Search Results for: Thailand
- Phuket News
Patong to try one-way traffic
PATONG: In the hope of bringing some order to Patong’s traffic chaos, on January 15 the town will adopt a one-way road system on a three-month trial.The one-way system will see Rat U-Thit 200 Pi Rd become one-way southbound and Thaweewong Rd (the beach road) one-way northbound from Prachanukhro Rd to Phra Barami Rd.Prachanukhro Rd will become one-way from Rat…
- Phuket News
Fire engulfs stalls along Patong beachfront
PATONG: A fire broke out on Thaweewong Rd about 4 am yesterday, destroying eight vendors’ stalls and causing an estimated 10 million baht in damages.Firefighters took two hours to extinguish the blaze.The fire broke out in a row of shops near the Holiday Inn Resort. After being notified of the blaze by Kathu Police, 10 trucks from Patong Municipality Fire…
- Phuket News
Tsunami early-warning buoys to deploy from Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Thailand’s tsunami early-warning system will take a big step forward this month, when a high-tech monitoring buoy able to directly detect tsunami waves will be deployed about 1,100 kilometers off the Andaman Coast, near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.The announcement came during a meeting on disaster preparedness in the six tsunami-affected provinces held at the Royal Phuket City…
- Phuket News
“Peanut gambling’ gang caught
KAMALA: Four men, including a retired police officer, have been arrested for their participation in a “peanut gambling” swindle after a woman, whose name is being withheld at her request, was conned out of 1 million baht before reporting the racket to the police.The woman reported the con to police on November 8 and cooperated in a sting operation, luring…
- Phuket News
Jazz Royale Festival schedule announced
KARON: The Jazz Royale Festival – organized to honor HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday – will be held at Karon Beach on December 16 and 17, 2006.Among the big names to perform in the show are Kenny G, The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, and jazz great Ahmad Jamal.Tickets are priced at 1,500 baht and are available from the…
- Phuket News
Alcohol advertising ban threatens Johnnie Walker Classic
BANGKOK (The Nation): Riche Monde, distributor of Johnnie Walker whiskey, has urged the government to decide within two weeks whether it can use the logo and brand to promote the upcoming Johnnie Walker Classic golf event at Blue Canyon Country Club in Thalang.If the government bans the use of the logo and brand, as well as prohibits the company from…
- Phuket News
Chinese take FIVB gold in Phuket
KARON: It was an all-China final in the Swatch FIVB Phuket Thailand Open international women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday. The last stop on the FIVB world tour pitted third-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi against compatriots Tian Jia and Wang Jie in the final.Xue and Zhang went on to win in the third all-Chinese final of this season’s FIVB tour.…
- Phuket News
US Olympic champs through to FIVB semi-finals
KARON: Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, top seeds for the FIVB Phuket Thailand Open being held at Karon Beach this weekend, secured a place in the semi-finals by defeating fourth-seeded Nila Ann Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen of Norway 21-17, 19-21, 15-11 in 48 minutes.The win extended Walsh and May-Treanor’s winning streak in the tourney to 11 matches The duo…
- Phuket News
Foreign teachers: eligible bachelors only need apply
PHUKET: Schools across the island will ask Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit to petition the Ministry of Education (MoE) to ease new regulations requiring all new teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree and to pass an extensive background check before they can begin work.The decision was made at a meeting at the Phuket Educational Service Area (PESA) office on…
- Phuket News
Jimmy Carter visits tsunami-struck village in Phuket
TAH CHAT CHAI: Former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday visited villagers at the north end of the island who lost their homes to the tsunami. New homes were provided for them by Habitat for Humanity, a charity headed by Carter.Villages gave a heartfelt welcome to Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who were accompanied by US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce,…
- Phuket News
Phuket beaches fail “5-star’ award
PHUKET: Visitors seeking a “five-star” beach experience in Thailand will have to head to either Krabi or Satun, as none of the eight beaches in Phuket monitored by the Pollution Control Department (PCD) will be awarded the coveted “5-Star Tourist Beach” rating for 2006.Dr Pornsook Chongprasith, Director of the PCD’s Marine Environment Division, told the Gazette that only three beaches…
- Phuket News
Hazy days
PHUKET: The mysterious haze that descended on Phuket yesterday is the result of a high-pressure system centered in China and local atmospheric effects and not related to forest fires in Sumatra, the island’s top weatherman has told the Gazette.Chumnong Chitpukdee, Director of Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) Phuket, said that low visibility along much of Thailand’s Andaman Coast was from…
- Phuket News
B1m reward for US-Thai fugitive
BANGKOK: Thai and US law enforcement officials today announced a 1-million-baht reward for information leading to the capture of Saner Wonggoun, a most-wanted US fugitive believed to be hiding in Thailand. Saner, alias “Shorty” or “Buck”, is wanted in connection with the 1994 murder of his pregnant wife and their eight-month-old unborn child. Saner, born in Nakon Nayok Province in…
- Phuket News
Tuk tuk, taxi drivers to get crash course in English
PHUKET CITY: One hundred Phuket taxi drivers, tuk tuk drivers and airport limousine drivers will have the chance to take a crash-course in English language and in hospitality on November 3, as the Tourism Authority of Thailand Region 4 office holds its first training session for the livery of Phuket. The course will be held at the Phuket Merlin Hotel,…
- Phuket News
The party’s over
KATA-KARON: After six ground-breaking Nation parties – four in Singapore and two in Phuket – the gay and lesbian portal Fridae.com drew the curtains in Phuket when the last track of the three-day event, spun by Australian DJ Kate Monroe, trailed off into cheers at around 8 am this morning at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort & Spa.The 1,500-plus revelers,…
