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10 shocking ways you're destroying your lungs every day
Today is Lung Health Day, the perfect reminder to pay attention to your respiratory system, an often-overlooked but essential part of your overall well-being. While we’re all aware that smoking is bad for our lungs, there are many less obvious...
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Ten arrested in raid on karaoke club
PHUKET TOWN: Police and Immigration officers raided the Love Karaoke club on Poonpol Rd on Tuesday and arrested two Burmese and three Laotian waitresses found to be in Thailand illegally. The also arrested five Hill Tribe women, also working as waitresses, for working outside the border control area. The 10 waitresses ranged in age from 14 to 22.
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Tong murder trial adjourned until September
PHUKET TOWN: A new prosecutor in the Danis Wayne Tong murder trial this morning asked for an adjournment in order to change the prosecution strategy. The new prosecutor, Jumronsilp Wongintra, said that he believed that the prosecution witness called for this morning’s hearing should not be heard until all other witnesses have first testified. Judge Patchara Panichawara, allowing the postponement,…
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Students in protest over electric shock victims
PHUKET TOWN: About 50 students from Rajabhat Institute yesterday gathered outside the offices of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to present a petition to the authority following the hospitalisation of three fellow-students with the effects of electric shock. (See story below.) The protest group, led by Somkit Leunrung, was told by Seree Lakaphunt of the PEA that an investigation would…
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Police arrest four on yaba charges
PATONG: In their ongoing drive to crack down on sales of amphetamines (yaba) police arrested a 19-year-old man at a house in Soi Nanai 2 after undercover officers bought drugs from him. After arresting him, police found 19 yaba pills in his shoes. At the police station, he confessed that he sold Yaba for a long time, though this was…
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Three hospitalised after electric shocks
PHUKET TOWN: Three young women are in stable condition in Wachira Hospital after accidentally receiving electric shocks last weekend. The three, Supanee Homrotkra, 22, Sakaoduan Sokdej, 21, and Kanya Tongdee, 21, all students at Rajabhat Institute, received electric shocks while visiting a friend in her apartment at the PT apartment complex on Trepkrastree Road. The three were on a balcony,…
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Dead man identified
PHUKET: Police have identified the body of a man found floating on Tritrang Beach last Monday. He was named as Chalermpon Janyaporn, 37, who slipped on the rocks and disappeared while on a fishing trip with three friends last weekend. The body was sent to Patong Hospital for autopsy.
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Patong car bomb puts three in hospital
PATONG: A gold shop owner, his wife and an employee were hurt yesterday afternoon when a home-made car bomb exploded after they got into their vehicle. The bomb exploded after Somkiet Sopark, 32, his wife Hongsuda, 43, and employee Sirinapa Kaopho-ngam got into the car outside the Soparks’ gold shop and residence at 18 Sirirat Road, Patong. The bomb, which…
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Two youths arrested for possession of ya bah
PHUKET TOWN: Two teenagers were arrested this morning for possession of amphetamines ( ya bah). Muang district police officers detained the two young men, aged 15 and 17, after an undercover operation at a popular snooker hall. The suspects tried to flee on a motorcycle, but were stopped and searched. They were found to be in possession of nine tablets…
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Penguins storm to 51-0 victory in Phuket Rugby 7s
PHUKET TOWN: Like one of the tropical squalls that swept the Saphan Hin field from time to time during the second and last day of the Singha Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament, the Penguins RFC side – representing England – swept all before them, burying Germany under wave after wave of attacks to rack up a final score of 51-0.…
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England favorites in Phuket 7s; Thailand strong
PHUKET TOWN: Penguin International RFC, representing England, look firm favorites to win the Singha Phuket International Rugby Sevens after the first day of the two-day tournament. On a wet and windy pitch, the Penguins trounced Malaysia 37-0 and thrashed Hong Kong 50-0 to come out top of Pool A. Hong Kong came in second in the pool by beating Malaysia…
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Eight arrested for selling copy watches
PATONG: Authorities confiscated nearly 2,000 fake watches with a street value of more than 5 million baht from two shops, and arrested five men and three women, aged 18 to 41, on charges of violating the Trademark Act of 1991. Pol Maj Gen Teerajitr Uttama, deputy director of the Bangkok-based Center for Intellectual Property and Copyright Violation Control, and Pol…
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Hong Kong RFC romp to victory in Phuket Tens
PHUKET TOWN: The Hong Kong RFC proved too strong for the competition in the Phuket Rugby Tens today at the island’s Surakul Stadium. They thrashed their nearest rivals, the Kuala Lumpur Dogs, 35-0 in the final of the six-team competition. Team captain Katie O’Connor, asked how the team had enjoyed the tournament, replied incomprehensibly: “We had a fine tournament despite…
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Police find hundreds of stolen Buddhist artifacts
BANGKOK, June 30 (AFP): Three Thais have been detained following the discovery of hundreds of Buddhist artifacts, some more than 700 years old, hidden in a pond and bushes around their house, police said this afternoon. Sunthorn Sowapee and his son and daugther were detained Monday after police and Fine Arts Department officials found 341 antique pieces near his house…
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Bangkok airport to close one runway
BANGKOK, June 29 (AFP): The Airports Authority of Thailand (AAT) announced this afternoon that it will close down Bangkok international airport’s west runway for maintenance for four months. The repairs to the 3.8 kilometer (2.3 mile) runway are to cost 420 million baht (11.4 million US dollars) and are scheduled to be completed in February 2000, the AAT said. The…
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Province plans census of forest dwellers
PHUKET: The Provincial Forestry Office is to take a census in forest land occupied for decades by squatters, most of them engaged in market gardening. The census is part of a nationwide exercise aimed at finding out just how many people are living in publicly-owned forests, and issuing them with papers that will legitimize their occupation of the land, though…
