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Update: Phuket oil spill
PHUKET: As feared 40,000 liters of diesel fuel is leaking from the wreck of Choke Thavorn 6, a small tanker that sunk about 10 kilometers south of Phuket yesterday morning. The state-run Thai News Agency reported at 1am today that Navy helicopters confirmed a large and growing contamination plume above the site of the wreck, which now sits about 30…
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Phuket pow wow over illegal alien workers
PHUKET: The number of illegal alien workers in Phuket is around 200,000, it was announced at a Senate committee meeting in Phuket on Friday. About 150 government officers, senators and private-sector representatives met at the Kata Beach Resort on Friday morning to brainstorm better ways to legalize the estimated 1.5 million illegal workers from neighboring countries, especially Burma. Suvit Meksereekul,…
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Fuel boat sinks off Phuket: 40,000-liter spill feared
PHUKET: A boat carrying 40,000 liters of oil sank in heavy seas off Phuket yesterday, prompting fears of environmental damage if the vessel could not be salvaged in time. Phuket Marine Police deputy commander Prasert Srikhunrat received a distress call from the crew of Choke Thavorn 6 at about 11am. The vessel was delivering the oil from a tank farm…
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Phuket artificial reef a hit with divers
PHUKET: Officials are trumpeting the success of an artificial coral reef off Racha Yai Island, some 25 kilometers south of Phuket, that has become a hit with foreign and Thai divers. As many as 100 divers are visiting the “Star Ruby Point” reef every day, according to Paitoon Panchaipum, director of the Department of Marine Coastal Resources in Phuket (DMCR).…
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Phuket masseuses robbed at gunpoint
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for two men wanted for robbing two masseuses at gunpoint in Phuket Town on Wednesday. Phuket City Police duty officer Pol Lt Col Na-non Phithakkultorn told the Gazette he received the report of the robbery at 9:30am on Wednesday and immediately went to investigate. At the scene, in front of the Chao Phraya massage…
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Bt126m funding for Phuket development projects
PHUKET: The central government has approved some 126 million baht for Phuket development projects to be carried out during Fiscal Year 2011, which starts on October 1, 2010. Five Andaman coast provinces were allocated more than 641 million baht in total for local development projects. Trang had the most funding, 140 million baht, followed by Krabi (Bt135m), Phuket (Bt126m), Phang…
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Tsunami drill in Phuket this month
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has announced that a full-scale tsunami evacuation drill will be conducted simultaneously in the six Andaman coast provinces on September 13. All 127 tsunami warning towers in the region will be sounded from 9:30am to 10:30am. The 19 towers in Phuket are located at: Mai Khao, Nai Yang, Bang Tao, Kamala, Patong, Kata,…
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No sex, but lots of vegetables in Phuket next month
PHUKET: Skewered and entranced maa song (‘spirit mediums’, or ‘devotees’) will again embody the gods for next month’s Vegetarian Festival in Phuket. For most local celebrants the festival means nine days of abstention from sex and alcohol, and rigid adherence to a vegetarian diet. Mind-blowing processions, ear-splitting firecrackers, traffic jams, peaceful chants and vegetarian food return to Phuket to reveal…
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Five-car smash in Koh Kaew, Phuket
PHUKET: An Alfa Romeo was among five vehicles damaged in a road accident near the entrance to the Boat Lagoon marina in Phuket this afternoon. The accident, on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in Koh Kaew, appears to have been caused when one vehicle braked suddenly. The driver of a pickup that was the first of the five vehicles damaged told the…
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More mangrove encroachment in Phuket
PHUKET: Swift action by a Phuket village headman saved several rai of mangrove forest from destruction by encroachers, but not before three rai had already been cut down. Sinchai Limsakul, headman of Palai Village in Chalong, alerted police to the destruction at 4pm yesterday. Some of the uprooted trees were planted by Chalong Tambon Administration, government officers and villagers in…
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Phuket tourism firms win TAT awards
PHUKET: Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced the names of nine local tourism businesses and associations awarded prizes in the 8th Annual Thailand Tourism Awards. The biennial awards are designed to instill awareness and promote responsible management in tourism among tourism entrepreneurs, ultimately leading to sustainable tourism. Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, director of the TAT South Region 4 Office in Phuket…
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Laundry larceny: the gig’s up for Phuket garment grabber
PHUKET: Kathu Police raided a house in Patong early Wednesday morning and arrested a Thai woman who stole clothes from laundry shops and sold them as secondhand garments. Officers led by Lt Col Sakon Bunditsak arrested Ruengrin Sukbunjong, 30, from Phang Nga, at her house in Patong. Seized as evidence during the raid were about 300 items of clothing, ranging…
