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Is tap water in Thailand safe to consume?
Wondering if you can drink the tap water in Thailand? From brushing your teeth to filling up a bottle, it’s helpful to understand a few basics. Tap water safety in Thailand varies by location, and while some people use it...
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New company to run city buses
PHUKET: Phuket City’s buses are to be run by a new company after the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) decided not to renew its contract with Andaman Trans Thai, which expired on September 30.The new contractor is Lucky General Transport, though the company will not take over the running of the bus services for two months.In the meantime, the bus…
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Patong night venues threaten protest
PATONG: Sompetch Moosopon, President of the Patong Entertainment Association, today said that owners of Patong entertainment venues will “take action” if their request for an extension to closing times is not granted.“If our request for Patong to be designated a special entertainment area – which will be proposed to Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula and Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont –…
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No Phuket takers for BoI-Sipa tax breaks
BANGKOK: More than a month after the government introduced tax incentives to attract foreign investment to the IT sector, not one Phuket-based company has stepped forward to apply for the privileges.The Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) and the Board of Investment (BoI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on August 24 to grant new IT firms exemption from corporate income tax…
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Phyathai revival to cost around B800m
PHUKET CITY: An estimated 800 million baht will be needed to renovate the abandoned Phyathai Hospital and open it as an annex of Wachira Phuket Hospital, Wachira Phuket director Dr Jessada Chungpaibultatana said today.Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gave the go-ahead for the refurbishment plans – put forward by Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura – during his visit to Phuket on August 25…
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Warning on fireworks during festival
PHUKET CITY: Government and law enforcement officials have warned the public to refrain from using large firecrackers and other explosive devices during the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which starts October 14. Phuket City Police Superintendent Pol Col Paween Pongsirin warned that anyone using dangerous fireworks would be prosecuted. Only low-charge, ceremonial firecrackers in strips will be permitted, he said. Col…
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Tough measures cut road deaths
PHUKET: Measures taken to reduce the number of fatalities on Phuket’s roads appear to have been a success, with just seven people being killed in road accidents on the island in five weeks, compared with the “normal” average of 10-15 a month.Metha Mekarat, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), said the reduction was due to…
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Seized Boonkeng land returned to state
BANGKOK: Four plots of land seized from businessman Boonkeng Srisansuchart in June were yesterday handed over to the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO) by the Anti Money Laundering Office (AMLO) in Bangkok.AMLO confiscated the land – off the bypass road around Panturat Hill – after the Phuket Appeal Court ruled that K. Boonkeng had wrongfully obtained it.AMLO Deputy Secretary Pol…
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The demon seed
NONG KHAI: An elderly man turned himself in to Srivilai District police on the morning of September 4 and shocked officers by confessing to the August 20 murder of his own son. Kane Manorat, 70, left the monkhood after seven years to protect his family from his 38-year-old son Boonpeng, a glue-sniffing addict from the age of 15, whose sick…
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Pongsaklek title defense called off
PHUKET CITY: WBC world flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam’s October 8 title defense against 15th-ranked challenger Carlos Bouchan was called off after the Mexican challenger suffered a training injury.The Asian Boxing Council (ABC), an affiliate of the WBC, has instead organized a non-title fight on the same date, featuring Pongsaklek against Randy Mangubat of the Philippines.On the same fight card, to…
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Immigration clarifies cash requirement rule
PHUKET: Immigration checkpoints nationwide are free to enforce minimum currency requirements on foreigners entering Thailand at their own discretion, a top Immigration official confirmed on Friday.Commenting on the posting of notices at several Immigration checkpoints in the north of Thailand, Pol Col Chalermpong Vadhanasukha, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration Division 3, in Bangkok, said, “[The rule] has been in effect since…
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Huge jump in tourist arrivals
PHUKET: The number of visitors arriving at Phuket International Airport in the year to date is up by 27% on the figure for the same period last year, astonishing and delighting tourism bosses.The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office had predicted that the number of passengers – foreign and Thai – arriving in Phuket would increase by 10% this…
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Jeab murder case lodged with court
PATTAYA: The Provincial Court in Pattaya has renewed bail for Sam Van Treeck, the 24-year-old Belgian man accused of murdering Phuket-based divemaster Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram, 23.Van Treeck’s bail was renewed on Monday (September 20), the same day as the police submitted their case to the court.K. Jeab was found dead on June 25 in Van Treeck’s apartment in Pattaya. She…
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Grumbling Patong closes earlier
PATONG: More than 200 entertainment places in Patong are closing earlier, in the wake of a new order from the Interior Ministry. The order means that many venues that previously could stay open until 2 am now have to close at 1 am, and in some cases, midnight, although the closing time on New Year’s Eve will, as before, be…
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Palad moves up a rank
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s Chief Administrative Officer Visawa Sasismith has moved up one rank in the Thai bureaucracy, being promoted to the position of acting Deputy Governor of Trang province. The appointment is effective October 1, 2004. K. Visawa was one of 32 government officers assigned to serve as acting deputy governors in the latest Interior Ministry reshuffle. No replacement Chief…
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Investigators to urge govt to seize Samsara
