News
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Laos travel warnings issued
WASHINGTON: The US Department of State has warned US citizens against travel in parts of Laos, including Vientiane province, routes along the Thai-Laos border, and on roads throughout the country, following a number of deadly attacks in recent months. The State Department said in its warning, issued yesterday (January 6), that the attacks, although not apparently directed at Americans or…
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Roads claim three lives over holidays
PHUKET: Three people were killed on Phuket roads from December 29-January 4, the same as over last year’s holiday period, despite a marked increase in the number of police checkpoints and arrests for drunk driving. There was, however, a dramatic decrease in the number of injuries recorded. Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura this morning told the Gazette that all three victims…
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Rivals set for Patong poll
PATONG: On the first day of applications for the Patong municipal elections, Mayoral candidate Pian Keesin of the newly-formed Rak Patong Team registered his candidacy with 18 other members seeking town council seats under the Rak Patong banner. Running against him will be Songserm Kebsup, older brother of Phuket Democrat party MP Chalermlak Kebsup, who registered his application along with…
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“Clean’ venues win award
PHUKET: In a move to recognize “appropriate” entertainment venues, the Phuket provincial government has awarded certificates and signs to five entertainment establishments on the island under its new “white entertainment” scheme. First to receive the awards are Tai Pan and Banana discotheques, in Patong, and Collector Pub, Timber Hut and Indian daeng (Red Indian) Pub in Phuket Town, which all…
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Plea to motorists to pay tax
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket vehicle owners have until February 25 to pay outstanding tax – and avoid hefty fines and other penalties, including cancellation of registration documents, the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) announced today. Prasit Amarapal, Chief of the PPTO, warned errant motorists that failure to respond to the February 25 deadline would result in drivers having to pay the…
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Hundreds flock to register as poor
PHUKET TOWN: Up to 800 people declared themselves “poor” on the first day of registration at the island’s three district offices in Phuket Town, Kathu and Thalang. The project – part of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s War on Poverty – is being piloted in eight provinces around the country. So far some 400,000 families, thought to be about 10% of…
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Reward for missing diver doubled
KAMALA: The reward being offered for information leading to the safe return of 25-year-old dive instructor Phikun “Nori” Srisaksungnoen, who has been missing since November 29, has been doubled to 100,000 baht. Mystified by K. Nori’s disappearance, close friend and workmate Marcus Etter increased the reward he first offered soon after she went missing. The last time he saw K.…
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Elite card price for expats to double
BANGKOK (The Nation): Expatriates will be charged two million baht next year for a Thailand Elite privilege card – double the current price – because they can use member services and facilities more often than foreign tourists or visiting businessmen. “We originally intended to set the price for expatriates at two million baht because of the many advantages they have,…
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Maritime safety highlighted
PHUKET TOWN: Although not citing any specific threat, Phuket Marine Police are implementing plans to work more closely with other agencies to gather and share intelligence. Deputy Commander of [the national] Marine Police, Pol Col Ularn Anekboon, said, “Phuket, like Koh Samui and Pattaya, has many marine tourist centers and we have to maintain security at all of them. “All…
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Dramatic increases in land value
PHUKET: Phuket property owners can expect higher land taxes in the new year as the Phuket Treasury Office (PTO) has announced an island-wide average increase of 65% in government-appraised land values. The new rates, which reflect the island’s continuing property boom, will be effective from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2007. The Bangkok-based Valuation Authority, which is responsible for…
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Death sentence for activist’s killer
BANGKOK: Bancha Noppawong, arrested for the 2001 murder of environmental activist Jurin Rachapol, has been convicted by a Bangkok court. He was handed the death penalty but is expected to appeal the sentence. K. Jurin was found shot dead on land close to the Wachara Prawn Farm – where Bancha worked – in Pa Khlok. A number of activists, including…
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Mayor leaves legacy of development
PHUKET TOWN: Projects totalling 70 million baht – including a park, high-tech traffic lights and a new symbolic sculpture – are under construction in Phuket Town, marking the end of an era for outgoing Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok. A 10-rai site on Thalang Rd – once home to the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority complex – is under development as a multi-use…
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Patong murder suspect arrested
PATONG: The alleged murderer of a go-go dancer is now in Phuket Provincial Prison, following his December 23 arrest in Bangkok by a team of Kathu Police investigators. The man, identified as 26-year-old Akharadech “James” Phusuwan, was arrested without struggle in his native Bangkok following an investigation led by Pol Maj Chawalit Petchsripia. Akharadech was wanted for the August 20…
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Tourist numbers tipped to rise
PHUKET: New airlines, new air routes and more charter flights should help to increase the number of tourists coming to Phuket next year by about 10%, Lt Cdr Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, Phuket, said on Wednesday. He was speaking at the launch of an “All Smiles All the Time” campaign at Phuket International Airport, a…
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Tin mine land probe concludes
PHUKET: The investigation into land titles covering 17 former tin mines has concluded, with titles covering 663 rai expected to be revoked, Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong told the Gazette today. V/Gov Pongpow, who presided over the investigation, said that the results will be passed to Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura before New Year’s Day, though he added that a time frame for…
