Search Results for: cat
- Phuket News
Stranded dugong recovering after rescue
CAPE PANWA: A sick dugong was rescued by the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) on Friday, given medication and food, and is making its first steps toward recovery. A fisherman saw the animal, a young female, stranded in Klong Pa Khlock, Baan Para, close to where the klong meets the sea. He contacted the PMBC who came and retrieved the…
- Phuket News
Spy network to tackle road safety
PHUKET: A new road safety campaign aims to recruit volunteers from government departments, schools, factories, transport operators, private companies and even villages – a large proportion of the island’s population – to look out for and report violations of traffic laws. The scheme was launched last week by the newly-formed Phuket Land Transport Security Center (PLTSC) under instructions from the…
- Phuket News
Sipa branch launches cyber future
PHUKET CITY: After years of promises, Phuket today moved one step towards the goal of becoming a center for information technology with the opening of a branch of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) at Saphan Hin. The opening aligns Phuket with Sipa headquarters in Bangkok and puts the local branch in control of software development throughout southern Thailand. It…
- Phuket News
Third party enters municipal poll
PHUKET CITY: A third party entered the Phuket City Municipality race this morning, on the final day for registration. The Pattana Baan Rao (“Develop Our Home”) Party is led my mayoral candidate Thanapong Kho-udom, 53, who explained the late entry: “We came to register on the last day because we didn’t want to compete [for the number 1 on ballot…
- Phuket News
2004 Thailand Tourism Awards launched
PHUKET CITY: The Thailand Tourism Awards 2004 were given their regional launch yesterday at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, showcasing the dual themes of environmental conservation and sustainable tourism. The Director of the local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Suwalai Pinpradab, said that the fifth annual tourism awards competition will also encourage greater competitiveness vis a vis…
- Phuket News
New benchmarks for central funding
PHUKET CITY: Provincial projects must meet meet one of two new criteria if they to receive funding from the central government: profit or “communal benefit”. Speaking at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, Gov Udomsak Usawarangkura told provincial government department chiefs that only projects that make money or that offer benefits to other provinces will be considered when it comes to…
- Phuket News
City municipal campaigning begins
PHUKET CITY: Garlands of marigolds marked the start of the election campaign for mayor and councillors of Phuket City today as the first two candidates registered and outlined their policies. More candidates are expected to join the race before the April 4 poll. The streets of the newly-declared city are expected to resound with public-announcement trucks and be filled with…
- Phuket News
Province requests B2.5bn for expo center
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Province and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have jointly requested 2.5 billion baht in funding from the central government for construction of the proposed International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) at Saphan Hin – a site still seen by most island residents as inappropriate for such a project. Speaking after a planning seminar at the Royal…
- Phuket News
Probe into Patong municipal poll
PATONG: Thirteen days after Songserm Kepsap and his Patong Progress Party (PPP) swept aside former mayor Pian Keesin and other Raksa Patong Party candidates in the Patong municipal election, the poll results have yet to be certified by the Government – and an investigation is now underway to determine if the poll was tainted by vote-buying. Kittipong Thiengkunagrit, Director of…
- Phuket News
First small step toward Cyber-Paradise
PHUKET CITY: A branch of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) will open on March 1 at Saphan Hin – the first small step toward the island’s much-imagined golden future as an IT hub. Manoo Ordeedolchest, President of SIPA, told the Gazette, “The Board of Investment and the provincial government will be responsible for setting up and running a one-stop…
- Phuket News
Yacht customs duty dropped to zero
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s marine leisure industry broke out the Champagne today as the government finally dropped the customs duty on imported boats to zero, following publication of the change to the tax law in the Royal Gazette yesterday. Theera Paesathitthavorn, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Customs Office Region 5, told the Phuket Gazette today that he anticipates an increase in…
- Thailand News
Cursed by spirits
BANGKOK: A man from Buri Ram province who went on a three-day drinking binge returned to his job in the capital with a terrible pain in his abdomen – which he apparently tried to cure by operating on himself. The man, identified as a 32-year-old Sanan Jodrum, having three days vacation, did what most low-paid laborers in Bangkok do: he…
- Phuket News
OrBorJor poll: the weirdness grows
PHUKET TOWN: The final day of registration for the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) elections today had more twists and turns than an Olympic slalom course. Sudden career changes and dark allegations of death threats were the order of the day as Samroeng Chaisorn, anointed as the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party’s candidate just over three weeks ago, announced he…
- Phuket News
Prizes for Valentine’s Day newlyweds
PHUKET: Couples who marry in Phuket tomorrow will have the chance to win romantic meals for two at the Thainaan restaurant or even romantic nights at hotels on the island. The prizewinners will be determined by lucky draws at each of Phuket’s three District Offices – at Phuket Town, Kathu and Thalang – where officers are preparing for the annual…
- Phuket News
Chalong resumes “waters’ fee
CHALONG: After a hiatus of a year, the Chalong Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) recently resumed collecting fees from yacht skippers at the One-Stop Service office, sparking concern among yachties that the notorious Phuket Waters Fee had been reintroduced. But the Chief Administrator of Orbortor Chalong, Paritta Thitkonglad, explained today that the fee, collection of which resumed at the beginning of…
