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- Phuket News
Cabinet talks Phuket in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: A Cabinet meeting in Phuket on Monday will discuss the effect of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) scare, the 100-billion-baht plan to develop the island, health tourism and the plan for a software park. Local Thai Rak Thai party leader Dr Yada Palimapan and Chawalit Na Nakhon, Vice-President of the Region 11 Community Relations Committee, listed the…
- Phuket News
Charges in Tong murder case dismissed
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Court has dismissed all charges against the five men accused of participation in the murder six years ago of American businessman Danis Wayne Tong. The five accused – Belgian businessman Hugo Vandervelde along with Thais Manit Panme, Pratin Praktong, Prajuab Sukkong and Pairat Raksawong – were all freed by the court for lack of evidence, Pol…
- 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
Gov prepares for meeting with PM
PHUKET TOWN: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the Cabinet will meet with Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi on in Phuket on May 26 to discuss major issues affecting the island’s future, the Governor announced yesterday. Top of the agenda will be the effect of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) scare on Phuket’s tourism industry, which is estimated to be losing…
- Phuket News
Sars recovery plan underway
PHUKET: Phuket is losing about 2 billion baht a month because of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) panic but Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Pattanapong Aikwanich hopes for a quick recovery. He expects the turn-around to begin in July, with increased tourist traffic from Japan, Australia and Singapore. New direct air links from Japan and Australia, coupled with increased…
- Phuket News
Gov raids drug-dealing suspects
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided the houses of suspected drug dealers last night and seized pills and property valued at about 5 million baht. The raid, about 7:30 pm, was led by Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, and Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi. The Governor said today that he believes the alleged dealers, a married couple,…
- Phuket News
Arrest your friends, minister tells governors
BANGKOK: Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha wants provincial governors to arrest any of their friends or relatives believed to be involved in the illicit drugs trade, the Bangkok Post reported today. Meeting governors yesterday, he said Bangkok wants them to focus on large-scale dealers rather than small ones. He also told them to seize all drug dealers’ assets, the…
- Phuket News
Stop bickering, Phuket told
PHUKET TOWN: Better cooperation between local authorities was needed before Phuket could achieve its 100-billion baht upgrade, a senior member of the Government said today. Deputy Interior Minister Pramual Ruchanaseree came from Bangkok to attend a two-day seminar at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on the future development of Phuket. “Lack of cooperation in Phuket is still a major problem,”…
- Phuket News
Child wounded as hitmen kill neighbor
PHUKET TOWN: A four-year-old girl was shot in the shoulder as hitmen murdered a man in what police say they suspect was another drug-related execution yesterday afternoon. Bullets hit pig keeper Jaruek Sae Tan, 35, in the chest, chin, back, neck and head and he died outside a no-name restaurant on Chao Fa Nai Rd, behind the Suan Luang Park,…
- Phuket News
B20m revamp for FantaSea
KAMALA: Phuket FantaSea is to spend up to 20 million baht on renovations, new technology and changes to the show as part of a plan to boost the number of visitors this year. Pin Kewpaisal, President of Phuket FantaSea, said on Monday, “We need to do this to ensure that tourists who have seen our show already can come back…
- Phuket News
Public to vote on park’s troubled bridge
PHUKET TOWN: The people of Phuket Town will vote to decide the future of a controversial bridge that was to be built as part of a 300-million-baht redevelopment of King Rama IX Park. Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok yesterday called for the referendum after talking to government officials and about 60 members of the Rak Suan Luang Club (RSLC) –…
- Phuket News
Dry season brings water shortages
PHUKET: The taps go on in Patong and off in Karon at 4 pm each day now, under new restrictions caused by Phuket’s shortage of water, and on in Karon and off in Patong at 7 am. Hotels are having to save reserves of water or buy it – and the Phuket Provincial Waterworks (PPW) has warned that other parts…
- Phuket News
Man dies as bike crashes and burns
PHUKET TOWN: Police are investigating a crash last night that left a foreigner dead and his hired motorcycle a burnt-out shell. Two cars were also involved. The man, named by police as Etienne Jacques Payan, was carrying an international driving license issued in Britain. Today an officer went from Phuket Town to Krabi, where the motorcycle was rented, to investigate…
- Phuket News
Shark disco reborn as Star Wars
PATONG: The Shark discotheque, closed for more than a year after allegations of lewd behavior, is to reopen next month under new ownership and with a new name, Star Wars. The Patong landmark on the corner of Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd and Soi Bangla has been taken over by Maroot Tainikom, who also runs the nearby Tiger disco and plans…
- Phuket News
Two die as drug dealers crack down on “squealers’
PHUKET TOWN: Two suspected drug dealers have been shot dead in separate incidents, and police fear a wave of gangland-style slayings could follow in Phuket. The executions, within hours of each other, indicate that the island’s drug overlords are having potential “squealers” permanently silenced rather than risk them talking to police. Elsewhere in Thailand, scores of killings over the past…
- Phuket News
Democrats fight back