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Christmas first for Governor
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura tomorrow night will be the special guest answering questions from the island’s English-speaking residents during a new weekly English-language radio show. The program will give listeners a chance to send or call in questions to local officials, with responses read out over the air, usually in a live format. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit today said the…
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Paradorn goes down in straight sets
CHERNG TALAY: In the final day of play in the Paradorn Super Tour 2003 held at Laguna Beach Resort yesterday afternoon, Chilean Marcelo Rios swept aside Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets, 6-4; 6-4, causing the Thai tennis superstar to end up winless in the four-city exhibition tournament bearing his name. Playing on a synthetic grass surface in front of a…
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World dive record broken off Patong
ANDAMAN SEA: Briton Mark Ellyatt has set a new world record of 313 meters for the deepest solo scuba dive, beating the previous record by five meters. Describing his historic dive on Thursday, in waters four hours off Patong, Mr Ellyatt said, “It’s a lonely trip, like a trip to the Moon.” The descent into the depths took a mere…
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Old theater burns
PHUKET TOWN: The once-popular Nimit Theater on Chana Jaroen Rd caught fire at 2 am today. Firefighters took 15 minutes to extinguish the fire, and managed to contain the blaze to the ground floor of the two-story building, which has 10 rental rooms. Pol Maj Chokchai Sutthimet, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that only three of the…
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Illegal arms crackdown underway
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s top law enforcement official says that road checkpoints and surprise home searches are now being used in an all-out effort to rid the island of its remaining illegal firearms, now that the December 15 deadline for the amnesty on handing unregistered weapons to the government has passed. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Veerayuth Sittimalic told the…
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Senior police officers on the move
PHUKET: Four senior local police officers have received transfers to other provinces as part of a national reshuffle of some 750 of Thailand’s most senior police officers. Locally, the officers being promoted – and their replacements – are: Pol Col Sayan Krasaesan, Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Police, is moving to Bangkok to become Deputy Commissioner of Immigration, Region 3. His…
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Jobless benefit lifts social security cost
PHUKET TOWN: Compulsory salary deductions for social security insurance will increase from 4% to 5% from January 1 for workers and for employers. Yaowalak Yangyuen, Chief of Phuket Social Security Office, said, “The Cabinet has approved the increase because we have added unemployment benefits to social security.” Thus, if an employee earns 10,000 baht a month, he or she will…
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Changes made to Paradorn matches
CHERNG TALAY: Laguna Phuket has announced that the sixth player in the Paradorn Super Tour matches to be played at the Laguna Beach Resort tomorrow and Sunday (December 20 and 21) will be 18-year-old Chuang Chia-Jung of Taiwan. Changes to the order of play have also been announced. Saturday will see Taylor Dent play Marcelo Rios at 4 pm, followed…
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Chalong plaza plan cancelled
PHUKET: A 150-million-baht project to develop 40 rai in Chalong into a 700-shop complex has been abandoned. Five thousand customers a day and 120 million baht in annual profits were anticipated for the Phuket Legend Plaza Center but the developer, Eat & Art Management, shelved plans before any work started. All shop reservation fees for the project – which was…
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Patong gears up for polls – again
PHUKET: The Phuket Election Commission (PEC) is preparing to organize an election for Patong Municipality following the dismissal of former Mayor Chalermsak Maneesri after two Provincial Court judges ruled that allegations of cheating in Patong Municipality elections in November last year were proven. Those wishing to enter the murky realm of Patong municipal politics will have from December 15 to…
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Illegal firearms amnesty ends
PHUKET TOWN: The amnesty for handing in unregistered guns and ammunition expired at the end of yesterday. The final tally of weapons handed in or found during the amnesty period was 18 firearms, four explosive devices and more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition. By district, the numbers were: Phuket Town: 10 firearms, 1,300 rounds of ammunition, four explosive devices. Kathu:…
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Police pounce on illegal lottery agent
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided two houses yesterday and seized illegal lottery equipment and a ledger recording 400,000 baht in sales of lottery numbers. They arrested one woman, 47-year-old Saitong Arronrat, who allegedly confessed to involvement in illegal lotteries. Also found in the two houses in Soi Lohrong, off Pattana Rd, were about 50,000 baht in cash, a fax machine and…
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Property auction raises B64 million
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s first teleconference auction of bad-debt properties has been declared a success, with prices tripling expectations and huge interest being shown in the process. While there were no bids from Bangkok via the telescreen, about 300 interested parties and bidders turned up at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday, Saeksan Suksang, Chief of Phuket Legal Execution Office…
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Free vaccine in anti-polio campaign
PHUKET TOWN: Poliovirus vaccine was administered free at hospitals, schools and community meeting points today in a campaign to immunize as many children as possible. Although no cases of polio have been recorded on Phuket since 1984, officers from the Phuket Public Health Office combined with volunteers from Rotary clubs, the Red Cross and local hospitals to administer the vaccine…
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AirAsia takes to the skies
PATONG: AirAsia, a new budget airline based in Malaysia, launched its first service, between Phuket and Kuala Lumpur, at the weekend. The exceptionally low rates of 810 baht one way for the daily flights apply until January 31. Seats must be booked 14 days in advance to qualify for the low price. Company CEO Tony Fernandes said that AirAsia will…
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