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Boy drowns at Bang Wad
KATHU: A 12-year-old boy drowned in a canal near Bang Wad Dam after swimming there with five friends yesterday afternoon.Pol Sub Lt Pathaphi Srichai of Tung Tong Police Station told the Gazette, “Yesterday afternoon Songwut Chanmee and five friends went to swim in the klong, which is five meters deep.”Sub Lt Pathaphi explained that after swimming, Songwut’s friends went home,…
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2 die in Kusoldham high-speed smash
RASSADA: Two people died and five were injured when a Kusoldharm Volunteer Rescue Foundation truck rushing four accident victims to hospital collided with a Toyota sedan at high speed. The accident occured at the Tesco-Lotus intersection on Sunday morning.Phuket City Police Inspector for Investigations, Lt Col Adul Nirapai, identified the two dead as Kusoldharm volunteer Apirak Suemuang, 24, and Namfon Niewnaen,19.Namfon was one…
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Teen killed by friend in “mistake’ shooting
PHUKET CITY: Police have charged a 20-year-old man for the murder of his friend after he allegedly shot his friend in the back – accidentally – while the pair were riding through Saphan Hin on a motorbike early Thursday morning.Phuket City Police Inspector for Investigation Lt Col Somkid Boonrat told the Gazette that the shooting took place near a stoplight near the Provincial…
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Phuket beaches closed due to bad weather
PHUKET (Gazette, The Nation): Winds gusting up to 35 kilometers an hour and waves of up to two meters in height crashing along Phuket’s west coast forced lifeguards to close nearly all of Phuket’s main beaches today.Siripong Yukhonthorn, Deputy President of the Andaman Life Saving Club and a senior figure in the provincial government’s Life Guard project, told the Gazette,…
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Local venues make Conde Nast “hot list’
PHUKET: Three local hotels and two spas have been listed on Conde Nast Traveler’s 2007 “Hot List”. The list is compiled by the prestigious international travel magazine to give “an inside look at the latest scene stealing hotels, restaurants, bars and spas”.The spa hot list, rated by undercover reporters, listed Lemongrass House in Cherng Talay as “laid back and funky”,…
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PIMEX 2007 relocates to Royal Phuket Marina
PHUKET: For the first time in its five-year history, the Phuket International Boat Show this year will be held at the Royal Phuket Marina, December 6 to 9. Gulu Lalvani, developer of Royal Phuket Marina, said he was delighted with the news and welcomed PIMEX as part of his dream to cement the position of Phuket as the first destination…
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Khun Woody salutes Patong’s finest
PATONG: Police early yesterday morning arrested a burglar minutes after computer guru and Gazette columnist Woody Leonhard had chased the robber out of his home with a butcher’s knife.K. Woody told the Gazette, “The burglar first tried to come into my townhouse through the sliding glass door in the top floor bedroom. Apparently he saw my 82-year-old father sleeping, so…
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Storm warning issued
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department this morning issued a regional weather warning for Southern Thailand after tracking a tropical depression that has been causing unusually rainy conditions in the region over the past few days. At 10 am this morning the depression was centered about 300 kilometers west of Chumphon. The system, with maximum wind gusts of about 55kmh, was…
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Fifth time unlucky for furniture thief
CHALONG: A man was placed under citizens arrest by the owner of a furniture shop after he was caught stealing three large wooden clocks at 3:45 am on April 25. It was the fifth time within a month that the man had broken into Watthana Wood Furniture on Chao Fa East Rd.Lt Col Chokchai Sutthimek, an Inspector at Chalong Police…
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Phuket brings home boating awards
BANGKOK: Phuket has been named Asia’s Maritime Capital at the prestigious Christofle Asia Boating Awards at the Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok by popular vote among the 20 judges, who rewarded Phuket for its “first-class boating facilities, which include modern marinas, state-of-the-art boatyards and prime chartering”.The annual King’s Cup sailing regatta won Yachting Event of the Year while Phuket-based Asia Marine…
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From nuptials to nightmare
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A wedding celebration turned to hasty funeral preparations when a respected guest accidentally shot himself in the head while trying to fire a shot into the air to welcome the groom’s procession to the bride’s home. Pol Lt Col Worote Sukger, Deputy Superintendent for Investigations of the Pakpanang District Police, received a report of the incident at…
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Chancy chat at chick shop
TRANG: An employee at the Trang branch of Tesco Lotus had a lucky escape April 19 when an angry KFC worker attempted to shoot him at point blank range with a shotgun. The cartridge, however, misfired. About 10 am, Sombun Sikhajan, 31, was working in the tape section as usual when Phichet Kanmak, 33, who worked at the store’s branch…
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Public Prosecutor defers Valentino land charges
BANGKOK (Kom Chad Luek, The Nation): Prosecutors in the land encroachment case against Malaysian Tan Teik Hai, better known as “Valentino”, and his associates have delayed bringing the trial to court as they are still waiting for the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) to submit more evidence.The first Public Prosecutor’s hearing of the case was held yesterday morning at the…
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Phuket Immigration clarifies 90-day rule change
PHUKET CITY: Following a spate of complaints from confused foreigners entering Thailand on “visa exemptions”, Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen of the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office has made a statement to clarify the 90-day rule and how it was changed, effective April 1.Visa exemptions, commonly referred to as “visas on arrival”, allow tourists from certain countries who arrive at the border…
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Officials call for post-tremor calm
PHUKET: The Phuket Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) has asked people in beach areas to remain calm after tremors were felt in Patong and Kamala this afternoon.The call for calm followed reports of an earthquake in Indonesia, at 3:02 pm, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale ODPM officer Damri Sungsap told the Gazette, “The earthquake was centered at the north…
