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Prawn farm owner arrested
PHUKET TOWN: The owner of the Wachara Prawn Farm in Pa Khlok, Somsak Wongsawanond, 36, from Songkhla, reported to police in Phuket Town Police Station last night after a warrant was issued for his arrest on one charge of illegal possession of a weapon and another of discharging a weapon in a public area. The warrant was issued last week…
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Frightened villagers meet Minister
PHUKET AIRPORT: Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Banyat Banthadtan was today scheduled to meet with villagers from Pa Khlok to listen to their views about the recent assassination of environmental activist Jurin Rachapol. The meeting was arranged to allow the villagers to make an official request to K. Banyat – whose ministry is in charge of Thailand’s police –…
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Governor goes into cyberspace
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Pongpayome Vasaputi, now has his own email address for people who wish to make suggestions to him. He has also launched the provincial government’s new website at https://www.phuket.go.th, in line with a Ministry of Interior policy to have every province set up a presence on the Internet. The website, which is currently in Thai only…
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Dry season for Phuket Island Lager
PHUKET: Lovers of Phuket Island Lager will have to exercise some restraint over the coming week; distributors are being rationed after an unforeseen surge in sales resulted in demand outstripping supply. “We’re not completely out of stock, but we can’t match demand,” said Ekaraj Intravisit, general manager of Phuket Island Trading Co. “If a customer wants 10 boxes of beer,…
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Pattaya firm takes over Phuket radio station
PHUKET: The end of a four-year contract has seen Pattaya-based Sunshine Radio win the rights to run the local government radio station, 101.5 FM Phuket. Sunshine Radio won the contract direct from the Phuket branch of the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand (MCOT) in Bangkok. The amount of the winning bid was not announced. “Previously, the contracts were won on…
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Governor urges swift action on murder
PA KLOCK: Phuket Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi this morning visited the site where environmental activist Jurin Rachapol was shot dead yesterday. He urged the Thalang police to find the gunman quickly and to conduct their investigation as fairly and thoroughly as possible. Gov Pongpayome was accompanied on his visit by Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, Commander of the Phuket Provincial…
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Environmental activist shot dead
PA KLOK: Environmental activist Jurin Rachapol, 50, was shot dead this morning while out collecting cashew nut leaves for salad. Pol Capt Anan Jengjit of Thalang Police Station said that K. Jurin went into the forest around 9 am with his wife. He was shot three times; two bullets hit his left shoulder while the third hit his head, killing…
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IBAP elects first general committee
PHUKET TOWN: Members of the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) elected the organization’s first general committee at a meeting at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Friday. They also adopted its constitution. The new committee is headed by Chairman Satit Viddhayakorn, managing director of Bangkok Phuket Hospital. Oraual Paethong, manager for South Thailand of Pacific Leisure (Thailand) Ltd was…
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Nationalists: Soros not welcome in Thailand
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand will not be putting out the welcome mat for international financier George Soros when he fronts up here next week, say angry nationalists who accuse him of sabotaging the Thai economy. “Our foreign ministry should bar entry to a man who has hurt 60 million Thais, and turned Thailand into one of the United States of America,”…
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Police raid law-breaking pubs
PHUKET TOWN: Police launched a series of raids in the early hours of yesterday morning, targeting establishments known for ignoring opening and licensing laws. The raids resulted in seven establishments being caught flouting the law. Kung Ja Restaurant and Nam Fon Karaoke were charged with staying open after the 3 am closing time. Establishments charged with operating without a license…
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Six tourists arrested for drugs at “rave’
KANCHANABURI (AFP): Six foreign tourists have been arrested on drugs charges after a raid on a “Black Moon” party at a campsite in this western province, police said today. More than 100 backpackers were netted in the crackdown on an all-night “rave” at a local holiday spot. Police swooped on the site early on Thursday, seizing ecstasy pills and marijuana.…
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Bag-snatchers have a busy week
PHUKET: Motorbike-riding bag-snatchers have been busy over the past week, police report, with two or three cases a day, all in the same area south of Phuket Town. “Most of the thefts took place on Chao Fa Nok Rd, Chao Fa Nai Rd, Kwang Rd, or Sakdidet Rd,” said an undercover policeman who asked not to be named. “They work…
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Thief steals 500,000 baht while victims sleep
PHUKET TOWN: A well-known Ranong fishing raft owner and his wife lost close to 500,000 baht in the early hours of Tuesday morning when a thief stole into the Phuket Town hotel room where they slept. Pol Lt Khaneung Pitakkullatorn of Phuket Town Police Station said that the victims, 39-year-old Apirak Sornsom and his wife, were staying at the Phuket…
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62 election results thrown out
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s Election Commission today threw out poll results in 62 constituencies where the winning candidates were accused of cheating in the January 6 national elections. Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai party earned more than half the disqualifications, with five of its candidates being found guilty of corruption and 27 others being handed warnings over graft allegations. The Democrats,…
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Bar owner rounds up turtle hatchlings
BANG TAO: Local bar owner Tony Somrak discovered 95 Olive Ridley hatchling turtles on the beach in front of the Banyan Tree Resort late last night. “This is the first time that I’ve seen turtles hatch,” Tony told the Gazette, “and it was only because we had a small family picnic on the beach last night. When I went back…
