News
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THAI to add 20 flights for Songkran
BANGKOK (The Nation): Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced it will add 20 special flights on domestic routes to Chiang Mai and Phuket from Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports, numbering 5,200 seats, in order to serve passengers traveling during the Songkran holiday.THAI President Apinan Sumanaseni said THAI would add 11 domestic flights between Suvarnabhumi and both Chiang Mai and Phuket,…
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Cabinet approves Business Act amendments
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Cabinet has approved the revised amendments to the Foreign Business Act, but it remains uncertain whether the bill will pass the National Legislative Assembly.The NLA will debate the amendments on April 18. Some 50 of its members have railed against the changes, saying they jeopardize foreign investment.Commerce Minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet has said he is ready to…
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Songkran blessings
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit poured lustral water over the hands of some 100 top provincial officials during a Songkran ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion on Narisorn Rd on Tuesday morning.Phuket Vice-Governors Worapoj Rattasima, Tri Augkaradacha and Smith Palawatvichai all took part in the traditional ceremony, along with Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch and many other…
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Tata Young in Phuket
PATONG: More than 1,000 people from the Tata Young Fan Club traveled to Phuket to enjoy Tata Young’s live concert last night, held to mark the grand opening of Jungceylon. Tata, a 26-year-old Thai-American, became a superstar in Thailand at the age of 15 and launched a successful international career with the release of her first English-language album I Believe…
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Violent crime rises by 130%
PHUKET: Crime statistics for March 1 to March 31 released by Phuket Provincial Police show that reports of violent crime in Phuket rose by 130% compared with the same period last year.Three murders and nine attempted murders were reported, with two and eight arrests made respectively. There were 27 reports of assault with 16 arrests made and eight reports of…
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Dead baby found floating off Saphan Hin
PHUKET CITY: A dead baby boy was found floating near the mouth of Bang Yai canal in Sapan Hin on Thursday.The grisly find was reported to police at 8:30 am by a tourist.Lt Col Somkid Boonyarat, an Investigating Inspector at Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette that the body was that of a baby boy of Thai appearance.Doctors estimate…
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Kamala OrBorTor installs temporary President
KAMALA: Karoon Seeden has been installed as Acting President of Kamala Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) after a vote by the council’s 11 other members.K. Karoon was installed after a vote of seven to four in his favor. Three councilors voted for Prajak Yayee, and one councilor abstained.He replaces Jaral Sararak, who was removed from office by Kathu District Chief Khantee…
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Gang rivalry blamed for violent death
WICHIT: Police suspect gang rivalry as the motive behind the killing of a young Thalang man whose body was found riddled with bullets early on Saturday. Pol Lt Col Sompong Boonrat, a Deputy Inspector at the Phuket City Police Station, identified the victim as Pongsakorn “Kho” Naksuk, 24.Pongsakorn was shot several times in the upper arms, head and back with a…
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Daily tsunami warning tests deferred
PHUKET: Testing of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) tsunami warning system, scheduled for this morning, was canceled by the agency out of fear that it could create a public panic in areas where the public had not been adequately informed.Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, who heads the Nonthaburi-based NDWC, told the Gazette this morning that a comprehensive system test will take…
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Eight teenagers nabbed for muggings
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Wednesday rounded up eight teenagers suspected of at least two gunpoint muggings.Police reported that the boys – all aged 16 or 17 – confessed to two attacks, one at Saphan Hin on Tuesday and one at Khao Rang viewpoint on March 29. In both cases, the boys used knives and a homemade short shotgun to…
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Tsunami warning tower daily tests start tomorrow
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has announced that about 9 am each day – starting tomorrow – it will audibly test its 79 tsunami warning towers along the Andaman Coast.NDWC staff hydrologist Jumleang Chutab told the Gazette that the siren towers have been regularly tested since their construction, but only on a “silent” basis.Under the new testing the…
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Dugong dies in illegal trap
PA KHLOK: A 126-kilogram male dugong was found dead in an illegal fish trap in Pa Khlok Bay on Monday.The discovery was reported to the Phuket Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Office (MCRC) by Juroon Rachaphol, a local conservation activist, at 7:30 pm.A 20-strong team of MCRC officers and volunteers were led to the site. They found the animal stuck…
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Water mains fiasco stalls Chalong roadworks
PHUKET: Work on widening Chao Fa West Rd has been further delayed due to a dispute over moving water pipes and the expiration of the contract with the company assigned to carry out the work.The Phuket Provincial Highways Office (PPHO) is still unable to give a completion date for the project, which began in 2005.PPHO Chief Supphasak Nunsang told the…
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Free rabies vaccinations
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) is offering free rabies vaccinations for cats and dogs at Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) offices until April 30.PPLO Veterinarian Veeraphap Termkeitpisan told the Gazette, “We have already vaccinated about 5,000 dogs and cats in the Phuket City, Rawai, Wichit and Chalong this year.”“The last human death from rabies in Phuket was in 1984,” K.…
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Songkran road toll targets set
PHUKET: Phuket officials have declared that they want no more than three deaths, 34 accidents and 53 injuries during the Songkran holiday period from April 11 to 17.Last year’s Songkran holidays, from April 7 to 16, and saw six deaths and 99 accidents, with 96 accident victims requiring hospital care.A meeting to discuss the targets for this year’s Songkran was…
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Marine Department allows late jet-ski registrations
