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Blue Canyon wins international award
PHUKET: The Blue Canyon Country Club was named Asian & Pacific Golf Resort of the Year 2000 in the recent Hertz International Golf Travel Awards ceremony, held in Portugal. It was also nominated in two other categories: Asian & Pacific Golf Course of the Year 2000, and Worldwide Golf Resort of the Year 2000. In last year’s Hertz awards, it…
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Type A Negative blood urgently needed
PHUKET TOWN: Bangkok Phuket Hospital has issued an urgent appeal for Type A Negative blood for an Austrian tourist who is bleeding internally. Alfred Edlinsel, 41, was rushed to the hospital yesterday with a ‘terrible’ stomach pain that subsequently deteriorated into gastric and intestinal bleeding. Mr Edlinsel’s medical record shows that he has had a stomach condition for years. The…
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Seminar to promote Phuket to foreign investors
PHUKET: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce will conduct a seminar to encourage foreign investment in Phuket at a Board of Investment Fair that will be held in Bangkok from February 3-17. Charn Wongsatayanont, President of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, says, “The seminar will provide Phuket with an opportunity to point out the island’s strengths and potential as a place…
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Town to get bus service soon, maybe (Part II)
PHUKET TOWN: Attempts to get Phuket Town’s first real bus service up and running – originally scheduled to start last May – are still on, and are still inching toward reality. Samkhan Saengfai, managing director of PB Holdings, which has a seven-year operating license from the Phuket Provincial Transport Office, told the Gazette that the service has been delayed because…
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Two dead, one injured in Patong shooting
PATONG: Two men were shot dead yesterday evening in a bar in the Royal Paradise complex on Rat-U-Tit Rd. A 16-year-old boy was severely injured by a stray bullet as he walked along the street outside. Pol Col Kokiat Wongworachart, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that Somkiat Nakwong, 25, and Somnuek Fahwan went to the bar together…
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Phuket’s power system said to be “Y2K-ready”
PHUKET TOWN: The island’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) is now ready for whatever the Millennium may throw at it, says PEA vice president Kumnueng Tadsri Khun Kumnueng says the entire computer system has been upgraded to comply with standards set by the General Accounting Office. All elements of it have been tested and are Y2K-ready. But just in case the…
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Five Westerners may be released from local prison
PHUKET: As many as five Westerners are expected to be on the list of people to be released from Phuket Provincial Prison in the next couple of days, in accordance with the nationwide amnesty declared to mark HM the King’s 72nd birthday. Exact numbers have yet to be ascertained, but Preeda Nijsiri, commander of Phuket Provincial Prison, said that the…
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Four arrested with ya bah
PHUKET: Police have arrested four people for ya bah violations in separate incidents at Kata Beach and Phuket Town. On Friday, plainclothes police arrested one man and two women at the public housing estate in Tambon Rassada, Phuket Town for possessing 778 tablets of ya bah with intent to sell. According to Pol Lt Col Manus Aemjareonchaikul, an inspector in…
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Karaoka victorious in King’s Cup Regatta
KATA: The King’s Cup Regatta ended today with Ray Ordoveza’s Karaoka winning the Racing Class division. Second place honors went to Pla Loma, while Australia Challenge finished third. The Regatta, which had been without controversy, didn’t end that way. At the start of yesterday’s Performance Cruising division race, Monsoon Blue was sunk when struck in the stern by Stormvogel. In…
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Nine arrested for gasoline smuggling
PHUKET: Marine Police on Wednesday seized two vessels and 116,000 liters of smuggled gasoline. Nine crew members of the two vessels were arrested. Pol Col Misakawan Buara, Superintendent of Phuket Marine Police said that his men had seized the Chockkrating 222, a modified fishing boat, with 110,000 liters of fuel on board, along with the Suapisarn 10 which had on…
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Rises in Immigration fees put on hold
PHUKET: The Phuket Immigration Office, like all other Immigration offices in Thailand, has rescinded steep rises in visa and other fees which were introduced recently. The rises, which quadrupled the existing fees, were contained in a new immigration law brought into force on November 12. However, a subsequent notice from Immigration headquarters in Bangkok on November 29 ordered the new…
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Karaoka and Hi Fidelity neck-and-neck
KATA: With one day’s sailing still to go in the King’s Cup regatta, a clear winner has yet to emerge in the premier division, the Racing Class, with Neil Pride’s Hi Fidelity and Ray Ordoveza’s Karaoka continuing to slug it out for top honors. The regatta went into its fourth day without major problems, other than the continued strong winds…
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“Too sexy’ policewomen get a dressing-down
BANGKOK (AFP): Policewomen in Thailand were today ordered to cover up, after a top police chief complained that too many officers were wearing miniskirts and body-hugging uniforms. “A number of policewomen wore too tight uniforms with short skirts, colorful makeup and have dyed hair,” said a government statement. Pol Lt Gen Somchai Milindangkura said a special team had been established…
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Fickle winds for second day of King’s Cup
KATA: The King’s Cup fleet arrived in Phuket yesterday after two days’ racing, the first between Krabi and Phi-Phi and the second from Phi-Phi to Phuket. The day started well, with promising 10-knot winds. But these died away during the afternoon. In the evening, with all the boats moored off Kata beach and the crews onshore sampling a variety of…
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Tough contest brewing for municipal seats
PHUKET TOWN: December 25 will see hot competition between 54 candidates from three political parties – the Young People’s Party, the People’s Party and the Creative Party – and four independent candidates for the 18 seats on the Phuket Town Municipal Council. The Municipality, which is expecting about half of Phuket Town’s 42,417 registered voters to make their mark, has…
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Five die in flash floods in southern Thailand
