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Drug dealers ride rails for sales
BANGKOK (AFP): Drug dealers are using Bangkok’s new mass-transit Skytrain system to target new clients and expand their markets, reports said this morning. Students are complaining that well-dressed amphetamine dealers are approaching them on the Bangkok Transit System (BTS) and offering them drugs, The Nation said, quoting the deputy director of Bangkok’s Transport Office. To combat the natty peddlers, the…
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THAI boosts flights for Songkran
PHUKET: Thai Airways International announced yesterday that it will increase flights between Phuket and Bangkok during the Songkran festival next month. “The demand for Phuket during the festival this year has been stronger than last year because Songkran coincides with a weekend,” explained Pricha Nawong, district sales manager for Upper Southern Thailand. “So we have decided to add seven more…
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Road deaths slightly lower, but injuries rise
PHUKET: Thirty-four people died in road accidents in Phuket between January 1 and February 20, according to official statistics, a slight improvement on the same period last year when 39 died. According to statistics from the province’s three government hospitals, 2,050 people were injured in traffic accidents in the same period this year, an 11% rise on the 1,841 injured…
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Seven arrested on drug charges
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested six men for possession of ya bah (methamphetamine) and one for possession of marijuana. The six, named as Prasert Tongruang, 23, Taewa Sansook, 21, Montri Pongkan, 22, Prasert Boopphakarn, 19, Nareth Kongkaew, 22, and Jaroong Pimkij, 26, were arrested in a police raid on a home in Moo 1, Tambon Karon, just after dawn. Pol Lt…
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Illegals top arrest statistics
PHUKET: Illegal immigrants topped the list of arrests in Phuket between March 1 and 25, according to statistics released today by the Phuket Provincial Police. Of 675 people arrested, 247 were illegal immigrants. This was followed by gambling, with 189 people arrested in the course of 85 raids. Drug-related cases came in a close third with 155 arrests. Thirty-seven of…
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Police rethink death of Burmese woman
THALANG: Police are looking more closely into the death of a young Burmese woman found buried in a shallow grave in a rubber plantation near Baan Manik Mountain in Tambon Srisoonthorn two days ago. The woman was originally reported to have died of malaria and to have been buried secretly by her family. But Pol Col Prapakorn Saksupa, Superintendent of…
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Sanan resigns over corruption probe
BANGKOK (AFP): Sanan Kachornprasart, Thailand’s powerful Interior Minister, resigned today as a political storm raged around the government after a corruption probe found Sanan guilty of filing a false financial declaration. “I quit from my two political positions and as an MP,” Sanan, the Democrat Party’s political kingmaker, told reporters outside his house before leaving for a press conference at…
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Thai government in crisis after corruption accusation
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s government was rocked by scandal today after an investigation found Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart guilty of filing a false statement of his assets. The National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) ruled that Sanan had submitted a false declaration outlining a 45-million-baht (1.2-million-dollar) loan which he said he had obtained from a trading company. The NCCC says that no…
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10 Laotian women arrested
CHALONG: Ten young Laotian women were arrested at around 1 pm today in Chalong. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of Chalong Police Station said police officers spotted the women walking along Chao Fa Nork Rd, near Chalong Circle. They looked “lost and suspicious”, said Lt Teerawat, so the officers stopped them and asked for their ID Cards. They had none. “Certainly…
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Tong Tin Kao Nah in landslide election win
KARON: The Tong Tin Kao Nah Party has won a landslide victory in the Karon Municipal Council elections, which took place on Saturday, winning all of the council’s 12 seats. Two thirds of the municipality’s 3,745 registered voters cast ballots. Tawee Thongchaem, the party’s leader, gathered the highest number of votes, 1,789, setting the stage for him to be selected…
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Nordstrand takes victory in first of Platu series
PHUKET: Strong winds and two firsts and two seconds gave Muzza Nordstrand and his crew victory yesterday in the first of this year’s Platu 2000 race series. The crew started by losing the first two races to David Bailey’s boat. In the third race, neither crew did well, with Bailey coming third and Nordstrand dropping to fourth. But strong winds…
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Tourist Police save American’s holiday
PATONG: American tourist Stanley Olchowski’s holiday in Phuket nearly came to an abrupt end when he left his waist pouch on the 5:30 pm bus from Patong to Phuket Town on Thursday. In the pouch were US$2,700 (about 100,000 baht), 11,480 baht and his passport. Mr Olchowski, 48, promptly contacted the Tourist Police. Pol Cpl Surin Pitpan was dispatched to…
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Inquiry into Patong beatings launched
KATHU: Siripong Sripayang, deputy district officer of Kathu District, is to head an investigation into the beatings of five staff of the Tara Patong Hotel on March 13, allegedly by undercover police from Kathu Police Station, the Gazette learned today In the meantime, the accused officers will remain on duty, said Pol Lt Col Jarus Jetsadawan, Deputy Superintendent of Kathu…
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Phuket launches drive for Thai tourists
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) in coordination with the local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Phuket FantaSea will launch a campaign to draw more Thai tourists to Phuket in the coming low season. Pamuke Achariyachai, president of the PTA, said the aim of the campaign is to improve the domestic market for Phuket and to…
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Grisly find on Karon Beach
KARON: Tourists on Karon Beach were horrified last Thursday to see a half-eaten corpse wash up on the sand. The body, that of a man, was unidentifiable as much of the flesh had been eaten away by fish. The hands and feet were missing entirely. The corpse was wearing only a swimsuit. Pol Maj Thaneth Poungmanee of Chalong Police Station…
