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Easy visas “are encouraging foreign criminals’
BANGKOK (AFP): The easing of visa restrictions as part of Thailand’s efforts to boost tourism has made the country an attractive base for international criminal gangs, officials said yesterday. Songkram Chuenpibal, deputy secretary of the National Security Council, said instituting a visa-on-arrival system for many countries allowed unwanted elements to filter through. “There are Mafia gangs, drugs-trafficking gangs and money-laundering…
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BBAP elects new committee
PHUKET TOWN: The British Business Association of Phuket (BBAP) held its first annual general meeting last night, at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. Members reelected Andy Dowden as chairman and Damian Barratt as treasurer. Paul Spring and William Pinsent were also reelected as committee members. Founder member and secretary Alan Cooke stepped down. On the recommendation of the outgoing committee,…
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Business registrations soared in 1999
PHUKET TOWN: Business confidence soared in Phuket last year, with the number of companies registering in the province leaping by more than 50% compared with 1998, and comfortably exceeding even the pre-Asian-Crisis levels of 1996. Figures compiled by the Phuket Commercial Registration Office show 505 limited companies were registered last year, compared with 332 in the previous year, 311 in…
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Woman gets eight years for ‘enslaving’ Thais
LOS ANGELES (AFP): A Thai was sentenced today to more than eight years in prison for illegally bringing three Thai women into the United States and forcing them to work in slave-like conditions. Supawan Veerapol, the 55-year-old common law wife of Thailand’s former ambassador to Sweden, used her diplomatic connections to bring the women into the country to work in…
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Finnish tourist arrested for overstaying visa
KARON: A 40-year-old Finnish tourist was arrested in Karon yesterday for overstaying his visa – by eight months. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of the Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the tourist, whom he named as Arto Mikel Kivela, arrived in Phuket from Finland on March 10 last year and stayed at the Sompit Bar in Karon Center. Having…
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1999 HIV infections likely to show increase
PHUKET: Based on preliminary figures for 1999, Phuket’s health chief believes the number of people diagnosed as HIV-positive will be significantly higher than the 283 diagnosed in 1998. If Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat’s preliminary figures are accurately reflected in the final statistics, the number of HIV infections per 100,000 people in Phuket at the end of 1999 will put the island…
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Thailand launches drive to discredit Hollywood film
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand has launched a worldwide campaign to discredit the Hollywood movie “Anna and the King”, which censors have banned as an insult to the monarchy and a distortion of history, weekend news reports said. The foreign ministry has issued guidelines to its embassies saying 20th Century Fox’s claim the film is based on historical events “was almost completely…
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Taxmen behind target for first two months
PHUKET: Two months into the tax year, the Phuket Provincial Revenue Office has reported that revenue collected is already behind budget, and down by 13% from the same period of the 1998/1999 tax year. Officials reported that tax collected had fallen from 350.3 million baht in October and November 1998 to 305.4 million baht in the same period of 1999.…
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Thai customs nab Japanese drug trafficker
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai Customs officers charged a Japanese woman with drug trafficking this afternoon after she was arrested just before boarding a Thai Airways flight to Osaka, officials said. Customs officers searched Tamaki Nagayama, 29, and found 1,300 amphetamine tablets strapped to her stomach. Nagayama confessed she was trafficking in drugs and helped by friends from Thailand and Myanmar, said…
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Cook delivers special surprise aboard dive boat
BURMA BANKS: A 28-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl at sea while on a seven-day live-aboard Millennium dive trip from Phuket to the Burma Banks. While guests aboard the boat, the Ugly Duck, were having dinner on the upper deck on the evening of January 2, Chamnan (“Nang”) Srinuan, a second cook working for High Class Adventure Phuket,…
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Occupancy rates improve dramatically
PHUKET: Occupancy rates at most of Phuket’s hotels are looking much better than two weeks ago. Almost all of the hotels contacted by the Gazette today report that cancellations have dwindled and bookings are picking up. Our table illustrates what has happened over the past two weeks. Generally, at this time of year, Phuket’s hotels budget for occupancies of 75-80%.…
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Police seize copies of banned Hollywood movie
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai undercover police arrested two men suspected of producing pirated copies of banned Hollywood movie “Anna and the King” which censors have ruled disrespectful to the monarchy, police said this morning. Rawiphat Sawatwattawong, and Phallop Yoosabai, both 24, were detained near Bangkok’s Pantip Plaza, a software and entertainment center, late yesterday. They were found in possession of 200…
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German tourist killed “by shark’
BANGKOK (AFP): A German tourist has died after apparently being bitten by a shark in the waters off Koh Pha Ngan, police said today. The man, identified by police as Stephan Olaf Kahl, 35, from Hamburg, bled to death from a 10-centimeter-long cut on his right arm and a 15-centimeter cut to his right calf. “He was pronounced dead before…
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Two found murdered near fishing port
PHUKET TOWN: Two men, thought to be fishermen, were found dead on Si Sena Rd near Phya Thai Hospital in Phuket Town, one on Tuesday and another yesterday. Pol Maj Vinai Kongkaew of the Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the first body was found at around 10 pm on Tuesday. The man is believed to have died…
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Phumisak Hongyok returns as mayor of Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Phumisak Hongyok was again selected mayor of Phuket Town by the city’s Municipal Council today at its first meeting since the December 25 council elections. Mayor Phumisak, and the three newly appointed vice-mayors, Aryoot Tarnsiriroj, Somjai Suwansupapana, and Jongrak Nareukatpichai, are all from the Young People’s Party, the party with the most seats on the Municipal Council. Khun…
