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It’s the end of June, and that means kids in Thailand are on a long summer holiday! If you’re looking for a fun yet educational activity for your kids to pass summer break, sending them to iCamp Thailand, the first...
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Thai Airways steps up security
PHUKET: Following the explosion aboard an aircraft that was due to carry Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced that all passengers boarding its flights, whether international or domestic, will need to show ground staff proof of identity with their boarding pass. The new policy, which became effective on April 1, recognizes government-issued documents, such as passports,…
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June launch for 30-baht medical treatment
PHUKET: The Thaksin government’s scheme to provide medical treatment for Thai citizens at 30 baht per hospital visit will become available in Phuket from June 1. Dr Jessada Chaikunwat, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PHO), explained that dates will soon be announced on which Thais who wish to join the scheme may go either to the PHO…
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Two more found dead in fishing port
PHUKET TOWN: Two more bodies were found on Sunday in the area of the fishing port, bringing the number of corpses found in the area to four in the space of 24 hours. Pol Maj Thanet Puangmanee of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the first man, as yet unidentified, appeared from his facial features to be from…
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Briton and Thai die in road crash
PHUKET: A British man on a motorcycle and a Thai pedestrian both died after the bike struck the pedestrian early Friday at the entrance to Moo Baan Anupas Manorom, on Chao Fa Nok Rd. Police named the men as Kenneth Patrick Ford, 24, and Soonthon Sripudtong, 40, from Phatthalung. Pol Maj Songwut Khunjun of the Phuket Town Police Station told…
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Japanese tourist in “religious’ suicide
PHUKET TOWN: Shindo Yuji, a 26-year-old Japanese tourist, committed suicide by jumping from his 16th-floor room at The Metropole hotel, Montri Rd, early on Thursday morning, say police. Pol Lt Kanuang Pitakulthon, of the Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that hotel staff had called the police after discovering Mr Yuji’s body in the VIP car park. It is…
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Drunk-driving crackdown starts tonight
PHUKET: The police have warned that they will begin serious spot checks for drunken driving from tonight, in a campaign that will last until April 18 – after the Songkhran festival. At a highly publicized trial roadblock set up in Phuket Town a week ago, police stopped and breathalysed 70 drivers – 60 men and 10 women. Of these, 40…
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Korean interpreter found murdered
PHUKET TOWN: A Korean interpreter was found dead yesterday in a pool of blood at his home in Phuket Villa 3. Pol Maj Thanet Puangmanee of Phuket Town Police Station identified the dead man as Park Ho-Yong. He was found in the kitchen at house number 70/44 Soi Polchareon, Phuket Villa 3, on Chao Fa Nai Road. Krongsit Kamtalob, who…
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Thaksin admits weak defense against graft charges
BANGKOK (AFP): Embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra admitted Thursday that his lawyers had mounted a lacklustre defense against graft charges that threaten to end his political career. Thaksin said he would not sack his legal team despite its poor showing in the Constitutional Court which this week opened a hearing into the indictment handed down by the nation’s anti-corruption body.…
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THAI announces extra Songkhran flights
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced schedules for additional flights between Bangkok and Phuket during the Songkhran festival. The extra flights, on Friday, April 13, and Monday, April 16, are as follows: Phuket-Bangkok April 13 ………………Dep………..Arr. TG8739……0850………..1015 TG8743……0905………..1030 TG8741……1410………..1535 April 16 TG238…….0735………..0900 TG8739……1600………..1725 TG8741……1730………..1855 TG8743……1815………..1940 Bangkok-Phuket. April 13 ………………Dep………..Arr. TG8738……0645………..0805 TG8742……0655………..0815 TG8740……1150………..1310 April 16 TG8738……1345………..1505 TG8740……1510………..1630 TG8742……1610………..1730 For reservations…
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Governor “not worried’ about transfer rumors
PHUKET TOWN: Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi says he has heard the recent rumors that pressure is building to have him transferred out of Phuket because he is applying Thailand’s laws too stringently. He said he had heard that business people whose profits had been hit by his strict enforcement of laws were prepared to pay money to get him moved…
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Abattoir worker slaughtered
PHUKET TOWN: A slaughterhouse worker died an ironic death in the early hours of Friday morning when his throat was cut during an argument that got out of hand. Police were called to housing near Suan Luang Park on Chao Fa Nai Rd after neighbors witnessed the killing. Pol Capt Anukul Nuket of Phuket Town Police Station, naming the dead…
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Thaksin begins fight of his life
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s Constitutional Court opens a hearing this week into corruption charges against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that threaten to cut short his political career. Thaksin won the January national elections despite having just been indicted for deliberately concealing some of his assets while deputy prime minister in 1997. The billionaire businessman faces a five-year ban from politics if…
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Nun’s body found in klong
PHUKET: A body of an unidentified woman, believed to have been a nun, was found in the klong behind the Chao Fa Nai Rd branch of the Siam Commercial Bank on Thursday evening. Pol Maj Phailin Jamjomrat of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that local people found the body in the canal. It was dressed in white nun’s…
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Appeal for 12-year-old’s kin to come forward
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Public Welfare Office (PWO) has made a public appeal for the relatives of Worawut Hahom – or anyone who knows anything of their whereabouts – to come forward. Worawut was eight years old when he was sentenced by a court to four years of state care and rehabilitation at the Observation and Protection Center (OPC) of…
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Crackdown on drunk driving
