Search Results for: Bangkok
- Phuket News
Cabinet approves huge hike in work permit fees
BANGKOK: A proposal by the Ministry of Labor to raise the price of renewing a work permit has been passed by the Thai Cabinet, bringing massive rises in fees a step closer. The proposal must be ratified by Parliament before the change in legislation comes into effect. This may take up to a year. Should the proposed legislation be accepted…
- Phuket News
THAI to suspend 20 overseas flights amid Y2K fears
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai Airways International (THAI) will suspend 20 international flights over the New Year due to fears the Y2K bug could affect air traffic safety, THAI president Thamnoon Wanglee said late today. “No domestic flights will be affected, only 20 flights to Europe, Australia, and Sri Lanka will be suspended,” he said. A senior Thai government minister this week…
- Phuket News
Three witnesses testify in Jennings murder trial
PHUKET: Three witnesses appeared on the stand this morning in the trial of Nongnut Tungkaburi and Kraisorn Kamnoun for their alleged involvement in the December 15, 1997 murder of Roger Jennings, Nongnut’s common-law husband. The first witness, Weeranat Kammanochart, 22, a cashier at the Alice Bar, owned by Jennings and Nongnut, testified that Mr Jennings and Nongnut were nice people.…
- Phuket News
Pirates arrested with hijacked vessel
PHUKET: Authorities in Bombay have arrested the pirates who seized a Japanese freighter off the coast of Indonesia on October 22, Phuket Marine Police said today. The pirates set the crew of the vessel, the Alondra Rainbow, adrift on a raft on October 29. They were found 11 days later by Thai fishermen who brought them to Phuket. Pol Col…
- Phuket News
University lecturer charged with murder
BANGKOK (AFP): A Japanese-American university lecturer has been arrested on charges of murdering his Thai girlfriend and dumping her body into a river, police in Bangkok said yesterday. The man, identified by police as Michael Yoshinaka, 34, a teacher at a university in California, was arrested in a hotel on Friday night. They said a gold ring belonging to his…
- Phuket News
Two tourists killed, two hurt in van crash
CHIANG MAI (AFP): Two British tourists were killed and a Dutchman was injured this afternoon when a van crashed near a mountain-top retreat in northern Thailand. According to police, the accident happened when the van, hired by a tour company, went into a spin on a mountain road and hit crash barriers in northern Chiang Mai province, 700 kilometres (420…
- Phuket News
Phuket expels illegal immigrants
PHUKET TOWN: A total of 72 illegal immigrants – 28 Burmese laborers and 44 Cambodian beggars – were sent back to their countries from Phuket today. The Burmese were sent to Ranong while the Cambodians were trucked to Aranyaprathet. All the Burmese were adults, but 30 of the Cambodians were children, and many of the 14 adults were handicapped. The…
- Phuket News
Thailand shrugs off Y2K fears
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand shrugged off fears it has acted too late to combat the millennium computer bug Friday, but advised citizens to stockpile food ‘just in case.’ Deputy Prime Minister Trirong Suwankiri hit out at claims that the United States and other nations do not trust Thailand’s effort to beat the Y2K bug. “Nobody trusts each other; we also do…
- Phuket News
Lotus road chaos “could last a month’ – police
SAM KONG: With traffic backed up in all four directions at the ‘Lotus intersection’ again last night, Phuketians are getting a good taste of motoring Bangkok-style. The narrow Phra Phuket Rd, running east from the notorious junction with the Bypass Rd, was blocked all the way to the traffic lights at Yaowarat Rd, a distance of close to two kilometers.…
- Phuket News
Home-owners catch burglary suspect
CHALONG: Police have asked foreigners who have lost safes, cash, jewelry and other property in burglaries over the past 18 months to contact them. The call came after the arrest of a man they believe was responsible for raiding at least four foreigners’ homes in the Nai Harn area, and who appears to be connected also to a spate of…
- Phuket News
Taiwan team wins Phuket Soccer Cup
KO KAEW: The Kaohsiung 100 Pacers set a pace that proved too hot for the Lions Singapore in the finals of the 1999 Phuket International Football Cup at Dulwich International College last weekend. The Lions had no chance to respond to the Pacers’ 1-0 lead by half-time. And when the Pacers slammed home another in the last few minutes of…
- Phuket News
14 hurt as police turn dogs on tapioca protest
BANGKOK (AFP): Fourteen people were injured today when riot police turned dogs on thousands of tapioca farmers blockading Government House in Bangkok. Witnesses said police moved to break up the protest after demonstrators, who have been surrounding government offices for 24 hours, crossed a bridge leading to the entrance of the building. Dog handlers advanced on a line of women…
- Phuket News
Chuan sacks driver after seizure of pirated CDs
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has sacked his driver after police seized pirated compact discs which were about to be delivered to his official residence, police said this afternoon. Police guarding Chuan’s home said they made the bust as Malaysian national Liew Chee Kong, 41, arrived at the prime minister’s residence to allegedly hand over 80 illegal CDs…
- Phuket News
Two tourists survive, four missing in boat mishap
BANGKOK, (AFP): Two Singaporeans narrowly escaped with their lives today and four other tourists are missing after a sightseeing boat overturned on Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, police and rescue officials said. Police said they were still searching for the missing passengers, whose nationalities were not immediately known, as well as the driver of the traditional Thai long-tail boat. Police said…
- Phuket News
Lauda begins scheduled flights to Phuket
PHUKET: Austrian airline Lauda Air on Tuesday began scheduled flights between Phuket and the Austrian capital, Vienna. On Tuesdays the airline flies Vienna-Phuket-Bangkok-Vienna. On Saturdays, from November to March only, it will fly Vienna-Bangkok-Phuket-Vienna.
