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  • Gambling tops crime stats in January | Thaiger

    Gambling tops crime stats in January

    PHUKET: Police statistics for January 1-25 reveal that gambling is still the island’s number one crime, with 147 arrests for the period in 69 cases. This figure is down significantly from the same period last year, however, when 180 arrests were reported. Drug-related offenses were the second most common crime for the period, with 117 arrests in 114 cases. The…

  • Taiwanese tourist drowns | Thaiger

    Taiwanese tourist drowns

    CHALONG: A 56-year-old woman from Taiwan died yesterday after she got into difficulties in the sea off Koh Hey (Coral Island) while on a guided tour. Police named the tourist as Huana Yuying, who arrived in Phuket with several members of her family on Saturday. “The area where the agent took the tourists to swim was not very deep and…

  • Mystery surrounds restaurateur’s death | Thaiger

    Mystery surrounds restaurateur’s death

    RAWAI: Mystery surrounds the death of 38-year-old restaurateur David “Fat Fingers” Jones of Britain, who was found by the side of the Wiset Rd on the evening of February 2, near the Banthai Restaurant, which he ran with his wife Yuwaluk. Pol Capt Anek Mongkol of Chalong Police Station initially told the Gazette that Mr Jones died in a motorcycle…

  • What’s on at the movies? | Thaiger

    What’s on at the movies?

    Get ALL the details – Titles, Summaries, Ratings, Languages and Screening Times – updated DAILY at https://thethaiger.com/movies Avoid disappointment – know before you go!

  • More killed, maimed on roads in 2002 | Thaiger

    More killed, maimed on roads in 2002

    PHUKET TOWN: Statistics show that at least 181 people died on Phuket’s roads in 2002 and another 13,064 people were injured. Of the dead, 161 died in motorcycle accidents and 20 from crashes involving cars. The toll was a considerable increase over 2001, when 148 deaths were recorded, but down on the 189 fatalities listed for 2000. The worst month…

  • Regatta starts at Rai Ley tomorrow | Thaiger

    Regatta starts at Rai Ley tomorrow

    PHANG NGA BAY: Some 30 yachts are expected to set off tomorrow from Rai Ley Beach on the first of three races in the 2003 QBE Phang Nga Bay Regatta. The first leg will take the yachts from Rai Ley to Koh Chong Lat, at the southern end of Koh Yao Yai. On Monday, the second leg will be between…

  • Police complete emergency training | Thaiger

    Police complete emergency training

    PHUKET TOWN: Certificates were handed out this morning to 35 police officers on completion of a three-month course in counter-terrorism, marine rescue, protecting VIPs and handling emergency situations. Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, the Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, told the graduates, “Security is very important. We must improve it all the time because terrorists also improve their ways.” Those…

  • Phuket people vow to battle drugs

    Phuket people vow to battle drugs

    PHUKET TOWN: About 3,500 people gathered this morning at the Provincial Hall on Narisorn Rd and pledged to help eradicate illegal drugs on Phuket. At a mass ceremony starting at 9 am, people from all walks of life, including students, community leaders, members of clubs and associations and owners of entertainment venues, vowed not to become involved with drugs and…

  • Indian Deputy PM to visit Phuket | Thaiger

    Indian Deputy PM to visit Phuket

    PHUKET: India’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Lal Krishna Advani, will spend the weekend in Phuket as a guest of the Thai Government. He and his wife will fly in tomorrow with the Thai Minister of Interior, Wan Muhamad Nor Matha. In the evening they plan to go to Phuket FantaSea. On Sunday, the couple will tour Phang…

  • Gov urges caution over Cambodians | Thaiger

    Gov urges caution over Cambodians

    PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi said today that although Cambodia is a long way from Phuket, residents should be cautious following the burning and looting of the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh on Wednesday night. He added that the authorities will crack down swiftly if there is any kind of disturbance on the island in the wake of the Phnom…

