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Politician Hiran dies of cancer
PHUKET: Hiran Thepsiri-amnuoy, who stood for election as a Thai Rak Thai (TRT) candidate in the parliamentary elections at the beginning of this year, died on Friday of intestinal cancer. K. Hiran, 50, was the owner of the Mook Kohkaew souvenir shop and was chairman of Vichit Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) for four years before stepping down in order to…
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Gov calls closed meeting on tourism
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday called a closed meeting of high-ranking officials to discuss potential problems for Phuket arising out of the conflict in Afghanistan. At the meeting were district chiefs and senior officers from the Phuket Immigration Office, the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, the Tourist Police, the local branch of the Tourism Authority of Thailand,…
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Srisaket wins DTAC soccer tourney
PHUKET TOWN: The superior teamwork of Srisaket’s provincial soccer team won them the 1st DTAC Super League Cup Tao Thep Invitational tournament on Sunday with a 4-3 victory in the final over Chiang Mai. The final, at Surakul Stadium, proved entertaining despite heavy rain. Within minutes of the opening whistle, Srisaket were awarded a penalty. Chayanon Rungsantee missed, but made…
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Entertainment zones to be fixed this month
PHUKET: Details of entertainment zones across the country should be finalized by the end of this month, Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksan said yesterday. He added that some zones may be allowed to open as late as 4 am. In an interview broadcast on Phuket’s 95FM radio station last night, K. Pongpol also stressed that it is government policy to…
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Protestors demand park fee review
PHUKET: Two hundred protestors descended on a high-level government tourism workshop this morning to demand a review of the entrance fees for Phang Nga Bay National Park. The protesters included members of the Phuket Eco-Tourism Association (PETA) and Phang Nga residents whose livelihood depends on tourists visiting the park. The protestors’ demand was aimed at Plodprasop Suraswadi, the Director-General of…
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Chef Ronnie does it again
BANGKOK: Chef Ronnie Macuja of the Phuket Cabana’s Sala Bua restaurant has scored a second huge victory in the New Asia Cuisine competition, once again beating top chefs from Bangkok in the contest, one of the highlights of the Asian Food & Catering Fair at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center. Chef Ronnie was the surprise winner in last…
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Deputy PM slams tourism greed
CHALONG: Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksarn today voiced concern over local attitudes that he said threaten to damage tourism. Speaking before leaving on an inspection tour of the Phi Phi islands, he said, “I wanted to go to Phi Phi because we’ve been advertising it a lot, but once tourists get there they are disappointed. “Patong is the same,” he…
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Boatman arrested for killing tourist in Krabi
KRABI: Police arrested a suspect this morning in connection with the murder of the 21-year-old German student, Cao Ghu, who disappeared Monday morning and was found floating face-down in the sea near Koh Gai two days later. Cao Ghu, who was Vietnamese by descent, was an Asian Culture major at Bonn University. She was visiting Thailand for the fourth time…
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German fugitive arrested
PATTAYA (AFP): A German fugitive wanted on sex procurement charges in his home country faces deportation from Thailand after his arrest at a seaside resort today. Oliver Jürgen Hesse, 33, was arrested at his condominium in Pattaya after Thai police acted on an international warrant issued in Berlin, police said. Pol Lt Gen Chat Kuldilok said Hesse and his Thai…
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Phuket ranks 2nd in Thai HIV stats
PHUKET: Phuket now has the second-highest rate of HIV infection in Thailand, Dr Jessada Chaikhunnarath, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, has told the Gazette. Only Chiang Rai has a higher rate. The infection rate in Phuket over the past 12 years was approximately six times the national average. In 1989, the last time national HIV statistics were…
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Third Fleet gets new commander
TAB LAMU: The outgoing Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet (RTN3F), V/Adm Sathirapan Keyanon, this morning handed over command to his successor, V/Admiral Pairoj Theerachai, formerly a Deputy Chief Staff Officer. The hand-over took place at a military ceremony aboard the guided missile frigate HTMS Kraburi, docked at the Royal Thai Navy’s shore base at Tab…
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Star Aid raises B1.55m for charity
CHERNG TALAY: The StarAid gala dinner at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket on Saturday evening raised just under 1.55 million baht for charity, an increase of more than 400,000 baht on last year’s event. All 510 seats for the dinner were sold out as Phuket’s socialites shelled out 1,250 baht a head for tickets and more for raffle tickets and…
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Deputy PM to open Chalong Pier
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksarn is to attend the official opening ceremony of the Chalong Pier on Friday. After that event, which gets under way at 10 am, K. Pongpol and his entourage will board a Fisheries Department boat for an inspection trip to the Phi Phi Islands. At 8:30 pm, the party will begin a tour of Patong…
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Concessionary park fees scheme extended
PHUKET: The Parliamentary Tourism Committee has decided to extend the concessionary scheme on national park entry charges for tour and dive operators. Deputy Minister Prapat Panyachatirak, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives said at a meeting of the committee that he will set up a sub-committee to study the problem of entry fees and that in the meantime…
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Police crack mobile phone racket
PHUKET TOWN: Nine people were arrested yesterday in a series of raids by police from Phuket and Bangkok on people offering cheap phone calls. The raids on the phone call kiosks – small tables offering calls to anywhere in Thailand for 2 baht a minute – were part of a joint taskforce operation to crack a criminal ring using forged…
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Officials ordered to save energy