- Phuket News
All green for Vegetable Frenzy
PHUKET CITY: Organizers of the annual Vegetarian Festival have announced that all systems are go for the start of this year’s event tomorrow night. Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr said that in celebration of this year’s festival, falling during the 60th anniversary of HM The King’s accession to the throne, the OrBorJor will put on a range…
- Phuket News
Patong wastewater plant now open
PATONG: The drive to keep Patong Bay free of seaweed in the upcoming high season took a big step forward with the opening of a new wastewater treatment plant on October 12.The center, built by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Wastewater Management Authority (WMA), with 13 million baht from the Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) fund, uses a…
- Phuket News
Tsunami orphanage remains open while fraud probe stalls
PHUKET: The Barnhem Thai-Swedish Children’s Foundation home for tsunami orphans in Mai Khao will continue to operate while a provincial investigation into fraud claims has stalled, awaiting the return of the home’s founder Narin Dangtakote.The provincial committee is now coming under intense pressure from the Interior Ministry to produce results following the Swedish Embassy’s dispatch last month of an official…
- Phuket News
Price freeze ordered for Veg Festival
PHUKET CITY: To prevent price-gouging in the upcoming Phuket Vegetarian Festival, the Phuket Internal Trade Office (PITO) has announced that they will inspect shops to ensure that prices of vegetables and other festival supplies are not above currently recorded market prices, and that prices are clearly marked on all products.Phuket Commercial Affairs Chief Thada Piyaporn said that more vegetables will…
- Phuket News
Call for donations for flood victims
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office of Disaster Prevention Mitigation (ODPM) is calling for donations to help people who have been affected by the floods in northern and central Thailand.ODPM Chief Aroon Kerdsom yesterday said that 19 provinces have experienced flooding so far this season, with Ang Thong, Sing Buri, Chai Nat and Chanthaburi the hardest hit.In response, foundations, businesses and…
- Phuket News
Underwater tsunami memorial installed off Phi Phi Island
PHI PHI ISLANDS: Thailand’s first underwater tsunami memorial was laid down on the seabed in Tonsai Bay, off Koh Phi Phi Don, in a ceremony on September 30.The memorial, 1.4 kilometers offshore and at a depth of 20 meters, took about one month to install. The The monument comprises three large granite markers, each 150 centimeters tall and arranged to…
- Phuket News
Tourist dead in suspected suicide
CHALONG: A South African man apparently took his own life on Wednesday, by putting a plastic bag over his head and breathing in LPG gas from a cooking fuel cylinder. The deceased was listed in the Chalong Police daily log as Joeachem Hendrik Smit, 46. His passport, recovered at the scene, showed that he had last entered Thailand on September…
- Phuket News
Nation party in Phuket again
PHUKET: Nation VI, billed as Asia’s largest gay and lesbian party, will be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa from October 20 to 22. Held since 2001, the annual event has grown from a one-night party in a disused theme park in Singapore to an international multi-day festival of gay and lesbian pride. Last year’s party, the…
- Phuket News
New Naval commander installed
AO MAKHAM: Rear-Admiral Supot Pruksa was promoted to Vice-Admiral and installed as Commanding Officer of the Third Naval Area Command this morning, replacing Tana Bunnag who has been promoted to “Deputy Chief of Staff Officer to Commander” in Bangkok.The ceremony took place at 10 am, when the officers and sailors under V/Adm Supot reported to their new commander, the 11th…
- Phuket News
Saudi Prince inks B4.3bn resort deal
PHANG NGA: Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI), which is chaired by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, has signed a deal to acquire land on which it proposes to build a US$115 million (about 4.3 billion baht) “Raffles Phang Nga Resort and Residences”, comprising 150 rooms and 25 luxury villas.The deal was made through a joint-venture company…
- Phuket News
Ranong border checkpoints re-open
PHUKET CITY: The two marine border checkpoints between Ranong and Burma reopened yesterday afternoon after closing due to the coup. Officials report that it is business as usual for visa runners seeking to avoid the 500-baht-a-day fine imposed on those who overstay their time in Thailand.Pol Lt Chaiwat Ouikhum, Chief of Ranong Immigration, confirmed to the Gazette this morning that…
- Phuket News
Batten down the hatches
PHUKET: The Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), at the airport in Thalang, has warned of heavy rain later today due to a tropical depression in the South China Sea, centered about 250 kilometers to the East of Nakhon Phanom province.The announcement, released at 10:00 this morning, said that the storm was likely to make landfall in the area of Dong…
- Phuket News
Island leaders move to allay fears of coup violence
PHUKET CITY: At a meeting held at Phuket Provincial Hall at 2 pm today, Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura, along with other key island figures, reassured residents that life will carry on as normal following Tuesday night’s coup.He said that Thai people already understood the national situation but that it could be misread by foreigners. He added that he had already…
- Phuket News
Suan Dusit poll shows 84% support coup
BANGKOK (The Nation): Approximately 84% of Thais support Tuesday’s military coup, according to the poll conducted by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University.The poll showed that 82% of Bangkok residents, and 86% of residents in rural areas support the coup as they believe it end political and social tension and is a positive step for Thai politics.The poll contradicted the widespread belief…
- Phuket News
Haad Yai bombings prompt police call for public help
PHUKET: Following the six terrorist bombings that rocked central Haad Yai on Saturday night, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Col Decha Butnampetch has urged for public support in keeping the island free of any acts of terrorism that could harm the island’s tourism industry.Pol Col Decha called for the support at a seminar at Patong Hospital attended by a large…
