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- Phuket News
Phuket Police: Aussie arrest no laughing matter
PATONG, PHUKET: Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark has defended the actions of his men in detaining Aussie holidaymaker Annice Smoel for stealing a branded bar towel from the Aussie Bar in Patong earlier this month. Col Grissak told the Gazette today that the matter was a clear case of theft and that his officers had sufficient evidence to prove her…
- Phuket News
Phuket property under fire: Lersuang revisited
PHUKET: Earlier this month, Web blog thephuketinsider.com and the Phuket Gazette reported on an article in the UK’s Daily Mirror about the Phuket-based Lersuang Group. The Mirror story put Lersuang in the international limelight, saying that customers were demanding their money back but offering no comments from company management. The Phuket Gazette promised to get comments from the companies involved…
- Phuket News
Update: Phuket tourist jailing
PHUKET / MELBOURNE (AAP): The Australian woman arrested in Phuket, Thailand for allegedly stealing a bar mat says she’s “scared, helpless and alone” and is pleading for the Australian government to intervene. Annice Smoel, who spent four days in a cramped Thai jail with three other women, described her holiday gone wrong as “totally unbelievable”. Ms Smoel, 36, from Montrose…
- Phuket News
Another foreign tourist arrested, jailed in Phuket
PHUKET: According to a story released this morning by AAP, Australia’s national news agency, a Melbourne mother of four is facing five years in a Thai jail after allegedly “stealing” a bar mat [‘coaster’] from a Phuket pub. The report says 36-year-old Annice Smoel was arrested by undercover police as she left the Aussie Bar in Patong on May 3.…
- Phuket News
Phuket gardener stabs boss to death on motorbike
KOH KEAW, PHUKET: A gardener stabbed his boss to death in broad daylight as the pair were riding a salaeng (motorbike with an illegal sidecar) down Thepkrasattri Road yesterday afternoon. Around 5pm, police officers investigating what was causing a half-a-kilometer long tailback on the road arrived at the scene outside the TT&T office in Koh Keaw. Just as they arrived…
- Phuket News
Phuket Airport to get VIP terminal for private jets
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The new director of Phuket International Airport has confirmed a plan to establish a new terminal for private jets to accommodate “VIP” passengers. Pratuang Sornkham officially took over as head of Phuket International Airport on May 12, then flew back to Airports of Thailand (AOT) headquarters in Bangkok to receive orders on a wide range of development…
- Phuket News
Land borders to Phuket under intensive flu screening
PHUKET: Thailand yesterday tightened the screening of people entering the country through its southern borders as Malaysia confirmed its second case of swine flu. The southern Thai borders are the land gateways to Phuket and the Andaman region’s other international resort areas. The borders are also used heavily by expatriates working in Phuket, Krabi and Khaolak for their visa runs.…
- Phuket News
Homeward bound: Simon Burrowes finally gets off Phuket
PHUKET: After spending a his final night in Phuket under the observation of Phuket City Immigration officers, British national Simon Burrowes finally left Phuket at 5.50pm yesterday aboard a Silk Air flight destined for Singapore, where he was scheduled to catch a connecting flight to the UK. Asked why Mr Burrowes had to spend his final night on the island…
- Phuket News
Burrowes update: more jail time possible!
PHUKET CITY: Simon Burrowes may have to spend a night in a cell at the Phuket City Immigration Office while his case is processed, the Gazette has learned. An officer at immigration said Mr Burrowes should be able to leave the country tomorrow after “some paper work” is completed. This might mean he will have to spend a night in…
- Phuket News
Burmese woman dies in stabbing attack
PATONG, PHUKET: A Burmese woman last night died of stabbing injuries sustained while fighting off attackers in a workers’ camp in Kalim early yesterday evening. Patong Police Duty Officer Nitikorn Rawang was informed that a Burmese woman, identified only as “Aa-eeka”, underwent emergency treatment for deep lacerations to the arms and chest after being rushed to Patong Hospital at about…
- Phuket News
Two Phuket teens die in motorbike crash
PHUKET: Two teenagers were killed instantly when the motorbike they were riding crashed into the back of an 18-wheel truck on Thepkrasattri Road on Wednesday evening. The two youths, both residents of Tambon Thepkrasattri, were identified as 18-year-old Tanongsak Mingpijarn and 16-year-old Suriya Madanon. At the time of the accident the victims were traveling home on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, not…
- Phuket News
Good to go! Simon Burrowes flies out today
PHUKET CITY: Today is a big day for British tourist Simon Burrowes. If all goes to plan, he will be escorted through Customs and Immigration at Phuket International Airport, finally leaving the island on a 3pm flight to Bangkok. From there, he will fly home to the UK, thus ending a saga that has intrigued the British and local press…
- Thailand News
One night, two missing members
RAYONG: Staff at Rayong Hospital had a busy night on April 27, when two men with severed penises were brought in for emergency treatment. The first patient, a 31-year-old from Pluak Daeng District, arrived at around 1am. He was bleeding profusely from a wound near what had not long before been the base of his penis. Surgeons were able to…
- Phuket News
Abhisit, in Phuket, confirms Security Act for Asean summits
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has confirmed the government intends to invoke the Internal Security Act during the Asean summits scheduled to be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort in mid-June. The announcement came at a press conference at Phuket International Airport last night. PM Abhisit was on his way back to the capital following a secret…
- Phuket News
THAI to launch direct Oslo-Bangkok flights
PHUKET CITY: In a move that could provide some help to Phuket’s summer season tourism prospects, Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced the introduction of direct flights between Bangkok and Oslo, Norway. The service, to be inaugurated on June 15, will make THAI the first southeast Asian carrier to serve passenger demand between Norway and Thailand. THAI’s Bangkok-Oslo route will…
- Phuket News
Mission Possible: non-profit hospital continues expansion