  • Diamond dazzler’s winning ways | Thaiger

    Diamond dazzler’s winning ways

    CHIANG RAI: The owner of seven diamond-eyed cats has refused to sell her precious felines, despite offers as high as 35,000 baht for a kitten. The owner, 53-year-old Suk Namwong, has been breeding cats out of her small mom-and-pop store in Chiang Rai’s Muang district for 20 years. But she had never seen anything quite like Jao Yok, a regal,…

  • In vino stupiditas | Thaiger

    In vino stupiditas

    BANGKOK: Most drunks will stop imbibing when they have spent their last baht on the devil’s brew, but not 41-year-old Kiat Sommee. Kiat was out drinking with friends one day when he ran out of cash. A bank, he reasoned, is a place where a lot of money is kept. There was only one possible course of action, so Kiat…

  • Governor to lead the war on drugs | Thaiger

    Governor to lead the war on drugs

    PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi plans to devote the next three months to personally leading the fight against illegal drugs. His pledge, announced today, follows a promise by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to obliterate the illegal drug trade in Thailand within three months, starting from February 1. At the regular meeting of senior officials at Phuket Provincial Hall this…

  • Chinese New Year a blessing for hotels | Thaiger

    Chinese New Year a blessing for hotels

    PHUKET: The island’s hotels are enjoying a surge in occupancy rates with many ethnic Chinese flying in from around the region to celebrate the advent of the Year of the Goat on February 1. Phuket Town hotels are nearly full, both with Asian and Western visitors, said Napasorn Kakai, Deputy Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Region 4 office.…

  • Police hunt food vendor’s killer | Thaiger

    Police hunt food vendor’s killer

    PHUKET TOWN: Police believe a love triangle led to the murder of a fried sausage vendor who was found stabbed to death beside his cart on Tuesday morning. Nearby residents discovered the body of Sritanonchai Kornsopa, 30, about 8 am at Kuan Din Dang-Samkong Rd in Moo 6, Rassada. Investigating officers later determined he had been dead for about six…

  • “Foreigners grabbing Thai jobs’: Karon Mayor | Thaiger

    “Foreigners grabbing Thai jobs’: Karon Mayor

    KARON: The Mayor of Karon Municipality has lodged a complaint with Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi that foreigners in the Karon area are “grabbing” jobs that Thais can do, and has urged the authorities to be more thorough about checking work permits and other licenses. The Mayor, Tawee Thongcham, told the Gazette that the Governor went to Karon on Saturday as…

  • War on drugs begins soon | Thaiger

    War on drugs begins soon

    PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s part in a national plan to obliterate illegal drugs within three months will be revealed when Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi speaks on the topic on Friday. Police will have drug control as part of their duties, even if they are assigned to traffic, administration or management, said Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police…

  • Purachai aiming to cut prison population | Thaiger

    Purachai aiming to cut prison population

    PHUKET TOWN: More prisoners are likely to be freed on probation to reduce the problem of overcrowding at Phuket Provincial Prison. The announcement was made today by visiting Justice Minister Purachai Piemsomboon. “The prison in Phuket is very old,” he said. “The number of prisoners is increasing but the budget and the number of prison officers is not. “Phuket [Prison]…

  • Phuket buys more water from golf course | Thaiger

    Phuket buys more water from golf course

    KATHU: Phuket Provincial Waterworks has signed a 600-million-baht contract to buy water from MBK Properties and Development Co, owner of the supply source, a tin mine at Loch Palm Golf Course in Kathu. The agreement is intended to ensure there is sufficient water supply throughout the January-April dry season. Phuket Waterworks has estimated water demand of 3 million cubic meters…

  • Billions of Baht for Phuket | Thaiger

    Billions of Baht for Phuket

    PHUKET: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dealt a major blow to the Democrat Party yesterday, announcing a multi-billion-baht plan to turn Phuket into the country’s biggest economic and tourism hub over the next five years. The premier has pledged that more than 100 billion baht would be invested in the development program over the next 5-6 years. The Thai Rak Thai…

