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Phuket urged to turn out the lights
PHUKET: Phuket is toeing the national line with the local electricity boss urging people to save power by turning off one light per house for five minutes every night.Speaking yesterday – Electricity Saving Day – Amorn Saeng-Ngern, Manager of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Office, said that if the 100,000 electricity users on the island turned off one of their lights…
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Three proposals for massive Chalong marina
PHUKET CITY: Three proposals have been received by Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura for the construction of a large marina in Chalong Bay, to be financed by a mixture of government and private sector money.One proposal is from a consortium headed locally by Lifestyle Properties Co Ltd and the Gazette understands that two other concepts have been submitted, one by an…
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Land issues “still a priority’ – Minister
PHUKET CITY: Revocation of improperly-issued land title deeds will remain a top government priority in the upper southern provinces of Thailand, the Interior Minister announced at a meeting with provincial officials yesterday.The meeting, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, was chaired by Interior Minister Pol Gen Chidchai Wannasatit who, in his dual role as a Deputy Prime Minister, also serves…
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Island to get water from Surat Thani?
PHUKET CITY: Surasak Anakkhaphan, Adviser to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Suwit Khunkitti, today proposed that water be piped from Chieo Lan Reservoir in Surat Thani Province as a long-term solution to Phuket’s chronic – and worsening – water shortage problems.At a meeting at the Phuket Provincial Hall, K. Surasak explained that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had allocated each…
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Return to sender!
TAK: A mother in Sam Ngao District paid the ultimate price for letting her curiosity get the better of her – when she opened a parcel addressed to her daughter that turned out to be a letter bomb. The victim, 56-year-old pig farmer Phayao Ruamsuk, had collected the parcel, which was addressed to her daughter Kannitha. Kannitha, 22, had married…
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Airport numbers go into a dive
PHUKET: International passenger arrivals and departures at Phuket International Airport in April plummeted to less than half the number in April last year, and the number of international flights dropped by a third, thanks to the downturn in tourism following the tsunami.The statistics, obtained from Phuket International Airport, show that the number of international passengers using the island’s airport slumped…
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Miss Canada is Miss Universe 2005
BANGKOK: Natalie Glebova, 23, from Canada, was crowned Miss Universe 2005 at about 10 am today.Miss Glebova was born in Russia but moved with her family to Toronto when she was 12 years old. She is an information technology management and marketing student at Ryerson University, and also works as a model.Runners-up, in order, were Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Mexico and Miss…
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OrBorJor to hire more temporary teachers
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) is to pay for more temporary teachers to be recuited in a bid to relieve the staffing crisis in the province’s schools.Launching the organization’s annual report for May 14, 2004-May 14, 2005, OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thebabutr told reporters that the teacher shortage – a result of the government offering early retirement sweeteners to…
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Environment tops Governor’s agenda
PHUKET: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has ordered that a special committee be set up to protect the environment in Phuket.Gov Udomsak said he would like police officers, forestry staff and volunteers to sit on the committee, which would respond to complaints from the public about environmental damage.“I would like the committee to be able to act as soon as it receives…
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Tsunami mental health center opens
KHAO LAK: More than five months after the tsunami, the Mental Health Recovery Center (MHRC) – in Khuek Khak, Takua Pa District, Phang Nga Province, and set up at a cost of some 20 million baht – was opened on May 26 by Deputy Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul.Dr Benjaporn Panyayong, the Director of the MHRC, told the Gazette…
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Blood bank in plea for foreign volunteers
PHUKET CITY: The blood bank at Wachira Phuket Hospital is appealing for expats of all ages and nationalities to become volunteer helpers. The head of the blood bank, Sriroung Choophak, told the Gazette that foreign volunteers could help put donors at ease when they came to give blood, and maybe give the hospital ideas on improving the blood service. K.…
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PTA use Japanese star to promote Phuket
PHUKET: Top Japanese actress Maju Ozawa is to make a 54-minute TV show for presentation in her home country in order to promote Phuket to the Japanese market.Ms Ozawa, who yesterday signed a contract with the Phuket Tourist Association to promote Phuket for a year, won the job after she took part, along with six other Japanese actresses, in the…
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Cop gets life for killing tourists
KANCHANABURI: Pol Sgt Somchai Wisetsingha has been handed a life sentence for the murders eight months ago of British tourists Adam Lloyd, 25, and Vanessa Arscott, 24.The court had heard that, after an argument with Mr Lloyd, Somchai assaulted him and then shot him dead. As Ms Arscott fled from the scene Somchai ran her down with his Volvo car,…
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Drive to promote duty-free shopping
PHUKET: The government is to urge businesspeople to open more duty-free shops in Phuket, the Director of the Thai Customs Department, Sathit Limpongpan, said today.K. Sathit said it was hoped that having more duty-free shops in the province would encourage more tourists to come here.At present there are only two duty free shops in the province, one at Phuket International…
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Man found dead in Burmese Cemetery
RASSADA: A man, thought to be Burmese and about 30 years old, was found dead yesterday at Klong Tah Jeen, near Choke Raft, in an area long known as the Burmese Cemetery because of the number of murder victims dumped there.Pol Sub-Lt Teeradat Jiragsa of Phuket City Police Station explained that the victim, who was about 165cm tall and dark-skinned…