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Police and the Phuket Provincial Health Office are to launch a breath-test campaign to catch drunk drivers, starting in the early hours of Friday, March 30. Happily for drunk drivers, Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, Chief of the Health Office, has revealed that the checks will take place in front of Surakul stadium between 2 and 4…
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Major blackout coming
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) will be installing new power lines from Phang Nga into Phuket, which will result in blackouts on March 29 lasting from 7 am to 5 pm. These will affect two main areas: Area one: Along the west side of Chao Fa Nok Rd from the PPEA substation, including Soi Nakok and Soi Sainamyen…
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“Chicken feeding’ lands Thai tourists in trouble
PHNOM PENH (AFP): A group of 28 Thai tourists visiting Cambodia’s famed temples of Angkor had to be rescued by police after being surrounded by a mob enraged at their treatment of temple beggars, a report in a Cambodian newspaper said today. The tourists – reportedly laughing and throwing candies to throngs of scrambling urchins – were escorted by police…
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Charn re-elected as Chamber Chairman
PHUKET TOWN: Members of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, meeting late into the night, voted on Saturday to re-elect Charn Wongsatayanont as Chairman of the chamber. K. Charn received 11 votes, just one vote more than his rival for the position, Pamuke Achariyachai, president of the Kata Group of Hotels. The 21-member committee elected at the same time includes eight…
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IBAP looks at BoI advantages
PHUKET TOWN: The International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) saw a record turnout of around 100 members and guests for its bi-monthly general meeting on Friday. Guest of honor was Charn Wongsatayanont, chairman of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce. The main topic of the meeting was the Board of Investment (BoI), its aims and the ways it can help businesses.…
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Danish tourist drowns
PHUKET: A Danish tourist, named by police as Per Gregersem, 67, drowned off Raya Island on Thursday afternoon, while another tourist was saved from a similar fate off Patong. Mr Gregersem and his family, who were staying in Karon, went to Raya Island to enjoy an afternoon of swimming and sunbathing. After swimming for about half an hour, Mr Gregersem…
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Police bust karaoke selling ya bah
PHUKET TOWN: Teerawit “Jiew” Saefu, the 32-year-old owner of Nong Kim Karaoke on Soi Sri Sena, was arrested during a police raid on Tuesday on drugs charges. Two minors were also arrested. Pol Maj Sanya Thongsawat of Phuket Town Police Station said that sources had informed him that ya bah (methamphetamine) was for sale at the karaoke bar, near the…
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Valhalla raid nets 5 underage girls
PATONG: Five underage girls were detained yesterday afternoon and charged with performing improper acts in public during a raid on the Valhalla Entertainment complex on Soi Sunset. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, said he received a call from Jenjira Heepkaew, 37, who said that she worked at Valhalla as a cook’s helper. She urged the police…
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Policeman wins luxury yacht auction
PHUKET TOWN: A police officer who declined to give his name, but who works in the Economic Crime Investigations Division in Bangkok, today won the auction for a luxury motor yacht at the Phuket Customs Region 5 office. And thanks to the fact that there were no other bidders, he got the boat for a song – just 5.5 million…
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Dog pound to be built in Rawai
RAWAI: Samart Jaranyanont, Chief of Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), has announced that a dog pound is to be built on a two-rai plot behind Wat Sawangarom to provide a home for Phuket’s stray dogs. K. Samart told the Gazette that the Phuket Public Works Office is currently drawing up construction plans for the pound, which will keep healthy dogs…
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Foot-and-mouth outbreak
KATHU: An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease discovered in Baan Mai Riab is now under control, according to Samart Jaranyanont, Chief of Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO). The PPLO was alerted to the presence of the disease on February 12 by a veterinarian who discovered the disease among a herd of water buffaloes. PPLO officers discovered that 67 animals had been…
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Passengers taken off cruise ship
AO MAKHAM: About 250 passengers aboard the cruise ship Andaman Princess were taken off the vessel yesterday afternoon after a bilge pump broke down near Maiton Island. “The problem arose in the engine room at 4:30 pm when a pump stopped working and the ship began to list,” said Narong Chinsot, Phuket Operations Manager of the Andaman Princess. K. Narong…
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Police learn about international crimes
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Provincial Police hosted a seminar today aimed at educating police in Region 8 about economic and international crimes. Topics discussed at the seminar, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, included detection of counterfeit US currency and forged credit cards, and crimes involving international criminals. The seminar brought together police officers from Phuket, Surat Thani, Nakhon Sri…
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Seized luxury yacht to be auctioned
PHUKET TOWN: A luxury motor yacht, which was seized when its Singaporean owner failed to pay import duty, is to be auctioned on March 20 at Phuket Customs Region 5 on Phuket Rd. The yacht’s owner kept it more than six months in Phuket without paying the crushing import duty of about 200%. The yacht, a Sealine T46 built in…
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New dad ends up in handcuffs
PHUKET: Robert Clarke received more than he bargained for when he visited his Thai wife at the Bangkok Phuket Hospital after she gave birth to their child. As he watched over her early on Friday morning, police officers marched in and arrested him. Pol Capt Anukul Nuket of Phuket Town Police Station said that the Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok had…
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Fire rips through Patong stalls
PATONG: A fire raged through a collection of vendors’ stalls near Ocean Plaza on Thaweewong Rd early on Saturday morning, causing damage estimated at 20 million baht. Firefighters took about one hour to put out the fire. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that no one was hurt in the blaze. The forensic science…
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