PHUKET: The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) will propose that the government seize the land on which the Samsara development is being built after “proving clearly” that it is state land.The proposal will be put before the Committee on State Land at its next meeting on Monday (September 27). The committee is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Gen Thammarak Issarangkul na…
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Eight-year tax holiday for IT companies
PHUKET: A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) and the Board of Investment (BoI) exempts IT companies from company tax for eight years, and enables them to import IT products and services duty-free. The MOU, signed on August 24 by Sipa President Dr Manoo Ordeedolchest and BoI Secretary General Somphong Wanapha, is designed…
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Transvestite performer drinks himself to death
PATONG: Well-known transvestite performer “Nok Cabaret Show” drank himself to death in a rented room above the Twilight Pub on September 18, police say.The 44-year-old performer, whose real name was Jamnien Neuaha of Nakhon Ratchasima, had been employed by the My Way Bar on Soi Paradise, but lost his job about three months ago. After that, he rented a room…
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Fairground developers answer critics
RAWAI: The would-be developers of a controversial British-style “fun fair” on seven rai of seaside land in Rawai expect to hear soon whether the project will be approved and are defending the idea in the face of criticism that it is inappropriate for Phuket. Steve Rutter and his wife Sharon, of Manchester, England, plan to create a small fairground for…
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AirAsia to sell tickets at Tesco
PHUKET CITY: From Phuket to Kuala Lumpur via Tesco-Lotus will become possible from September 28, when Thai AirAsia opens a ticket booth inside the Tesco-Lotus store, off the bypass road.The low-cost airline started selling tickets through five Tesco-Lotus branches in Bangkok on September 16 and plans to extend its sales network to include Tesco stores in Chiang Mai, Haad Yai…
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Senior police in annual reshuffle
PHUKET: Senior police officers from four Phuket police stations have been promoted, with effect from October 1. Two other officers will be moving to take up posts in other stations in the same rank.Pol Lt Gen Somsak Buppasuwan, Surat Thani-based commander of Police Region 8 has announced the promotions and transfers of a total of 27 police officers from Region…
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WBC champ to defend title in Phuket
KARON: WBC world flyweight boxing champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam will defend his title during the 42nd Annual WBC Convention, to be hosted by the Phuket Arcadia Hilton Hotel October 4-9.The fight will take place on October 8 in Karon, though a precise venue has yet to be decided.According to the popular website boxingtalk.net, Pongsaklek’s opponent will be 15th-ranked Carlos Bouchan of…
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Post Office to increase fees
PHUKET: The Thai Post Office will increase the fees for its express mail service (EMS) and for registered mail within Thailand, with effect from Monday. Visal Pongtiwattanakul, the Postmaster of Phuket Post Office, told the Gazette that it has been four years since postal fees have been increased, despite rises in Post Office costs. However, he said, the changes also…
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New Zealander dies in smash
KARON: Terence Wayne Garnett, 41, from New Zealand, died when his motorbike collided with a six-wheel truck outside Karon Municipality offices on Patak Rd early on Thursday morning.Mr Garnett, originally of Palmerston, arrived in Phuket on August 17 for a three-month stay.He was wearing a crash helmet when his motorbike collided with the truck at about 1:30 am, but he…
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Airport Immigration gets more officers
MAI KHAO: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura visited Phuket International Airport yesterday to meet 15 new Immigration Police officers recruited for the start of the high season next month, in response to complaints of long waiting times in the arrival hall.Journalists were told that the airport usually has 15 Immigration Police officers, but that authorities had decided that this was not…
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Phuket to press PM for underpasses
PHUKET CITY: Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong yesterday confirmed that the Phuket Provincial government will continue to pursue the budget required to build two underpasses along the bypass road.“Phuket needs the underpasses,” he told a meeting at Provincial Hall.V/Gov Pongpow’s comments follow the rejection by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during his recent visit to Phuket of an 800-million-baht budget request for the…
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Cabinet to see duty-free zone plan next month
PHUKET: The Customs Department is to present plans to set up a duty-free zone in Phuket to the Cabinet next month.Six companies have expressed an interest in running the zone, which would sell duty-free or reduced-duty goods to tourists.The news came after a meeting yesterday at the governor’s mansion, chaired by the Chief of Customs in Phuket, Surachart Janthawatcharagorn, and…
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Gas blast damages nine homes
WICHIT: A gas explosion yesterday evening wrecked a house in Jomthong Thani housing estate on Kwang Rd and damaged roofs and interiors in eight other houses nearby. Luckily, no one was killed or injured.Pol Maj Yongyuth Krongmalai, of Phuket City Police station, told the Gazette that investigating officers believe gas leaked into the single-story house after the pipe from an LPG…
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AirAsia launches Singapore route with 7.80-baht fare
PHUKET CITY: Thai AirAsia yesterday launched a promotion for flights on its new Singapore-Phuket route by offering 3,000 one-way seats at just 7.80 baht each. The fares do not include airport tax and other fees. Ticket purchases must be made online at www.airasia.com between September 15 and 30 for flights starting on November 5. Once the low-fare tickets are sold out,…
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New lease on life for Lucky Complex?
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has agreed to issue a concession for private company Phamonkij Witsavakram (PW) to refurbish the abandoned Lucky Complex at Saphan Hin and run it as a duty-free plaza for 25 years.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr made the announcement on September 13.However, the agreement is contingent on several key factors, including Customs Department approval…
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Plea for fairness in “spa wars’
PHUKET CITY: The Chairman of the Phuket Spa Business Club (PSBC) has called for spas to work together to train staff rather than poaching employees from one another.Pakin Raktae-Ngam said that poaching was not a problem within the club. But club members, and other smaller spas that are not members, were having problems with spas belonging to large chains, which…
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