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- Phuket News
German couple mugged at Nai Harn
NAI HARN: German tourists Rainer and Susanne Siebert were beaten unconscious and robbed in broad daylight yesterday as they walked near Le Royal Méridien Phuket Yacht Club at about 3 pm. The couple spoke with the Gazette today at Phuket International Hospital, where Mr Siebert is recovering from a head injury and his wife is recovering from two fractures to…
- Phuket News
Thavorn closes resort until high season
KARON: The Thavorn Palm Beach Resort will close from June 28 until October 1 for renovations, the management has announced. In a statement issued today, Managing Director Charearn Thavornwongwongse said, “In view of the current situation, Thavorn Palm Beach Resort has decided to take this opportunity to further renovate and develop the resort over the coming months.” He noted that…
- Phuket News
Police appeal for patience in Pongtorn probe
SURAT THANI: A senior officer from Police Region 8 has denied press reports that an arrest has been made for the assassination of Phuket Land Office Deputy Chief Pongtorn Hiranyaburana seven weeks ago, and has appealed for the public to be patient. Pol Col Ronapong Saikaew, Superintendent of Investigation of Surat Thani Provincial Police Region 8, who is heading up…
- Phuket News
Relief loans for tourism businesses
PHUKET: The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank (SME Bank) of Thailand is offering members of the Phuket Eco-tourism Association (PEA) loans of up to 5 million baht, it was announced today. Speaking at a seminar held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel this afternoon, SME Bank Phuket branch manager Adisorn Kittipatanapaiboon said that loans of between 300,000 and 5…
- Phuket News
Villagers seek justice for slain council member
CHERNG TALAY: About 200 Cherng Talay villagers carried the casket of a murdered village council member to the Cherng Talay Police Station yesterday to demand justice for his death. The victim, 33-year-old Sommit Kongtin, was allegedly clubbed to death by a gang of young thugs outside the Chok E-sarn Karaoke Bar on Srisoonthorn Rd at about 2 am on June…
- Phuket News
Jilted lover commits murder-suicide
WICHIT: A rubber plantation worker on Saturday shot dead his ex-fiancée after discovering that she had been living with a new boyfriend. He then turned the gun on himself, shooting himself in the head. Lt Col Chartchai Nicrodhanon, Deputy Superintendent (Suppression) of Phuket Town Police Station, today told the Gazette that he and other officers arrived at the scene of…
- Phuket News
Investigators swoop on Land Reform Office
PHUKET TOWN: Crime Suppression officers and Forestry Police today descended on the Phuket Provincial Agriculture Land Reform Office (ALRO) as part of investigations into the SorPorKor land use scandal. During the afternoon investigators also visited five pieces of land that are among those pinpointed in the massive land probe launched by the government. During a tense two-hour visit in the…
- Phuket News
Bilateral talks boost health tourism
MAI KHAO: Thailand and Malaysia have agreed in bilateral talks to cooperate in boosting health-based tourism and developing traditional medicines. The deal came today in the first of three days of talks between Thai Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and her Malaysian counterpart, Dato Chua Jui Meng, at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa. Other topics that will be…
- Phuket News
Land paper probe begins
PHUKET: Thirty officers from the Agriculture Land Reform Deoartment (ALRD) in Bangkok started checking SorPorKor 4-01 land occupation papers this morning, and are expected to take about a week to compile a summary of their findings. Adisak Srisappakij, Permanent Secretary of the ALRD, told the Gazette after meeting with Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi that the 30 officers would check all…
- Phuket News
Security fears as police nab aliens
THALANG: Phuket police have nabbed 37 men as they tried to enter the country on fake visas in a breach that has ramifications for national security and posts a question mark over the effectiveness of the Immigration Department. The men, in two large groups, had already passed through airport immigration counters by presenting Bangladeshi passports when police, acting on information…
- Phuket News
Phuket “facing foreign labor shortage’
PHUKET TOWN: Although the number of unemployed people has risen dramatically as a result of the tourism downturn, local Thai Rak Thai party leader Dr Yada Palimapan believes Phuket’s industries now need an extra 5,000 more laborers from other countries to kick-start the local economy. Dr Yada told a media conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday that…
- Phuket News
Traffic campaign aims to “end the pain’
PHUKET TOWN: Some 900 people attended a Traffic Accident Prevention Fair in Saphan Hin yesterday, marking the start of a province-wide effort to improve road safety through education and law enforcement. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit, who is leading the campaign, said at the opening ceremony at the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office, “Phuket has the highest rate of death from traffic accidents…
- Phuket News
Nai Yang vendors told to move
NAI YANG: Vendors on Nai Yang Beach have been ordered by Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi to move from public land. The 47 vendors have been offered alternative accommodation about 600 meters away but at least 22 are resisting the move and are fighting it through the courts. Tanapong Apaiso, Chief of Sirinat Marine National Park, said that 14 tricycle vendors…
- Phuket News
Rawai beach stalls to be moved
RAWAI: About 40 stall vendors selling food along the Rawai seafront have been ordered to vacate by the end of June in preparation for developments at the resort beach. Sixteen of the vendors will move to a new site as part of a 600,000-baht building project that will house them about 500 meters from the old location, near the Rawai…
- Phuket News
Poor turnout for SorPorKor meeting
PHUKET TOWN: Only 67 people of the 515 people in Phuket holding SorPorKor 4-01 land occupation papers registered at a meeting with Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday. With the central government about to send dozens of investigators to Phuket to check all SorPorKor papers, Gov Pongpayome had asked SorPorKor holders to a one-hour meeting at the Phuket Provincial Meeting…