  • Parties slug it out over Phuket billboards | Thaiger

    Parties slug it out over Phuket billboards

    PHUKET TOWN: Accusations are flying across the political divide in a slinging match that broke out on the eve of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s party congress in Phuket this weekend. With more than 300 Thai Rak Thai (TRT) MPs gathering from today in the heartland of the opposition Democrat Party, billboards began appearing around the island about three weeks ago,…

  • Cough syrup the new menace | Thaiger

    Cough syrup the new menace

    PHUKET TOWN: Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyurapan chaired a crisis meeting in Phuket today to plan action to stem the rising misuse of cough syrup among Thailand’s young people. Among the 120 provincial officers who met at Royal Phuket City Hotel were Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi, Public Health officers from the 14 southern provinces and others from as far…

  • Quake tremors rattle Phuket | Thaiger

    Quake tremors rattle Phuket

    PHUKET: Tremors from a distant earthquake caused anxiety in tall buildings in Patong and triggered a stampede to evacuate the Phuket Vocational College at Saphan Hin, Phuket Town, today. The six buildings at the college shook for almost a minute, with students running downstairs to gather outside. One student, Kittipong Jarusatorn, said later, “Someone shouted, ‘Get out of the building,…

  • Islanders win top ecotourism prize

    Islanders win top ecotourism prize

    PHANG NGA: An ecotourism strategy devised by the residents of Koh Yao Noi, off Phuket, has won a prestigious World Legacy Award, which will be presented later on today in Washington DC by Queen Noor of Jordan. The award, one of only three throughout the world for 2002, will be presented on Wednesday in the US capital to Jaranya Deangnoy,…

  • Coral reef bombers still at large | Thaiger

    Coral reef bombers still at large

    KOH LANTA: The coral on two undersea mountain reefs, blasted more than a year ago by fishermen using illegal explosives, has grown back and marine life has returned, authorities say. But the vessels that inflicted the damage have not been identified despite photographic evidence showing at least one boat in the area at the time. The diving community along the…

  • Blaze leaves seven homeless | Thaiger

    Blaze leaves seven homeless

    PHUKET TOWN: A fire in a two-story shophouse on Phuket Rd this morning caused about 2 million baht baht damage and left seven people homeless. Firefighters took 45 minutes to extinguish the blaze while officers from Phuket Town Police Station redirected traffic at the nearby intersection with Ong Sim Phai Rd. Buildings on either side of the fire sustained minor…

  • Kathu Police announce “Foreign Friends” project | Thaiger

    Kathu Police announce “Foreign Friends” project

    KATHU: Region 8 Police Chief Pol Lt Gen Pichai Soontornsajabool and the Kathu Police Department have jointly announced a new project to help foreigners in the Patong area. The project name, roughly translated, is “Good Foreign Friends”. Kathu Police Superintendent Chalit Thintanee told the Gazette, “The police want to establish links with groups of long-stay tourists and business people. We…

  • Murder suspect on the run | Thaiger

    Murder suspect on the run

    PHUKET TOWN: Police are hunting for a Cambodian fisherman known only as Yao after the body of his friend, workmate and fellow countryman was found stabbed to death on board a fishing boat in the Rassada Port area yesterday. Officers arrived at the fishing vessel Sor Chanachol 444 after receiving a call at 1 pm, said Pol Capt Passakorn Sontikul…

  • Officials examine traffic jam problem | Thaiger

    Officials examine traffic jam problem

    PHUKET TOWN: Residents along Chao Fa West and Chao Fa East Rds have asked local authorities to solve traffic jam problems. Busy “talat nut” markets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are being blamed for delays that affect local and through traffic. Wises Sabaijit, Palad of Wichit Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) met residents at the weekend and said later that the…

  • MP pushes for greater unionization | Thaiger

    MP pushes for greater unionization

    PHUKET TOWN: The Chairman of Thailand’s Parliamentary Committee on Labor, Khon Kaen MP Premsak Pearyura, was in Phuket again yesterday, and once again found himself in the middle of controversy. In September last year K. Premsak hit the limelight for remarks he made at a seminar on work permits for foreigners. “Most of the foreigners [in Thailand] are small investors…