News
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Wachira seeks cash for equipment
PHUKET TOWN: Wachira Phuket Hospital is seeking donations so that it can buy medical equipment worth more than 10 million baht. Wachira Phuket Hospital has 522 beds for patients from Phuket and nearby provinces including Phang Nga, Krabi and Ranong. Visiting foreigners also go there for treatment. The equipment needed includes nine respirators for infants and four for children and…
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Reporters call for swift justice
PHUKET TOWN: Vichean Utsa, Chairman of Phuket Reporters Club, yesterday requested Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi to expedite the police investigation into shooting of local reporter Surapong “Od Patong” Rittee. The call came just 48 hours after K. Surapong, a local reporter for newspapers Thai Rat and Siang Tai, and for Channel 3 television, was gunned down early on Tuesday.…
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Mayor announces D-Day for illegal signs
PATONG: Patong Municipality Mayor Chalermsak Maneesri announced today that all Patong businesses will be given one month to remove signs that are out of compliance with municipal regulations. On March 10, at the end of the grace period, the Municipality will send out crews to remove all illegal signs. Vendors operating in restricted areas, especially the sidewalks along Thaweewong (Beach)…
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Man dies as bike crashes and burns
PHUKET TOWN: Police are investigating a crash last night that left a foreigner dead and his hired motorcycle a burnt-out shell. Two cars were also involved. The man, named by police as Etienne Jacques Payan, was carrying an international driving license issued in Britain. Today an officer went from Phuket Town to Krabi, where the motorcycle was rented, to investigate…
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Vendors arrested over fake CDs
PATONG: Police arrested five vendors on Sunday after a Sony representative alerted them to the sale of illegal copies of CDs along the beach road. Three of the vendors were each fined 30,000 baht for being in breach of copyright laws. Police named them as Boonchu Saiwichian, Orasa Kritkamjorn and Kiatisak Krongsintham. Pol Lt Ampol Jantakul, of Kathu Police Station,…
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Police raid gambling den
KATHU: Sixteen gamblers were nabbed by police on Sunday after an informant led them to a rented house on Wichitsongkram Rd. Pol Maj Chawalit Petchsripia, of Kathu Police Station, was told that the popular dice game “High-Low” was being played there, so police raided the house about 9 pm. Those arrested, mostly couples, confessed that they rented the house for…
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TAT targets Europe, Africa
PHUKET TOWN: Tourists from South Africa and Switzerland will be the new targets as the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) attempts to increase the number of visitors coming to Phuket. Anupharp Thirarath, Director of the local TAT branch, revealed the new aim yesterday at an Aviation Business 2003 Trends Conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. The TAT is planning…
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Reporter slain execution-style
PATONG: A newspaper and TV reporter was killed by two shots to the head in an execution-style killing in Patong early this morning. Surapong “Od Patong” Rittee, 43, was gunned down by two .38 rounds fired close to his left ear as he was walking out of the Aree Karnka mini-mart on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd at 3:30 am. His…
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Last chance for drug offenders
PHUKET TOWN: Police have given drug dealers and addicts until February 15 to surrender in the face of the national crackdown on illegal drugs. The leeway in the campaign was announced by Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, and Phuket Town District Chief Weerawat Janpan, who said the dealers would have a chance to be converted…
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Two die as drug dealers crack down on “squealers’
PHUKET TOWN: Two suspected drug dealers have been shot dead in separate incidents, and police fear a wave of gangland-style slayings could follow in Phuket. The executions, within hours of each other, indicate that the island’s drug overlords are having potential “squealers” permanently silenced rather than risk them talking to police. Elsewhere in Thailand, scores of killings over the past…
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Democrats fight back
PHUKET TOWN: Confident Democrat Party leaders said yesterday that they would hold their three seats in Phuket at the next election and could even topple the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party. About 1,000 people attended the Phuket Merlin Hotel yesterday to hear Abisit Vejjajiva, Deputy Leader of the Democrats, and Chamni Sakdiseth, the party’s Deputy Secretary. K. Chamni said that…
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Chalong TOT office to open soon
CHALONG: Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) customers living in the south of the island will be able to pay their phone bills at the new TOT office on Chao Fa West Rd from February 24. The payments counter will be open from 8 am-4:30 pm on weekdays, while other services, including applying for a telephone line and transferring numbers from…
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Man dies in wild Saphan Hin brawl
PHUKET TOWN: A 45-year-old man was shot dead and others were wounded as a minor confrontation escalated into a wild brawl at Saphan Hin last weekend. At its height, about 30 people were involved, with at least eight shots fired and long knives being used to slash opponents. When police reached the scene at 2 am on Sunday, the group…
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Couple held for marijuana deal
PHUKET TOWN: Police arrested a couple for selling marijuana after a plain-clothes officer posed as a customer in a drug deal sting. Mahamasu Dearama, 29, and Suwannee Libong, 27, from Phuket Villa 3, were arrested after they met the officer in Sakdidet Road about 6:30 pm on Monday. Police confiscated one kilogram of compressed marijuana and goods allegedly linked to…
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Attack on jogging German couple
