Phuket

Questions as waystop cost grows to B87m

Published

16 years ago

December 13, 2003

Questions as waystop cost grows to B87m | The Thaiger

PHUKET: The plan to build a two-million-baht police firearms depository at Tah Chat Chai on the main route into Phuket has ballooned into an 87-million-baht project to develop a major waystop, including a service station, a restaurant, and parking for 200 cars. But doubts are now being raised about the usefulness of such a facility. The plan has grown at the instigation of Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, the Deputy Superintendent of Tah Chat Chai Police Station, Pol Lt Col Jakrit Srisuwan, told the Gazette yesterday. The first-of-its-kind service was initially intended to provide a rest stop and a secure place where visitors could store registered firearms with police while they are on the island, in line with a government ban on carrying firearms in Phuket. Col Jakrit said he has some concerns about the value of expanding the project. He pointed out that tour buses would not park there because the drivers would not get “tea money” (kah nam cha). “They get money from [other] parking [places], so why would they give up that income?” Col Jakrit asked. Nor would foreign tourists be likely to stop there, he said. “They come to see the beaches, and they want to rush to their destinations, for sure.” The new rest area would provide for up to 200 vehicles, he said. “But who’s going to rest here? People can drive a bit further and they will find more comfortable accommodation in town or other places.” The original idea for a gun depository cannot be put into operation because there are no officers to spare from Tah Chat Chai Police Station, he said. “We all have things to do, and officers in the police station and checkpoint keep changing every day. It’s much too complicated,” Col Jakrit said. People were not likely to make great use of the new gas station because fuel would be more expensive than elsewhere on the island. “In my opinion, the old [two million baht] project would be easier to complete. “The Governor proposes to use part of the 2004 budget to complete the project. What if we run out of funds?” Col Jakrit asked.

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Crime

British tourist killed at Phuket resort, Norwegian charged

Published

17 hours ago

August 23, 2019

May Taylor

British tourist killed at Phuket resort, Norwegian charged | The Thaiger

PHOTO: Tourist Assistance Centre

A late night fight that broke out at a Karon resort has ended in a Norwegian man killing a British tourist.

The fight started at 4.00am, when British national Amitpal Singh Bajaj, who was on holiday with his Singaporean wife and two young children, confronted Roger Bullman over the amount of noise coming from his room.

Mr Bullman was drunk, and security had already visited his room twice to ask him to keep the noise down. When Mr Bajaj confronted him, he stabbed Mr Bullman in the shoulder with a steak knife.

Mr Bullman, trained in martial arts, then got the British man in a choke hold and maintained his grip on him. He says he did not mean to kill him, and did not think he had.

He has been charged and released on bail by the Phuket Provincial Court. He must now remain in Thailand until the court hearing.

British consular officials are assisting Mr Bajaj’s family in the wake of the tragedy.

SOURCE: ThaiVisa and The Phuket News

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Environment

The second baby dugong ‘Yamil’ dies in Phuket

Published

20 hours ago

August 23, 2019

The Thaiger

The second young dugong, being cared for by vets at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, has died.

Yamil, the baby dugong stranded on a Krabi beach on July 1, died of “shock and cardiac arrest” last night (Thursday) after suffering indigestion and gastroparesis.

The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources report that Yamil was sent from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre to Vachira Hospital last evening for an endoscopy to observe its gastrointestinal tract, which was found to be full of sea grass – a dugong’s normal food.

“But the sea grass had obstructed Yamil’s gut, causing its digestive system to stop functioning. This resulted in a buildup of gas in the digestive system, leading to the rupture of blood vessels and infection.”

Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari named the dugong ‘Yamil’ when he was moved from Krabi to Phuket for treatment and rehabilitation by marine vets. The animal was originally rescued by villagers from a Krabi beach where it washed up. His care has been sponsored by the Princess. Yamil, in the Yawi dialect, means “handsome young man of the sea”.

Last Friday night, baby dugong ‘Mariam’ died of shock while being treated in protected area near Koh Libong in Trang province. Vets later found several pieces of plastic in its stomach.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World

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Business

Official complaint filed with the DSI over The Peaks Residences Condominium in Phuket

Published

1 day ago

August 22, 2019

The Thaiger

PHOTO: Inspections at the property in March this year – Kritsada Mueanhawong

Bangkok MP Sira Jenjaka has gone ahead and filed a long list of formal complaints over The Peaks Residences Condominium project being built in the hills above Kata Noi in Phuket.

The Palang Pracharat MP has also claimed to have had death threats made against him over his investigations and accusations over the condo’s land titles and ownership in recent weeks.

The MP filed an official complaint with the Department of Special Investigation chief in Bangkok this morning.

The complaint alleges that the Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham and the municipality “neglected their duties” by issuing permits to Kata Beach Co Ltd, the developer of the The Peaks Residences Condominium.

In February this year the Karon OrBorTor issued a construction permit for the project but in April municipal officials also sent a letter acknowledging the ongoing legal proceedings over the legitimacy of the land title, the NorSor 3 Kor Number 1863.

The complaint alleges that the project is being built on land with a NorSor 3 Kor No. 1863 land title. The complainants allege that the legal land document would have had to have been presented to obtain building permits and construction to proceed. But they claim that, as the NorSor 3 Kor for that land was under consideration by the Administrative Court, a legal building permit could not be issued.

In August 2017, the Regional Administrative Court ruled that the NorSor 3 Kor No. 1863 land title was invalid. Furthermore it determined that the land was “protected forest land”.

The DSI formally received the complaint documents this morning.

Meanwhile, the developer of The Peaks Residences Condominium, Manassanan Nararattanawee, the CEO of Kata Beach Co Ltd, maintains that the project’s paperwork is all “proper’ and that “everything is under the law”.

“Our company has already suspended construction to wait for the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court.”

Officials from the Internal Security Operations Command inspected the property in March this year as the owners promised to ‘slow down’ construction. Read that story HERE.

Official complaint filed with the DSI over The Peaks Residences Condominium in Phuket | News by The Thaiger