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Phuket drug tip-offs lead to four arrests, 6,000 pills seized
PHUKET: An anti-drug squad in Thalang District, which covers most of the north of Phuket, last night nabbed four people for drugs, culminating with the arrest of an alleged dealer with more than 5,000 pills early this morning. The squad, comprising four Thalang Police officers and officials from the Thalang District Office, began the night’s work with the arrest of…
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FC Phuket bag first road win
PHUKET: After a series of ten consecutive losses and draws, FC Phuket won their first road game against a luckless RBAC side in Bangkok yesterday afternoon. FC Phuket scored the only goal of the match just two minutes into play, when a long pass from Nittiroj Sukuma was chested down inside the penalty area by Watcharapong Jun-ngam, then deftly passed…
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No drama for Phuket pilots in Taiwan
PHUKET: A website report this morning of a “dramatic near miss” involving two aircraft on the ground at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport has come as a surprise to at least two of the pilots. Contacted by telephone in Taiwan early this afternoon, South African pilot James Pitman was clearly astounded by the report, saying that at no time was his…
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Football: FC Phuket to fight for first Division 1 road win today
PHUKET: FC Phuket are in Bangkok today to try to record their first road win in Division 1 against last-place RBAC, who have yet to win a home match after 10 attempts. Phuket’s Southern Sea Kirin will go into the match without defensive stalwart Nene Bi Tra Sylvestre, who must sit out the game due to a one-game penalty suspension.…
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Phuket hosting regional Scrabble competition in bid to boost students’ vocabulary
PHUKET: Some 700 young Scrabble enthusiasts are in Phuket this weekend to compete in the southern regionals of the 5th annual CyberDict Crossword competition. Grouped into three age categories (primary, lower secondary, upper secondary), the students are vying for places in the national finals to be held in Bangkok at the end of the year. Techus Pogool, a 16-year-old from…
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Phuket pineapple goes on show
PHUKET: The annual Phuket Pineapple and Flower Fair is now underway at Saphan Hin Park in Phuket Town. Organized by the Phuket Provincial Agricultural Office, Phuket City Municipality and the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, this year’s fair will feature exhibitions of Phuket Pineapple (called yanat in the local southern Thai dialect), pineapple peeling and processing competitions, and flower decoration contests.…
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Phuket Airport taxi worker killed in motorbike crash
PHUKET: An employee of the Phuket Airport taxi cooperative was killed instantly yesterday when her motorcycle was hit head-on by a pickup truck cutting across traffic at a U-turn on Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang. Thalang Police were notified of the accident at 3:30pm. At the scene, the turn-off to Baan Pa Krong Cheep off Thepkrasattri Rd southbound in Thepkrasattri subdistrict,…
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Phuket Yachting: Krabi Marina to open in November
PHUKET: The development firm behind Phuket’s Boat Lagoon will open their second marina across the bay in neighboring Krabi province in November. Approved by Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI), the Krabi Boat Lagoon project occupies 110 rai in Taling Chan. The first phase, covering 42 rai, will include 90 berths, 70 hardstands, workshops and commercial facilities and undercover quays for…
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Phuket mass Thai massage sets unofficial record
PHUKET: Hundreds of Phuket massage therapists lined Kata Beach this morning ready to play their part in a mass Thai massage session that unofficially broke the standing world record. A total of 584 pairs of hands worked in unison to rub and relax, surpassing the current official record of 232 pairs of hands set by “Tourism Victoria Australia”. An officer…
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Welcome to Phuket: Swede robbed of B1 million on Day One
PHUKET: A couple who moved into their new Phuket home in a quiet neighborhood yesterday have already reported their house being burgled – and losing valuables totaling about one million baht in the process. They had not spent a single night in their new home before they were robbed. Lars Gustav Torsten Lindgren, 57, told the Phuket Gazette today that…
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Poles apart
PHUKET: “This morning I watched the two sides warming up. I saw India, and they looked like they’d got their kit out of the garage! They were all in different gear. England looked really professional next to them. They just looked poles apart.” Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff expressed his disappointment yesterday with the Indian side’s preparations for the fourth and final…
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“Croc-o-duo’ free to roam family home
PHITSANULOKE: Municipality Council member Awiroot Natip has shared his family home with a variety of pets over the past decade, two of which are two-meter-long freshwater crocodiles. “I’ve been raising them for almost 10 years,” Mr Awiroot, 45, told Kom Chad Luek. Mr Ariwoot purchased the pair, named Ngern (Silver) and Thong (Gold), from Nakhon Sawan MP Pinyo Nirote for…
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Free Thai Massage: Phuket prepares to set world record
PHUKET: A total of 584 pairs of hands will be working together tomorrow at Kata Beach in Phuket’s attempt to set the world record for the most people simultaneously performing Thai massage. The current record stands at 232 pair, set on March 20 last year by Tourism Victoria Australia. Phuket’s attempt will more than double the record, but the digits…
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Phuket expat deported over fraud charges
PHUKET: American Roger Miller today pleaded to the press that he himself was a victim of fraud as he faces immediate extradition to Florida for allegedly defrauding investors of US$1.2 million. “Between 2006 and 2009, Mr Miller operated a real estate business named Rama Lama Mortgage that dealt with property transactions including estate mortgages,” Phuket Immigration Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak explained…
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Red turtles rise in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Phuket’s ethnic Chinese community is in the midst of celebrating its annual Por Tor festival to honor their ancestors. The annual festival is held on the first day of the waxing moon in the seventh Chinese calendar month. This year, the festivities began on Tuesday with a ceremony at the Fresh Market on Ranong Rd in Phuket Town after…
