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Phuket locals win regional Isuzu rally
KOH KEAW: Watcharin Areerob and his team, all from Phuket, won the southern qualifier for the Isuzu Di 4×4 National Championship Rally on Saturday in a 2.8-liter Isuzu Rodeo with a total time over the six stages of 10 minutes 28 seconds. Rodeo 4WDs dominated the rally, finishing in four of the top five places. The exception was Amnuoy Somjai’s…
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Police release photo of drowning victim
KATHU: Police have released a photograph of the foreigner who drowned off Patong Beach on August 31 in the hope that someone may recognize the unidentified man. The victim, who was wearing a black swimming costume, was about 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall and was in his mid- to late 30s. He had short hair with patches of gray. He…
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Another Thai minister rebukes foreign press
BANGKOK (AFP): Interior Minister Purachai Piemsombun has lashed out at the foreign media for its criticism of his “social evils” campaign which, he claims, is aimed at ridding Thailand of drugs and underage drinking. Purachai attacked a report in Time magazine that he thinks suggests that his crusade to shut down nightclubs, bars and karaoke joints by 2:00am is merely…
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Phuket’s dog problem could be worse
LONDON: A drunk who claimed he had been raped by a dog was yesterday [4 Sept 01] jailed for 12 months. Martin Hoyle, 45, was arrested by police after a passing motorist and his girlfriend found a Staffordshire bull terrier, called Badger, shagging him at the side of a road in Highgate, North London. Prosecutor Ben Crosland said the couple…
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Motorbike injuries soar in 2001
PHUKET: The number of people injured in traffic accidents involving motorcycles has jumped this year, with 6,589 hurt between January 1 and July 20, compared with 6,068 in the same period of last year and 5,691 in 1999. Eighteen people died in traffic accidents between June 20 and July 20, according to statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government…
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Sex show gets Flash bar closed again
PATONG: Phuket Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi has ordered the closure of the Flash A-Go-Go bar in Soi Bangla for a month after it was caught staging lewd shows a second time. At the beginning of last month Gov Pongpayome ordered Flash to close for 15 days for staging such entertainment. He told the Gazette today, “After they had been open again…
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New drive to register foreign labor
PHUKET: Kopit Temsongsai, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO), yesterday announced that the ESO has begun a drive to register all Burmese, Laotians and Cambodians working in Phuket. The drive is part of a national campaign, launched last Tuesday at a ministerial-level meeting in Bangkok, to verify that people of these nationalities are working legally in Thailand.…
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What’s gone wrong at the Gazette Online?
PHUKET: Our most profound apologies to our more than 7,000 Gazetteers, as well as all others who have attempted to use the Gazette website over the past eight days. The problems are not in any way related to the re-engineering of our site, or the launch of the makeover which, unfortunately, occurred just a few days before the site entered…
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Sharp rise in drug arrests
PHUKET: The latest crime figures released by police here show that they made 128 drug raids and 150 drug-related arrests between August 1 and August 25. This is nearly double the number of arrests for drug offences during the same period in July. Slightly more than half of the drug arrests involved ya bah (methamphetamines), including the bust of a…
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Police appeal for donations
PATONG: Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, superintendent of Kathu Police, today appealed for donations from the public to modernize Kamala Police Station. “The building is 50 years old and has never been renovated. There is only one computer, which is old and slow,” Col Chalit said. He explained that 400,000 baht is needed for the modernization, which includes the construction of…
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Airport passenger throughput still rising
PHUKET: While islanders enjoy the relative peace of the low season, figures just released by airport officials show that the number of passengers arriving or departing through Phuket International Airport is still rising. The statistics show that passenger throughput last month rose by 5.15% to 281,205, compared with 267,436 during July last year. The number of international passengers rose by…
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Pamuke elected Chamber leader, again
PHUKET: Pamuke Achariyachai yesterday resigned as Chairman of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, but within minutes was re-elected to the post. K. Pamuke was originally elected Chairman on July 24 by a rump committee of just nine members, after the other 12 on the 21-man committee were found to be ineligible to serve because of membership irregularities. Of the nine…
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Unidentified foreigner drowns at Patong
PATONG: Police have appealed for help in identifying a Caucasian man who drowned yesterday off Patong beach near the Phuket Cabana Resort. Pol Lt Col Sanguan Muangtham of Kathu Police station told the Gazette that he received the initial report about the drowning at 3:10 pm yesterday. Beach guard Jaroon Tohtat had attempted to help the man, Col Sanguan said,…
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Seized yachts fail to sell at auction
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Customs Region 5 office is holding on to the motor yacht “Old Crow” and the sailing yacht “Bin Cha Cha”, after failing to sell either of them at its auction today. At the Customs office on Phuket Rd, only two would-be buyers submitted bids for “Old Crow”, while no bids were made for “Bin Cha Cha”.…
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Tourists assaulted, raped on Koh Samui
BANGKOK (AFP): Two female tourists from Britain and Ireland were sexually assaulted on the island resort of Koh Samui, police said yesterday. Deputy Police Chief Sant Sarutanond said a search had been mounted for two Thai men suspected of raping the British national and sexually abusing the Irish tourist over the weekend. Sant said he had asked local police to…
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Tourists raped, assaulted on Koh Samui
