Search Results for: cat
- 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
Burial for 422 tsunami victims
PHANG NGA: Three religious ceremonies – one Buddhist, one Christian and one Muslim – were performed October 16 in preparation for burying 422 unidentified tsunami victims in Baan Bang Muang Cemetery.Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, Superintendent of the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification unit, told the Gazette, “These 422 bodies have not been claimed and we have no information about them, so…
- 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
Phuket Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET CITY: The annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival, complete with face-piercing spirit mediums, will be held October 22 to 30 at shrines in and around Phuket City. The traditional Chinese festival emphasizes merit making and ritual cleansing of the body. Participants are invited to wear white clothes and abstain from meat, sex, and foods with strong odors for the duration of…
- Phuket News
Dive operators fight crackdown in court
PHUKET: Dive operators opposing the new regulations that went into effect October 1 have taken their fight to the Administrative Court, where they are challenging the legality of the new regulations.Pragon Geatgun, Vice-President of the Thai Diving Association (TDA), told the Gazette on Tuesday that the TDA was representing about 60 dive operators in Phuket who have lodged a petition…
- Phuket News
Deadline for local telephone book
PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2007 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’, have until noon on Saturday, 28 October, to enter (or update) their listings. Any entries made after the deadline will not appear in the hard-copy book until January 2008. Business owners are urged to update their listing details now in order to avoid the server outages experienced…
- Phuket News
Carrefour to open at Jungceylon
PATONG: French hypermarket chain Carrefour will open its first branch in Phuket as part of the December 1 soft opening of Jungceylon, putting to rest the speculation that the now-deposed Thaksin government’s efforts to rein in the expansion of large retailers would effect the project.The opening was confirmed during an October 6 press conference at Jungceylon by Prawit Janyasittikul, Deputy…
- Phuket News
Local businesses may pony up for security boost
PHUKET: In a bid to increase security on the island, four of the island’s top tourism business associations are planning to establish a fund to help pay for extra police work and equipment.Phuket Tourist Association President Maitree Narukhatpichai told the Gazette that the idea sprang from widespread concerns about the possible effects of an act of terror on the island’s…
- Phuket News
Gambling top vice in September
PHUKET: Statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police again show gambling as the top crime category, with 164 people arrested for gambling-related offenses between September 1 and 30.The second-highest category was drug-related offenses, with 109 arrests.There were two cases of attempted murder, with arrests made in both cases. Two murders were reported during the period, with one case solved. There…
- Phuket News
Seminar on use of nominees in Thai companies
PHUKET CITY: A timely seminar aimed at helping individuals and the business community to understand the Foreign Business Act (FBA) will be held at the Royal Phuket City hotel on October 23. Organized by financial consultants Network Advisory Team and sponsored by the Phuket Gazette, the forum will be in English and moderated by Preecha Hantongtus, Senior Trade Officer at…
- Phuket News
Princess Sirindhorn to visit Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will visit Phuket on October 20 to preside over the official opening of three new centers on the island.In the morning, Princess Sirindhorn will chair the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the new building of the Thai Red Cross Society, Phuket Chapter, on Rattanakosin 200 Pi Rd in Phuket City.After this, Princess…
- Phuket News
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…
- Thailand News
Transgender trauma
While some tourists jet in from around the globe specifically to enjoy the androgynous charms of Patong’s legion of ladyboy prostitutes, there are still cases cases where off-guard male tourists end up with a ladyboy under the misunderstanding that he is a real woman. Such misunderstandings can – and often do – result in disaster, as two recent reports in…
- Thailand News
Bugging out
Public Health officials in Saraphi District, Chiang Mai Province, issued a public warning for villagers to stop eating malaeng laay (“striped bugs”, scientific classification not provided), after a middle-aged man died after downing three of the insects during a whiskey drinking session. News of the death was reported by Taan Jongkham, headman of Tambon Chompoo Mu 9, on August 25.…
- Thailand News
Home security of the second kind
PATTAYA: A group of five ladyboys took home security into their own hands in the early hours of August 25, beating senseless a drunken teenage punk who broke into their apartment and stole 2,000 baht from their communal piggy bank. The story, reported by Banglamung Police Inspector Pol Lt Col Sutham Chaosrithong, made national news the next morning. The five…
- 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
Police seize assault rifle at Sarasin Bridge