PHUKET: The Marine Department is continuing to accept registration applications for new jet-skis replacing old or broken ones despite the one-month grace period expiring on Saturday. Surin Theerakulpisut, Chief of Phuket Marine Office, which oversees the use and registration of jet-skis on and around Phuket, told the Gazette that the owners of unregistered jet-skis being used in Phuket waters will…
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OrBorJor extends school MoUs
PHUKET: The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements between the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) and seven Phuket schools have been extended for three years, effectively allowing the OrBorJor to continue providing support for the schools through to 2009.The seven schools are Baan Maireab, Kathu Wittaya, Cherng Talay Wittayakom, Muang Phuket, Baan Talad Neua, Thalang Pranangsang and Baan Nabon.OrBorJor President Anchalee…
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Drastic new measures to save Patong
PATONG: Following the overwhelming success of the one-way traffic system that went into effect in Patong in January, local officials will extend the concept to include pedestrian traffic by making Soi Bangla one-way for people traveling on foot.When the new system is brought into effect, currently scheduled for April 15, pedestrian traffic will only be permitted in an easterly direction, i.e.…
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Chalong bomber investigation stalls
CHALONG: After hearing that the police investigation into the November bombing of three houses in Chalong had stalled, Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima ordered police to step up efforts to catch the person or persons responsible.The three homemade bombs, described as “fertilizer bombs”, detonated at about 2:30 am on November 28 on Soi Songkun, about one kilometer off Chao Fa East…
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Russian “sister city’ delegation visits Phuket
PHUKET: Mayor Kolyadin Oleg Genyadierich, Deputy Mayor Serganor Oleg L’voich and other officials from Nakhodka, Phuket’s “sister city” in the Russian Far East, met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanimit and other top provincial officials earlier this week, agreeing to cooperate in a range of areas, including fisheries, education, tourism and sports.Gov Niran visited Nakhodka last September, when the two cities were…
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Rock City co-owner dies after heart attack
PATONG: Swedish national Carl Essler, 47, one of the investors in the popular Rock City nightclub in Patong, died after suffering a heart attack early on Wednesday.He was rushed to Patong Hospital after suffering chest pains in the early hours of the morning and was later pronounced dead.Fredrik Klingvall, Managing Director of Rock City, told the Gazette, “It has come…
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Karon restaurateur kills next-door rival
KARON: Police are on the lookout for Karon restaurateur Suban Pon-iamsaen after eyewitnesses reported that he calmly walked into the kitchen of the Mala Seafood restaurant, next door to his own restaurant on the beach road, and shot dead the owner, Mala Peng-iam, 52.Eyewitnesses reported that Suban carried out the execution at point blank range at about 7 pm yesterday.He…
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Slum dwellers of Phuket unite
PHUKET CITY: About 300 angry villagers representing more than 20 slum communities from around Phuket protested noisily outside Phuket Provincial Hall Thursday morning, demanding that Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit help alleviate their poverty.A protest leader, Supat Nunkhao, from Pla Katak Pattana community on Koh Sireh, told the Gazette that the villagers want the provincial authorities to develop their homes and…
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Vietnamese couple busted with heroin
PATONG: Kathu Police arrested a Vietnamese couple on March 25 for possession of heroin with intent to sell, seizing about 40 grams of the drug.Acting on information provided by an informant, a team of Kathu Police led by Investigations Inspector Lt Col Serm Kwannimit at 3 pm approached a single-room flat on the second floor of an apartment block on…
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Austrian found dead in hotel room
PATONG: An Austrian man was found dead in his hotel room on the afternoon of March 22, an apparent victim of alcohol poisoning. According to the Kathu Police daily log for that day, 38-year-old Dr Werner Jellen was found dead in room 302 of Patong Resort Hotel at 2:30 pm.Pol Lt Col Sophon Borirak reported that there was no evidence…
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7-Eleven robbed at gunpoint
KOH KAEW: A bandit toting a shotgun made off with about 4,900 baht in a robbery on a 7-Eleven in Koh Kaew at about 4 am yesterday.Staff at the mini-mart, located on Thepkrasattri Rd just north of Boat Lagoon, told police that the robber was tall with light-colored skin and was wearing a black jacket and motorcycle helmet. Approaching the…
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Phuket-Penang direct flights to launch April 13
PHUKET CITY: As part of a drive to boost the number of tourists to Malaysia, Malaysian Airlines’ new low-cost carrier Firefly airlines will start daily direct flights between Phuket and Penang beginning April 13. Malaysian Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor discussed the new service at a press conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Thursday. Firefly,…
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Aussie father abducts daughter, arrested in Patong
PATONG: An Australian father who abducted his daughter and demanded 30 million baht from his estranged wife was arrested at his rented apartment on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd at 8 pm last night.Pol Lt Col Yodake Raksasuwan, Inspector at Phuket Immigration Office, told the Gazette that John Justin Goyen Leary, 39, was arrested after police discovered his whereabouts by tracing his…
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Cocaine mules nabbed at airport
PHUKET: Two Peruvian men were arrested at Phuket International Airport on Wednesday with more than two kilograms of cocaine that they were carrying internally.A press release from Somyot Santarvorn, Chief Customs Inspector at Phuket International Airport, reported that Godoy Paz Sadi Mercedes, 29, was found in possession of 91 packets of the cocaine, weighing a total of 882.7 grams.His accomplice,…
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Police box torched
RASSADA: A “temporary” police box installed at the entrance to Pahin Namsai Village, located off Ruam Pattana Rd, has turned out to be very temporary indeed. It was burned to the ground by persons unknown at about 4:30 am on Monday – just one week after it was installed.Lt Col Adul Niraphai, Duty Inspector at Phuket City Police Station, told…
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