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Phuket Airport remains shut
PHUKET AIRPORT (Nation and Gazette reporters): Phuket and Krabi airports remained closed yesterday as the People’s Alliance for Democracy [PAD] protesters occupying them insisted they would continue to do so until the prime minister resigned or PAD leaders said otherwise.In Phuket, some 400 police and volunteers were on hand to ensure security and safety. Deputy Phuket Governor Worapoj Ratthasima affirmed that…
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Phuket International Airport still shut
PHUKET AIRPORT (Nation and Gazette reporters): Phuket and Krabi airports remained closed yesterday as People’s Alliance for Democracy [PAD] protesters occupying them insisted they would continue to do so until the prime minister resigned or PAD leaders said otherwise.In Phuket, some 400 police and volunteers were on hand to ensure security and safety. Deputy Phuket Governor Worapoj Ratthasima affirmed that no…
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PAD PROTEST: Gov calls emergency meeting
PHUKET AIRPORT: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit has called an emergency meeting of his top staff, including Vice-Governors Smith Palawatwichai, Worapoj Ratthasima and Tri Augkaradacha.
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PAD PROTEST: Airport runway clear, but still no flights
PHUKET AIRPORT: Police have persuaded protesters to leave the runway at Phuket International Airport, the Gazette has learned.Protesters left the landing strip on the agreement from airport officials that flights would not resume until their demands had been met.
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Police gear up for Veggiefest 2008
PHUKET CITY: With the start of the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival just a month away, Phuket City Police met representatives of all participating Chinese shrines to ask for their co-operation in keeping this year’s event as safe and orderly as possible. Attending the meeting on August 25 were Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Chalit Tinthanee, Phuket City Police Superintendent Nos…
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Spaniard falls to his death in Patong
PATONG: Police are treating the death of a Spanish man who this morning fell from the balcony of his room on the seventh floor of the Club Andaman Beach Resort as a likely suicide.He fell from the same floor where a female US marine fell to her death in June.Kathu Police Duty Officer Patak Khwunna told the Gazette that he…
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Anti-government rally crowd at Phuket Airport reaches 1,000
PHUKET: More police have been called in from around the province to supervise anti-government protesters at Phuket International Airport as crowd numbers reach 1,000. No reports of violence.
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Phuket Airport blocked by anti-government rally
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport has evacuated passengers and closed its doors this afternoon as about 500 supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have gathered there in a rally calling for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign.Protesters have blocked the road to the airport and are allowing foreigners access to it on foot only, and only until 3 pm, after which, the…
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Bus crash causes injury, commuter misery
THALANG: Four people were injured when a bus with bald tires overturned on Thepkrasattri Rd this morning, leaving commuters stuck in a traffic tailback stretching well over five kilometers long.Seksan Konsakorn of Thalang District Police told the Gazette the six-wheel bus lost control in wet conditions on a curve near Tha Reua Shine, where it crashed into a roadside power…
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17 arrested in gambling den sweep
PHUKET: In the latest bid to crackdown on illegal gambling on the island, 17 people were arrested in two weekend raids led by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongthong. On Saturday, eight were arrested in a suspected “high-low” gambling den in Tung Tong. Police charged four women – Tassanee Klaharn, 37, Thaworn Sudjai, 35, Supawadee Klaharn, 35, and Songsak Buathong,…
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Bars raided over music copyright
PHUKET: Entertainment venues around the island were raided last week in a clampdown on copyright violations. Several bar operators were fined for illegally playing copyrighted music in their bars and ordered to obtain licenses to allow them to play music at their establishments. The raids were instigated by a team of about 20 representatives from RPK Publishing. Music collections and…
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International hotel school gets Governor’s support
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit yesterday voiced his support for an international hotel school to be opened on the island.Representing Orion Hotel Schools, Swiss national Lothar Schudt of Jasmin Consulting Property Management yesterday met Governor Niran at Provincial Hall to seek support and clear the way for plans to be drawn up and investors sought for the new school.Orion…
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Phuket Reporters Club President dies in car crash
PHUKET: Phuket Reporters Club President Thongtuan Sukmuang and four fellow Thai Rath newspaper reporters died in a fiery road accident in Narathiwat about midday yesterday.Khun Thongtuan, 51, and his colleagues were on their way to Narathiwat for the funeral of fellow reporter Chalee Boonsawat, who died in the August 21 insurgent car bomb attack in Sungai Kolok.Their van overturned after…
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Apirak defends poor progress in catching killers
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongthong has assured the public that investigators are working hard to bring to justice to those responsible for a slew of unsolved murders that have shocked the island in recent months.Speaking after a press conference on August 20, Gen Apirak said provincial police investigators and specialists from Bangkok were working hard on three…
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Phuket protesters join Bangkok Siege, demand PM’s resignation
PHUKET: As the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) makes its final drive to oust Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, media in Bangkok have reported that NBT broadcast stations were being raided around the nation.However, NBT reporter Chaiwut Poungsuwan today told the Gazette that the NBT station in Phuket, located at the top of Rang Hill in Phuket City, is safe and sound.“NBT…
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Speed, guns and ganja confiscated in crackdown
