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Swedish royals to visit Phuket, Phang Nga
PHUKET: Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will arrive in Phuket on Friday for a tour of the island and Phang Nga.Their plane will arrive at 9:30 am at Phuket International Airport, and the royal couple will be received at Phuket Provincial Hall by Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura and representatives of the Thai government, before visiting the Bangkok Phuket…
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B2m in tsunami aid “disappears’
PHUKET: More than two million baht intended for tsunami victims has gone missing from a safe in Provincial Hall.The theft was reported to police yesterday by Metha Mekarat, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM).Altogether, 2,050,000 baht is missing from the safe, which is in a strongroom at Provincial Hall.K. Metha said that since the tsunami, the…
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THAI defends decision to cut flights
PHUKET: National carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) has defended its decision to axe a number of flights to Phuket in the wake of the tsunami, including all direct international services.Kalayapha Panich, the Phuket-based District Sales Manager for Upper-Southern Thailand, told the Gazette that the company had decided it could not continue to operate routes at a loss.“So few passengers currently…
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Tsunami family in plea for help
PHUKET: The family and friends of a Finnish man and his son who were listed on an official website as having survived the tsunami, but who have not returned home, have appealed for help in finding out what has happened to them. Michael Gustafsson and his nine-year-old son Alexander were posted as “Swedish” and “Go Home” on the Phuket City…
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Crime rate rising after tsunami
PHUKET CITY: Police are reporting a surge in crime brought about by the downturn in the tourism industry following the tsunami disaster, and are advising people to take extra precautions to protect themselves against opportunistic thieves.In a press release issued by the Phuket City Police, Superintendent Pol Col Paween Pongsirin said there has been an increase in home and office…
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Dr Pornthip gives up, heads South
PHUKET: Leading forensic scientist Dr Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunan will not be allowed to re-start her work on identifying tsunami victims at Wat Yan Yao, Phang Nga, despite Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkarnjana deciding just five days ago that she could.The Head of the Thai Tsunami Victims Identification Centre(TTVI), Pol Gen Noppadol Soomboonsub, told the Gazette today that he has sufficient staff…
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Hit me with your rhythm stick
PATONG: Tourists on Soi Bangla enjoyed a live concert by the Harvey Thompson Jazz Band and the Waikado Yamato Drummers Sunday night.The show was organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as part of its ongoing efforts to revive Phuket tourism in the aftermath of the tsunami.The Detroit-based baritone, accompanied by saxophonist Paul Fleischer, performed a number of songs…
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Tourists “expect big discounts’ after tsunami
LAGUNA: Thailand used to be the most popular destination for customers of the Thomas Cook company, but the country has “slipped” because of the tsunami, Joanna Edmunds, Managing Director of Thomas Cook Signature, told local tourism operators yesterday.The immediate solution, she said, will be to offer “very, very attractive prices”.She warned the meeting, at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, that…
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Bargirl swallows rock
RAWAI: A Patong bargirl swallowed a Frenchman’s diamond ring after he refused to pay her and a friend for services rendered after an all-night menage-a-trois in Rawai. Chalong Police received a complaint from a 62-year-old Frenchman identified as Mr Patrick, who fingered Tawan, a 28-year-old bar girl, as the jewelry-gulping culprit. Mr Patrick told the police that on the evening…
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Busy day for Cupid
PHUKET: Valentine’s Day has been especially romantic for 231 Phuket couples – they got married today.Sirinee Leelanont, chief administrator of Phuket Town District Office said 159 couples registered their marriages today between 8am and 4pm, 19 more than during the same period last year.“The atmosphere today was very happy, every couple was smiling,” said Palad Sirinee. “Some brides were pregnant,…
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Emergency number back in service “by end of month’
PHUKET: The 1155 emergency telephone number for tourists should be working properly again by the end of this month, Phuket Tourist Police Inspector Pol Maj Bundit Khaosutham has told the Gazette.Maj Bundit said the line had been damaged during the tsunami, but the police were now pushing to have it repaired so that it will be fuctioning normally soon.Maj Bundit…
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Finnish tourists back in Phuket
PHUKET: Starting today, tour operators bringing tourists from Finland to Phuket expect to be running three charter flights a week until April, although the number of vacationers will be only half what they would have been if there had been no tsunami.A spokesman for Royal Andaman Travel Group, the local partner of travel company Star Tour, said that around 230…
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B2bn tsunami memorial proposed
PHUKET CITY: Plodprasop Suraswadi, Adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop, today announced that a proposal to build a memorial to remember the victims of the December 26 tsunami with a budget of up to 2 billion baht will be submitted to Cabinet for approval next Tuesday.At a high-level meeting of officials from Phuket and Phang Nga at the Phuket…
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Old Phuket’ draws big crowds
PHUKET CITY: Thousands of people thronged streets in the old part of Phuket City last night to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese Year of the Rooster and the first night of the 7th Old Phuket Festival.Thalang Rd and Dibuk Rd in the old quarter of Phuket were filled with the sights and sounds of celebration, as well as the…
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Pornthip to return to Wat Yan Yao
PHUKET: Battling forensic scientist Dr Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunan is to resume her work on identifying tsunami victims after Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkarnjana intervened in the row between her and Thai Tsunami Victim Identification Centre (TTVI) boss Pol Gen Nopadol Soomboonsub.Dr Pornthip and her team left Phang Nga last week after the mortuary at Wat Yan Yao, which had been their…
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US group vows to help boost Phuket tourism