BANGKOK (AFP): Two female tourists from Britain and Ireland were sexually assaulted on the island resort of Koh Samui, police said yesterday. Deputy Police Chief Sant Sarutanond said a search had been mounted for two Thai men suspected of raping the British national and sexually abusing the Irish tourist over the weekend. Sant said he had asked local police to…
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Missing in action
PATONG: A sailor from the visiting Australian frigate HMAS Newcastle, feared to have drowned early yesterday in the surf off Patong, apparently had a miracle escape – he resurfaced later in the day, 15 kilometers inland, at a soccer match at Surakul Stadium. A full-scale search for the sailor, named by police as “James”, was sparked after his companion for…
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Missing boat passenger found drowned
LAEM PROMTHEP: Lifeguards from Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club yesterday found the body of missing 19-year-old Narthanong Kaewkanha floating off Koh Man, 300 meters from Laem Phromthep. K. Narthanong, a cleaner at Karon Municipality, went missing on Sunday evening after rough seas and strong winds sank the boat she was riding in. The body of the boat’s owner, Somsak…
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Sunset trip ends in tragedy
LAEM PROMTHEP: A man drowned and a young woman is still missing after a fishing boat sank 800 meters off Laem Phromthep around 7 pm yesterday. The body of the boat’s owner, Somsak Nakaew, 30, was discovered about 11 am today at Yanui beach. Narthanong Kaewkanha, 19, remains missing. She is believed to have drowned. Pol Lt Col Narong Nerdbuth,…
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Residents object to promotion of sex surgery
PHUKET (AFP): Residents of Phuket have reportedly objected to plans to promote bargain-priced sex-change surgery as a means of attracting more tourists to the island. The campaign risked harming the reputation of the southern resort, known for its white-sand beaches, reefs, nightlife and restaurants, they told the Thai-language daily ‘Khao Sod’. “I disagree with the idea of promoting tourism by…
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Prison appeals for donations
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Provincial Prison plans to set up a closed-circuit TV system between the prison and the Phuket Provincial Court Office – if the public will help to come up with the 120,000-baht estimated cost of the project. Phairoj Phankaew, Governor of the prison, told the Gazette that jails in other provinces such as Surat Thani, Chiang Mai already…
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Three arrested for bar owner’s murder
PHUKET TOWN: Thanks to a combination of sheer good luck and one officer’s good memory, police have arrested Taweewut Saeton, 31, and two minors aged 15 and 16 in connection with the rape and murder on Saturday of Pranorm Anuan, 24, the owner of the Shark Otto Bar in Soi Eric, Patong. Taweewut and one of the minors are from…
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Naughty cameras target women in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP): Police said today that they are investigating reports that hidden cameras have been placed in department store changing rooms to spy on women as they try on clothing and underwear. The Metropolitan Police have sent undercover women officers into the city’s stores to check for any suspicious equipment in the fitting rooms, said Pol Lt Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen.…
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Man with world’s longest hair dies
CHIANG MAI: A Thai hilltribesman who held the record for having the world’s longest hair has died of a stroke, leaving his elder brother to claim the title, police and local reports said Wednesday. Hmong tribesman Hoo Sateow, 77, whose lengthy locks were measured by Guinness World Records in 1997 at 5.15 meters, died in his village outside Chiang Mai…
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Hotels cough up 30% of rooms tax
PHUKET: Dr Prasit Koysiripong, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), told the Gazette yesterday that Phuket hotels are finally coming forward to pay the much-disputed hotel tax. “Hotels have been coming to the OrBorJor to pay the tax,” he said, adding that at least 10 hotels had come forward since last month and paid their dues, boosting the…
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One small step for a tunnel
PATONG: The planned Kathu-Patong tunnel has taken a small step closer to reality with the publication of an “inception report”, the first report on progress in the 3-million-baht pre-feasibility study for the project. The inception report was prepared jointly by Skanska Teknik Co Ltd of Sweden and Bangkok-based Water Development Consultants Co Ltd. The pre-feasibility study, which is scheduled for…
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Two seized yachts to be auctioned
PHUKET TOWN: Two boats, a classic Hatteras motor yacht and a small sailing yacht, are to be auctioned on August 29 at the Phuket Customs Region 5 offices on Phuket Rd. The boats were seized after their owners, both foreigners, failed to pay Thailand’s crushing 209% boat import taxes. The motor yacht, the ‘Old Crow’, which belonged to a Swiss…
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Thai police, FBI arrest “most-wanted” paedophile
BANGKOK (AFP): An American paedophile rated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as one of its 10 “most wanted” fugitives was arrested this morning in the Thai capital. Thai police working with FBI officers collared 48-year-old pianist Eric Franklin Rosser, who is charged with producing and possessing child pornography and exporting it to the United States. After his…
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Thailand teeters toward recession
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand could slide into technical recession if second-quarter growth results due next month fall into negative territory, dashing hopes for a recovery from the 1997 financial crisis, analysts say. Over the three months to March, Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.2 percent when compared to the previous quarter, although on a year-on-year basis it recorded a…
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B500m tourist center planned for Rawai
PHUKET: A Bangkok-based businessman plans to begin work next year on the construction of a 500-million-baht tourist complex that will provide visitors with “everything they need to know” about the island’s history, culture and environment. Ramese Kanjanapokin, Executive Vice President of architectural consultancy Design 103 International Ltd, told the Gazette that the planned complex will cover 10 rai behind the…
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