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has ordered government officers to save energy, as a way to anticipate economic problems that may follow on from the terrorist outrages in the United States and the inevitable retaliation. Gov Pongpayome was relaying the new policy from Interior Minister Purachai Piemsombun. The aim is to save energy, especially electricity. The target of…
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Bosses urged to register foreign labor
PHUKET: Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi called yesterday for employers to register their foreign laborers at the Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO). His appeal came after the ESO said that it estimated that 4,000 Burmese, Laotians and Cambodians working in Phuket had still not been registered. Speaking at the monthly meeting of senior provincial officials yesterday, Gov Pongpayome said, “I’m worried about…
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TT&T to share TOT’s lower long-distance charge
PHUKET: From October 1, Thai Telephone and Telecommunication (TT&T) subscribers will be able to use the Telephone Organization of Thailand’s (TOT) discounted long-distance service – Y-Tel 1234. The TOT announcement comes after management met last Friday and decided that customers of both TT&T and Bangkok-based TelecomAsia Corp will be able share the service. Somkiat Lorprasertchai, Manager of the TOT Phuket…
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Gay cook suicides over missing fiancé
PHUKET TOWN: In the third suicide reported in Phuket within a week, heartbroken Jitpanu Pattana-anusorn, a 26-year-old cook at the Boonlert Beer Garden on Chana Charoen Rd, committed suicide on Tuesday because, police surmised, he had been abandoned by his gay lover. Pol Capt Anukul Nookate of the Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that he received a call…
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Medium found hanged in monk’s hut
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a medium, who used to give people numbers for upcoming illegal lotteries, was discovered hanging in an abandoned monk’s hut behind Wat Lang San on Damrong Rd on Sunday. Pol Capt Pin Inmark, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the man, who had been identified as 41-year-old Boonroat Suwandee, had been dead…
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New Vice-Governors named
PHUKET: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced the names of Phuket’s three new Vice-Governors, who will take up their positions on October 1. They are Vinai Buapradith, currently a vice-governor of Ranong; Manit Watanasen, now a vice-governor of Phang Nga; and Niran Kalayanamit, a Director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for the…
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Woman dies in bizarre suicide
PHUKET TOWN: In a bizarre suicide, a woman who was having money problems killed herself on Thursday by drinking a bottle of dishwashing liquid. The husband of Pattama Maneesri, 44, came home in the afternoon to find her lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of her home on Wichit Songkhram Rd. She was still holding the empty dishwashing liquid bottle,…
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Ten monks held in drug bust
BANGKOK (AFP): Five Thai monks have been defrocked after confessing to using methamphetamines (‘ya bah’), while another five caught in a drug raid also face being ousted from religious life, police said this morning. Acting on a complaint from local worshippers, police yesterday carried out urine tests on 26 monks living at a temple in the central province of Ratchaburi.…
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Thai Muslim patriarch slams terrorists
BANGKOK (AFP): The spiritual leader of Thailand’s Muslims, Sawas Sumalyasak, today expressed his support for an international alliance against terrorism, saying the perpetrators of the outrages of September 11 were “destroyers of religion”. Sawas, the head of the Central Islamic Committee of Thailand, said plans by the United States to launch military action to avenge the attacks on New York…
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Loch Palm set for championship finals
KATHU: Surin Bumrungpon scored 67 off a handicap of 4 to win the third and final round of the Loch Palm Golf Club Championship preliminaries, which was held at the club on Saturday. Manoon Ouanpokhlang won Flight A with his score of 69 points off a 12 handicap, beating Blair Speers’ score of 70 points (10) and Dr Kitthipat Pongpet’s…
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Muslim leaders criticize attacks on US
PHUKET TOWN: The leaders of the Muslim community in Phuket today criticized the terrorist attacks on the United States and voiced their hope for continued peace in the world. Speaking at an assembly of senior Muslim figures at the ST Hotel, Manot Phanchalard, secretary of the Islamic Committee of Phuket, said, “Muslims in Phuket do not agree with what happened…
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Urgent debate over national park fees
BANGKOK: With the concessionary scheme on national park entry charges for tour and dive operators about to come to an end, operators around the country have urged the Royal Forestry Department (RFD) to reconsider the full fees, which they regard as being too high. On October 1 last year the RFD introduced new park entry fees for foreigners: 200 baht…
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Maldivian wins Kata surfing contest
KATA: Hussain Areef of the Maldives won the shortboard division of the third annual Quiksilver Phuket Surfing Contest, held at Kata Yai Beach at the weekend. Areef outscored 47 other competitors from all over the world. Briton Lee Dowse came second while another Maldivian, Mohamed Fayaz, came third. Local surfing prodigy, 12-year-old Simon de Maria, who has competed in the…
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Crackdown on students in Internet shops
PHUKET TOWN: The owners of 25 Internet shops have agreed to impose greater controls on youngsters using their facilities, Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said today. Speaking at a meeting with the press, he explained that police had received complaints from parents that their children were spending too much time playing computer games in the…
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Phuket worries about effects of US horror
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has ordered local officials to report to him any effects on tourism arising from Tuesday’s horrific events in the United States. “I think there may be some effect on tourism in Phuket during the coming high season,” he told the Gazette, “because some people may feel uncomfortable about traveling abroad.” He said that…
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