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Fantastic fungus launches lottery lust
RAWAI: Hundreds of people have been making their way to a small house in Village 6 to see a clump of enormous, white mushrooms that sprang up there on Visaka Bucha Day and which is thought by many villagers to be a harbinger of good luck.Homeowner Suwan “Prachuap” Phungkung, a fortune-teller by trade, told the Gazette she discovered the mushrooms…
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B280m more needed to identify tsunami dead
PHUKET: Around 20 million baht is needed to pay for the testing of DNA samples of victims of the tsunami who have yet to be identified, the head of the Thai Tsunami Victims Identification centre (TTVI), Pol Gen Noppadol Somboonsap, said yesterday.And an additional 260 million baht, or more, may be needed to set up a proposed Thai-run disaster victims…
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Tsunami delays Jungceylon opening
PATONG: It has been decided to delay the opening of the Jungceylon shopping, entertainment and hotel complex until October, seven months later than originally planned, because of the tsunami.Jungceylon public relations and events supervisor Khemawat Pudpuang told the Gazette this morning that the management team, meeting after the tsunami, decided not to open the centre in March, as originally intended,…
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A quiet night in
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A man in Srichon District put a shotgun in his mouth and blew his brains out after his wife refused to let him attend a neighbor’s funeral with her. Arriving at the scene on May 8 with doctors from Srichon Hospital, police found the body of 36-year-old Wimol Phetchoo lying on a bed, dressed only in a…
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Drug cases top crime stats again
PHUKET: Drugs were yet again the main cause for arrests in Phuket in April, according to the latest Provincial Police crime statistics.A total of 93 people were arrested for drug-related offenses between April 1 and April 30, compared with 81 arrests in March.Possession of ya bah (methamphetamine) accounted for the largest number of arrests – 38 – in April, followed…
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Funding for tsunami victim ID “embarrassing’ – Interpol
PHUKET: Ronald K Noble, the Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), this morning lashed out at the lack of funding from the international community for work to continue in identifying victims of the December 26 tsunami.“We, as a world community, should be embarrassed that the people in the DVI teams, who should be [regarded as] heroes, aren’t…
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Surakul gets green card for Premier League kid’s soccer clinic
PHUKET CITY: Three representatives of English Premiership teams Everton, Bolton and Manchester City yesterday gave their approval for Surakul Stadium to be the venue of a one-day kid’s soccer camp on July 21, run by three coaches and two players of each team.Eam Thavornvongwongse, President of the Phuket Sports Association, said, “The purpose of this course is to give about…
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Phuket Air stops Bangkok-Bali service
THAILAND: Phuket Air has stopped its Bangkok-Bali service after passenger numbers slumped following banishment of the airline from Amsterdam and London airports earlier this month for breaches of safety standards.Sribenja Semmeesook, Communication Consultant of Aziam Burson-Marsteller, which handles public relations for Phuket Air, told the Gazette today, “Many customers from the Netherlands and the rest of Europe used Phuket Air to fly to Bangkok,…
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Patong police get new “beach busters’
PATONG: Officers from Kathu Police Station will find it easier to patrol the sands of Patong Beach with the new 4×4 off-road vehicles presented to them yesterday by the US Embassy in Thailand.The vehicles, called ST 4×4, were donated by E-Z-Go Company, which is owned by Textron, well-known for its Bell Helicopter and Cessna Aircraft brands.Two of the vehicles, which…
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Tour of beauty
PHUKET: Picturesque Phuket provided the perfect backdrop for a visit by 81 of the world’s most beautiful young women today.The competitors in the Miss Universe 2005 beauty contest came to Phuket to boost post-tsunami tourism, and they received a warm welcome from residents and tourists.After lunch at FantaSea, Kamala, and seeing the “Amazing Kamala” show, one group of contestants went…
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Sticker fever unabated
PHUKET: Since its launch five weeks ago, the Phuket Gazette‘s “We Love Phuket” sticker campaign has yielded continuing surprises. Originally budgeted for 8,000 stickers, the project has now printed and placed 14,000. Though currently out of stock, an additional 6,000 pieces will arrive from the printer this Friday (20 May). Of those, 3,200 have already been booked, so a further…
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Entertainment license fees finally arrive
PHUKET: More than 14 months after all entertainment licenses were declared statutorily void, a list of fees for entertainment licenses has been announced, paving the way for provincial authorities to start processing applications.Wisut Romin, Deputy Secretary of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Office, told the Gazette that he received the list of fees today, although it was ratified by the Ministry…
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Bypass expansion stems water supply
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Water Supply (PPWS) has announced that its customers living in areas to the south of the bypass road expansion project will experience reductions in flow rate until about May 25. The reduced flow, about 50% on average, will result from a PPWS project to move water mains to accommodate the road expansion now underway by the…
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Navel neglect
NAKHON NAYOK: The recent spate of incidents involving insects laying their eggs in human orifices took a new and disturbing turn on May 8, when the mother of a newborn found 10 maggots living inside the bellybutton of her two-day-old son. Mother-to-be Chananthida Kusonsarng, 25, was admitted to Nakhon Nayok Hospital on May 3 when her waters broke earlier than…
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Tsunami cost B20 billion in tourism revenue
PHUKET: The province has lost at least 20 billion baht in revenue from tourism between January and March because of the December tsunami, Tourism Council of Thailand President Vichit Na Ranong said on Friday.K. Vichit said, “Phuket makes on average 70 billion baht a year from tourism. Generally, the province makes around twice as much revenue in the high season as…
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