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Phuket hosts Indonesian tourism push to revive Aceh
PHUKET: A delegation from the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism will host a reception for about 200 Phuket residents at Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) tomorrow. The event is part of the ministry’s strategy to revive and promote tourism to Aceh Province, the hardest hit landfall of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The ministry has identified yachting as a…
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Phuket airport limo in vehicular bovicide
PHUKET: A Phuket airport limousine plowed into and killed a roaming buffalo early Monday morning at the same location where a tourist passenger van killed two buffaloes late last month. No people were injured in this latest accident. “The car was heading toward Phuket Town at about 1:30am. The driver said the buffalo appeared from nowhere, crossing the road right…
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Phuket and Pattalung football battle in the south
PHUKET: FC Phuket take on Pattalung FC this evening in a highly anticipated first-leg quarter final for the 2011 Toyota League Cup football tournament. Kick off is scheduled for 6pm. The purple and white shirted Pattalung “Swiftlets”, also known as the “Swallows”, will be the hosts of tonight’s game at Pattalung Provincial stadium in Pattalung town. The second leg will…
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Aldhouse extradition for Phuket murder ‘not decided’
PHUKET: Despite local reports to the contrary, the British Home Office today confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that no decision has been made regarding the extradition of murder suspect Lee Aldhouse, wanted in Thailand for the stabbing death of American Dashawn Longfellow last August. Mr Longfellow died on August 14 last year after allegedly being stabbed multiple times by Aldhouse.…
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Phuket Live Wire: More players in the island’s new internet game
PHUKET: Two weeks ago Live Wire covered the current state of the Internet in Phuket. At the time, evaluating TOT Fiber 2U and AIS GHSPA services was not touched upon because there was not enough data on the Phuket Internet Speed Reporting site. The numbers are pouring in now thanks to those of you who take a minute to report…
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Phuket tourist dies after Kata Beach rescue
PHUKET: A Swiss man died after falling unconscious while swimming at Kata Beach yesterday. Kathu Police confirmed that a Swiss man was pronounced dead at around 5pm at Patong Hospital following an incident at Kata Beach. Witnesses reported to lifeguards at about 4:30pm that they saw the man “swimming” about 150 meters from shore, Uten Singsom, head of the Kata-Karon…
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Phuket ready to launch online check-in for yachts
PHUKET: The long-awaited “one-stop shop” online check-in system for yachts arriving in Phuket will launch on September 1. Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen announced the news today at Provincial Hall at a meeting to discuss the final details for the new service. The Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) have been working on the project since last year. “We have finished developing…
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Patong’s “middle road’ to get facelift before Christmas
PHUKET: Work on surfacing Phang Muang Sai Kor Road in Patong, which runs behind the Jungceylon shopping complex, will begin before the end of the year, the Phuket Gazette was told today. “The construction contract was signed in Bangkok and work on the road will start by the end of this year,” Teeraporn Jirarattanakorn, director of the Department of Rural…
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Phuket’s Swedish murder suspects may not do ‘hard’ time
PHUKET: The Swedish duo charged with the August 1 murder of Maksim Schantz would likely serve out their sentences in Sweden, a consular official told the Phuket Gazette. Johan Sebastian Ljung, 25, and Tommy Viktor Söderlund, 26, confessed on August 2 to attacking and stabbing to death the Russian-born Swedish national Mr Schantz, police said. The pair allegedly were angered…
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Abhisit-loving grandmother kills herself
RAYONG: Dedicated supporters of the Democrat Party across Thailand have taken Yingluck Shinawatra’s sweeping victory over Abhisit Vejjajiva in the July 3 general elections hard, but none more so than Lamian Yusuk, an 80-year-old grandmother from Huay Yang subdistrict in Rayong province. Ms Lamian killed herself by drinking weedkiller six days after her hero Mr Abhisit’s defeat. Nantha Lap-insi, 59,…
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Phuket airport lands record meth bust
PHUKET: A Thai woman was caught trying to smuggle a record 3.2 kilograms of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) into Thailand at Phuket International Airport last night. The haul, valued at 10.5 million baht, was touted to be the biggest meth bust in the airport’s history. The suspect, 39-year-old Ratchanee Chidnaporn, from Khon Kaen Province in Northeast Thailand (Isarn), arrived from…
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Phuket Media: Ethics more credible than pretensions of ‘War’
PHUKET: A story on a local blog last weekend continued to celebrate a “War” which it had declared several months ago, not against, but rather on behalf of and between, two of Phuket’s newspapers. We understood the writer’s interests at the time and have marveled at his diligence in following the conflagration with regular weekly reports. But the blog’s ‘report’…
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Phuket Sports: FC Phuket draw 1-1 at JW Rangsit
PHUKET: FC Phuket again failed to achieve their first win in an away match this season, though came from behind to grab a point against JW Rangsit with a 1-1 draw yesterday . Phuket went into the match ninth on the table and had a solid 3-1 home win over 11th-place Rangsit under their belt. The Phuket squad came out…
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FC Phuket face JW Rangsit FC today
PHUKET: Having defeated JW Rangsit in the Thai Premier League (TPL) Division One earlier this season at Surakul Stadium, a second victory for FC Phuket over their Pathum Thani rivals is expected today. However, it is an away fixture, and Phuket’s miserable away record continues to weigh on the minds of players, management, the media and faithful supporters. A commanding…
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Phuket Gov first to be drug tested
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha today passed a drug test as part of the grand opening ceremony for the new drug testing center in Phuket. The governor officiated at the the event at the Regional Medical Sciences Center in Thalang this morning and offered a urine sample which was then screened for all five classes of illegal narcotics. After a…
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