PHUKET TOWN: Police are hunting two attackers who bashed a German jogger and her husband at Saphan Hin early on Wednesday. Police said that Andrea Tran, 28, was jogging in the park about 6:30 am with her husband, Toan, 29, accompanying her on a motorcycle. The two men, who had been sitting at a roadside pavilion, ran to the couple…
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Marine Police seek drug informants by post
PHUKET: In keeping with the central government’s three-month, all-out war on drugs, the Phuket Marine Police are encouraging informers to send anonymous tip-offs to PO Box 42, Phuket Town, 83000. Pol Maj Prasert Srikunnarath, Inspector of the Phuket Marine Police, told the Gazette, “PO Box 42 is intended to help us get information about drug dealers and addicts, especially those…
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17 tourists hurt as bus crashes
PATONG: Police are still investigating the cause of a bus crash in which 17 tourists bound for Phuket FantaSea were injured last night. The driver was also injured. The bus, coming from Karon about 8 pm, went through a safety rail, hit a drain and flipped to one side, bringing down power lines and knocking over two pillars and a…
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Pytheus Aura in startling regatta win
PHANG NGA BAY: The most startling result in this year’s QBE Phang Nga Bay Regatta was surely the victory by Pytheus Aura in the Racing class. Last year the boat managed only a third place in the Cruising A class. Summersalt made it two in a row by winning the multihull class, while Tag repeated its second place in Cruising…
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New reservoir on hold for tests
THALANG: Construction of Phuket’s new reservoir, which Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has agreed will be paid for by the central government, is to be delayed while tests are made of the site. The tests center on the quality of the soil at the spot in Thalang where the 300-million-baht Bang Neaw Dam is to be built as a solution to…
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Arrests start the anti-drug crusade
PHUKET TOWN: Two alleged drug dealers arrested for selling ya bah (methamphetamine) on Sunday were among the island’s first casualties in the national crackdown on illegal drugs. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit said that the arrests came about because of a tip-off to Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi, who is concentrating his energies on the anti-drug war for the next three months. Phuket…
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Petty robbers pose as policemen
PHUKET TOWN: Two young men impersonating plain-clothes policemen searching for Ecstasy tablets robbed a 16-year-old boy on Sunday outside the Phuket Public Library on Phuket Rd. Pol Capt Pin Inmak, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that Somkeat Maliwan was riding his motorbike along Phuket Rd at about 5 pm when two men on a motorbike pulled alongside…
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Krabi airport to get upgrade
KRABI: Krabi International Airport is now handling visas on arrival and will gain a longer runway and an expanded car park, thanks to a 700-million-baht government grant. Attapol Mansutthi, the airport’s Director, told the Gazette, “The total area of the airport is 2,300 rai including one building, car park and airfield. We will expand the car park and lengthen the…
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Valentine’s Day crush expected
PHUKET: The island’s district offices are getting set for an invasion by hundreds of couples who wish to tie the knot on Valentine’s Day next week. A free stay in a five-star hotel and other prizes are on offer in a lucky draw on the big day at Phuket Town District Office, when Registration Officer Karnjana Hongboonyanurak expects that about…
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Gambling tops crime stats in January
PHUKET: Police statistics for January 1-25 reveal that gambling is still the island’s number one crime, with 147 arrests for the period in 69 cases. This figure is down significantly from the same period last year, however, when 180 arrests were reported. Drug-related offenses were the second most common crime for the period, with 117 arrests in 114 cases. The…
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Mystery surrounds restaurateur’s death
RAWAI: Mystery surrounds the death of 38-year-old restaurateur David “Fat Fingers” Jones of Britain, who was found by the side of the Wiset Rd on the evening of February 2, near the Banthai Restaurant, which he ran with his wife Yuwaluk. Pol Capt Anek Mongkol of Chalong Police Station initially told the Gazette that Mr Jones died in a motorcycle…
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What’s on at the movies?
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Three robbed in teenage gang spree
PHUKET TOWN: Police have arrested two members of a teenage motorcycle gang who carried out three robberies in the space of two hours early on Thursday. One of the robberies involved snatching a necklace from a foreigner who was behind the wheel of his car at the time. Pol Maj Pissanu Poonwongs, of Phuket Town Police Station, named the victim…
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More killed, maimed on roads in 2002
PHUKET TOWN: Statistics show that at least 181 people died on Phuket’s roads in 2002 and another 13,064 people were injured. Of the dead, 161 died in motorcycle accidents and 20 from crashes involving cars. The toll was a considerable increase over 2001, when 148 deaths were recorded, but down on the 189 fatalities listed for 2000. The worst month…
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Police complete emergency training
PHUKET TOWN: Certificates were handed out this morning to 35 police officers on completion of a three-month course in counter-terrorism, marine rescue, protecting VIPs and handling emergency situations. Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, the Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, told the graduates, “Security is very important. We must improve it all the time because terrorists also improve their ways.” Those…
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Phuket people vow to battle drugs
PHUKET TOWN: About 3,500 people gathered this morning at the Provincial Hall on Narisorn Rd and pledged to help eradicate illegal drugs on Phuket. At a mass ceremony starting at 9 am, people from all walks of life, including students, community leaders, members of clubs and associations and owners of entertainment venues, vowed not to become involved with drugs and…
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