Search Results for: cat
- Phuket News
Phuket On Guard Against Malaysian Virus
PHUKET: Health officials in Phuket are scrambling to devise a new strategy to ensure the pig-related virus that has killed dozens in Malaysia does not spread to the island. The authorities, along with Malaysian health officials, originally thought the outbreak was Japanese Encephalitis (JE), which is endemic in much of the Far East. But research by the US-based Centers for…
- Phuket News
Thai Airways To Hike Domestic Fares On April 1
PHUKET TOWN: The Gazette has learned that Thai Airways is to raise fares on all domestic routes by a whopping 13 percent with effect from April 1. This is despite the fact that the national inflation rate in 1998 was eight percent, and that it is projected to fall to around two percent this year. A source at the airline…
- Phuket News
Yacht Burns And Sinks. Four Missing, Feared Dead
AO CHALONG: Four people are missing and feared dead after a fire erupted aboard a yacht anchored in Phuket’s Chalong Bay in the early hours of March 25. Phuket Marine Police said the fire broke out just before 1 am aboard the 160-foot motor yacht, which they named as the Catarina. Vessels from the Phuket Marine Police, Harbour Region 5…
- Phuket News
Fish Loved El Niño
PHUKET: The weather phenomenon known as El Niño may have brought floods, drought and other forms of misery to many people around the world, but not to fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean – they benefited from it with bumper catches. It seems that with the appearance of El Niño last year, fish from all over the world decided to…
- Phuket News
Mapping Out Coral For Tourism
SATUN: The Royal Thai Navy has lent its support to an environmental marine survey off Ko Tarutao, Ko Adang, Ko Rawi and Ko Lipe in Satun province as part of the Chulabhorn 39 Project. Rear Admiral Suraphon Chandaeng, Chief of Staff of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, has told Rear Admiral Chavalit Isarangkul, the Director of the Chulabhorn 39…
- Phuket News
Trade Center To Encourage Business
PHUKET: The Ministry of Industry is to set up a trade center in the vacant Offshore Mining Organisation building in Phuket Town. The purpose of the center is to facilitate marketing of locally produced goods to foreign buyers. “We plan to organize a trade center displaying industrial and consumer goods, and handicrafts,” said Adisorn Naphavaranonth, Chief of the Phuket Provincial…
- Phuket News
Australian Post Graduate Studies Offered In Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The Rajabhat Phuket Institute has teamed up with Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, to offer post graduate degrees. The institute currently has 25 students studying for Masters Degrees and PhDs through distance learning programs with the Australian university, according to Wannee Wannapruk, Vice President for General Affairs. A total of 16 of students are Rajabhat Phuket…
- Phuket News
Officials Report 30 New AIDS Cases
PHUKET TOWN: Government health officials recorded 30 new cases of AIDS in Phuket province and two deaths from AIDS-related complications during the one-month reporting period ending January 20. Seven of 240 pregnant women tested during the period were found to be HIV positive. The Phuket Provincial Health Department has recorded 864 cases of AIDS since it began keeping records in…
- Phuket News
New Stadium For Karon
KARON BEACH: Construction started earlier this month on Phase I of a 10 million baht football stadium and grandstand at Karon. Located on 10 rai of land on Bang Ngueg Road (the ‘Beach Road’) at the south end of the beach near the Ruam Thep Inn, the 1,000-seat, 117-meter-long facility is slated for completion in September. Tawee Thongchaem, head of…
- Phuket News
Local Internet Services Receive Poor Rating
PHUKET: Internet services available in Phuket are perceived as offering very substantial opportunities for growth in terms of quality, according to the weekly Gazette Poll which closed on January 22. From the four available answers to the question, “How would you rate the quality of Internet service in Phuket?”, 41.5% of the internet poll’s 680 participants clicked on “unsatisfactory,” with…
- Phuket News
Tourist Belted By Tuk Tuk Driver
PHUKET TOWN: Kenneth James Nelson, a 51-year-old Englishman, discovered that it can be painful indeed to thwart the aspirations of a tuk-tuk driver. At 8.30 a.m. on January 25, he was walking along the street in front of the Ruangjit Cinema (opposite The Metropole hotel) in Phuket Town when a red tuk-tuk approached him. The driver asked if he needed…
- Phuket News
1999 Gazette Guide Now On Sale
PHUKET TOWN: The 1999 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s Business & Entertainment Directory, or ‘yellow’ pages, is now on sale. Priced at 140 baht, the 310-page book, containing 2,504 listings, is the island’s largest business database. The Guide may be purchased at the following locations: Deli Supermarket (Patong), Dokyah Bookstore (Phuket Town), Good Earth Books & Tea Room (Kata Center), Jay’s Business…
- Phuket News
Navy’s Third Fleet Heightens Safety Role
CAPE PANWA: Vice Admiral Somphop Bhuridej, Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, announced on Wednesday that the Third Fleet will assist in ensuring safety for those who travel by boat to Phuket’s outlying islands. The announcement follows a spate of fatal accidents which occurred in the region’s public ferry services last year, and which were summarized…
- Phuket News
TAT Guides The Way
BANGKOK: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has tightened language qualifications for the country’s army of tour guides. People now wishing to register as guides for foreign tourists must have one of the following qualifications: · A high school education with a certificate in a foreign language; · A high school education with at least 150 hours of certified training…
- Phuket News
Visa Criteria, Procedures Clarified
PHUKET TOWN: The superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Office, Pol Col Phirojana Praesakul, confirmed to the Gazette this morning that the financial requirements for the non-immigrant ‘O-A’ visa are as follows: 1) at least 800,000 baht in liquid funds in a Thai or overseas bank (the definition of “liquid” was not immediately available, so it was not clear whether fixed…
- Phuket News
More Beds For Patong Hospital
