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Immigration Chief denies offering private security service
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) Superintendent Pol Col Ittipon Atchariyapradit has dismissed claims that the PPIO will launch a private security service, contrary to claims being made in an advertising flier currently being circulated on the island.The flier claims that, “A special task force will work together with an approved Security Company in order to provide and equip…
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Engine fire sinks Phi Phi ferry
PHI PHI ISLANDS: More than 100 tourists were safely rescued by the Krabi Marine Police today after a fire broke out on the ferry they were taking from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi Don.Phuket Marine Police Officer Lt Col Prathueng Srilamontree identified the vessel as Jet Wave 3, which departed from Rassada Harbor in Phuket this morning bound for Koh…
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Police shooting sparks Koh Yao mob
PHANG NGA: Some 100 angry villagers on Koh Yao Noi descended upon the Koh Yao Police Station on Saturday after a youth, who was shot by a police officer the day before, died from his injuries.The villagers arrived around 1 pm with the body of 20-year-old Theerawut Kumuda, who died 10 am Saturday morning.Pol Col Jakkarit Srisuwan, Superintendent of the…
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Nok Air, One-Two-Go to launch Phuket-Haad Yai flights
PHUKET: After almost two years with no flights connecting Southern Thailand’s two busiest airports, lost-cost carriers Nok Air and One-Two-Go will launch regular services between Phuket International Airport and Haad Yai International Airport.From May 15, Nok Air flights using 150-seat Boeing 737-400s will depart Phuket daily at 2:05 pm and reach Haad Yai at 2:45 pm. The return leg will…
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NESDB meets Governor over development issues
PHUKET CITY: A representative from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit today to discuss a wide range of development issues facing the island.Thanin Pa-Em, Director of Competitive Development Office of the NESDB, explained that he was in Phuket to review and follow up on projects supporting development of the island, such as projects…
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Lamma CC hot at Cricket Sixes scorcher
KARON: Lamma CC from Hong Kong are hot favorites to win the Montpelier Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2007 after beating 2005 champions and pre-tournament favorites Corner Tigers from Pakistan in the first day of play yesterday at the recently returfed Karon Stadium.Round 2 of the tourney was played today under a scorching Phuket sun, with both Lamma CC and Corner…
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Immigration denies dive shop crackdown
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Office Superintendent Pol Col Ittipon Atchariyapradit has denied that Immigration officers were involved in what seems to have been a shakedown attempt at a Patong dive shop.He believes the men were impostors.In an email sent to the Gazette, it was explained that on April 3 a foreign dive instructor emerged from the company’s dive training pool, where he had…
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Gazette takes flight on Dragonair
PHUKET: From next Friday, April 27, the Phuket Gazette will be on board all inbound Dragonair flights from Hong Kong. Dragonair relaunched its direct daily Hong Kong-Phuket service in December, with CEO Kenny Tang saying, “We are excited about returning to Phuket, a destination that we first flew to in December 1986. We are confident that the route will be…
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One-way surveys yield contradicting results
PATONG: The results from two public opinion surveys of Patong’s one-way traffic system are in – one says the public is in favor of keeping the system, the other says it is not.Prince of Songkla University, Phuket campus, surveyed 759 people in Patong, with 60% saying that are satisfied with the one-way system, but 40% saying they are not happy…
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Five die in one-car accident
PHUKET CITY: Five Thai tourists from Krabi died after the pickup they were traveling in slammed into a power pole near Super Cheap on Thepkrasattri Rd early yesterday morning.The tourists were driving back to Krabi about 5 am when the driver lost control of the car, which careered off the road and into a power pole in front of Sor…
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Third death in the last hours of Songkran
KATHU: In the fading hours of the government’s “seven days of danger” road safety campaign over the Songkran holidays, a 17-year-old motorbike rider died after his motorcycle and a Toyota Fortuner collided at the junction of Wichit Songkram Rd and the entrance to Bang Wad Dam.At yesterday’s ‘Governor Meets the Press’ meeting it was explained that Eakasit Khamnoi was driving…
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B50.6m Mining Museum built, to open in December
KATHU: Work is complete on the 50.6-million-baht Kathu Mining Museum building, which is expected to open to the public by December.Project consultant and a well-known local historian Sommai Pinphutthasilp told the Gazette that construction of the museum building, located on the Kathu-Koh Kaew Rd, began in September 2005.Work was completed about six months after the original target date of October…
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All a-bout love
RAYONG: Many Thais are fond of a wager and high stakes betting on muay Thai bouts is certainly nothing unusual. The organizers of a charity Thai boxing night in Rayong, however, claimed to have a world first when two Assistant Village Chiefs went head to head in the ring to fight – not for a large sum of cash, but…
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Hitman hit
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A gunman-for-hire listed on the Police Region 8 most-wanted list was whacked, not by zealous cops or victims’ relatives out for revenge, but by his long-suffering companion as he lay asleep in bed. At 10 am on March 30, Chawang District Police Inspector Lt Col Sompong Prohmreuangchart received a report of a shooting at house number 134…
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Holed up
SRISAKET: When the stresses of life and the pressure to be polite become too much, the idea of retreating into a little place to get away from it all can be quite tempting. This is exactly what one man in Srisaket province has done – for the past 20 years. While out visiting his charges in the province’s Nam Kliang…
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Fists of fury
LOP BURI: Not used to being on the receiving end of beatings, officers in Lop Buri’s Baan Pong District Police Station were given a nasty shock when a speed-crazed former World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight world champion contender stormed into the station in frenzy in the morning of March 5. Police told reporters that Sgt Maj Ithipol Sawatdee was sitting…
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Of monks and munitions
KALASIN: Police arrested 38-year-old monk Phra Phornphanom Sommai February 26 after villagers reported seeing him shouldering a gun while sitting pillion on a motorbike speeding through Nong Hua Ling village, Kuchinarai district. When police caught up with him, they found that he was drunk, said Maj Somchai Phukongchana, Investigating Inspector at Kuchinarai District Police Station. Police then went to search…
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Invincible amulets?