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Nabbed robbing Robinson’s
PHUKET TOWN: A Thai man in the process of robbing Robinson’s department store was apprehended after security guards found his shoes in the bathroom. The man was caught red-handed [and barefooted] trying to steal watches, mobile phones, and pagers in the early hours of the morning last Sunday. After hiding in the men’s toilet until the store closed, the thief…
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Krabi Airport set to open on July 10
KRABI: The new Krabi Airport will open on July 10, a spokesman for the Department of Aviation said on Friday. The opening ceremony will “probably” be performed by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, though this has yet to be confirmed. The spokesman confirmed that four airlines are preparing to provide scheduled services to the new airport. Starting July 11, THAI will…
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Police open rice shop to help poor officers
PHUKET: Police in Phuket have gone into the rice business as a way for impoverished officers and their families to supplement their income. Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, superintendent of the Phuket Town Police Station, and his deputy, Pol Lt Col Samarn Chainarong, came up with the idea after seeing how Bangkok Police had successfully allowed officers in the capital to…
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Taiwanese tourist drowns at Hey Island
PHUKET: Mr Lin Ching Shiung, 52, a Taiwanese visiting Phuket with his wife, drowned on Tuesday while swimming at Hey Island. He became the fifth tourist to drown in Phuket waters in the past two weeks. Mr Lin was on a day trip to the island, 30 minutes southeast of Chalong, with a tour group. Weather conditions were said to…
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Phuket Rugby Sevens: On schedule for kick-off
PHUKET: Final preparations at the Sapan Hin stadium are being made as the Singha Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament draws near. When the July 3-4 event kicks off, the stadium will be fully ready, organizers say. Flags of the 12 nations taking part will be fluttering, six at each end of the field. Four temporary changing rooms with 20 showers,…
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Government to consider rise in electricity charges
BANGKOK: The Thai Cabinet is to consider a proposal from the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to raise electricity prices as an alternative to pushing through a contentious privatization plan. The proposal from EGAT is that electricity prices should be increased by 8.51 satang per unit as a way to wipe out EGAT’s 250 billion baht debt. The privatization…
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Cool coop for traffic cops
PHUKET TOWN: Police monitoring traffic congestion at the intersection of Thepkrassatri Rd and Thung Kha Rd can now be a great deal more comfortable, thanks to a new air-conditioned police box. The box is a gift to the town from Bangkok-based Sangmit Electric Co, who manufacture it. It was presented to the mayor of Phuket Municipality, Phumisak Hongyok, on Friday.…
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Three arrested for trafficking in ya bah
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided two houses on Friday and Saturday and arrested three Thais for trafficking in amphetamines (ya bah). They also seized 278 tablets of the drug. On Friday evening, after undercover officers had bought 10 tablets from a house on Soi 4, Surin Rd, police returned with a search warrant. They found 98 ya bah tablets and arrested…
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Phuket residents in tantalum rush
PHUKET TOWN: Dozens of Phuket residents have been digging recently along the left bank of the cape at Saphan Hin, in a frantic search for the metal tantalum. The scene, reminiscent of a gold rush, was sparked by an ex-miner, Khun Vichian Sonlarp, who found tantalum along the shoreline just over two weeks ago. Diggers have been finding an average…
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Police seek identity of dead youth
PHUKET TOWN: Police are trying to identify a young man killed in a motorbike crash early yesterday (June 17) on Sakdidej Road. Witnesses say the man was riding fast and failed to negotiate a curve, crashing into an electricity pole. He died instantly. The police told the Gazette the dead youth was between 18 and 22 years old, wearing a…
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Gasoline smugglers arrested
PHUKET: The skipper and four crewmen of a boat smuggling gasoline into Thailand were arrested yesterday near Ardung Island in Satun Province, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Phuket Marine Police. Pol Maj Gen Mongkol Kamolbuth, Bangkok-based Deputy Commissioner of the Marine Police, said 70,000 liters of fuel was found on board the Kaewmanee Nava 2, which was stopped…
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Fisherman gather in mass protest
PHUKET TOWN: A large group of the fishermen who operate in Phang Nga Bay gathered yesterday at Saphan Hin to protest against nocturnal fishing for anchovy. The 200 fishermen paraded in Phuket Town, handing out leaflets demanding an end to the practice, which uses electric lights. They argue that stocks of anchovy and other marine life have been severely depleted…
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Fantasea offering tours from Bangkok
KAMALA: Phuket Fantasea is casting its net wider in a bid to bring in more visitors, by offering a special coach tour from Bangkok. Starting June 18, the weekly “Fantasea Tour” will leave Bangkok every Friday evening, arriving in Phuket the following morning. Passengers will be taken on a tour of Phuket, ending up at Fantasea for a buffet dinner…
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Swedish tourist drowns at Karon Beach
KARON: A Swedish woman, Ms Milada Grahovag, drowned yesterday in front of the Golden Sands Hotel on Karon Beach, on the second day of her holiday in Thailand. She was the third tourist to drown in the seas off Phuket this week. Her companion, Milegic Milorad, also from Sweden, told police that Ms Grahovag, 25, had been swimming for about…
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Police nab American accused of race killing
BANGKOK, June 10 (AFP) – Thai police detained an American man accused of a racist killing in the United States after the FBI issued an arrest warrant, officials said yesterday. Immigration police Colonel Wisanu Muangpraesri said officers arrested Matthew Robert Stedman, 27, at a Bangkok apartment on Wednesday after he entered the country using a British passport. “The US embassy…
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