PHUKET CITY: A 61-strong group of Americans met Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwannasuppana this morning to deliver a message of hope and friendship, along with US$1,200 (48,000 baht) for grants for students affect by the tsunami.The Americans, 42 of whom are from the state of Oregon, are members of the “Flight of Friendship” organisation, which has been set up to…
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Sea gypsies protest at “lack of government help’
PHUKET: More than 50 sea gypsies from Rawai rallied outside the offices of Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura this morning to protest at what they say is a lack of help from the government since the tsunami.The government has said it would make one-off payments of 2,000 baht to anyone who lost his or her job because of the tsunami. But…
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Monitoring of foreigners gets a boost
SAPHAN HIN: Phuket Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr today handed over the new 1.5-million-baht Center of International Crime Information and Immigration Service to the Phuket Immigration Office.Phuket Immigration Superintendent Pol Col Witawat Buranasompop said the building will be used by officers who will monitor the movements of foreigners in Phuket.He said more and more foreigners are coming to Phuket,…
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Turkish PM offers help with tsunami warning system
PHUKET: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on a visit to Phuket, offered Turkey’s help in the effort to protect the countries around the Andaman Sea from future tsunamis.Mr Erdogan was speaking yesterday at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, after a helicopter tour of tsunami-affected areas in Phuket and Phang Nga, accompanied by Thai Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula.Mr Erdogan, whose…
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Phone fury
PATTAYA: Four innocent bystanders were injured by ricocheting bullets when a bagman for a Pattaya loan shark opened fire on his mobile phone. Witnesses to the slaying of the mobile phone said the man, identified only as “Woot”, was seen at about 3 am yelling into his mobile phone on the ground floor of Niran Condo on Soi Arunothai. He…
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Putting the boot in for a good cause
PHUKET CITY: Thai Cabinet ministers led by freshly reelected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will face ambassadors from 38 countries during a friendly soccer match at Surakul Stadium on February 26.The event is intended to help Phuket recover as a tourist destination after the tsunami.Admission is free, and the match is due to be broadcast nationwide by Thai TV station TV5.The…
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Tsunami volunteers warned: get work permits
PHUKET: Foreign volunteers assisting in tsunami-related charity work are required to hold work permits, regardless of whether they are being paid for their efforts or not. Sayan Chuaiyjan, head of the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office [ESO], told the Gazette yesterday that there could be no exceptions and that his office would begin to enforce the regulations soon – possibly…
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Tennis superstar Hingis visits Patong
PATONG: Former world number one tennis player Martina Hingis was moved to tears today as she heard about Phuket children’s experiences in the tsunami.The tennis star visited the kindergarten of Patong Municipality School while on a whistle-stop tour of Phuket, arranged by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to promote tourism after the tsunami.After meeting the children – and hearing…
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Election: clean sweep for Democrats
PHUKET: Despite a massive campaign by Thai Rak Thai (TRT) to convince voters to back the ruling party, and despite surveys showing that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s popularity is at unprecedented levels, Phuket yesterday reinstalled its two Democrat MPs.Indeed, Phuket voters made it quite plain that they are not ready for TRT MPs, by handing the two Democrats hefty victories.In…
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Porntip slams “autocrats’
PHUKET: Dr Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan has rounded on “the autocrats” she says have forced her to close the mortuary at Wat Yan Yao, Phang Nga, where she and her team had been working to identify victims of the tsunami.The work has now been transferred to Phuket, to the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification Centre (TTVI), headed by Pol Gen Nopadol Soomboonsub.Dr…
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TAT blitz “helping to change perceptions’
PHUKET: Tour operators and journalists from eastern Europe have changed their perceptions of post-tsunami Phuket after seeing the effects for themselves, Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket has told the Gazette.“The journalists have been to Krabi, too,” said K. Suwalai. “They were very surprised to see Phi Phi Island, and Maya Bay, and…
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Linkin Park star visits Bang Tao
PHUKET: Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Californian band Linkin Park, visited Bang Tao beach today to see for himself the damage caused by the tsunami.Bennington was in Phuket to record material to be broadcast by MTV in the USA, as part of a global campaign to raise money for tsunami victims.After lunch at the Banyan Tree, Bennington and his…
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Court orders businessman off SorPorKor land
PHUKET: Businessman Charoen Thavornwongwong has been ordered to leave 16 rai of land in Karon’s Nakkerd Hills, after the Phuket Appeal Court overturned the Provincial Court’s earlier judgement that he could stay on the land.The Appeal Court said that the Phuket Provincial Land Reform Office (PLRO) had been right to contest the judgement of the lower court, on the grounds…
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WTO Phuket action plan adopted
KATA: A multi-point Phuket Action Plan drawn up by the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) to speed the recovery of Phuket’s battered tourism industry has been accepted by a WTO Emergency Session that drew togther representatives from 40 countries.The multi-point plan, approved during the session held yesterday and today at the Kata Beach Hotel, contains the following…
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F1 powerboat race postponed to March 2006
PHUKET: The Formula One powerboat race scheduled to take place next month in Ao Makham has been postponed for a year.Kata Group Chairman Pamuke Archariyachai told the Gazette today that a combination of the tsunami and the Cabinet’s slowness in approving funds to support the event had forced the decision to postpone until March 2006.“We had only a short time…
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