Search Results for: motorcycle taxi

  • Phuket NewsSUDDEN IMPACT: Phuket helmet law crackdown starts today

    SUDDEN IMPACT: Phuket helmet law crackdown starts today

    PHUKET: Phuket City Traffic Police have been ordered to take more serious action against motorcyclists riding without helmets by fining passengers as well as drivers. The order was issued by Phuket Police Commander Pekad Tantipong as part of a crackdown that starts today. In May and June, 50 officers will crack down more heavily on motorcycle drivers without helmets and…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket about-turn: Patong one-way to be reversed

    Phuket about-turn: Patong one-way to be reversed

    PATONG, PHUKET: There could be a turnaround in Patong’s traffic woes by the year’s end. Mayor Pian Keesin has announced plans to redirect the one-way system in Phuket’s tourist epicenter from clockwise to anticlockwise. Newly appointed Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao said earlier this month that the current system, which came into effect in 2007, “not only confuses people but…

  • Phuket NewsPolice enlist public as Phuket’s eyes and ears

    Police enlist public as Phuket’s eyes and ears

    PHUKET: Fearing that political groups may try to cause disruptions in Phuket during the red shirt demonstrations in Bangkok, the police are enlisting members of the public as their roving eyes and ears. Through a project called ‘News for Security’, the police are asking citizens to spot suspicious packages and unusual behavior, and to report it to the authorities. This…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket tuk-tuk driver returns Russian tourist’s wallet

    Phuket tuk-tuk driver returns Russian tourist’s wallet

    PATONG, PHUKET: A tuk-tuk driver last week returned a lost wallet to a Russian couple on holiday in Patong. At about 2pm on February 26, sharp-eyed Seree Yodthueng noticed the wallet in the back of an unmanned tuk-tuk belonging to a fellow member of the Patong Taxi Federation. The tuk-tuk was parked along Phang Muang Road, behind Jungceylon. The wallet…

  • Phuket NewsDeputy PM orders investigation into Phuket jet-ski scams

    Deputy PM orders investigation into Phuket jet-ski scams

    PHUKET: Australian diplomats regard the problem of jet-ski rip-offs in Phuket so seriously they have complained to the prime minister, Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop said yesterday.As a result, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has ordered a thorough investigation into scams on the island, particularly those involving jet-skis and motorcycle taxis, Gov Wichai said.There are about 300 jet-skis on five beaches…

  • Phuket NewsInternal Security Act now in force in Phuket

    Internal Security Act now in force in Phuket

    PHUKET CITY: The controversial Internal Security Act to ensure there is no disruption at the upcoming 42nd Asean Ministers Meeting is now in force, but very few locals will have noticed any difference. Military hardware, much of it on flatbed trucks, rolled onto the island yesterday afternoon. Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is in charge of security during the meetings,…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket property developer blamed for flooding

    Phuket property developer blamed for flooding

    PATONG, PHUKET: As the monsoon season approaches, Patong residents fear that unusually prolonged flooding on a section of Nanai Road will only get worse. Despite efforts by Patong Municipality to rectify the problem, the section of Nanai Road has remained permanently under three feet of water for the past few weeks. It has become such a constant fixture that local residents have nicknamed the stretch…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Police train for Asean summit

    Phuket Police train for Asean summit

    PHUKET CITY: There was more action than usual at Phuket City Police Station yesterday when some 300 local police took part in crowd control and anti-riot training under the watchful eye of Royal Thai Police Region 8 Commissioner Santarn Chayanon. The special training is in the run-up to the Asean+3+6 summit, tentatively scheduled to take place at the Hilton Phuket…

  • Phuket NewsThai tourist beaten, stabbed, robbed | Thaiger

    Thai tourist beaten, stabbed, robbed

    PHUKET CITY (SAPHAN HIN): Police have issued an arrest warrant for a motorcycle taxi driver who assaulted and robbed a passenger early yesterday morning and left him bleeding in the middle of the road. A local Thai-language newspaper identified the victim as 43-year-old Nakhon Sawan resident Kittiporn Jongsiri, holder of a master’s degree from prestigious Chulalongkorn University. From his bed…