PATONG BEACH: Patong Hospital will increase its number of beds from 10 to 90 by the end of the this year in a bid to meet growing demand for bed space, according to Director Dr Taweesak Nertwong. Because of its location in the heart of Phuket’s major tourist centre, Dr Taweesak said the hospital had become too small to treat…
- Phuket News
Ya Ba-laced Beer Seized In Pub Raid
PHUKET TOWN: Authorities seized draft beer from a popular pub early Saturday morning after a preliminary test indicated it had been laced with amphetamines. Tourist Police and Phuket Narcotics Control officers raided the Kok Ma Pub on Tilok U-Thit 1 Road at around 2 a.m. following a tip from concerned parents alleging that the venue was admitting underage patrons and…
- Phuket News
Sex Does Matter In Selling Phuket
PHUKET: To the surprise and disappointment of many local residents, the Phuket Gazette’s Internet poll for the week ended December 18 suggests that large numbers of people familiar with the island believe the local sex industry does help to attract tourists. Of the 789 participants in the poll, 54.8 percent were of the belief that the availability of ‘paid sex’…
- Phuket News
Tourist Police To Step Up Patrols
PHUKET TOWN: Tourist Police will be out in force in the popular beach areas as throngs of vacationers descend on the island for their annual holiday. Phuket Tourist Police Inspector Pol Maj Arnont Kamolrat said his officers would step up patrols along Patong and other beaches frequented by foreign visitors. In addition to providing assistance to tourists, officers will be…
- Phuket News
Excise Revenues Post Sharp Decline
PHUKET TOWN: Despite revenues generated through taxes on luxury yachts and golf fees, the Phuket Provincial Excise Department recorded a steep drop in collections during the most recent fiscal year compared to fiscal 1997. Department Chief Borvorn Chayakul reported that his office collected 190.3 million baht from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 1998, a decline of nearly 49 million…
- Phuket News
Protest Leads To New Taxi License Scheme
PHUKET TOWN: An agreement was reached yesterday to lift restrictions on motorbike taxi licenses granted by Patong municipality following a peaceful rally staged by unregistered operators at Provincial Hall. Over 350 taxi drivers rode in a motorcade from Patong to Phuket Town shortly before noon in a show of unity to have the current licensing scheme opened to non-Patong residents.…
- Phuket News
Europeans Check In For Long Stays
BANGKOK: When it comes to taking a holiday in Thailand, German and Swiss tourists check in for the longest stays. Vacationers from the two European countries remained, on average, in the Kingdom longer than any other segment surveyed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in its just-released detailed statistical report for the first half of the year. From January…
- Phuket News
Officials Keeping Eye On Jet-skis
PHUKET: As the high season gets underway, authorities are keeping a close watch on jet-ski rental businesses operating on west coast beaches to ensure compliance with provincial regulations. Vice Governor Amnuay Sanguannam is overseeing the joint enforcement efforts of district, harbor, marine and police officials. Weekly reports are being filed by the various departments with the vice governor’s office in…
- Phuket News
Immigration To “Encourage” Registration
PHUKET TOWN: Pol Col Phirojana Paresakul, Superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Office, told the Gazette today that his office will be “encouraging” all aliens who remain in Thailand for longer than 90 days to notify the department of their residential address every three months as required by law. He stated that the law would be strictly enforced by his officers…
- Phuket News
Student Prostitutes Among Seven Arrested
PHUKET TOWN: Undercover officers from the Phuket Tourist Police raided a home near Sapan Hin and arrested a 50-year-old man along with six female suspects – including two 15-year-old twins – on prostitution charges. Posing as customers, the two plainclothes officers entered the residence on Soi Tonphol, Phuket Road, shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday and inquired about sex services from…
- Phuket News
Poll Confirms Perceptions Of Local Driving
PHUKET TOWN: In the Gazette Poll for the week ended at noon today, 71.8% of the 662 participants responded “Yes, absolutely” to the question, “Do you feel that driving in Phuket is too risky?” 21.4% voted “No, not really,” and 6.8% said they didn’t know. The perception that driving here is excessively risky was strongest among local foreign residents, 85%…
- Phuket News
Officials Raid Illegal Tin Refinery
PHUKET TOWN: Following undercover surveillance by mineral resources officers, authorities raided a sand processing yard fronting for an illegal tin refinery. Phuket Town Police Superintendent Pol Col Chalit Tintanee and Phuket Mineral Resources Department Chief Panya Worathammaporn, along with officers of both departments, descended on the 15-rai facility, located at 163/5 Wichitsongkram Road, at 5:30 Wednesday afternoon and uncovered five…
- Phuket News
Dengue Fever Cases Skyrocket
PHUKET: Reported cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in the province during the first ten months of 1998 have surpassed the combined total of the past three years. Provincial Health Officer Dr Boonriang Chuchaisangrat told the Gazette today that 755 cases of the mosquito-borne virus were documented by his department through the end of October. The ten-month total is more…
- Phuket News
Seven Held On Oil Smuggling Charges
PHANG NGA: One vessel was impounded and seven suspects arrested following a raid on an oil smuggling boat operating in the waters off Khura Buri district. Marine police boarded the Chok Krating 7 off the coast of Surin Island at around 10 o’clock Saturday night and took the vessel’s skipper and crew, all Thais, into custody after discovering a total…
- Phuket News
Local Internet Poll Launched
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Gazette has announced the launching today of a weekly opinion poll on its websites. Focusing on strictly local issues of interest to the island’s residents and legions of tourists, the Gazette Poll appears on both the Phuket Residents’ Page (www.phket.loxinfo.co.th/~gazette) and on the Phuket Gazette Online at thethaiger.com. The results of each poll, broken down into…
