microscopes of prominent local and national leaders during “The Drivers of the Economy in Phuket” seminar at The Metropole hotel yesterday.The sold-out event, part of a number of activities to mark the Nation Group’s 36th anniversary, drew many notable speakers from government, industry and tourism sectors and focused on ways Phuket could…
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Thai Navy stages VIP rescue
CAPE PANWA: A “VIP” was rescued by officers from the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Command yesterday as part of an anti-terrorism drill held off Cape Panwa.About 50 officers from the Navy, Marine Police and Marine Transport Officers took part in the drill, which simulated the rescue of a Thai Government VIP from a terrorist boat in the sea off…
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Student rape report denied by police
RASSADA: An unknown intruder broke into a room in a women’s dormitory yesterday afternoon and assaulted a 16-year-old student, but police are denying reports in the local Thai-language media that the girl was raped.Duty Officer Capt Attapol Wannasaengthong of the Phuket City Police responded to the report of the attack, which took place at about 5:15 pm at a women’s…
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Phuket’s klong to be cleaned Saturday
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Municipality is organizing a “Clean Up Klong Bang Yai” day on Saturday, May 26, as part of its activities to mark World Environment Day on June 5.The cleanup will take place along a two-mile stretch of Klong Bang Yai, Phuket’s longest watercourse, from the Thipkiri Bridge to the Phra-Aram Bridge in Phuket City. Volunteers are invited…
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Warrant served on thumb-chopping insurance fraud suspect
KATHU: Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police yesterday served a search warrant at the home of alleged insurance fraudster Pichet Porntatipong, who insurers claim chopped off his own left thumb with a butcher’s knife in order to collect 16 million baht in claims on some 30 different insurance polices. Lt Col Akkarat Limsangkard, Deputy Commander of CSD Sub-Division 5, called K.…
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Local moneylender found murdered in his home
TUNG TONG: Police are investigating the brutal stabbing murder of an elderly businessman discovered in his Bangtong Village home in the early evening of May 22.Tung Tong Police Investigating Inspector Pol Lt Col Passakorn Sontikul told the Gazette the bloody corpse of 62-year-old Kajorn “Ko Jorn” Somnam was discovered by his longtime live-in partner Wassana Chookaew, 51, at about 7…
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Press conference to clarify “Zoran Island” plan
PHUKET: Following reports that a man-made island was ready to be built off the east coast of Phuket to accommodate a marina for mega-yachts, the marketing manager at Royal Phuket Marina [RPM] clarified that the project is still in the early planning stages and faces many obstacles before it can become a reality. RPM Marketing Director Wilaiporn Titimanaaree told the Gazette that developer…
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Phuket economy, lifestyle under scrutiny
PHUKET: With tourism resilient and the local property and investment markets sullied by strong central government resistance to globalism, business people in Phuket find themselves at a crossroads. They wonder if the legendary Thai welcome accorded overseas tourists can continue to work its magic amid the walls against foreign land ownership. Will the walls fall? Or will they, along with…
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Phuket and Japan’s Hyoko to be “sistered” soon
PHUKET: Plans are afoot to add the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo to Phuket’s growing list of sister cities.On May 21, Phuket Japanese Association President Kazushi Miyashita met with Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit and Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Southern Region 4 office to discuss the idea.Mr Miyashita told reporters he has already met the Vice Governor…
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One teen dead after night of violence
PHUKET CITY: One teenager was left dead on May 20 after a night of gang threats and retaliations ended in a fatal shooting. The 17-year-old victim, Kanchit “Phai” Trupsin, was found at 3 am outside Muslim Puenrak restaurant on Anuphas Phuket Kan Rd. According to testimony given to police, the incident began when a passenger riding pillion on a motorbike…
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Night of drug checks turns up only one positive
PHUKET CITY: A urine check of 155 customers at seven nightspots in Phuket City on the night of May 17 turned up only one possible case of drug use, police reported.Phuket City Administrative Officer Adul Chuthong, along with Phuket Provincial Health Officer Anuntaporn Pattanapan, Phuket City Police Pol Capt Sombat Thanawut and about 10 volunteers conducted the unannounced checks, which…
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Man denies chopping off thumb to grab insurance
PHUKET (Gazette, The Nation): Kathu apartment owner Pichet Porntantipong, who stands accused of chopping off his thumb to collect 16 million baht in insurance, on May 21 insisted he suffered a mishap in the kitchen and welcomed a police investigation.“I’ve got nothing to hide…I’m ready for the police to investigate the facts,” he said.He declined, however, to go into the…
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Film fest coming to Jungceylon
PATONG: The first-ever Phuket Film Festival will be held from September 30 to October 6 to mark the opening of the SF Cinema, due to open soon at Jungceylon Shopping Center in Patong. The state-run Andaman News service this morning reported the Tourism Authority of Thailand as saying it hopes the festival will become an annual event.The film festival will…
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High tides slam Phuket’s northern beaches
PHUKET: Following Wednesday’s earthquake felt across much of the country, unusually high tides yesterday created fear of another tsunami among some residents of west coast beaches. Authorities said the waves, which damaged a number of seaside restaurants in Thalang District, were unrelated to seismic activity and were just the result of normal tidal conditions and strong monsoon winds.The waves damaged…
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Princess to visit Jungceylon tribute to HM the King
