News
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TOT proposes cut in maximum long-distance charges
BANGKOK: The Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) wants to cut its maximum rate for long-distance calls by a third, and to offer subscribers a choice of two payment options. Subscribers currently pay 100 baht a month for the line, 3 baht for each local call (no matter how long), and between 3 and 18 baht a minute for long-distance calls.…
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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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Public urged to exchange sub-standard LPG bottles
PHUKET: Following the introduction of new safety regulations covering gas containers of the sort commonly used in homes and restaurants for cooking here, the government has urged consumers to check whether they have sub-standard liquid petroleum gas (LPG) bottles and, if so, to exchange them. After July 31, the only brands that will be legally available will be those manufactured…
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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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Report casts gloom on Thai banks
BANGKOK, June 23 (AFP) – Thailand’s banking sector plunged into fresh gloom Wednesday as US ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said the crisis-hit industry remained “deeply impaired.” The judgment came at a time when many investors had been expecting ratings upgrades from foreign agencies for debt-laden Thai banks which have been struggling to recapitalise. In a report received here Wednesday,…
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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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HIV-infected katoey in suicide leap
KATHU: A katoey (transsexual) who had learned he was infected with HIV jumped to his death from the sixth floor of the Patong Condotel in Rat-U-Thit Rd yesterday. Kathu police, called to the building, found Jeera Unarom, 22, standing on a ledge. He jumped soon afterwards. A friend, Khun Pitichai Wongsa, 33, who lived in the same building and worked…
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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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Star Aid raises a million baht for AIDS children
CHERNG TALAY: Over one million baht was raised on Saturday night at the Star Aid dinner held at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Beach. Funds were raised by raffles, auctions of donated prizes, and the 750-baht ticket price paid by each of the more than 300 diners. All proceeds have gone to the Phuket AIDS Foundation to provide treatment for children…
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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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Police report decline in tourist deaths
PHUKET: Twelve foreign tourists have died in Phuket so far this year, Pol Maj Arnont Kamolrat of the Tourist Police told the Gazette today. Of these, five drowned, three died in traffic and other accidents, two committed suicide, one died of illness, and one of unknown causes. In 1997, 30 tourists died, including two who were murdered. In 1998 the…
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Major theft at Wachira Hospital
PHUKET: Police have issued a warning to patients visiting Phuket Town’s Wachira Hospital after a 73-year-old woman who went there for tests was robbed of valuables worth 500,000 baht. The woman, Khun Lamay Lakthan of Chaong, was asked to change into a hospital gown so that X-rays could be taken. A man she later described as being between 40 to…
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Use licensed cabs, airport warns after murders
BANGKOK, June 9 (AFP) – Bangkok airport authorities Wednesday warned travellers not to use unlicensed taxis following the apparent serial murders of six foreign tourists abducted from the terminal. “We are trying hard to make them understand to use licensed taxis or (regulated) limousines at the airport to avoid any trouble,” said Bangkok international airport director Wing Commander Uthai Thaisanthad.…
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Two arrested for trafficking in amphetamines
PHUKET TOWN: Police on Monday arrested two young men for trafficking in amphetamines (ya bah) after an undercover operation in which they pretended to be interested in buying some of the drug. In the home the two were renting in Soi 1, Samkong Village, officers found and impounded 150 amphetamine pills. Arrested were Suchert Nunthip, 20, a student at Rajaphat…
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Local businessman commits suicide
PHUKET TOWN: Businessman Wiroj Anukulkan, 46, was found shot in the head at his home on Mae Luan Rd on Monday, in what police say was an apparent suicide. Arriving at Khun Wiroj’s house Monday afternoon, police found him still alive. He was rushed to Wachira Hospital’s intensive care unit where he died on Tuesday. Witnesses said he had used…
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Thai officials linked to drugs
BANGKOK, June 7 (AFP) – More than a thousand Thai government employees are caught up in lucrative drugs trafficking, a senior minister admitted Monday. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Jurin Laksanavisit said 1,088 officials were involved in trafficking, most of them in the northeast and south of the country. “Most of the drug problem involves narcotics being smuggled in…
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Police arrest driver of truck carrying hardwood
THALANG: Police on Saturday arrested the driver of a truck carrying timber. The 10-wheel truck, registered in Nakhon Pathom, was stopped in the early hours of the morning at a road block in Tambon Mai Khao. In it, police found 230 pieces of hardwood, cut to size for window and door frames. The 34-year-old driver, unable to produce paperwork to…
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Reduced phone charges to US and Canada
PHUKET: The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) has reduced call charges to Canada and the United States, including Hawaii, Khun Worawit Worapiboonpong, Chief of the Phuket Telecommunications Center, has announced. Reductions of up to 20% apply to all calls made from June 1, resulting in the following charges per minute: 5 am to 7 am, and 9 pm to midnight:…
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191 hurt in road accidents in Patong in May
PATONG: The Government Hospital in Patong has issued the latest dismal traffic accident figures, this time for May. During the month one person died and 190 people were hurt in traffic accidents. Of these, 29 were foreigners. Seven of the injured were pedestrians and five were in cars. The rest – 179 — were on motorcycles. Of the motorcycle victims,…
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Tourist jumps to death from hotel roof
PHUKET TOWN: A 67-year-old Australian tourist leapt to his death yesterday evening from the roof of the City Hotel in the heart of Phuket Town. The tourist, John Newman Cleverley, had been coming to Phuket for 10 years, arriving alone and staying up to a month each time at the nearby Suksabai Hotel. Police said Mr Cleverley walked into the…
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Tourist claims rape by taxi driver
PATONG: The Governor of Phuket, Chadej Insawang, has ordered police to track down a motorcycle taxi driver accused of the rape of an American tourist last week. Police said the 28-year-old woman went out to look for a medicine. She stopped a motorcycle taxi in Soi Bangla and asked to be taken to a pharmacy. The driver went around in…
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