TAH CHAT CHAI: Police conducting a routine vehicle inspection at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint on Sunday morning arrested a man for possession of an automatic rifle, ammunition and five ya bah (methamphetamine) tablets.Pol Lt Col Sakchai Limchareon, Deputy Superintendent of the Tah Chat Chai Police Station, identified the driver as 38-year-old Chatchay Nilata, a native of Trang Province. He…
- Phuket News
New visa rules confirmed
PHUKET: New rules limiting stays in Thailand on “visas on arrival” to 90 days over any six month period were confirmed at a September 15 meeting of Immigration Department Chiefs in Bangkok. The new policy will go into effect on October 1.In a related development, the Royal Thai Consulate in Penang, Malaysia, has stopped issuing double-entry tourist visas. Pol Lt…
- Phuket News
Hoteliers cautiously optimistic
PHUKET: Local hotel operators remain guardedly optimistic that the bloodless military coup staged in Bangkok last night will have a limited impact on Phuket tourism industry, provided that events do not turn violent.Wolfgang Meusberger, General Manager of the Holiday Inn in Patong, this morning told the Gazette, “I think it all depends what happens over the next 48 hours. At…
- Phuket News
Foreign leaders express concern, Thaksin cancels UN address
BANGKOK (Agencies, Nation): Foreign leaders reacted with concern over the military coup against caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying “this is not a practice to be encouraged”.Speaking to CNN television on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, Annan said: “We as an organization [UN] have always supported governmental changes through democratic means, through…
- Phuket News
Bang Tao vendors get eviction reprieve
CHERNG TALAY: The stall operators on Bang Tao Beach were not forced to clear the beach yesterday, as threatened by eviction notices issued to the vendors earlier this month. Instead, they have been allowed to stay until a new site has been found for them, following progress in negotiations between the vendors and the provincial and local authorities.The news follows…
- Phuket News
Scheduled September blackout
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced a scheduled blackout for September 28 in order to continue its work on high-voltage power lines.The blackout will occur at the following locations:September 28 (9 am to 4 pm), Rawai. Wiset Rd: both sides of Wiset Rd from Muang Phuket School to Laem Phromthep, including Soi Suksan 1 and 2,…
- Phuket News
Penang halts issuance of double-entry tourist visas
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Consulate in neighboring Penang, Malaysia, has stopped issuing double-entry tourist visas for Thailand. The only tourist visa currently available there is a 60-day single-entry one.An official at the consulate this afternoon told the Gazette that Consul Pramote Pramoonsab had issued an order to cease issuance of double-entry tourist visas. Other visa categories are unaffected by the…
- Phuket News
Hotels facing major staff shortage
PHUKET: The island’s tourism industry faces a shortage of labor in the coming high season and the Phuket Provincial Labor Office (PPLO) has warned that new hotels opening in Phang Nga are likely to draw more workers away from Phuket.PPLO Chief Decha Preukpatanarak told the Gazette, “We’re chronically short of labor in the high season, with hotel occupancy so high…
- Phuket News
PIWC calls for Gala Ball sponsors
PHUKET: Cindy Ratcliffe, President of the Phuket International Women’s Club (PIWC), has called for businesses and island residents to sponsor, donate prizes and attend the PIWC’s annual fund-raising Gala Ball, this year to be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort & Spa on November 18.“We intend to make this event a glittering evening of revelry and fun. To…
- Phuket News
Italian tourist dead in blaze puzzle
CHALONG: Mystery surrounds the death of Italian tourist Marco Oniga, 44, whose charred remains were found on the bed of his apartment in Chalong on the afternoon of September 1. At about 4:30 pm, Mr Oniga’s naked body was discovered by one of the apartment building’s maids. As she was making her daily rounds, the maid smelled smoke coming from…
- Phuket News
Academic coalition calls on Thaksin to quit
BANGKOK (The Nation): More than 40 academic groups yesterday called for the prime minister’s resignation and warned that existing discord could lead to civil war.“Thaksin Shinawatra must halt all political activities immediately and allow an investigation into alleged abuses of power,” said Anan Laolertworakul, a leader of a network of 43 academic groups.Anan urged civil servants to ignore “unjustified instructions”…
- Phuket News
Surge in petty crimes sees 30 police officers transferred
PHUKET: As the island seems to be suffering from a major surge in petty crimes, some 30 police officers have been approved for transfer out of the province in the upcoming annual round of promotions and transfers, on October 1. The main reason put forward by the officers for the transfers: “overworked”.At his monthly meeting with chief officers on Wednesday,…
- Phuket News
Confusion over Chinese role in mega project
PHUKET CITY: Some two weeks after it was reported that Thai Longstay Management Corp Ltd (TLM), a private company 30% owned by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), signed a 40-million-baht “primary contract” with a Chinese state-owned enterprise to help develop part of a long-stay project at Saphan Hin, Phuket Vice-Governor Niran Kanlayanamitr, head of the provincial committee for the…