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Governor irked by scofflaws, flexed muscles
PHUKET TOWN: About 60 people from the Phuket Construction Association staged a protest yesterday afternoon outside Phuket Provincial Hall in an effort to pressure Governor Charnchai Soontharamut to extend the deadline for registration of foreign workers. Soothichai Pinkate, president of the association, first lodged a complaint that when the police went to construction workers’ camps in Patong on March 17,…
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Dive shops form association
KATA: A Dive Operators Club is to be formed to represent the industry in Phuket. This decision follows a meeting of dive shops last night at Kata Beach Resort, which was attended by about 45 people from 27 of the island’s 80-odd dive companies. The decision to form the club follows consternation among the dive operators over a drive by…
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Silkair joins Shopper Card program
PHUKET TOWN: Samuel Lim, Silkair’s manager for Phuket, announced this afternoon that his airline will grant a five percent discount to local Phuket residents who are bona fide holders of the Gazette Shopper Card. The discount will apply to flights originating in Phuket only, and tickets must be purchased at the Silkair office in Phuket Town. The Shopper Card must…
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Vote cheaters may face uphill battle
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai election monitors have sent a simple message by disqualifying 78 victors in the Senate elections on grounds of vote fraud — cheats will no longer be tolerated, analysts said Tuesday. The decision to annul more than a third of the results from the March 4 polls serves notice that the Election Commission will carefully apply a new…
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Phuket says “no’ to jet-ski races
PHUKET: Phuket has declined a request to host a major jet-ski event, known, somewhat dauntingly, as the “Thai Airways International-Jet Sports King’s Cup Thailand Open 2000”. The Jet Sports Boating Association of Thailand had requested that Phuket – specifically Patong – host the competition, featuring participants from 18 countries. But at a meeting on Friday between Provincial Governor Charnchai Soontharamuth,…
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Ya Bah dealer arrested near Sarasin Bridge
TA CHAT CHAI: A street food vendor was arrested yesterday morning for selling ya bah right under the noses of officers at Ta Chat Chai Police Station, just south of the Sarasin Bridge. According to Pol Lt Col Sakchai Limsawas of the police station, officers first received information that people living in the house at 1/2 Thepkasattri Rd – only…
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Chaos after jail break, riot at juvenile prison
BANGKOK (AFP): More than 1,000 youths smashed through the walls of a juvenile prison today and fought a pitched battle with police in eastern Bangkok, causing chaos throughout the neighborhood. The trouble erupted when wardens announced security crackdowns after about 30 prisoners escaped by scaling the walls. About 1,300 youths went on the rampage following the announcement, smashing through the…
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Senator seeks halt to dive shop arrests
PHUKET: According to several local dive shops, at least three tourists have suffered a somewhat ‘amazing’ experience over the past two weeks when tourist police accused them of being illegal divemasters, instructors, or guides. Two of them were Japanese unable to speak English. They were arrested and had to be bailed out, for 100,000 baht each, by the dive shop…
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Yacht owners may face tax evasion charges
PHUKET: The owners of three or more of the 11 yachts which were ‘arrested’ in Phuket last month may face tax evasion charges, said Yuttana Yimgarund, a chief inspector from the Thai Customs Department in Bangkok. He declined to divulge the names of the yachts or their owners. “We will have to wait for the owners to send us the…
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Patong facing water rationing for monsoon season
PATONG: The Phuket Water Works is warning Patong residents that between now and October there will be less tap water available than usual for this time of year. According to Praphop Thongmon, manager at the water works, this is not because Phuket is suffering a drought. It is simply because the supply of water to be shared by Patong, Kata,…
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Movie protest falls mostly on deaf ears
PHUKET TOWN: About 20 environmental protesters gathered to demonstrate against Phuket’s premier screening of ‘The Beach’ yesterday, claiming Maya Bay on Phi Phi Island was destroyed during the show’s filming. The protest lacked support, but drew curious onlookers and moviegoers as they entered the cinema despite pleas by the Phuket Environment Protection Group (PEPG) to boycott the film. Although Twentieth-Century…
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Hotel staff beaten up, hospitalized by undercover police
PATONG BEACH: Kathu Police Station is in the hot seat due to complaints of “unnecessary roughness” while five men were being arrested yesterday morning. The five are Piyapong Kwanmuang, 20, Sahakij Payakka, 19, Sarawuth Sang-ngern, 20, Wanchai Klingklao, 20, and Winai Sumpaothong, 19 — all employees of the Tara Patong Hotel. Areerat Choomchuay, deputy personnel manager of the hotel, told…
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Another student murdered in Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: Narongsak Korjanklang, 20, a student from Phuket Technical College, was gunned down on the street in the heart of Phuket Town at around midnight on Sunday (March 12). According to Orapin Tanrattanapitak, 19, who was Narongsak’s girlfriend, Narongsak was riding his motorcycle while she sat on the back. About 20 of their friends were riding alongside them on…
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Crew of hijacked tanker found
PHUKET: The crew of the hijacked Japanese tanker, the Global Mars, were found on an island off the coast of Phanga Nga Province on Friday after a 17-day ordeal at sea. The vessel, with 17 crew members – seven Koreans and 10 Burmese – left Port Klang in Malaysia on February 22, bound for the Indian port of Haldia with…
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Truck smashes into 12 vehicles
PATONG: A 10-wheel truck carrying a full load of rocks and soil went out of control coming down the hill into Patong from Kathu yesterday, smashing into 12 vehicles, including a hotel staff bus, and then ramming a roadside garage. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured, though 15 people in the hotel bus had to be treated for cuts and…
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