PHUKET CITY: Following his order of a crackdown on crime, Phuket’s top cop has announced that several drug- and gun-related arrests were made recently in different parts of the island.Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongthong said that recent swoops in various locations had included the seizure of 390 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills that had been stashed in a hole in the…
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Hanna Backlund murderer given life sentence
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Court today sentenced Akkaradej (‘Chon’) Tankae to life imprisonment for the murder of Swedish tourist Hanna Backlund, who was stabbed to death at Mai Khao Beach in broad daylight on March 15.The sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment because Chon made a full confession, said the judge, who made reference to the negative…
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Phuket plays its part in War on Terror
AO MAKHAM: An unremarkable, privately-owned ship carrying thousands of tons of military hardware and humanitarian aid sailed quietly into Phuket waters last week, slipping away virtually unnoticed a few days later as the cargo vessel went on to play a supporting role in regional SEACAT (South East Asian Co-operation Against Terrorism) exercises.The privately owned Danish-built ship Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr…
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Navy to beef up regional security
CAPE PANWA: Royal Thai Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm Sathiraphan Keyanon yesterday paid a visit to the Third Naval Area Command, where he announced the Third Fleet will on October 1 begin joint patrol missions in the Malacca Strait with strategic partners Singapore and Malaysia. The patrols, which will have air and land-based radar support, are intended to boost security in regional…
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Software anti-piracy agency doubles reward
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is preparing to double its rewards for people who report illegal software use at the corporate level, from 250,000 baht to 500,000 baht. From today to September 30, 2008, concerned software users who call the BSA hotline to provide information that leads to successful action against business organizations using pirated or unlicensed software will be…
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Police nab Supercheap employee killer
RASSADA: Phuket City Police yesterday morning announced the arrest of a man who confessed to the murder of his former boss at Supercheap on the bypass road on Tuesday night.Most of the details of the arrest were read out to the press in a statement by Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit.The body of the victim, 34-year-old Supercheap employee Kanya Boonprajong, was…
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Tsunami warning system improvements stalled
PHUKET: Plans for Thailand to launch two more “tsunameters” off the Andaman coastline to improve its tsunami warning system capability have become bogged down by red tape and technical problems, leaving only one direct detection unit in place as the fourth anniversary of the 2004 disaster nears. Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, who chairs the committee that directs the Nonthaburi-based National Disaster…
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Suan Luang fish killers caught
PHUKET CITY: Scores of municipal workers have been working since Saturday morning to remove thousands of rotting fish from the main pond at Suan Luang Park, after a group of fishermen were caught using poison to kill and capture them on Friday night.An officer from Phuket City Municipality, who asked not to be named, told the Gazette that the municipal…
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Man killed in Samkong shooting
PHUKET CITY: Police are investigating the murder of a man killed by two shotgun blasts near his shack in Samkong early yesterday morning.Pol Maj Pitakpol Sompong of the Phuket City Police told the Gazette that the wife of 40-year-old Rungroj Saekui reported finding her husband dead outside their unnumbered shack off Soi Samkong 1 at about 2 am yesterday.The wife, whose…
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Four die in weekend horror smashes
PA KHLOK: Four people were killed on Sunday night in two separate road accidents involving motorcycles. One of the victims was a five-year-old child. At about 7 pm on Sunday, two women and a boy – members of the same family – were killed after the motorcycle they were riding collided with a pickup truck on the Baan Para –…
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B20m CCTV system for Rawai
RAWAI: As part of a bid to crack down on crime in the area, Rawai Municipality has been granted 20 million baht in central government funding for the installation of 32 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos made the announcement at an August 15 ceremony held to announce a range of crime-fighting initiatives in Rawai. Camera installation…
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Tourism steady despite economic woes
PHUKET CITY: Despite global economic problems, tourism in Phuket continues to grow, with 4.79 million tourists having passed through Phuket International Airport since the beginning of the fiscal 2008, up 600,000 from the same period a year earlier. Anoma Thongyai, deputy director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 Office in Phuket, revealed the figures at the…
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Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2008 breaks records before it begins
BANG TAO: With more than three months still to go until the Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2008 on December 7, the “Race of Legends” has already sold out.Some 750 athletes and about 50 teams of participants rushed to secure their places through online bookings for the 15th annual Laguna Phuket Triathlon after dates for the international competition were announced.The event comprises…
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Catch of the day
RASSADA: Phuket City Police yesterday morning took into custody a fugitive murder suspect from Trang as he was unloading fish at the pier on Koh Sireh. Phuket City Police Investigator Capt Jessada Janpum identified the fugitive as 25-year-old Jirasak Chamnankiat, who was a resident of tambon Natoming in Trang’s Muang District until he went on the run three months ago.…
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Heartsick firefigher found hanged
PHUKET CITY: Police on August 14 discovered the decomposing corpse of a municipal firefighter who apparently hanged himself several days earlier. Phuket City Police Duty Officer Pol Lt Tada Sodarak identified the deceased as Apirat Sararat, a 30-year-old native of Pattani. Police were informed of Khun Apirat’s death by a 191 call placed by fellow residents of the firefighter’s dormitory…
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