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Policeman dies in explosion in Yala
YALA: An officer with the Border Police died early this morning in an explosion near the Ton Maphrao market in this southern city. Police said the blast, at 1:25 am, was unlikely to have been the work of Muslim militants. It was more probable, they said, that the officer killed himself accidentally with one of his own hand-grenades. Pol Sgt…
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Protestors demand park fee review
PHUKET: Two hundred protestors descended on a high-level government tourism workshop this morning to demand a review of the entrance fees for Phang Nga Bay National Park. The protesters included members of the Phuket Eco-Tourism Association (PETA) and Phang Nga residents whose livelihood depends on tourists visiting the park. The protestors’ demand was aimed at Plodprasop Suraswadi, the Director-General of…
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Chef Ronnie does it again
BANGKOK: Chef Ronnie Macuja of the Phuket Cabana’s Sala Bua restaurant has scored a second huge victory in the New Asia Cuisine competition, once again beating top chefs from Bangkok in the contest, one of the highlights of the Asian Food & Catering Fair at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center. Chef Ronnie was the surprise winner in last…
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Deputy PM slams tourism greed
CHALONG: Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksarn today voiced concern over local attitudes that he said threaten to damage tourism. Speaking before leaving on an inspection tour of the Phi Phi islands, he said, “I wanted to go to Phi Phi because we’ve been advertising it a lot, but once tourists get there they are disappointed. “Patong is the same,” he…
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Newlyweds in hostage drama
PATONG: Police from Kathu Police Station were called to the Jaranya Guesthouse on Rat-U-Thit Rd on Tuesday to find a honeymooning Briton standing in his wrecked hotel room, holding a broken beer bottle to his bride’s throat. Pol Capt Ampolwat Sangruang told the Gazette that his officers rushed the man, Mark Francis O’Reilly, 36, and managed to free his 18-year-old…
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German fugitive arrested
PATTAYA (AFP): A German fugitive wanted on sex procurement charges in his home country faces deportation from Thailand after his arrest at a seaside resort today. Oliver Jürgen Hesse, 33, was arrested at his condominium in Pattaya after Thai police acted on an international warrant issued in Berlin, police said. Pol Lt Gen Chat Kuldilok said Hesse and his Thai…
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Phuket ranks 2nd in Thai HIV stats
PHUKET: Phuket now has the second-highest rate of HIV infection in Thailand, Dr Jessada Chaikhunnarath, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, has told the Gazette. Only Chiang Rai has a higher rate. The infection rate in Phuket over the past 12 years was approximately six times the national average. In 1989, the last time national HIV statistics were…
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Third Fleet gets new commander
TAB LAMU: The outgoing Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet (RTN3F), V/Adm Sathirapan Keyanon, this morning handed over command to his successor, V/Admiral Pairoj Theerachai, formerly a Deputy Chief Staff Officer. The hand-over took place at a military ceremony aboard the guided missile frigate HTMS Kraburi, docked at the Royal Thai Navy’s shore base at Tab…
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Burglars raid Post Office
PHUKET TOWN: Thieves broke into the main Post Office in Phuket Town on Sunday night and stole 200,000 baht in cash. Pol Lt Parichat Jaturonpun of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette the burglars came in through a ventilation window on the first floor of the building while the security guard was on the third floor. They took 200,000…
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Deputy PM to open Chalong Pier
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksarn is to attend the official opening ceremony of the Chalong Pier on Friday. After that event, which gets under way at 10 am, K. Pongpol and his entourage will board a Fisheries Department boat for an inspection trip to the Phi Phi Islands. At 8:30 pm, the party will begin a tour of Patong…
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Concessionary park fees scheme extended
PHUKET: The Parliamentary Tourism Committee has decided to extend the concessionary scheme on national park entry charges for tour and dive operators. Deputy Minister Prapat Panyachatirak, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives said at a meeting of the committee that he will set up a sub-committee to study the problem of entry fees and that in the meantime…
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Police crack mobile phone racket
PHUKET TOWN: Nine people were arrested yesterday in a series of raids by police from Phuket and Bangkok on people offering cheap phone calls. The raids on the phone call kiosks – small tables offering calls to anywhere in Thailand for 2 baht a minute – were part of a joint taskforce operation to crack a criminal ring using forged…
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Fall in arrests of illegal workers
PHUKET: The latest crime statistics issued by the police, for the period from September 1 to 24, show the number of arrests of illegal immigrants dropping dramatically to 47 compared with 230 in the same period in August. The decrease is largely a result of the current Employment Services Office drive to register all foreign workers on the island. Pol…
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Bosses urged to register foreign labor
PHUKET: Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi called yesterday for employers to register their foreign laborers at the Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO). His appeal came after the ESO said that it estimated that 4,000 Burmese, Laotians and Cambodians working in Phuket had still not been registered. Speaking at the monthly meeting of senior provincial officials yesterday, Gov Pongpayome said, “I’m worried about…
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TT&T to share TOT’s lower long-distance charge
PHUKET: From October 1, Thai Telephone and Telecommunication (TT&T) subscribers will be able to use the Telephone Organization of Thailand’s (TOT) discounted long-distance service – Y-Tel 1234. The TOT announcement comes after management met last Friday and decided that customers of both TT&T and Bangkok-based TelecomAsia Corp will be able share the service. Somkiat Lorprasertchai, Manager of the TOT Phuket…