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Chuan to open major seminar in Phuket
PHUKET: Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai will open the 18th National Chamber of Commerce Seminar, which will take place in Phuket on February 3 and 4, hosted jointly by the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC). The seminar, which is expected to draw about 150 participants representing chambers of commerce from across Thailand, will begin at 8:30…
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Urgent call for B negative blood
PHUKET TOWN: Wachira Phuket Hospital has issued an urgent appeal for Type B negative blood for a young Thai woman who is bleeding internally. Surin Khomkaew, 17, who was six months pregnant, arrived at the hospital this morning complaining of severe stomach pains. Tests revealed that her unborn child had died. Following an operation to remove the fetus, K. Surin…
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Crackdown on traffic violators planned
PATONG: The Superintendent of Kathu Police Station has warned that from February 1 his officers will begin a crackdown on people who break traffic laws, particularly in Patong. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin told the Gazette that Patong’s traffic problems have worsened since police began taking a softer line on law-breakers last October. The softer line was introduced in response to…
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Bag-snatchers back in action
PHUKET: Bag-snatchers on motorbikes are back in action in Phuket after a seven-month lull, with two cases reported yesterday, one in Phuket Town and the other in Thalang. In June last year there was a spate of bag-snatching cases, with robbers on motorbikes riding up alongside their targets and snatching handbags from the baskets of their victims’ bikes. With the…
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Dutchman held for working illegally
PHUKET TOWN: A Dutch national living in Phuket was arrested on Saturday evening for working without a work permit. Police told the Gazette that Provincial Defense Officers, led by Chief Nikorn Torhiranpruek, were conducting a sweep for illegal workers when they found William Pittel, 46, helping his Thai wife to sell limes at the Down Town Night Market, opposite the…
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Airport bomb hoax
MAIKHAO: At 5:15 pm yesterday, an anonymous phone call was made to staff at Phuket International Airport by a man claiming that a bomb had been planted and was set to go off in 30 minutes. The call was made from a public phone by a man believed to be a Thai. After immediately notifying the police, staff informed the…
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Airport traffic rises again
PHUKET: Passengers arriving or departing the island via Phuket International Airport continue to rise, according to the latest figures released by airport officials. The passenger throughput in November rose to 311,292 – a rise of 4.59% – compared to 299,139 in November, 1999. The statistics show that 311,292 passengers went through the airport in November, compared with 299,139 in the…
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German embezzler snared
NAI HARN: Phuket Immigration Police have arrested a German engineer suspected of embezzling 170 million baht from the City of Munich. The police arrested Richard Muhr, 47, at a Nai Harn-beach bungalow on Friday, January 5 after the German Embassy in Bangkok reported that Muhr and a colleague had embezzled money from the city. Pol Col Apirak Hongthong, superintendent of…
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Largest drug haul in Thai history
TUBLAMU, PHANG-NGA: The Royal Thai Navy recorded the largest drug bust in Thai history on Sunday, after they seized an estimated five million ya bah (methamphetamine) pills and 100 kilograms of heroin valued at more than a billion baht ($25 million). Four naval patrol boats and a Dornier helicopter from Tublamu base captured two fishing trawlers, one carrying the drugs,…
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Facts about Thailand
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand, which is holding general elections today, is a constitutional monarchy nominally headed by revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The following are key facts about Thailand: GEOSITUATION: A Southeast Asian country surrounded by the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and Indian Ocean. Thailand borders Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia. POPULATION: 62.5 million. ETHNIC GROUPS: Thai/Lao 94 percent, Chinese…
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Loan shark took nude photos of staff
PHUKET TOWN: Police found a naked woman with hands and feet bound in chains in the house of a loan shark on Soi Taling Chan yesterday after receiving a tip-off about an illegal gun. Pol Lt Akanit Danpitaksart, of Phuket Town Police station, obtained a search warrant after hearing that an illegal pistol had been seen in the house in…
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Woman dragged one kilometer by truck
PHUKET TOWN: A delivery van dragged a woman and her motorbike along Thepkrasattri Rd for about a kilometer early on Wednesday morning after a collision. Wipa Kongpisutthikul, 25 of Phuket Town, told police that while she was waiting to turn right near the intersection of Thepkrasattri Rd and Komaraphat Rd, the van driven by Sanit Maichum, 27, hit her and…
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National minimum wage increase
BANGKOK: The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW) has announced a nationwide increase in the minimum wage of three baht per day. The increase, announced by Pol Gen Pracha Promnork of the MLSW, is effective retroactively to January 1, 2001. The increase raises Phuket’s minimum wage, which is among the highest in the country, from 162 baht to 165…
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Stepson killed in family quarrel
KARON: A man accidentally shot his stepson yesterday at 5:30 pm during an argument about ownership of a motorcycle. Kasean Maneethat, 63, who manages the Tommy Big Bike rental shop in Karon, told the Gazette that his stepson, 37-year-old Danupol Wongthai, bought a 100,000-baht motorcycle in Bangkok with money from his mother. Kasean said, “Yesterday, when I asked him why…
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Big turnout at Saphan Hin for Democrats
PHUKET TOWN: Thousands of Democrat Party supporters gathered in Saphan Hin last night to listen to the Prime Minister before the national elections on Saturday, January 6. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and other Democrat Party ministers, Abhisit Vejjajiva, Surin Pitsuwan, Trairong Suwankiri, and Suthep Thaugsuban, took the stage in support of Phuket’s Democrat candidates for MP: Suwit Sa-Ngiamkul, for District…
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