- Phuket News
Newcomers in upset victory in Patong poll
PATONG: The Patong Progress Party (PPP) led by Songserm Kepsap won the Patong Municipal election yesterday, beating the Rak Patong Party (RPT) of Pian Keesin by 322 votes. A total of 9,213 people were eligible to vote but in the event only 6,239, or 68% , turned out. K. Songserm polled 2,949 votes against K. Pian’s 2,627, with 519 spoiled…
- Phuket News
German tourist dies at Bang Tao
THALANG: A 53-year-old tourist from Germany appears to have drowned yesterday off Bang Tao after going into the water to swim alone. Police named the dead man as Hans Peter Otto Krieter, who arrived a few days ago for a vacation with a friend, Alfred Herbert Prusseit, 55. Pol Capt Banchop Songnarong, of Cherng Talay Police Station, told the Gazette…
- Phuket News
Anchalee quits as MP in bid for OrBorJor seat
BANGKOK (The Nation, Phuket Gazette): The Democrat Party yesterday agreed to have party-list (unelected) MP Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr resign from Parliament so she can contest the Provincial Administrative Organisation (OrBorJor) election in Phuket. Democrat spokesman Ong-art Klampaiboon said Anchalee will run with the aim of becoming OrBorJor president, a post soon to be vacated by Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, who recently…
- Phuket News
AirAsia lands in Phuket
PHUKET: The first no-frills AirAsia flight from Bangkok to Phuket landed at around midday today with all 148 seats filled. Thirty passengers aboard the Boeing 737-300 paid just 99 baht apiece for the one-way flight.The remainder forked out 1,900 each. AirAsia put 20,000 of the 99-baht tickets up for sale in mid-January for routes between the capital and Phuket, Chiang…
- Phuket News
Man surrenders over Freeway murder
PHUKET TOWN: A man sought for more than eight months over a double murder at the Freeway Restaurant on Bang Tao Beach surrendered to police yesterday. Police issued an arrest warrant for Suwat Kaewkong soon after the double murder on May 10 last year and alleged that Suwat, who owns another restaurant at Bang Tao, had been involved in a…
- Phuket News
Klong Bang Yai ideas floated
PHUKET TOWN: A floating market similar to Ratchaburi’s famed Damnern Saduak was one of the suggestions put forward at a public meeting today to discuss the future of Klong Bang Yai, which flows – occasionally – in and around Phuket Town. Other ideas floated at the meeting included gentrification projects, the construction of another passenger port and a flood-defense scheme.…
- Phuket News
Doubt thrown on jet-ski ban plan
PHUKET TOWN: Following Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura’s announcement in late December that jet-skis will be phased out in Phuket over a seven-year period, the Phuket Marine Office (PMO) has set a January 31 deadline for jet-ski owners to register their machines. From February 1 the PMO will begin cracking down on unregistered machines, underage riders and other violations. But the man…
- Phuket News
More tales from the dog pound
PHUKET TOWN: The dog pound design that turned out to be a dog’s breakfast has been cleaned up, say officials. Capable of holding 1,000 animals, Phuket’s pound will open for business on March 1 next year at the latest, the Chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), Sunart Wongchawalit, told the Gazette yesterday. There was consternation last year when…
- Phuket News
TRT throws its weight into local elections
PHUKET TOWN: The involvement for the first time of the powerful Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party should add a new dimension to Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) elections in Phuket, scheduled for March 14. This development has put two former vice-presidents and colleagues, Samroeng Chaisorn and Wisut Santikun, on opposing teams as rival candidates for OrBorJor President. K. Samroeng will campaign…
- Phuket News
Island to get ‘up to standard’ abattoir
PHUKET TOWN: In an effort to improve food safety standards in Phuket, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) and Provincial Livestock Office have agreed to get together to build a 60-million baht slaughterhouse in Kathu using a government-subsidized 5% loan from the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Bank. PPLO Chief Sunart Wongchawalit told the Gazette today that the facility, to…
- Phuket News
Mystery over Russian girl’s death
CHERNG TALAY: Mystery surrounds the death of a 10-year-old Russian girl vacationing with her family at the five-star Dusit Laguna Resort Hotel. Police said they suspected the girl might have been electrocuted, but a senior Dusit manager rejected this theory, saying the hotel was awaiting the conclusions of doctors who were examining the body. The girl, named by police as…
- Phuket News
English boost for Phuket Town school
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Thai Hua School has reached a 3-million-baht agreement with the Singapore-based Stamford education group to expand the teaching of English at the school. Sombat Atiset, the President of the Kusolsongkroh Foundation, the charitable organization that runs the school, said that the new English course will be launched at the beginning of this year’s first semester, in…
- Thailand News
Not a ghost of a chance
THALANG: When police cremated an unidentified murder victim without first conducting a religious ceremony, their actions came back to haunt them – literally. Fishermen discovered the body in the waters off Ao Por on the morning of December 10 – and it was not a pretty sight. Pol Maj Anan Jingjit of the Thalang Police Station said that they could…
- Phuket News
Cheap fares for Phuket-Bangkok flights
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI) is offering a limited number of seats on its Phuket-Bangkok route at the low price of 3,400 baht return or 1,700 baht one-way. The seats are being allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, and are most likely to be awarded to people paying for and collecting their tickets at least 48 hours in advance of a…
- Phuket News
War weapons recovered in Kathu
KATHU: Police recovered a briefcase full of explosives along a road in Kathu early Monday morning after investigating an anonymous tipoff. Responding to a call phoned in on the emergency 191 number at about 1:30 am on January 5, Deputy Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Col Apirak Hongthong ordered officers from Thung Thong Police sub-district to secure the location before…
