Search Results for: cat
- Phuket News
Eight-year tax holiday for IT companies
PHUKET: A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) and the Board of Investment (BoI) exempts IT companies from company tax for eight years, and enables them to import IT products and services duty-free. The MOU, signed on August 24 by Sipa President Dr Manoo Ordeedolchest and BoI Secretary General Somphong Wanapha, is designed…
- Phuket News
Tycoon arrested again over Samsara land
PATONG: Chamnan “Daeng” Pachantabutr, former owner of the land on which the Samsara luxury property development is being built, was arrested this morning at his home in Patong.Chamnan is one of the owners of the Phuket Cabana Resort and of the Kan Eang restaurants in Chalong.Leading the arrest party were the Chief of the Crime Suppression Police, Pol Maj Gen…
- Phuket News
Transvestite performer drinks himself to death
PATONG: Well-known transvestite performer “Nok Cabaret Show” drank himself to death in a rented room above the Twilight Pub on September 18, police say.The 44-year-old performer, whose real name was Jamnien Neuaha of Nakhon Ratchasima, had been employed by the My Way Bar on Soi Paradise, but lost his job about three months ago. After that, he rented a room…
- Thailand News
Cut and run
CHONBURI: In the latest incident involving a philandering lover, a jealous girlfriend and a sharp knife, a young man from Petchaboon province awoke on the morning of September 4 to find to find a very private part lying in a pool of blood on the floor next to his bed. The victim, identified as 20-year-old Amnart Pinkratok, was rushed to…
- Phuket News
Airport Immigration gets more officers
MAI KHAO: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura visited Phuket International Airport yesterday to meet 15 new Immigration Police officers recruited for the start of the high season next month, in response to complaints of long waiting times in the arrival hall.Journalists were told that the airport usually has 15 Immigration Police officers, but that authorities had decided that this was not…
- Phuket News
New lease on life for Lucky Complex?
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has agreed to issue a concession for private company Phamonkij Witsavakram (PW) to refurbish the abandoned Lucky Complex at Saphan Hin and run it as a duty-free plaza for 25 years.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr made the announcement on September 13.However, the agreement is contingent on several key factors, including Customs Department approval…
- Phuket News
Plea for fairness in “spa wars’
PHUKET CITY: The Chairman of the Phuket Spa Business Club (PSBC) has called for spas to work together to train staff rather than poaching employees from one another.Pakin Raktae-Ngam said that poaching was not a problem within the club. But club members, and other smaller spas that are not members, were having problems with spas belonging to large chains, which…
- Phuket News
Murder suspect released on bail
PATTAYA: Belgian Sam Van Treeck, 24, who is accused of the murder his ex-girlfriend has been released on bail by the Pattaya Provincial Court.Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram was found stabbed to death at Van Treeck’s apartment on June 25. The accused denies the charge, claiming he came home after being out drinking and found the body. K. Jeab had been stabbed…
- Phuket News
Police welcome B34m for guns and training
PHUKET CITY: The Superintendent of Phuket City Police Station, Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, has welcomed the allocation of 34 million baht from the central government for weapons and training for police from Phuket and surrounding areas. The money was promised by Prime Minister Thaksin on his recent whistle-stop tour of the South.Col Paween said, “PM Thaksin has granted the budget…
- Phuket News
Cool response to Pian’s policy speech
PATONG: Policies outlined in a speech today by Patong Mayor Pian Keesin at his first municipality meeting received a cool reception from the dominant opposition party in the Patong Municipal Council.K. Pian listed a number of plans that he categorized as “priority projects” for Patong.These include: finishing the first stage of the waste water treatment plant and beginning its second…
- Phuket News
Court orders Boonkeng to quit land
PHUKET: The Phuket Appeal Court today overturned the judgment of the Provincial Court and ordered businessman Boonkeng Srisansuchart to vacate two plots of land, of 21 rai and 68 rai respectively, in the Panturat Hills next to the bypass road.K. Boonkeng is a major property developer and the owner of Srisuchart Transportation.The successful appeal was made by the Provincial Land…
- Phuket News
ICEC can be anywhere – Gov
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has said he does not care where the controversial 2.5-billion-baht International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) is built, so long as it benefits Phuket.“We have wasted a lot of time on this already. The ICEC can be built anywhere that will create growth in Phuket. We won’t argue over it anymore,” he said.Previously, Gov…
- Phuket News
Shoppers mob Central Festival mall
PHUKET CITY: Around 10,000 people are estimated to have passed through the doors of the new Central Festival Phuket (CFP) shopping centre within the first few hours of them opening.As she took members of the press around the complex yesterday, Wanna Thamromdee, General Manager Corporate Communication for Central Retail Corporation Ltd, told the Gazette, “There must be about 10,000 people…
- Phuket News
Fourth drowning in five days
SURIN BEACH: A retired Frenchman planning to make his home on Phuket drowned at Surin Beach yesterday, just hours before the body of a Singaporean tourist who disappeared while swimming off Karon on Monday was found.The two incidents bring to four the number of people drowned in the waters around Phuket in just five days.Frenchman Patrick Michel Peters, 56, drowned…
- Phuket News
Skeleton found in Kathu
KATHU: A human skeleton wearing a watch, bra and jeans was found among trees behind the Kathu Health Center on Wichit Songkram Rd early on Monday evening.The remains are undergoing forensic examination to determine whether they are those of Phuket native Wimonmas Bannalang, 34, a cashier at the Buffalo Steakhouse at Karon, who went missing in July.K. Wimonmas was last…
- Phuket News
Court orders Anchalee’s husband to quit land