RASSADA, PHUKET: Work on a new canteen and car park project at Mission Hospital Phuket began in early May and is scheduled for completion some time in July, hospital management has told the Gazette. Assistant Chief Operations Manager Atikom “Tom” Sriratanaprapat said the 10-million-baht project, clearly visible from Thepkrasattri Road, is being designed and built on a turnkey basis by…
- Phuket News
US Consular Outreach to Phuket on May 13
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok has announced an additional consular outreach visit to Phuket on May 13. Consular staff will be available to provide consular services for American citizens at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa from 8am to 12pm on Wednesday, May 13. The following consular services will be available during the outreach…
- Phuket News
No evidence of poisoning in Phi Phi tourist deaths
KRABI: Following the mysterious deaths on Phi Phi Island of three foreign tourists in just over a month, Krabi police and doctors are still unable to explain how the American and two Norwegians became fatally ill. Contrary to an initial local blog entry speculating that cyanide poisoning may have been the cause of the deaths, Krabi police told a Gazette…
- Phuket News
Mystery illness kills foreign tourists on Phi Phi
KRABI: Two foreign tourists have mysteriously died and two others are seriously ill from unknown causes after holidaying on Phi Phi Island. Much speculation surrounds the circumstances of the deaths as authorities have yet to make any official statements regarding the matter. Press Attache at the US Embassy in Bangkok Michael Turner told the Gazette that US citizen Jill St.…
- Phuket News
Swine Flu: Phuket Immigration officials told to wear their masks
PHUKET: While Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai was waiting to welcome teachers and students who flew in from Mexico on Sunday night at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, he noticed that immigration officers were not wearing surgical masks to protect themselves, and were even asking arriving passengers to take off their masks for identification. “From this incident, I realized that immigration officers…
- Phuket News
Blood Type ‘O’ Negative still urgently needed for Phuket accident victim
PHUKET: Donations of blood type O Negative are still urgently needed for Phuket motorcycle accident victim Steve Swan, the proprietor of the Crows Nest bar in Patong. Mr Swan is at Phuket’s Vachira Hospital and is suffering from internal bleeding due to severe leg, hip and pelvic injuries after being hit by a car on the Kata/Karon road near Chalong…
- Phuket News
Another corpse found in Phuket’s Rasada area
RASSADA, PHUKET: Police have yet to identify the remains of a man whose badly decomposing body was discovered in a wooded area off the access road to Rassada Harbor on Wednesday. Local residents found the deceased lying in a thicket about 100 meters from the road. They called police, who found no signs of a struggle at the scene. Phuket…
- Phuket News
Phuket Marine Biological Center launches turtle project
CAPE PANWA, PHUKET: Researchers from Bangkok and Phuket are preparing to launch Thailand’s first artificial insemination project for sea turtles at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). Researcher Kanjana Adulyanukosol, who heads the PMBC Endangered Species Unit, said her team will work with researchers from Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Veterinary Science to extract semen from male sea turtles and store…
- Phuket News
Phuket stars in The Dream Hotel TV series
PHUKET: Last month, the cast and crew of TV romance adventure The Dream Hotel celebrated completion of filming in and around Phuket for the German-speaking movie, which will be broadcast in Germany and parts of Scandinavia to approximately 12 million viewers in 2010. Dream Hotel is a popular German-speaking travel documentary TV series that highlights luxury resorts in exotic locations…
- Phuket News
Phuket well prepared for swine flu outbreak
PHUKET CITY: Despite no cases of “swine flu” being recorded in Thailand, public health officials are taking measures to prevent the spread of the virus into the country through Phuket Airport and other air gateways. Pongsawad Ratanasang, director of the Public Health Office, told the media he is not overly concerned by the danger posed to the island by this…
- Phuket News
Burrowes free after paying 500 baht fine
PHUKET CITY: The Simon Burrowes saga appears to have finally come to a conclusion as the Englishman pled guilty to a charge of being impolite to a state official and was fined 500 baht. Burrowes was due to fly back to the UK on January 31, but became involved in an altercation with Immigration Police officials at Phuket International Airport,…
- Phuket News
Swine flu scanner installed at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport and two other major Thai aviation gateways have installed thermo-scanners to screen foreign passengers for swine flu. The two other locations now using the infrared sensors are Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and Chiang Mai International Airport. Travellers found with suspicious flu symptoms that could develop into the swine influenza will be asked to undergo treatment at the…
- Phuket News
Tourism businesses urged to join Phuket re-branding launch
PHUKET, Thailand: A group of local hoteliers and businesses in Phuket have “cancelled” Low Season – April 15 through November 1 – and are renaming the period more appropriately as “Summer Season”, to better reflect the fact that Phuket is one of the world’s top year-round vacation and second home destinations. For further details about Summer in Phuket, visit www.summerinphuket.com…
- Phuket News
Gaga’s mom talks to the Gazette, issues ultimatum to police
CHERNG TALAY: The mother of slain schoolboy Amornthep “Gaga” Panya-sirikul is giving police five days to bring to justice the man who took her son’s life by shooting him in the head inside a computer game center yesterday afternoon. Gaga’s mother, Mrs Somjai Sudjit, told the Gazette today she took the boy’s remains home at 11am today after identifying Gaga…
- Phuket News
Cherng Talay protesters finally disband
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: An adamant group of protesters continued to block a 300-meter stretch of Srisoonthorn Road in Baan Bang Tao most of today, demanding police catch the man responsible for the shooting murder of 12-year-old Amornthep “Gaga” Panya-sirikul. The group finally disbanded late this afternoon following unconfirmed reports that the shooter was about to turn himself in to authorities.…