News
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More counterfeit goods seized
PATONG: Acting on a tipoff, a Kathu Police special investigation unit on May 16 raided a storeroom at the OTOP Market on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, seizing counterfeit goods valued at an estimated two million baht and arresting a young Burmese woman.Kathu Police Inspector Lt Col Serm Kwannimit, who led the raid at about 5 pm, said a 24-year-old Burmese…
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Mobile phone ban nets six on first day
PHUKET: Up until 5 pm today, the first day of the ban on driving while using a mobile phone without a hands-free set, Phuket Traffic Police fined six motorists.Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Col Chalit Thintanee told the Gazette that three car drivers and two motorcycle riders were fined in Phuket City and one car driver was fined in Thalang.“In Phuket…
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Suspect in Patong 7-Eleven shooting surrenders to police
PATONG: After meeting Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, the prime suspect in the shooting murder of a motorcycle-taxi driver in a 7-Eleven store handed himself in to police on Sunday night.The suspect, Chainart Yuyen, 31, has denied any involvement in the murder.About 2 am on Friday, motorcycle-taxi driver Satien Wongwai, 35, was shot twice in the back and once in the neck with…
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Four more elections to be held in Phuket
PHUKET: With the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) and Phuket City Municipality elections now decided, the Phuket Election Committee (PEC) is gearing up for four more local elections set to take place over the next three monthsIn a meeting with Phuket Governor Niran Kalyanamit on Thursday, PEC Director Supap Akkam said his agency is preparing for elections for the Karon, Patong…
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Jintana Plaza catches fire – again
PATONG: Jintana Plaza on Patong’s beach road caught fire early yesterday morning, causing an estimated one million baht in damage.It’s the third time this year that fire has broken out at the complex.Lt Naruwat Puthawiro said that Kathu Police Station received a call about 3:15 am reporting that a fire had broken out at the plaza.“The fire [reportedly] started about 3:15…
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Violent muggings return to Rawai
RAWAI: A foreign man was shot in the leg and stabbed in the stomach in a motorbike mugging at about 4 am on Monday. His attackers made off with his wallet, containing 300 baht.The attack was reminiscent of the spate of violent muggings that gripped the Rawai-Nai Harn area throughout the low season last year.The man, who asked to be identified only…
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Customs raids net B2.6m in fake goods
PHUKET: In a week of raids starting on May 7, Phuket Customs seized counterfeit and allegedly smuggled goods with a total estimated value of 2.6 million baht.Many of the seized goods were sent to Phuket by parcel delivery services, arriving on the island by bus from Bangkok.Pirated goods seized included music CDs, movie and game CDs and DVDs, D&G shoulder…
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1,267 ya bah pills seized in Mai Khao
MAI KHAO: Following a random vehicle inspection, Tah Chat Chai Police on Sunday night arrested three people for possession of ya bah (methamphetamine) with intent to sell and seized 1,267 pills.The arrests were announced at a press conference held Monday afternoon at Phuket City Police Station.Attending were Phuket Vice-Governor Worapot Rattasima, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch, Phuket…
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Phuket goes on landslide alert
PHUKET CITY: As heavy rains continue to dowse the island, the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) has issued a landslide warning, effective until at least tomorrow.“We have received good feedback from all 18 local administration organizations in Phuket. We have officers on 24-hour standby, manning phones and radios, ready to deal with any problems,”…
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Smart ID cards available again
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit yesterday morning announced that “Smart ID cards” for Thai citizens are now available at Muang District Office – again.The new-style cards, which have a memory chip for storing personal data such as date of birth, physical description and even the holder’s house registration information, became unavailable in January last year when the local office…
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DSI reaches out to scammed rubber investors
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has set up a desk at Phuket City Police Station to accept complaints from victims of an “investment company” thought to have defrauded some 5,000 southerners of more than 150 million baht.Thanin Prempri, head of the DSI Phuket investigation team, told the Gazette that Amorn-ake Petluechai and two associates of his Khon Kaen-based…
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Navy accepting donations for cyclone relief
CAPE PANWA: The Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Command at Cape Panwa is accepting donations of food and equipment to provide emergency relief for victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. Appropriate items for donation include florescent strip lights and fittings, corrugated iron, canvas and tarpaulin for tents, dried and canned food, rice and drinking water. The donations will be taken to…
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Phuket Senators not short of spare change
BANGKOK: Phuket Senator Thanyarat Atchariyachai and her husband K. Pamuke have combined assets totaling just under 1.7 billion baht, according to asset declaration statements posted by the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) on its website on May 8.K. Thanyarat declared assets totaling more than 684 million baht, while her husband K. Pamuke, managing director of the Kata Group, declared assets…
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Phuket City elections on Sunday
PHUKET CITY: Despite intermittent downpours throughout the day, sound trucks carrying political hopefuls plied the streets of Phuket City today in a last-minute bid to drum up support for their candidates in the hotly-contested Phuket City Municipality election to be held on Sunday.The mayoral race pits incumbent Somjai Suwannasuppana of the Khon Noom (Young Turks) party against her former deputy…
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Thai AirAsia sets up Myanmar donation stations
BANGKOK: Thai AirAsia announced this afternoon that it is offering aid to cyclone victims in Myanmar by carrying public donations to Yangon. The airline has set up collection points in all the destinations it flies to, including Phuket. Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of Thai AirAsia, said that the airline wants to make sure that donations such as food, clothing,…