- Phuket News
New crackdown on traffic offenses
PHUKET: Police began a crackdown on traffic offenders from yesterday, as part of a fresh offensive aimed at reducing road deaths and injuries. Announcing the crackdown, which he said will continue indefinitely, Metha Mekarath of the Provincial Defense Office said that government employees caught breaking the rules of the road will face special punishment and could even lose their jobs.…
- Phuket News
Market vendors protest forced move
PHUKET TOWN: More than 150 market traders of the popular downtown market on Ranong Rd gathered at Provincial Hall this morning to protest their forced relocation to a site on Bangkok Rd by Thursday. If they do not move by Thursday, they each face a fine of 2,000 baht a day. Of the 300 vendors at the market, 88 unlicensed…
- Phuket News
Cabinet to get a taste of Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi is preparing to lobby Cabinet ministers with a taste of Phuket culture in the form of batik shirts and a feast of Phuket food. Members of Cabinet will arrive on Sunday for the meeting at the Phuket Arcadia Resort in Karon, to be attended by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Phuket Governor CEO…
- Phuket News
Life no longer in the Patong night
PATONG: A number of Patong nightspots have closed down temporarily due to the sharp decrease in tourism in the resort town. Chairat Sukbal, owner of Safari Pub, told the Gazette that many entertainment venues were forced to shut down because the lack of trade meant they were no longer able to pay staff wages. He attributed the lack of tourists…
- Phuket News
Computer whiz wins spot in US Olympiad
PHUKET TOWN: A Phuket student has been chosen as one of the four computer science students to represent Thailand in the International Science Olympiad competition, to be held in Wisconsin, USA, in mid-August. Nawanol Theera’ampornpan, an 18-year-old student in Mattayom 6 at Phuket Wittayalai School, will join between 600 and 800 students from more than 100 countries in the event.…
- Thailand News
That’s show business
CHON BURI: Some nude performers at a Pattaya go-go bar obviously didn’t realize certain members of the enthralled audience were actually members of the local vice squad. After watching the sex show for an unreported length of time, Pol Maj Col Vasu Seangsuksai and his team of undercover officers sprang into action and arrested the seven performers: six women and…
- Phuket News
Laguna land legitimate, says spokesman
CHERNG TALAY: The management of Laguna Phuket is confident that no part of the complex has been built on designated public land but will accept a ruling from the courts, a senior executive said today. The comments from Niyom Tassaneetipagorn, Assistant Vice President of Laguna Resorts & Hotels Public Co, were the first from the group since the legitimacy of…
- Phuket News
Good hair days for schoolgirls
PHUKET: At last, after almost a century of short cuts, the girls can let their hair down. Female students at Satree Phuket have been told that from the new school semester this week, they can grow their hair to eight inches in length. At Satree Phuket, Assistant Director Ajarn Duangkamol H said that fashions and rules today were different from…
- Phuket News
Murder on wheels: three held
PHUKET TOWN: Three teenagers were being held on murder charges today as police revealed details of a killing-on-wheels at Saphan Hin in which a shotgun was used to blow away a young rival. The three were arrested yesterday in Chalong and police confiscated two motorcycles and two shotguns allegedly used in the attack on 19-year-old Nikorn Onbutra at about 10…
- Phuket News
Green-and-purple piddle puzzles police
PHUKET TOWN: A drug-test raid on restaurants and karaoke bars early yesterday morning along Wanich Rd produced 12 positive purple tests – and one new green-and-purple result that police had not seen before. While the 79 people who were tested went about their business as usual today, police puzzled over the unusual sample. “It was quite weird,” said Pol Capt…
- Thailand News
Pattaya or bust turns to French nightmare
CHON BURI: Most foreigners have fond memories of their first visit to Thailand. For many, especially those on their way to Pattaya, it brings back memories of being a child on Christmas morning. But for 29-year-old Frenchman Tony André Marichaud, the excitement was just too much to contain. Marichaud and his friend, 28 year-old Richard Henri Detroit, had just arrived…
- Phuket News
Meeting aims to improve Phuket tourism
KARON: A meeting on the topic of “Increasing Phuket’s Competitiveness in the International Tourism Market” was held on Tuesday at the Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort. The event was organized jointly by the Phuket Tourist Association and the Kenan Institute Asia (KIA). Objectives of the meeting included finding ways to develop the province as a world class tourist destination; identifying ways…
- Phuket News
Health Chief issues dengue fever warning
PHUKET TOWN: The rising number of people contracting dengue fever has prompted Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Wanchai Sattayawutthipong to issue a public health warning and to implement a mosquito culling program. Speaking at a press conference at Phuket Provincial Hall on Tuesday, Dr Wanchai said, “About 10 people in Phuket had dengue fever in February last year,…
- Phuket News
11 police “involved in drugs’
PHUKET TOWN: Just 15 days since the launch of the nationwide campaign to eradicate illegal drugs in Thailand, 17 Phuket government officers and elected officials, including 11 policemen, stand accused of being involved with illegal drugs. Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi announced the findings at a press conference at the Phuket Against Drugs Center at Provincial Hall on Saturday. Gov…
- Phuket News
A less-than-romantic evening
PATONG: In keeping with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s drive to stamp out illegal drugs within three months, the authorities conducted a surprise raid on the popular Tiger Pub on Soi Bangla on Friday evening – Valentine’s Day. As police swooped in, a large number of tourists – mostly foreigners – managed to escape, leaving just 70 romantic revelers in the…