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Gay cook suicides over missing fiancé
PHUKET TOWN: In the third suicide reported in Phuket within a week, heartbroken Jitpanu Pattana-anusorn, a 26-year-old cook at the Boonlert Beer Garden on Chana Charoen Rd, committed suicide on Tuesday because, police surmised, he had been abandoned by his gay lover. Pol Capt Anukul Nookate of the Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that he received a call…
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Muslims “back Thai support for US’
BANGKOK (AFP): Transportation and Communications Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha said yesterday that after talks with Muslim leaders in southern provinces, the government had won their support in joining the US-led alliance against terrorism. Wan said he had explained the government’s position and its reasons for aligning with the United States. “There are no problems,” he told reporters. “We have…
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New Vice-Governors named
PHUKET: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced the names of Phuket’s three new Vice-Governors, who will take up their positions on October 1. They are Vinai Buapradith, currently a vice-governor of Ranong; Manit Watanasen, now a vice-governor of Phang Nga; and Niran Kalayanamit, a Director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for the…
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Woman dies in bizarre suicide
PHUKET TOWN: In a bizarre suicide, a woman who was having money problems killed herself on Thursday by drinking a bottle of dishwashing liquid. The husband of Pattama Maneesri, 44, came home in the afternoon to find her lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of her home on Wichit Songkhram Rd. She was still holding the empty dishwashing liquid bottle,…
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Ten monks held in drug bust
BANGKOK (AFP): Five Thai monks have been defrocked after confessing to using methamphetamines (‘ya bah’), while another five caught in a drug raid also face being ousted from religious life, police said this morning. Acting on a complaint from local worshippers, police yesterday carried out urine tests on 26 monks living at a temple in the central province of Ratchaburi.…
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Bridge completion delayed
PHUKET TOWN: Completion of the new bridge over the Klong Bangyai on Kra Rd will take 70 days more than originally scheduled. Fawn Boonkatunyu, Chief of the Technical Office of the Phuket Town Municipality, explained, “We found that a sewer runs right under the place where one of the legs of the bridge is supposed to be anchored, so the…
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Loch Palm set for championship finals
KATHU: Surin Bumrungpon scored 67 off a handicap of 4 to win the third and final round of the Loch Palm Golf Club Championship preliminaries, which was held at the club on Saturday. Manoon Ouanpokhlang won Flight A with his score of 69 points off a 12 handicap, beating Blair Speers’ score of 70 points (10) and Dr Kitthipat Pongpet’s…
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Muslim leaders criticize attacks on US
PHUKET TOWN: The leaders of the Muslim community in Phuket today criticized the terrorist attacks on the United States and voiced their hope for continued peace in the world. Speaking at an assembly of senior Muslim figures at the ST Hotel, Manot Phanchalard, secretary of the Islamic Committee of Phuket, said, “Muslims in Phuket do not agree with what happened…
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Urgent debate over national park fees
BANGKOK: With the concessionary scheme on national park entry charges for tour and dive operators about to come to an end, operators around the country have urged the Royal Forestry Department (RFD) to reconsider the full fees, which they regard as being too high. On October 1 last year the RFD introduced new park entry fees for foreigners: 200 baht…
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Korean tour guide beaten and robbed
PHUKET TOWN: Police are looking for a man who beat and robbed a 30-year-old Korean tour guide off Sakdidet Rd early on Saturday morning. Pol Maj Pitsanu Punwong, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the guide had asked that her name be kept confidential, but that she was working for a Korean travel company in Panthep Condotown.…
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Crackdown on students in Internet shops
PHUKET TOWN: The owners of 25 Internet shops have agreed to impose greater controls on youngsters using their facilities, Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said today. Speaking at a meeting with the press, he explained that police had received complaints from parents that their children were spending too much time playing computer games in the…
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Phuket worries about effects of US horror
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has ordered local officials to report to him any effects on tourism arising from Tuesday’s horrific events in the United States. “I think there may be some effect on tourism in Phuket during the coming high season,” he told the Gazette, “because some people may feel uncomfortable about traveling abroad.” He said that…
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Kathu police got mail
PATONG: The Kathu Police Station now has an email address for people who wish to ask questions or make suggestions to the police. Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette, “I think this will be good for people who want to contact us to complain or make suggestions about the problems in Patong. We will…
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CEO to have power to move district chiefs
PHUKET: The Ministry of Interior has announced that the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of five provinces, who will take over from provincial governors on October 1 in an experimental program aimed at giving provincial leaders more autonomy, will be able to authorize the transfer of district office chiefs who are deemed not to be doing their job properly. Under the…
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US Embassy closes after NY carnage
PHUKET (Gazette, AFP): American citizens have been asked to refrain from calling their embassy in Bangkok following the carnage in New York City and Washington. Will Hebler, American Consular Warden in Phuket, told the Gazette, “I have received a call to say that the US embassy in Bangkok is closed until further notice. “A desk is manned, but US citizens…
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