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Ao Phuket project given top-level green light
PHUKET: The government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has given the green light to the Ao Phuket development plan, a 100-billion-baht megaproject on 3,000 rai of reclaimed land that would include a convention center, marina and other facilities. The latest movement in the Ao Phuket plan, first conceived over two decades ago, follows from PM Samak’s assigning responsibility for the…
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Tour guide, 31, dies of “heart attack’
RASSADA: Police have cited heart failure as the probable cause of death of a man found dead in his Rassada apartment on May 2.Phuket City Police duty officer Lt Salan Reedeng said his station was alerted after security staff at Building 3 of the Rassada National Housing Authority apartment complex reported a foul odor coming from a fifth-floor apartment.Arriving about…
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Burmese junta stalls aid workers
BANGKOK (Nation/Agencies): With the death toll estimated at more than 100,000 and even more people stricken homeless by Cyclone Nargis, survivors still await emergency supplies while the United Nations waits for the military junta in Myanmar to allow international workers to start relief operations.Aid officials said they are waiting for the military to approve entry visas. “We are in close…
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Myanmar relief efforts underway
BANGKOK: With the death toll in Myanmar now feared to be more than 100,000, a number of aid organizations have started relief efforts in the hardest-hit areas. World Vision is reporting that it is already providing clothing as well as tarpaulins, blankets, rice and drinking water in the capital, Yangon. As of yesterday, World Vision had delivered 34.8 metric tons…
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Little larvae, powerful performance
KALASIN: Aphrodisiacs and sex aids come in many forms. The Chinese have rhino horns and tiger penis, while Viagra has spread from America to become a worldwide craze allowing a generation of aging lotharios to revisit the prowess they enjoyed in younger days. In Isarn, however, the latest sex-aid craze is neither the body part of an endangered species nor…
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Police chief warns drivers of cellphone ban
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Chief Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch today warned motorists that they have until May 19 to break the habit of talking on a mobile phone without using a hands-free set while driving – or face being fined.Although the new law comes into effect tomorrow, Gen Decha said that local police will not fine motorists for breaking the…
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Eight nabbed in Cherng Talay drug-ring bust
PHUKET: Cherng Talay Police have arrested eight people on drugs charges, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth announced yesterday. Cherng Talay Police arrested Prasit Waharak, 31, from Phang Nga, in possession of ya bah (methamphetamine) in a sting operation at the Bang Tao weekend market, he explained. After questioning Prasit, the officers arrested Thanongsak Phromdech, 32, from Nakhon…
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Construction site extortion gang busted
PATONG: In the latest case of extortion involving Burmese workers, Kathu Police on Saturday afternoon arrested five men posing as government officers in a bid to extort money from a construction company.Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark told the Gazette that Kathu Police were informed of the extortion bid by construction foreman Somyot Chairat, who was overseeing a project off…
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Phuket braces for stormy weather
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) has warned of the risk of landslides, flooding and strong seas in Phuket due to Cyclone Nargis.Myanmar state television earlier today reported that Cyclone Nargis had claimed 21,793 lives and that 40,695 people were missing in Irrawaddy division alone.DDPM-Phuket Chief Chotenarin Kerdsom said that waves have…
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Dead turtle highlights endangered species’ plight
PHUKET (TNA, Gazette): The discovery of a dead Olive Ridley turtle in front of the West Sands Resort on Mai Khao Beach on March 17 has again raised the issue of coastal development depleting endangered turtles’ natural breeding grounds.The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) at Cape Panwa was alerted to the discovery by the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation.Sontaya Manawatthana…
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Coral Reef Squadron red-flagged
PHUKET CITY: The sinking of 10 decommissioned military aircraft – nicknamed the Coral Reef Squadron – to create Thailand’s largest artificial reef has been postponed until November, Tourism Authority of Thailand South Region 4 Office Director Suwalai Pinpradub announced today.Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, K. Suwalai said that the strong winds and large waves that have arrived with…
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Aussie airlifted from Similans
PHUKET CITY: An Australian man is recovering at Vachira Phuket Hospital after being airlifted to Phuket from the Similan Islands by the Royal Thai Navy this afternoon.Rear-Admiral Supot Pruksa of the Third Naval Area Command, based at Cape Panwa, identified the man as Gregory Edwin Orior, 51.The Navy base received an emergency call this morning from the Navy outpost at…
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Investigation launched into “stolen’ tsunami victims’ coffins
PHANG NGA (Kom Chad Luek): Grave robbery has taken on a disturbing new form in Takuapa, where 11 aluminum coffins intended for tsunami victims were recently reported missing from a storage facility at Bang Maruan Cemetery.In mid-April, cemetery manager Nitinai Sornsongkram, who is responsible for inventory of tsunami victims’ remains and government property at the cemetery, noticed that 11 of…
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Hotel owner dies in paramotor accident
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT (The Nation): Suwit Kitkamchai, owner of the Patong Pearl Resortel on Sawasdirak Rd in Patong, died on Wednesday when his paramotor rig plunged into the sea during a test flight off the coast of Nakhon Sri Thammarat. He was 53.The death was reported to Nakhon Sri Thammarat police Inspector Lt Col Boonchern Choosuehung by staff at Maharaj Hospital,…
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Job Fair marks Labor Day
SAPAN HIN: Hundreds of people turned out to apply for jobs yesterday morning at a job fair to mark International Labor Day.The fair was organized by the Governor’s Office and the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office.More than 30 companies sent representatives to meet job seekers, who perused noticeboards advertising more than 1,000 job vacancies in Phuket and Phang Nga.Many of…
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