  • Thailand NewsAussie stabbing: no worries, mate | Thaiger

    Aussie stabbing: no worries, mate

    PATONG: Officers at Patong Hospital have denied reports in a local Thai-language newspaper that an Australian serviceman on shore leave was in a coma after being stabbed repeatedly following an altercation in Patong on the night of November 5. In fact, the soldier was treated for only minor stab wounds, which were stitched in the hospital. He was released shortly…

  • Phuket NewsBrits charged over fake ATM-card withdrawals

    Brits charged over fake ATM-card withdrawals

    PHUKET CITY: A father, mother and son from the UK have been charged with using fake electronic cards to withdraw more than 100,000 baht from ATMs while on holiday in Phuket.Capt Supachai Petchkul of Phuket City Police Station today told the Gazette that police received an anonymous phone call at 1:40 am yesterday reporting that two foreign men were behaving…

  • Phuket NewsMP candidates call for local election commission to be replaced

    MP candidates call for local election commission to be replaced

    PHUKET CITY: Six local MP candidates from four political parties held a press conference Wednesday afternoon, calling for the national Election Commission (EC) to replace all the members of the Phuket Election Commission (PEC) currently chaired by Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha.The six politicians charged that the PEC’s joint staging of an “anti-vote-buying” activity with the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor)…

  • Phuket NewsPatong tuk-tuks protest one-way traffic

    Patong tuk-tuks protest one-way traffic

    PATONG: About 40 angry tuk-tuk drivers parked their vehicles on the football field on the beach road from 5 pm until 10 pm on Sunday to protest the town’s new one-way road system, which went into effect on a three-month trial from January 16.Among the drivers’ complaints are that the new system has increased traffic, travel time and operating costs – while…

  • Phuket NewsPatong to try one-way traffic | Thaiger

    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 NewsRape-murder case awaiting forensics results | Thaiger

    Rape-murder case awaiting forensics results

    RAWAI: Police investigating the rape and murder of Phuket native Tada Sa-nguansak, 49, whose body was found in broad daylight on Friendship Beach June 28, are awaiting the results of forensics tests being carried out in Bangkok.Pol Lt Col Peerapan Meemak of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “We are waiting for tests results from the Forensic Laboratory Institute in…

  • Phuket NewsBody of woman found near Burmese workers’ camp | Thaiger

    Body of woman found near Burmese workers’ camp

    RASADA: The body of an apparent murder victim was found yesterday in a patch of grass near the Thaksin Concrete company building on Thepkrasattri Rd. The victim, a young woman, had head wounds indicating that she had been beaten with a blunt instrument. Police estimate that she died about three days before her body was discovered.Phuket City Police Crime Suppression…

  • Phuket NewsTrial of Brit’s killer to begin in December | Thaiger

    Trial of Brit’s killer to begin in December

    KRABI: The Krabi Provincial Court will begin hearing testimony in the murder trial of motorcycle taxi driver Uthane Douangnoi in December. Uthane is accused of murdering Briton Richard Mark Collins on March 8 last year (see earlier story here). A clerk at the Krabi Provincial Court told the Gazette today that the hearing would likely carry on well into 2007.…

  • Phuket NewsNight venues set for mass protest

    Night venues set for mass protest

    PHUKET: Less than one week before the official start of the high season for tourism on November 1, nighttime entertainment venue operators appear set to move forward with their planned work stoppage to protest the government’s early closing times.More than 200 bar owners, staff and others affected by the new regulations gathered at the Crocodile Pub on Soi Bangla last…

  • Phuket NewsBritish teacher stabbed | Thaiger

    British teacher stabbed

    PHUKET CITY: A young British man is recovering in Wachira Phuket Hospital intensive care unit after being stabbed late on Friday. A motorcycle taxi driver found Aden Simpson, 21, who is a teacher at Satree Phuket School, lying bloody and unconscious at the side of the road near the Mission Hospital at about 5 am on Saturday, hours after the…