PHUKET: HRH Princess Soamsavali will preside over a tribute to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday, to be held at the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong on May 19.The event, to begin at 7 pm, will include a multimedia show entitled “The Art Inspiration from the King” featuring images projected on the water curtain in Jungceylon’s fountain. Princess Soamsavali will…
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OrBorJor launches low season lifeguard training
PHUKET: Phuket’s hazardous low-season beaches will be guarded by 100 lifeguards who are being trained at Phuket Community College this week.The lifeguards are being trained as part of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) lifeguard project. The training program was developed with the help of the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Command.The project aims to reduce the number of drownings…
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Police urge gold shops to tighten security
PHUKET CITY: Phuket police have requested local gold shops tighten security and limit their trading hours to help police better patrol the shops. The call follows a reported spike in the number of gold shop robberies nationwide.Police met more than 50 local gold shop owners at Phuket City Police Station yesterday to discuss the request along with other possible ways…
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PM downgrades tourism projects in South
KRABI (The Nation): Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has downgraded some major tourism projects in the South, including the reopening of some small airports, and the construction of a convention center in Phuket. The announcement came at a meeting between PM Surayud and the governors of the six Andaman provinces held in Krabi yesterday.The premier is concentrating more on a tsunami-warning…
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Job fair offers more than 1,000 positions
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) will hold its annual job fair at Phuket Merlin Hotel on Thursday and Friday from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. PPEO Chief Nataya Anudit said that the PPEO has more than 1,000 vacancies waiting to be filled, ranging from rubber tappers to higher-level hotel employees. “We have about 115 businesses looking for…
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Peruvian drug “mules’ busted at airport
PHUKET: Two Peruvians were arrested at Phuket International Airport on Tuesday while attempting to smuggle 1.6 kilograms of internally concealed cocaine into the country. Police said that the drugs had a street value of about 4 million baht. Phuket Airport Immigration Office Superintendent Pol Col Surasak Atthapanyawanich told the Gazette that the arrests followed a tip off from Phuket-based Narcotics Suppression…
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Gazette appoints new Managing Director
PHUKET: Oranee ‘Ann’ Pienprasertkul has been elected Managing Director of the Phuket Gazette Co Ltd, with responsibility for all operating divisions and products of the company.Now in her eighth year with the Gazette, K. Oranee joined as an advertising sales person. She became marketing manager in 2002 and was appointed General Manager in 2005.The Bangkok native is a graduate of…
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Czech Republic names Honorary Consul for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Anurak Tansiriroj, Managing Director of Phuket International Hospital, has been appointed Honorary Consul for Phuket for the Czech Republic.K. Anurak today met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit and invited him to the official opening of the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Phuket, to be opened by the Czech Ambassador to Thailand Ivan Hotek at The Metropole hotel…
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Gambling tops crimes stats again
PHUKET: Gambling remains the most commonly caught crime on the island with 239 arrests made from April 1 to April 30, according to statistics released by Phuket Provincial Police.Prostitution climbed into number two position, with 92 arrests.There were 71 people arrested in drug-related cases, of which 33 were for ya bah (methamphetamine)-related charges – three for selling, 20 for possession…
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Diver airlifted from Similans after “fish’ attack
PHUKET: Russian tourist Rustem Teregulov, 39, was airlifted by Royal Thai Navy helicopter from the Similan Islands to Phuket yesterday after he was bitten by a fish – or possibly a moray eel – while diving in the world-renowned national park. Mr Teregulov today told the Gazette that he was diving off one of the smaller islands about 1:30 pm…
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Police bust Phuket ya bah connection
PHUKET: Police have arrested three men and three women, and confiscated 5,830 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills imported from Laos, in two separate but related raids.On Tuesday evening, police arrested Dej “Reem” Suebsod, 42, from Phuket, after he sold a bag containing about 30 ya bah pills to an undercover officer during a sting operation in front of Moo Baan Iravadee…
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Phuket Immigration nab wanted Korean
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Immigration Police yesterday arrested a Korean hiding in self-exile in Trang’s Kantang District. The man is accused of defrauding a construction company of US$343,000 (11.3 million baht) in his native South Korea.At Phuket Immigration Office yesterday afternoon, Acting Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau Pol Lt Gen Boonraung Ponpanich explained that Immigration officers had, via Interpol, received a…
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Thieving teens
PHUKET CITY: A gang of young thieves was collared by Phuket’s finest recently as they carried away vehicle parts from a city parking lot. While wayward teenagers pilfering spare parts from parking lots hardly constitutes news these days, in this case the choice of venue chosen by the young hoods was noteworthy: the vehicle impound lot of the Phuket City…
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Patong Hospital to become more autonomous
PATONG: Patong Hospital on October 2 will become a public organization, though wholly owned by the Ministry of Public Health, so that local community leaders can join the hospital’s board of administrators.A public seminar was held yesterday to inform staff and the public to the changes the hospital will face.Contrary to reports in the local media, the hospital will not…
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