BANGKOK (AFP): Five people are dead and hundreds have been evacuated from their homes after a tropical depression sparked flash floods in southern Thailand. Two boys, aged seven and nine, were swept away by floodwaters in Yala province. Three other people drowned in nearby Pattani, Songkla and Chumporn provinces after a tropical storm hit the west coast of the Gulf…
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Swiss snorkeler drowns off Racha Noi
PHUKET: A Swiss man drowned on Friday while snorkeling with family and friends off Racha Noi Island. The man, Carlo Wellinger, 45, was on holiday in Phuket, staying at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Beach in Bang Tao. Police said it appeared that Mr Wellinger fainted while swimming. Before he could be pulled from the water, a wave dragged him under.…
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Memory loss holds Gazettes to a draw
SAPHAN HIN: The Phuket Gazettes and the Bangkok British Club (BBC) battled to a 5-5 draw on Saturday in their annual 15-a-side match. Victory would have gone to the Gazettes, were it not for a mental lapse by Thiti Tandavanitk. Toward the end of the third quarter, he made it past the BBC tryline but forgot to touch down, much…
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Refinery fire put out, death toll rises to five
SI RACHA (AFP): Thai firefighters yesterday finally put out a fire which had raged at an oil refinery for 35 hours. By that time the death toll had risen to five, with the discovery of more bodies at the site of the initial explosion and subsequent fire. The blaze started after the blast ripped through a storage tank at the…
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400,000 fish released to mark King’s birthday
KATHU: The Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office today released 400,000 fish in the Bang Wat reservoir as part of the celebrations to mark the 72nd birthday of HM the King. Also present at the fish release was Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut. Chada Wangboonkong, Deputy Chief Officer of the Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office told the Gazette that 100,000 of the fish had…
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Two dead, 15 hurt in refinery explosion
SI RACHA (AFP): A huge fire devoured millions of litres of oil today after a string of explosions ripped through a refinery here, killing two people and injuring 15. Sheets of flame soared 100 meters into the air as hundreds of firemen battled to stop the blaze from engulfing the entire structure run by Thai Oil Co, some 70 kilometers…
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Phuket MP to press for probe into immigration laws
PHUKET: Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr, Phuket’s Member of Parliament, has agreed to help foreigners living in Thailand by pushing for a top-level inquiry into the way the country’s immigration laws are applied. Khun Anchalee was shown Section 5 of the Alien Registration Act which – as reported in the Gazette on October 15 – requires all foreigners to register with police and…
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Dead whale examined by biologists at Cape Panwa
CAPE PANWA: A dead whale was brought by fisherman from Phang Nga Bay to the Phuket Marine Biological Center this morning for an autopsy. Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, a biologist at the Center, identified the 4.3 meter long animal as a Bryde’s Whale of one to two years of age. He told the Gazette that the ‘fragrant’ whale had been dead for…
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Angry chicken fanciers besiege Governor
PHUKET OWN: An angry crowd of more than 100 people protested in front of the Phuket Town Police Station yesterday, alleging the police had used unnecessary force on Sunday evening when arresting Rassada villagers for betting on cock-fighting. Among those arrested were three members of the Tambon Rassada Administration Organization. They were released on bail Monday morning, but returned to…
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Singapore, Thailand sign deal on civil servants
SINGAPORE, Nov 28 (AFP): Singapore and Thailand have signed an agreement to improve ties and exchange ideas about civil servants, the Sunday Times reported this morning. It said the agreement, signed yesterday, is aimed at upgrading the quality of civil servants in “both” countries. The Thai government has been slow to upgrade its civil service, one of the most bureaucratic…
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Healthy elephant contest held in Phuket
CHERNG THALAY: “Jintana”, a magnificent 30-year-old cow from the Lagoon Elephant Trekking Club, was declared “Phuket’s healthiest elephant” and given an award and cash prize by Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut in a ceremony held at the Dusit Laguna Resort on Thursday night. The occasion was organized by the Elephant Help Project, a charity created to promote and oversee the well-being…
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Sketch of murder suspect hits glitch
PHUKET: Composition of a police sketch of the foreigner wanted for killing a Thai restaurateur three days ago has hit a snag: the computer used to create the sketches is unable to handle Western faces. Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, commander of Phuket Provincial Police, told the Gazette that “Yesterday my officers took the witness [the dead man’s wife] to…
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Man arrested for three robberies
PHUKET: Leng Permthong, 21, a construction worker from Ranong province, was arrested last night for robbing three petrol stations during the past few weeks. The arrest confirmed police suspicions, reported earlier in the online Gazette, that the same individual was responsible for all three robberies. When questioned by Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, superintendent of Muang police station, Leng admitted committing…
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Indonesia arrests 56 Thai ships
JAKARTA (AFP): The Indonesian navy has arrested 56 Thai ships and 1,276 crewmen for illegally fishing in the country’s waters, the official Antara news agency reported earlier today. “The 56 Thai ships with their 1,276 crew have been arrested and taken to Sabang from Rusa island in Western Aceh,” said Colonel Syahrin Abdurrahman, who heads the navy base in Sabang…
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“Farang’ gunman kills Thai restaurant owner
BANG TAO: A Thai restaurant owner was shot dead in front of his wife yesterday by a gunman the victim’s spouse described as a ‘farang’ (Caucasian foreigner). Pol Lt Col Chalit Kaewyarat of Cherng Talay Police Station told the Gazette that the dead man was identified as Lor-man Karnjanasadoong, 46, owner of the Alex Restaurant on Bang Tao Beach. He…
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