  • Phuket NewsHotline for reporting transport rip-offs | Thaiger

    Hotline for reporting transport rip-offs

    PHUKET CITY: Customers who believe they have been overcharged or otherwise maltreated by tuk-tuk, taxi, minibus and airport limousine drivers will soon be able to make complaints direct to the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) through a new telephone hotline number, 1584, manned 24 hours a day. Due to go into service at the end of May, the 1584 hotline…

  • Phuket NewsSpy network to tackle road safety | Thaiger

    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 NewsAnger greets 1 am closing time | Thaiger

    Anger greets 1 am closing time

    PATONG: From March 1, bars and entertainment venues on Phuket will have to close at 1 am, an hour earlier than they do at present. The early closing edict was decided at a meeting of the Cabinet in Bangkok yesterday. The decision effectively designates the entire island as one large entertainment zone, leaving people in the after-dark industry exasperated and…

  • Phuket NewsPatong protests early closings

    Patong protests early closings

    PATONG: More than 400 workers in Patong’s entertainment industry gathered on Saturday at Loma Park to vent their anger over government proposals to restrict the opening hours of entertainment venues to the period from 6 pm to midnight. The change, if approved, is likely to go into effect March 1. Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA) president Somphet Moosopon urged the…

  • Phuket NewsPatong plans early-closing protest

    Patong plans early-closing protest

    PATONG: About 150 people from Patong’s entertainment industry met today to discuss measures to oppose government proposals to close the country’s nightlife at midnight. Hundreds more are expected to take part in a full-scale protest at 3 pm on Saturday. Talk of preemptive closures of bars in Patong from 1 am on January 19 was denied by local police as…

  • Phuket NewsMan strangled at Patong beach | Thaiger

    Man strangled at Patong beach

    PATONG: Police are seeking two men who were seen fleeing the spot where a body was found strangled and lying face-down in the shallows at Patong beach on Sunday morning. From what officers have been told by a motorcycle taxi rider, they believe the dead man was aged 35, was probably gay and probably worked in a karaoke in Soi…

  • Phuket NewsMetered cabs to start April 1 | Thaiger

    Metered cabs to start April 1

    PHUKET: Metered yellow and blue taxis will be cruising Phuket’s streets from April 1, says the proprietor of the private company starting the service. Tawatchai Meeniam, Managing Director of Phuket Metered Taxi Service Co, told the Gazette today that he hopes to start with five taxis, all of them new Mitsubishi Lancers. Fares for the 24-hour service will be 30…

  • Phuket NewsStaff believe Shark will reopen | Thaiger

    Staff believe Shark will reopen

    PATONG: Loyal Shark Club staff still camping outside the darkened disco in protest over its closure expect the club will eventually reopen, one of their leaders told the Gazette today. The staff also hope that expelled Canadian manager-shareholder Kevin Radke will return to run the business. The club’s Chief Engineer, Sayan Ongvimonkarn, told the Gazette that he believed the closure…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Town inches closer to public buses | Thaiger

    Phuket Town inches closer to public buses

    PHUKET TOWN: Public bus services are set to start next month on two routes in Phuket Town as soon as the vehicles are ready, says a senior member of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor). The proposed transport breakthrough follows years of promises and postponements. The biggest hurdle now faced by the project is opposition from tuk-tuk drivers and motorcycle…

  • Phuket NewsRapist caught in the act on Patong Beach | Thaiger

    Rapist caught in the act on Patong Beach

    PATONG: A 19-year-old woman from Ayuthaya was raped on Patong Beach last Friday night. Pol Maj Sa-nguan Muangtam of Kathu Police Station said that at about 11 pm on April 21, Wanchai Teanprarooyai, a 33-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, reported that a girl was being raped in a tent toward the north end of the beach near Loma Park. Police went…

  • Phuket NewsCity bus service “to start next month’ | Thaiger

    City bus service “to start next month’

    PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town’s first real bus service – originally scheduled to start in May last year and then postponed to January this year – is expected finally to be up and running some time in April. Introduction of the service has been delayed because PB Holdings, the bus operator, was not able to find 26 buses of the right…