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Chalermlak Tops Patong Balloting
PATONG: Businesswoman Chalermlak Kepsap of the Patong Progressive Party was the top vote-getter in last Sunday’s municipal election. The Patong Municipal Office announced that the 35-year-old Chalermlak, who campaigned for cleaner streets and building height limitations, received 2,850 votes. Pian Keesin of the Rak (Love) Patong Party received 2,474 votes. Dr Anan Anantanawat, who served as Patong Mayor until the…
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Officials Record 20 New AIDS Cases
PHUKET TOWN: Government health officials recorded 20 new cases of AIDS in Phuket province and six deaths from AIDS-related complications during the one-month reporting period ending September 19. The Phuket Provincial Health Department has recorded 765 cases of AIDS since it began keeping records in January, 1989. A total of 262 deaths attributed to AIDS-related complications have been recorded during…
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FantaSea Aims for Mid-December Opening
KAMALA: Developers of Phuket FantaSea are shooting for a mid-December grand opening of the 3.3 billion baht entertainment complex, Director of Marketing Surin Bamrungphol told the Gazette earlier today. He said 85 percent of the construction work has been completed at the 350-rai site. With the buildings and infrastructure in place, work is continuing on interior improvements and the installation…
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Australian Navy Ships To Arrive
PHUKET: The Australian Embassy has announced that three warships from the Royal Australian Navy will arrive for goodwill visits as part of their Southeast Asian deployment. HMAS Adelaide, HMAS Brisbane and HMAS Hobart are scheduled to arrive at Phuket’s Ao Makham Port on October 8 for a five-day visit. HMAS Adelaide, a William Hazard Perry class frigate, has a complement…
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Bike Riders In Relapse
PHUKET TOWN: Just hours after Governor Chaedej Insawang announced that he had directed police to relax enforcement of the mandatory helmet law for passengers of motorbike taxis, (and only for passengers of motorbike taxis), local residents took to the streets in large numbers last night without headgear. A Gazette reporter posted under the clock tower at the intersection of Phuket…
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Taxi Driver Testifies In Murder Trial
Taxi Driver Testifies In Murder Trial PHUKET TOWN: A taxi driver testified in court today that he picked up murder suspect Kraisorn Kamnoun and another Thai male on the Patong-Karon Road one evening last December. Suwit Hemlek, a 34-year-old tuk tuk driver, was the first of two witnesses to testify this morning before Phuket Provincial Court Judge Amornpoj Kulwijit in…
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Governor Relaxes Enforcement Of Helmet Law
PHUKET TOWN: The Governor of Phuket directed police to relax enforcement of the helmet regulation for motorbike taxi passengers following a vocal protest in the heart of Phuket Town yesterday afternoon. An estimated 800 protesters gathered at the Suriyadet Circle fountain at noon to listen as spokesmen called for an end to the enforcement of the regulation requiring both drivers…
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Banyan Tree Tops Reader Poll
PHUKET: Conde Nast Traveller magazine has named the Banyan Tree Phuket as the world’s best spa resort following tabulation of more than 26,000 votes cast in its 1998 Readers Travel Awards poll, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has announced. Readers cited the resort’s service, quality spa treatments and facilities, accommodations and unique ambience in casting their votes. “This award is…
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Murder Trial On Thursday’s Docket
PHUKET TOWN: Testimony in the trial of two suspects charged in connection with the murder of Patong resident Roger Jennings is scheduled to resume at the Phuket Provincial Courthouse on Thursday, October 1, at 9 a.m. Nongnut Tungkaburi, Jennings’ common law wife, and Kraisorn Kamnoun are standing trial for their suspected roles in what prosecutors contend was a murder-for-hire scheme.
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Similans Visitor Totals Capped
PHUKET TOWN: A maximum of 340 daily visitor permits will be issued by authorities of the Similans National Park, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Region 4 office announced on Friday. National park officials are also urging visitors to the popular islands to refrain from discarding plastic and polystyrene food containers, the TAT said.