PHUKET TOWN: Confident Democrat Party leaders said yesterday that they would hold their three seats in Phuket at the next election and could even topple the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party. About 1,000 people attended the Phuket Merlin Hotel yesterday to hear Abisit Vejjajiva, Deputy Leader of the Democrats, and Chamni Sakdiseth, the party’s Deputy Secretary. K. Chamni said that…
- Phuket News
New reservoir on hold for tests
THALANG: Construction of Phuket’s new reservoir, which Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has agreed will be paid for by the central government, is to be delayed while tests are made of the site. The tests center on the quality of the soil at the spot in Thalang where the 300-million-baht Bang Neaw Dam is to be built as a solution to…
- Phuket News
Krabi airport to get upgrade
KRABI: Krabi International Airport is now handling visas on arrival and will gain a longer runway and an expanded car park, thanks to a 700-million-baht government grant. Attapol Mansutthi, the airport’s Director, told the Gazette, “The total area of the airport is 2,300 rai including one building, car park and airfield. We will expand the car park and lengthen the…
- Phuket News
Brit nabbed for theft of B245,000 ring
PHUKET TOWN: Thomas James Wynn, 36, from Liverpool, England, was arrested today and charged with theft after allegedly stealing a quarter-million-baht diamond ring from Pornthep Gems on Montri Rd this morning. The shop’s owner, Thanongsak Sakasamekit, said that Wynn came into his shop and asked to see diamond rings with him. “I let my wife take care of him. He…
- Phuket News
Purachai aiming to cut prison population
PHUKET TOWN: More prisoners are likely to be freed on probation to reduce the problem of overcrowding at Phuket Provincial Prison. The announcement was made today by visiting Justice Minister Purachai Piemsomboon. “The prison in Phuket is very old,” he said. “The number of prisoners is increasing but the budget and the number of prison officers is not. “Phuket [Prison]…
- Phuket News
Blaze leaves seven homeless
PHUKET TOWN: A fire in a two-story shophouse on Phuket Rd this morning caused about 2 million baht baht damage and left seven people homeless. Firefighters took 45 minutes to extinguish the blaze while officers from Phuket Town Police Station redirected traffic at the nearby intersection with Ong Sim Phai Rd. Buildings on either side of the fire sustained minor…
- Phuket News
Laem Phromthep to get B20m facelift
RAWAI: Popular tourist site Laem Phromthep will be improved by a 20-million-baht beautification project spanning seven months, it was announced yesterday. Arun Sorot, President of the Rawai Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), said, “We plan to build a new car park first. It will take as many vehicles as the old one. Construction will begin in the middle of February.” In…
- Phuket News
PMs enjoy “productive’ talks in Phuket
LAGUNA: Relaxed, smiling and looking like old friends, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Singaporean counterpart Goh Chok Tong today met members of the press and told them that their talks in Phuket had been, in PM Thaksin’s words, “wide-ranging, revealing and most productive”. There were three main areas of discussion – global and regional development; strengthening the Association of…
- Phuket News
Conference center go-ahead “in January’
PHUKET: The island’s proposed international conference center (ICC) is expected to get the go-ahead from the cabinet in January, with a project budget of more than 1 billion baht, Sports and Tourism Minister Sontaya Kunplome announced this week. The overall proposal has already been submitted to Bangkok for approval, he said. “I expect that in January we will get permission…
- Phuket News
Tourism meeting stresses environment
PHUKET: Sports and Tourism Minister Sontaya Kunplome yesterday met Phuket CEO Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi and officials from Phang-nga and Krabi to discuss tourism development in the region. At the meeting, held in the Royal Phuket City Hotel, K. Sontaya said, “We are working to promote a positive image of Thailand abroad and to ensure its safety as a tourist destination.…
- Phuket News
Driving tests just got harder
PHUKET TOWN: Learner drivers looking forward to passing the traditional minimalist driving test to get their driver’s license now have to think again. The new driving test area at the Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO) was officially opened this afternoon and is in use. Phiyapan Jumpasut, Chief of the Department of Land Transportation, said that the Department was improving driving…
- Phuket News
Excise man hits the jackpot
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Excise Office (PPEO) has announced that it expects to collect at least 5 million baht in excise tax from “pleasure craft” in the current tax year (to September 30, 2003), along with at least 29 million baht in excise tax from golf courses. Narong Srivanitchakorn, Chief of the PPEO, said that his office had collected about…
- Phuket News
Mayor under fire for park bridge project
PHUKET TOWN: About 20 members of the Rak Suan Luang Club (RSLC) today descended on Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok’s monthly press conference to protest the construction of a bridge in King Rama IX Park, better known as Suan Luang Park. Protest leaders handed Mayor Phummisak an official complaint to stop construction of a bridge over concerns that it will…
- Phuket News
Tourists secure, Gov tells Scandinavians
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi today reassured a group of visiting Scandanavian travel agents and print and TV journalists that Phuket was a secure destination for tourists. His visitors came from Denmark and Norway, which, after the Bali atrocity in October, were among the first countries to issue travel advisories warning their citizens to exercise extreme caution when…
- Phuket News
Property expo in HK a roaring success
HONG KONG: The Phuket & Samui Property Exhibition held in Hong Kong on Friday, Saturday and Sunday was, on all counts, a major success. More than 1,000 potential property buyers attended the event at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center. There were 22 exhibitors. “The feedback’s been excellent,” said Bill Barnett, Deputy Managing Director of Laguna Resorts & Hotels…