PHUKET: The Phuket Appeal Court yesterday overturned a judgement of the Provincial Court and ordered Tossaporn Thepabutr to quit 98 rai of land in the Nakkerd Hills in Karon. K. Tossaporn is the husband of Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr. The successful appeal was made by the Provincial Land Reform Office (PLRO), which argued that K. Tossaporn…
- Phuket News
50 million baht for “health hub’ Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The Health Ministry is to spend 50 million baht promoting Phuket as a health hub of Asia, Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan announced today.In Phuket for a health conference organized by her ministry, K. Sudarat said the money had already been allocated and would be spent before the end of the year on developing health tourism schemes for the…
- Phuket News
Figures show huge property boom
PHUKET: Figures indicating how the property industry in Phuket is booming were presented yesterday by the Phuket Real Estate Club (PREC).At a conference on the southern Thai economy, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, PREC Secretary Thanit Prateepnathalang said that between January and July this year, property companies applied for permission to build 43 new developments. Of these, 28…
- Phuket News
Tourist drowns at Karon Beach
KARON: A Bahraini tourist drowned on Saturday evening at Karon Beach while trying to help one of his children who had gotten into difficulty in the sea.The victim has been named as Ahmed Turani, 41, who had been staying with his family at Karon Buri resort.Pol Capt Vicharn Suwannasit, of Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that the victim had been…
- Phuket News
Ease rules for foreigners, Gov urges Bangkok
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangura told Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop yesterday that the government will need to make life easier for foreigners if Phuket is ever to develop into the “international city” envisioned by the government.“Yesterday I met with the DPM Suwat to discuss preparations for the arrival of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra next week,” he told the Gazette…
- Phuket News
Three murdered in one night
PHUKET: Three men were killed in three separate incidents in a night of violence in Phuket.The first victim was 21-year-old Amnart Niget, of Chumpon, who was fatally shot outside the Summer Hotel in Phatipat Road, Phuket City, at 2am on 12 August.Two hours later, a restaurant employee was beaten to death by a gang of teenagers, also in Phuket City.And,…
- Phuket News
Thailand, Malaysia to drop border passes
PHUKET: Thailand and Malaysia today agreed in principal to do away with the current system of passes that allow nationals from the two countries to cross the border without a visa.Under the agreement, future cross-border travel will require no more than the presentation of “smart cards”, systems for which are now being developed by both nations. The announcement followed a…
- Phuket News
Filipinos arrested over fake credit card
KATHU: Police on Monday arrested four men and a woman from the Philippines for using a fake credit card to buy expensive goods from a mobile phone shop in Patong.Pol Col Chalit Thinthanee, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told a press conference yesterday that the Filipinos were arrested at 11:55 pm at Ploy Telecom on Sainamyen Rd after shopowner Patchar Budtayotee…
- Phuket News
Chuan denies Phuket MPs plan to defect
PHUKET: Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has confirmed that Phuket’s two members of parliament will stand as Democrat candidates in the upcoming general election, quashing rumors that one or both of them were planning to defect to the Thai Rak Thai party of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.K. Chuan made his remarks yesterday while chairing the closing ceremony of the Cherng…
- Phuket News
Turk insists he is an FBI agent
PATONG: Police say that Turkish citizen Tuncay Orser, who was arrested on Friday for possession of a fake ID card identifying him as an agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), continues to insist that he is a genuine FBI operative on a mission to hunt down international terrorists.Orser, 31, was arrested after he showed what he said…
- Phuket News
High-tech cameras to boost security
PHUKET: Provided that the money is forthcoming, 100 security cameras using the latest-generation Internet communications protocol will be installed at 70 points across the island, including the tourist areas of Patong, Karon and Kata, to deter crime and monitor traffic flow.Manoo Ordeedolchest, President of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), told the Gazette, “The idea originally came from the former…
- Phuket News
Sipa targets B470m budget for 2005
PHUKET CITY: Dr Manoo Ordeedolchest, President of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), has announced that the agency will apply for 470 million baht to carry out projects in 2005 to develop the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in Thailand.Key projects slated for implementation next year include the development of software for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in…
- Phuket News
Downpours prompt flood and landslide warnings
PHUKET: Strong winds and heavy rain along the coasts of the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand have prompted the Meteorological Department to issue warnings of the possibility of flooding and landslides.Vichit Phuangsombat, Director of the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), which is near Phuket International Airport, today told the Gazette, “The heaviest recorded rainfall in Thailand yesterday was…
- Phuket News
Burmese sought over stabbing murder
KATHU: A Burmese worker is being sought by police after the corpse of a motorbike taxi driver was found last week by villagers near Talay Keeree village, in the foothills around Kathu.The body, with 15 stab wounds in it, was identified as that of 45-year-old Narongsak Bunyalertnimit from Phatthalung, a van driver with the Take-A-Trip travel agency, who worked as…
- Phuket News
Businessman ordered off SorPorKor land
PHUKET: The Phuket Appeal Court today overturned a judgment of the Provincial Court and ordered Phuket businessman Narong Nopdara to vacate 21 rai of land in the Nakkerd Hills in Karon.The successful appeal was launched by the Phuket Land Reform Office (ALRO), which argued that Narong was not entitled to occupy land issued under the SorPorKor land reform program, which…
