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South Koreans Top 1998 Arrests League Table
PHUKET: South Koreans headed the list of foreigners arrested last year, according to figures provided the Gazette by Phuket Provincial Police Headquarters yesterday. Of the 38 foreigners arrested in 1998, 15 were Koreans, followed by Germans (six), British (four), Filipinos and Burmese (three each) and Frenchmen and Swedes (two apiece). Arrests for working illegally topped the league, with 22 offenders…
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Big “Yes” Vote For Duty Free Port
PHUKET TOWN: More than two thirds of the 636 participants in the Gazette Poll which closed at noon yesterday believe that ‘Duty Free’ port status would be good for Phuket. The overall vote was 67.4 percent in favour, with 15.5 percent against and 17.1 percent “Not sure”. Most in favour were tourists and visitors to Phuket, 71 percent of whom…
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190 Illegals Nabbed
PATONG BEACH: Immigration, Marine Police and Tourist Police officers rounded up 190 illegal aliens last week. Of the 190, 164 were from Burma and 26 from Cambodia. Pol Gen Sant Sarutanond, Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, said most of the illegals were arrested in Patong. Tourists want to relax, he said, but the illegal beggars, particularly the children,…
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Traffic Accidents Kill 20, Injure 1,034
PHUKET TOWN: Twenty people were killed in traffic accidents between January 20 and February 20, and a further 1,034 were injured, according to figures from the three state hospitals, Wachira, Thalang and Patong. Motorcycle accidents were to blame for the vast majority of deaths and injuries. Of the 20 dead, 19 were killed on motorbikes, with only one dying in…
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Marital Bliss Imperiled In Paradise
PHUKET: If you want a marriage that’s going to last, don’t marry in Phuket, and definitely don’t marry someone from either the hotel or entertainment industry – it could all end in tears. That, at least appears to be the message from Phuket’s latest marriage and divorce statistics. It seems that couples getting hitched in Phuket are more likely to…
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Opinion Closely Split On Legalized Gambling
PHUKET: Readers of the Phuket Gazette are split right down the middle on the question of whether legal gambling and casinos would be a favorable development for Phuket. A record 955 voters participated in the newspaper’s poll which closed at noon today. It posed the question: “Would you like to see legalized gambling and the opening of casinos in Phuket?”…
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Two Tourists Drown In Separate Incidents
NAIHARN/PATONG: A 50-year-old German man and a 75-year-old Swiss woman, both tourists, drowned in separate incidents last week. On February 27, the German tourist, Arno Krain, drowned at Naiharn Beach. His body was found on the sand by police in a patrol car. The following day, acting on an anonymous tip-off, police recovered the body of Mrs Rosa Marie Spanibrusin…
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Police Nab Suspected Serial Murderer
PHUKET TOWN: Police have announced the arrest of a member of a three-man gang believed responsible for a string of murders and vehicle thefts across the southern provinces of Thailand between July and December last year. In custody and charged with murder and theft is Prapai Baupeng, 26, from Krabi. Phuket police allege that he and two others would typically…
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Boom Year For Local Pawn Shop
PHUKET TOWN: The economic crisis fueled an increase in the number of loans against valuables at the Phuket Municipal Pawn Shop last year, according to Manager Phuwadon Chin-nupathum The number of customers seeking loans increased by nearly 2,000 in 1998, compared with 1997, while the total amount of money lent rose from 170,292,530 baht in 1997 to 190,659,300 baht last…
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Photo Contest Focuses On “Essence Of Thailand’
PHUKET: Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts (Thailand), in conjunction with the Bangkok Post and Canon Marketing (Thailand) Co Ltd, have organized a nationwide competition for professional photographers and aspiring amateurs. An array of generous prizes, including roundtrip tickets to Paris on Air France with five nights accommodation in a Le Meridien Hotel, are being offered to encourage photographers to capture…
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Witnesses Fail To Appear In Tong Murder Trial
PHUKET TOWN: A court session scheduled to have taken place this morning was postponed when all five prosecution witnesses slated to testify in the Danis Wayne Tong murder trial failed to appear. The witnesses, Meen Klasuk, Arthit Chiyaiya, Wittaya Taweewongsap, Prasarn Lohajareekul and Ramon Alphibare [name transliterated by the prosecution], will now be subpoenaed to appear May 4-5, according to…
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Boxing Match To Benefit Local Reporters
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Reporters’ Club is organizing a night of Thai boxing at Saphan Hin Stadium on Friday, February 26, to raise money for the club. Mr Yongyod Phruksarak, president of the club, said that Phuket Governor Chadej Insawang will deliver a short opening address as the event’s guest of honor. There will be nine matches, the first of…
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Laguna Resorts & Hotels Announces Record Results
BANGKOK: Laguna Resorts & Hotels, Thailand’s second largest public hotel company, which owns Laguna Phuket, announced a record year in 1998 against the background of the regional economic crisis. Revenues climbed to Baht 2.3 billion, up from last year’s 1.6 billion, an increase of 47%. This was largely due to increased revenues at the Laguna Phuket hotels, (Banyan Tree Phuket,…
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VIP Welcome Awaits Octogenarians
PATONG BEACH: A VIP welcome awaits a German couple when they arrive in Phuket on February 22. Rudolf and Caroline Frommlet, both 86 years old, have being coming to the island every year for the past 17 years, so the Tourism Authority of Thailand is planning a special ceremony for the couple at the airport this time around. Rudolf and…
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Willing To Serve But Not Service
PHUKET TOWN: Early in the evening on Valentine’s Day, two girls from Lamphun Province near Chiang Mai told police they had narrowly escaped being forced into prostitution. The pair said they were tricked into traveling from their northern homes for work in a Phuket Town red light district by a husband and wife team who told them they would be…
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A-Go-Go, Then A-Gone-Gone