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Voice of America Reaches Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: 207 Studio, which operates local radio station 89 FM, has announced the signing of an agreement with the United States Information Agency to rebroadcast programs supplied by The Voice of America (VOA). The station will feature the English language programming nightly between 7:30 p.m. and 2 a.m., beginning this Thursday. Veteran radio show host Don Sullivan has been…
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Bar Girl Lured Into Nightmare
PATONG: A 25-year-old bar girl filed a police complaint against a German tourist after he allegedly injured her by repeatedly biting her vagina, Kathu district police reported. Suwanee Okaew, 25, told authorities she went to a Patong Beach hotel room with a male bar patron shortly before midnight on Wednesday, September 23. While the two were engaged in sex, the…
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Witness: Debts Led To Tong Murder
PHUKET TOWN: The investigator who headed the probe into the slaying of Danis Wayne Tong testified yesterday in Phuket Provincial Court that the five suspects on trial participated in a murder-for-hire scheme following a fallout between the victim and well-known local businessman Hugo Vandervelde. Pol Maj Preecha Kla-thanong, Chief of the Special Investigations Unit for Phuket Province, told the court…
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Sea Walking Activities To Cease In ’99
PHUKET TOWN: Prajuab Thangka-aree, Chief of the Region 2 Tourist Business and Guide Office, has announced that three local businesses will be permitted to offer sea walker expeditions until their current licences for the activity expire. The official made the announcement on Saturday at the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel following a decision by the Tourist Business and Guide Commission in…
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Visa Overstay Charge To Double
PHUKET TOWN: Those who fail to keep tabs on the expiration date of their visa will pay more next month for their oversights. Immigration officials told the Gazette today that the penalty for overstaying will rise from 100 baht to 200 baht a day, effective October 1.
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Swiss Tourist Drowns At Kata Beach
KATA: A Swiss tourist drowned on Sunday after he failed to heed warnings and went swimming in heavy seas, Chalong district police reported. The victim, identified by authorities as 67-year-old Jean Jacques Arsene, entered the water at Kata Yai Beach around 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon despite pleas from his spouse to stay out of the rough surf. Sangduan Danchong told…
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Flash Flood Watch Issued
PHUKET: Officials at the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center issued a flash flood advisory this morning for the provinces of Phang Nga, Krabi and Ranong. The bureau said thundershowers and isolated heavy rains were expected today in the three provinces. Yesterday, a total of 75.9 millimeters of rain was recorded at Phuket International Airport along with wind gusts of up to…
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Illegal Workers Filling Local Jailhouse
CHERNG TALAY: With resources at Phuket Provincial Prison taxed to the limit, immigration officials have been forced to use local jails to hold illegal foreign workers and their children pending their transfer to border camps. Among the jails being used for this purpose is the one at the Cherng Talay Sub-district Police Station where as many as 30 illegal Burmese…
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Local Showroom Is One For The Records
PHUKET: The island will have yet another claim to fame as what is being billed as “the world’s biggest jewelry store” opens its doors on October 10. The new emporium is on the Bypass Road north of Phuket Town. At 2,000 square meters, Gems Gallery Phuket will be the third and largest showroom operated by Bangkok-based Gems Gallery International Manufacturing…
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Search Intensifies For Missing Tourist
KOH PHANGAN: Local and regional authorities have stepped up their search for a Japanese tourist who has been missing for more than a week from this resort island near Koh Samui. Phangan Deputy Police Chief Pol Lt-Col Prayoon Krutmusik told the Gazette this morning that helicopters and specially-trained scent dogs from Provincial Police Region 8 Headquarters in Surat Thani were…
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Deadly Intersection Gets Attention
PHUKET TOWN: Drivers plying the Airport Bypass Road are being given a bumpy ride for safety’s sake as they approach the junction with Phra Phuket Road (also known as the Samkong-Kathu Road) on the city’s northwest side. A series of 15 one-and-one-half-centimeter-high speed bumps were installed last week along the northbound and southbound approaches to the intersection in response to…
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Helmet Compliance Gets “Thumbs Up’
PHUKET TOWN: Bikers dusted off their helmets before venturing out yesterday as local police stepped up enforcement of Thailand’s three-year-old motorbike safety helmet regulation. Drivers and passengers donned headgear as police conducted roadside checkpoints along the island’s major thoroughfares. In Phuket Town, helmet checks were conducted on Montri Road near The Metropole hotel as well as arteries leading out of…
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Police Nab Two In Theft Ring
PHUKET TOWN: A motorbike theft ring was broken up by Muang district crime suppression officers on Sunday, Provincial Police Commander Kongpol Suwannaraks announced this morning. Officers arrested 38-year-old Sirisak Songsiri of Phuket Town near the Honda automobile dealership on Phang Nga Road at approximately 5 p.m. Sunday while he was attempting to steal a motorbike parked at the site of…
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Shouting Subsides At Local Prison
PHUKET TOWN: Visitors to Phuket Provincial Prison are saving their voices, thanks to a newly-installed two-way communication system at the facility. Visitors can now pick up a handset and converse directly with an inmate for 15 minutes inside the visiting room. The new 20,000-baht system has replaced the jail’s antiquated set-up wherein the parties – separated by steel curtains and…
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Transit Fee Waived At Don Muang
BANGKOK: Tourist authorities were hailing a recent decision by the Airports Authority of Thailand to exempt international passengers in transit at Bangkok International Airport from a 500 baht airport service charge should they depart the terminal and return to it within 12 hours. The waiver will go into effect on October 1. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Seree Wangpaichitr…
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