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Island’s official population up by 2,262
PHUKET: Between March 21 and April 20, Phuket’s three District Offices registered 2,262 new residents, bringing Phuket’s official population to 315,557.Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase to Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit during the monthly meeting of the Phuket Provincial Security Committee yesterday.There were 1,881 new registrations during the previous reporting period, from February 21 to March…
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Drunk falls down well, drowns
CHALONG: Police are treating the death of a Chalong man whose body was recovered from a well in the Soi Palai area Monday afternoon as an accident.Pol Lt Col Sanguan Muangtham of the Chalong Police told the Gazette that the victim was probably drunk, fell down the well and drowned.“This is not a big case, just a guy getting drunk…
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Woman killed in water truck crash
CHALONG-KATA: A woman on her way to work at a hotel in Kata was killed this afternoon when she was struck by a water truck that crashed into a pickup truck and her motorcycle before plunging down a steep embankment on the hill between Chalong and Kata.Pol Lt Col Peeraphan Meemak, an Inspector with the Chalong Police, identified the dead…
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Immigration Chief denies offering private security service
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) Superintendent Pol Col Ittipon Atchariyapradit has dismissed claims that the PPIO will launch a private security service, contrary to claims being made in an advertising flier currently being circulated on the island.The flier claims that, “A special task force will work together with an approved Security Company in order to provide and equip…
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Engine fire sinks Phi Phi ferry
PHI PHI ISLANDS: More than 100 tourists were safely rescued by the Krabi Marine Police today after a fire broke out on the ferry they were taking from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi Don.Phuket Marine Police Officer Lt Col Prathueng Srilamontree identified the vessel as Jet Wave 3, which departed from Rassada Harbor in Phuket this morning bound for Koh…
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Nok Air, One-Two-Go to launch Phuket-Haad Yai flights
PHUKET: After almost two years with no flights connecting Southern Thailand’s two busiest airports, lost-cost carriers Nok Air and One-Two-Go will launch regular services between Phuket International Airport and Haad Yai International Airport.From May 15, Nok Air flights using 150-seat Boeing 737-400s will depart Phuket daily at 2:05 pm and reach Haad Yai at 2:45 pm. The return leg will…
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Wolves win Phuket Sixes title
KARON (The Nation): Two teams from Perth fought out a dramatic final at the Phuket International Cricket Sixes on Sunday, with the Joondalup Kinross Wolves pipping the Leeming Spartans with a mighty 6 off the last ball to claim the Sixes title.Following heavy overnight rain, which washed out the second half of the charity Twenty20 match on Saturday night, hot…
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NESDB meets Governor over development issues
PHUKET CITY: A representative from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit today to discuss a wide range of development issues facing the island.Thanin Pa-Em, Director of Competitive Development Office of the NESDB, explained that he was in Phuket to review and follow up on projects supporting development of the island, such as projects…
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Lamma CC hot at Cricket Sixes scorcher
KARON: Lamma CC from Hong Kong are hot favorites to win the Montpelier Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2007 after beating 2005 champions and pre-tournament favorites Corner Tigers from Pakistan in the first day of play yesterday at the recently returfed Karon Stadium.Round 2 of the tourney was played today under a scorching Phuket sun, with both Lamma CC and Corner…
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Gazette takes flight on Dragonair
PHUKET: From next Friday, April 27, the Phuket Gazette will be on board all inbound Dragonair flights from Hong Kong. Dragonair relaunched its direct daily Hong Kong-Phuket service in December, with CEO Kenny Tang saying, “We are excited about returning to Phuket, a destination that we first flew to in December 1986. We are confident that the route will be…
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Knife-wielding taxi driver defends his Jatukam
PHUKET CITY: Realizing that he had lost one of his precious Jatukam images, a motorbike taxi driver went on a rampage Monday, vandalizing a car and threatening residents of a government housing estate with a large knife.Pol Capt Nikorn Chuthong of Phuket City Police Station identified the man as Aphinan Chanthana, 41.“He went crazy after leaving one of his five…
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One-way surveys yield contradicting results
PATONG: The results from two public opinion surveys of Patong’s one-way traffic system are in – one says the public is in favor of keeping the system, the other says it is not.Prince of Songkla University, Phuket campus, surveyed 759 people in Patong, with 60% saying that are satisfied with the one-way system, but 40% saying they are not happy…
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Five die in one-car accident
PHUKET CITY: Five Thai tourists from Krabi died after the pickup they were traveling in slammed into a power pole near Super Cheap on Thepkrasattri Rd early yesterday morning.The tourists were driving back to Krabi about 5 am when the driver lost control of the car, which careered off the road and into a power pole in front of Sor…
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B50.6m Mining Museum built, to open in December
KATHU: Work is complete on the 50.6-million-baht Kathu Mining Museum building, which is expected to open to the public by December.Project consultant and a well-known local historian Sommai Pinphutthasilp told the Gazette that construction of the museum building, located on the Kathu-Koh Kaew Rd, began in September 2005.Work was completed about six months after the original target date of October…
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A professional disagreement
PETCHABUN: In any profession, accepting the rise of a younger generation can be difficult; no one likes to see their skills being surpassed by up-and-coming youngsters. Going by a recent incident in Phetchabun, the world of hired killers is no different, apart, perhaps, from being a bit more dangerous. In the early hours of April 14 Maj Kittiphong Phromsuwan, an…
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