KALASIN: Hubris often comes before a fall, but the demise of one superstitious man in Kalasin province perhaps came more predictably than most. The body of the man in question was found in a small shack in a forest of this northeastern province. Maj Phabun Titiyan, an Inspector at Kalasin Muang District Police station, said that the victim had been…
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Teen arrested with murder victim’s gun
PATONG: Police arrested Theerasak Sae-Ong, 18, last Friday after he was found carrying a short-barrel shotgun that he claimed he bought from Pongsakorn “Kho” Naksuk, who was shot dead on the south side of Phuket City a week earlier.Sub Lt Naruewat Putthawiro of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that a security guard at Night Station Pub and Disco on…
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Elderly Brit run over, killed
RAWAI: An elderly British man attempting to cross Wiset Rd in the early hours of April 10 died after being run over by a car about 300 meters from the Sea Shell Museum.Chalong Police Station Duty Inspector Lt Col Chokchai Sutthimek identified the victim as Alan H White, aged 81.Mr White was staying on Soi Sailom in Rawai at the…
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Policeman charged over temple brawl
CHALONG: Chalong Police have charged a Crime Suppression officer with disturbing the peace following a brawl at a Songkran fair at Wat Karon.The officer, named by police as “Sgt Maj Bird”, or better known as “Ja Bird”, has not been suspended from duty.Lt Col Peeranut Chatinkaew, a Crime Suppression Inspector at Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that he was…
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Chindapol injured in college shooting
PHUKET: A young member of the Chindapol clan, one of the largest families on the island, remains unconscious after being shot outside Phuket Vocational College in Saphan Hin Sunday night as he was waiting for a friend.Maj Sarit Butnongsang, Duty Inspector of Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette, “The injured youth is Duangdon Chindapol, 18. He was shot by…
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Historic bank to be converted to a museum
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Municipality will renovate two Sino-Portuguese buildings in the heart of Phuket City with the aim of preserving the town’s cultural past.The old Chartered Bank building at the intersection of Phuket Rd and Phang Nga Rd until recently housed the Phuket City branch of Siam City Bank, but will soon be converted to a cultural museum.The Sino-Portuguese…
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Tourist killed in Kata accident
KARON: A 34-year-old English tourist, Lee Jonathan Thomas Pettit, died in a motorbike accident in Kata about 4 am April 10.Lt Col Chockchai Sutthimek, Duty Inspector at Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that Mr Pettit was driving at high speed along Kata Rd when he was involved in a scrape with a motorbike waiting to turn right onto Ket…
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Phuket ready “To Be Number One’ province
PHUKET CITY: Phuket is one of two provinces in the South to compete in the To Be Number One Province finals, to be held on June 22 at the IMPACT Arena in Muang Thong Thani, in suburban Bangkok.Phuket will also be represented in the To Be Number One Community, by Baan Lipon Khao Lan; and in the To Be Number…
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West Sands to build water park
MAI KHAO: Central & City Developments has announced it will build Phuket’s first “water park” as part of its six-billion-baht West Sands Resort and villa project.The 150-million-baht park will cover 6,400 square meters and feature state-of-the-art water rides, all to be designed and built by Canadian water park design specialist WhiteWater through its office in Korea.West Sands Sales and Marketing…
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Only one Songkran road death in Phuket so far
PHUKET: With tomorrow the last day of the official Songkran holidays, the Phuket Provincial Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) has announced that there has been just one road accident death in Phuket since April 11.ODPM Chief Aroon Kerdsom told the Gazette, “We have the total number of deaths from road accidents from April 11 to 15 – and…
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Soft opening for Phuket Welcome Gate
TAH CHAT CHAI: About 1,000 elderly people from around Phuket took part in an Elderly Day Ceremony at the Phuket Welcome Gate last Wednesday to preserve Thai culture during Songkran and encourage people to realize the importance of elderly members of the community.Although the official opening for the Welcome Gate has yet to be organized, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor)…
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Valentino faces encroachment charges
BANGKOK (The Nation): Malaysian national Tan Teik Hai, better known known as Phuket’s former honorary consul to Morocco “Valentino”, 56, is facing charges involving encroachment on more than 1,000 rai on Koh Yao Yai. After completing its investigation into a development project on Koh Yao Yai, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) recommended prosecution against Tan and his in-laws Bunlert…
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Seven “zones’ for Songkran sanook
PHUKET: Tawichart Intararit, Chief of the Phuket Provincial “Cultural Office” (PPCO), has asked people to restrict water-throwing festivities to seven zones in Phuket during the Songkran holiday, which is expected to begin in earnest on Friday.K. Tawichart defined the zones as: Saphan Hin in Phuket City; Rawai Beach; Laem Promthep; Karon Beach, Nai Yang Beach; Surin Beach and Patong Beach.Having “water-play”…
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