PATONG: An English tourist celebrating Valentine’s Day with her husband and two friends had her purse stolen as they watched go-go dancers on Patong’s Soi Bangla. Mrs Evin Annerry, 56, lost 1,500 baht, her credit card and other valuables when she, her husband and friends paused for a few minutes to watch the dancers from the sidewalk along the glittering…
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Valentine’s Day Puts People in Marriage Mode
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s marriage registries were working overtime yesterday when 143 couples decided to tie the knot on Valentine’s Day. Muang District office registered the marriages of 118 couples, compared with 88 couples on Valentine’s Day last year. Kathu united 15 couples, up from 10 last year, while Talang had 10 couples completing their nuptials, the same number as Valentine’s…
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Phuket Airport To Add Personal Touch
PHUKET TOWN: Government departments and tourism businesses have launched a program to improve the quality of service at Phuket International Airport. Plans for a “Living Room of the Nation” project were thrashed out during a seminar attended by over 250 people at The Metropole hotel on February 11. The project aims to train staff at the airport to provide high-level…
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Santi Ho Withdraws From Sunshine
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s latest entry into the local radio market has lost one of its founders to an internal dispute. Sunshine Radio (95 FM) took to the air late last year, and was immediately dogged with technical and personnel problems. Though enthusiastic about its mission and ambitious in its goals, the station was plagued by frequent shutdowns, halting segues and…
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Swedish Tourist Dies In Bike Accident
CHALONG: A Swedish tourist died from head injuries after he rode his motorbike into a gully near the Arcadia Hotel and Resort on Karon Beach. Mr Bo Christer Elisson, 32, was travelling with a companion on another motorbike when the accident occurred at 4 a.m. on February 10. He was not wearing a helmet. Mr Ellison’s companion, who did not…
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Jennings Murder Trial Adjourned
PHUKET TOWN: Suspect Nongnut Tungkaburi failed to appear in court yesterday as the result of an illness which, according to a letter from her doctor, required that she remain at home for two days, February 9-10. Her representative also told the court that she has retained a new, Bangkok-based lawyer who would be able to attend court in Phuket next…
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Police Go Hi-Tech – At a Price
PATONG BEACH: The Kathu Police Station is asking for donations to complete a hi-tech, 930,000 baht Control and Operations Centre. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police, said local businesses had already donated 415,000 baht, but police need another 515,000 baht to complete the centre. He said the project was not eligible for government funding. The Control and Operations…
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Gloomy Forecast For Tourist Spending
PHUKET TOWN: In the Gazette Poll for the week ended yesterday, local residents, Thai and foreign alike, expressed considerable pessimism about the outlook for tourist spending in 1999. An overwhelming 79% of them saw visitor spending dropping from 1998, with 10% predicting that it would remain unchanged from last year’s apparently depressed level. Only 1% of the 290 Phuketians participating…
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Trade Center To Encourage Business
PHUKET: The Ministry of Industry is to set up a trade center in the vacant Offshore Mining Organisation building in Phuket Town. The purpose of the center is to facilitate marketing of locally produced goods to foreign buyers. “We plan to organize a trade center displaying industrial and consumer goods, and handicrafts,” said Adisorn Naphavaranonth, Chief of the Phuket Provincial…
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Officials Report 30 New AIDS Cases
PHUKET TOWN: Government health officials recorded 30 new cases of AIDS in Phuket province and two deaths from AIDS-related complications during the one-month reporting period ending January 20. Seven of 240 pregnant women tested during the period were found to be HIV positive. The Phuket Provincial Health Department has recorded 864 cases of AIDS since it began keeping records in…
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Andaman Sea Kayak Marathon – 1999
PHUKET TOWN: A series of four grueling marathon races by sea kayak will take place in Phang Nga Bay March 4 through 6. The event, sponsored by the Southern Office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, has attracted participants from more than ten countries. The four categories of competition are as follows: · International Sea Kayak Ultra Marathon/Open Men. Distance:…
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Foreign Biker Killed On Patong-Kamala Rd
KAMALA BEACH: Alexander Payne, a 24-year-old Englishman living in Kamala and working in Patong, died late Friday night or early Saturday morning when the motorcycle he was driving flew off an embankment and into a deep ditch near Nakaburi at the crest of the Patong-Kamala Road. He was alone at the time of the accident. The wreckage was spotted by…
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Dolphin Deaths Under Investigation
CAPE PANWA: Eleven bottle-nosed dolphins and one dugong were found dead on January 25 in a protected coastal zone off Libong Island in nearby Trang province. Villagers at Koh Libong in Kantang District spotted the dolphins floating in a no-fishing zone around the island and reported the find to Trang Fisheries officials. The dolphins and the dugong were transported to…
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Local Internet Services Receive Poor Rating
PHUKET: Internet services available in Phuket are perceived as offering very substantial opportunities for growth in terms of quality, according to the weekly Gazette Poll which closed on January 22. From the four available answers to the question, “How would you rate the quality of Internet service in Phuket?”, 41.5% of the internet poll’s 680 participants clicked on “unsatisfactory,” with…
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Rugby Tournament Postponed
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s first international rugby tournament, scheduled to take place at Sapan Hin Stadium February 27-28, has been postponed until May. The event, under the Patronage of His Majesty The King, is being organized by the Thai Rugby Union in cooperation with Phuket municipality. Phuket Mayor Phumisak Hongyok told the Gazette yesterday that the head of the Thai Rugby…
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