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Gambling once again tops monthly crime list
PHUKET: Statistics released today by Phuket Provincial Police, covering crimes committed between December 1 and 25, showed that 144 people were arrested for gambling in the course of 116 raids. Drug possession was next on the list with 122 arrests. There were 46 arrests for robbery and theft. Prostitutes were arrested 31 times and 19 people were held for possessing…
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Night on town costs tourist 160,000 baht
PHUKET: A Swedish tourist says that spending New Year’s Eve with a prostitute cost him 160,000 baht. The victim, Sven Anders Fireballs (not his real name), 32, met a woman in a bar on Soi Bangla. After drinking and chatting, the two decided to go into Phuket Town where they checked into the 999 Motel on Kra Road for a…
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Controversy over suicide of Maikhao tambon boss
MAIKHAO: As reported earlier by the Phuket Gazette Online, the president of the Maikhao Tambon Administrative Council (OrBorTor), Boonchoo Rakrungsimansuk, 55, apparently took his life on December 17 by drinking a liter of pesticide. The police have confirmed that the death was a suicide and have declared the case “closed”. Dollar Loala, a member of OrBorTor Maikhao, disagrees and thinks…
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Bitterness expressed in bad taste
BANGKOK (AFP and the Phuket Gazette): Thailand’s opposition leader has given arch-rival Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai food for thought this New Year — seven boxes of iodised eggs, often used to ward off retardation in children. General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the eggs were “to nourish his brain and improve his intelligence,” according to local media reports today. “Eating the eggs…
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More accidents, fewer deaths on the island’s roads
PHUKET TOWN: The latest year-to-date figures, those to December 20, show that 172 people, 153 of them on motorcycles, have died on Phuket’s highways this year. Last year at this time, 186 people had died, 164 of them on motorcycles. But there is no basis for optimism in these figures. In November, traffic accidents increased by 14% from the same…
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Van Morrison band to perform in Phuket
PATONG: Van Morrison’s band, The Red Hot Pokers, and Stan Boardman, a famous British comedian, will appear at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub in Patong on Monday evening, January 3, 2000. The famous entertainers are coming to Phuket for a one night appearance after performing for a Royal audience at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok on New Year’s Eve. Stuart Montgomery,…
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Crackdown on illegal workers results in 375 arrests
PHUKET TOWN: A series of blockades and a sweep of construction sites in Phuket on December 19, 20, and 21 resulted in the arrest and deportation of 375 illegal Burmese immigrants. According to Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamat, the number of arrests and deporations could reach 600 by the end of the year. The arrests are part of a nationwide crackdown…
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Two boys arrested in murder of Australian tourist
PHUKET: Two boys suspected of murdering Cheree Joy Cobcroft, 24, an Australian tourist, on December 17 in Krabi were arrested on Christmas day at Rajabhat Phuket Institute. Pairoj Yoamyat, 19, and a boy of 15 were apprehended at 2 pm by police from Phuket Town and a special investigation team from Krabi. According to police, the two confessed to murdering…
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Arrests made in robbery and murder of Supercheap employee
PHUKET: Police in Saraburi Province arrested three of the four-man gang suspected of robbing and murdering Jennarong Utoksaenee, 65, a manager of Supercheap, a large “warehouse” style store in Phuket Town. Khun Jennarong was shot dead in his car at 3:00 pm on September 6 while on his way to deposit 1.7 million baht in receipts from Supercheap. According to…
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Young People’s Party dominates municipal elections
PHUKET: Results of the election for the Phuket Municipal Council have been released: the Young People’s Party won 13 seats, the Creative Party four seats, and the People’s Party one seat. Of the municipality’s 42,378 registered voters, only 53% voted in the election. Current Mayor Phumisak Hongyok is a member of the Young People’s Party so it appears likely that…
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Occupancies soft at Phuket hotels
PHUKET: As can be seen in the data above, compiled from hotels the Gazette was able to contact today, the occupancy situation in Phuket is not robust. Room cancellations are rising, continuing a trend that started early in November. All the hotels represented in our chart report that the usual occupancy rate for this time of year is 80% or…
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Weather has little impact on local business
PHUKET: Amorn Chantanavivate, Director of the South Western Regional Meteorological Center, reports that the cold and windy weather Phuket has experienced over the past few days will continue until January. He warns all boats to be careful and urges small craft to remain in port until the weather improves. Local marine operators expect the weather to have little impact on…
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Search underway for Algerian hotel thief
CHALONG: Phuket police are searching for an Algerian suspected of stealing money and other valuables from the rooms of tourists in small hotels and guest houses in Cherng Talay and Karon Beach. According to Pol Col Sathi Malakanont, superintendent of the Chalong Police Station, the man checks into an establishment, breaks into rooms, and then departs without checking out. The…
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Lumberyard burns on Kwang Rd
PHUKET TOWN: Chaijaras Kah Mai, a lumberyard on Kwang Rd, suffered damage estimated at 2 million baht when a fire swept through the premises at 1 am this morning. No deaths or injuries were reported. Strong winds and the highly combustible lumber forced firefighters to battle the blaze for almost two hours before putting it out. Pol Capt Surat Muangsri…
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Woman arrested for illegal possession of fish
RAWAI: A woman has been arrested for possessing tropical fish of a protected species. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan from Chalong Station told the Gazette that police and officers from the Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office raided a house at 5/3 Wiset Rd in Rawai last Friday evening. In the house they found about 40 fish of different protected species, 55 fish…
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