- Phuket News
Thai banks slash interest rates for foreigners
PHUKET: Thai banks here and across the country have quietly followed the legions of tuk-tuk drivers and street vendors who practice “two-tier” pricing – one for Thais and another for foreigners. In this case, the pricing relates to interest paid on savings accounts and fixed deposits. While the rates paid to foreigners vary from bank to bank, almost all are…
- Phuket News
Two arrested for “black money’ scam
PATONG: A German restaurant owner last week had a lucky escape from West African con artists who nearly tricked him out of 300,000 baht. Instead of getting away with the money, the two confidence tricksters ended up in the police cells, awaiting a date with the judge. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that…
- Phuket News
Depositors sue bank over embezzled deposits
PHUKET TOWN: Twelve people holding time deposit and savings accounts in Bangkok Bank’s Thepkrassatri Rd branch are suing to recover a total of more than five million baht allegedly embezzled by bank employees. One of the victims was Chamnong Tiansub. “On September 1, my daughter was called to the bank by [one of the accused] who told her to bring…
- Phuket News
Tobacco excise tax goes up tonight
BANGKOK (AFP): Tobacco taxes are to be raised from midnight tonight in an effort to offset government revenues lost by diesel tax cuts last week. The cabinet endorsed a Ministry of Finance proposal to increase the excise tax on tobacco products, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said. “Cigarettes are the main target for this tax adjustment,” he said, following a weekly…
- Phuket News
Five murderers executed by firing squad
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand has executed five prisoners found guilty of murder, corrections officials said Saturday. The five men, ranging in age from 26 to 51, were shot dead by a firing squad late on Friday after their appeals for royal clemency were rejected, the officials said. The men were all convicted for murders committed between 1983 and 1996, they said,…
- Phuket News
Minister to wager his life that flying is safe
PHUKET: Thailand’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Suthep Theuksuban, will fly from Bangkok to Haad Yai next Friday. Nothing unusual in that, except that the THAI aircraft in which he will fly will have its computer clocks set to December 31, 1999. During the flight they will tick over to January 1, 2000, to test whether the airline’s jets are…
- Phuket News
Embassy raiders flee, hostages unharmed
BANGKOK (AFP): The siege of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok ended this afternoon almost as swiftly as it began yesterday, with the five gunmen being flown in a police helicopter to Ratchaburi Province, near the Thai-Myanmar border, where they are reported to have fled into the countryside. On landing, they released Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra and one other…
- Phuket News
Police raid second house full of exotic fish
RAWAI: Police yesterday raided a second house in the Sea Gypsy village in Rawai and recovered more than 1,000 fish of 70 different protected species. The fish were taken to the Phuket Marine Biology Center. As in the previous raid, the police acted after receiving information from Chada Wangboonkong, the specialist head officer of the Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office, who…
- Phuket News
Police raid nets protected marine life
RAWAI: Police are trying to identify the owner of a house in the Sea Gypsy village in Rawai after a raid on it revealed 18 tanks containing 19 pieces of live coral, 130 sea anemones, and more than 2,000 fish of protected species. Pol Col Sati Malakanont, superintendent of Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that the house was raided…
- Phuket News
Patong may be first beach to have lifeguards
KATHU: Pol. Col. Kokiat Wongvorachart, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette this morning that his unit is sponsoring two new tourist safety projects for the coming high season in Patong. The proposals are currently awaiting approval from the Ministry of Interior in Bangkok. Khun Kokiat says he is optimistic that approval, along with the required budget allocations, will…
- Phuket News
Rough seas for software pirate
BANGKOK (AFP) – A Thai-Japanese engineering firm has paid the largest ever out-of-court settlement in southeast Asia for the use of pirated software, a software industry alliance announced this morning. “This settlement sends a very clear warning: using pirated software carries high risks and will result in severe financial penalties,” said Heuy Tan of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in…
- Phuket News
Phuket Town has “best police station in the South’
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Town Police Station has won a special award for being the best police station in southern Thailand, beating 111 other police stations in the seven provinces that comprise Police Region 8. The citation came as part of a nationwide drive by the Ministry of Interior to improve police operations in Thailand. Police stations were evaluated on…
- Phuket News
Qantas 747 accident closes airport runway
BANGKOK (AFP): One runway at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport was closed today after a jet belonging to the Australian airline Qantas ploughed off the end of it while landing in heavy rain last night. None of the 410 passengers and crew aboard the plane was seriously injured, a Qantas spokeswoman said, but the Boeing 747 sustained damage to the nose,…
- Phuket News
Factory explosion kills 22, injures dozens more
CHIANG MAI, (AFP): At least 22 people were killed and dozens injured this morning when an explosion destroyed a Taiwanese-owned fruit factory in San Pa Tong, northern Chiang Mai province, police said. All of the victims were Thai. The blast ripped through a longan processing plant while 30 people were working in it. Bodies and charred equipment lay in the…
- Phuket News
Local team in shock defeat of national side
PHUKET TOWN: A scratch soccer team made up of players from Phuket and Chumphon beat Thailand’s national under-17 team 1-0 on Thursday, with a last-minute goal at the Saphan Hin stadium. The loss was a blow for the national squad, who are the Asian champions in their age group, and who preparing for the Under-17 Football World Championships in Napier,…