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FC Phuket out of Toyota League Cup after 3-1 loss in Saraburi
PHUKET: FC Phuket are out of the Toyota League Cup after losing to Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi 3-1 last night. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg defeat at the Surakul Stadium last Sunday, FC Phuket faced the daunting task of defeating Osotspa Saraburi on the road if they were to progress to the second round of the cup.…
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Australian tourist dies in Phuket swimming pool
PHUKET: An Australian tourist died while swimming in a pool at a well-known Phuket hotel late yesterday afternoon. Kathu Police duty officer Jongserm Preecha identified the deceased as 58-year-old James Bourke. Staff and customers at the Banthai Beach Resort and Spa in Patong told police they saw Mr Bourke go for a swim after eating a meal at about 5pm.…
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Ron Fanelli still at Phuket Prison
PHUKET: Ronald Fanelli, confessed killer of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, today blamed local media coverage for being partly responsible for his decision not to surrender himself to authorities before his arrest. Mr Fanelli spoke to the Gazette briefly today from Phuket Prison, where he is being held for the stabbing murder of Ms Wanphen, a 33-year-old bar hostess at the…
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More sewage treatment for Phuket
PHUKET: Karon Municipality will levy charges on hotels, restaurants and other small businesses in the area for the wastewater they produce. The scheme, to start in October, will affect hotels and businesses in Karon, Kata and Kata Noi. Restaurants will be charged a flat rate of 5.25 baht per operating square meter, and hotels will be billed at 84 baht…
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Identity of Russian car crash fatality in Phuket revealed
PHUKET: The Russian diplomatic mission in Phuket has identified the foreign woman who died in a car crash near Tesco-Lotus on Thursday as 33-year-old Vera Lovtsova, a Russian citizen who was employed by a tour company in Phuket. For the Gazette‘s initial report of the tragedy click here. The confirmation was made by Santi Udomkiratak, Deputy Honorary Consul of the…
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50 largest landholders control 14.3% of Phuket
PHUKET: Land ownership in Phuket is highly concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of wealthy landowners, according to a prominent Thammasat University economics professor. Prof Duangmani Laowakul, a member of the watch-dog committee Policy Watch, said the top 50 largest landholders in Phuket control 14.3% of the island’s total area. A report published in Krungthep Turakij, the…
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More Dragons for Phuket; Siam Makro expanding
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. More Dragons for Phuket PHUKET: Dragon Air intends to increase services on its Hong Kong-Phuket route. Cathay Pacific Airways, parent company of Dragon Air, says traffic to Phuket is robust with an average load factor of 90…
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High-tech drug detectors too expensive for Phuket
PHUKET: Top provincial officers have balked at a plan to install a drug-detecting “X-ray machine” at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint after learning the cost would run well over 250 million baht. The drug problem was the main topic at the monthly meeting of the Phuket Provincial Peacekeeping Committee chaired by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday.…
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Two-headed turtle turns one month old in Phang Nga
PHUKET: A two-headed turtle born in late July is thriving under the care of staff at the Royal Thai Navy base in Phang Nga as it celebrates its one-month birthday. The green sea turtle, born in a Thai Navy conservation area in the Similan Islands, was initially earmarked as one of scores of turtles to be set free in Phuket…
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Phuket attempted murder suspect arrested
PHUKET: A man suspected of an attempted murder in Phuket last year was arrested by Lampang police on Saturday after more than a year on the run. But it wasn’t all woe for the suspect, 41-year-old Bangkok resident Prasop Homhuan. Prasop told officers escorting him to Phuket from Chiang Mai that despite his arrest he was very excited – at…
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Blackout in Rawai, Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: Residents of Rawai be warned: the Provincial Electricity Authority has announced a scheduled blackout in parts of the municipality from 9am to 4pm tomorrow to work on high-voltage power lines. The affected area includes Saiyuan Road, from Wiset Rd to Nai Harn Beach, including Soi Khok Yang, Soi Hua Pru, Soi Khok Makham and Soi Naya. Much of Saiyaun…
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Arson considered in Phuket pawnshop blaze
PHUKET: Police have not ruled out arson for a pre-dawn blaze that gutted a Phuket pawnshop warehouse today. No one was reported as injured in the fire, although it took five firetrucks 30 minutes to extinguish the inferno on Sri Sena Road in Rassada. An initial investigation suggests that an electrical short circuit might have started the fire, but the…
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Osotspa Saraburi down Phuket FC, 2-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket were unlucky to be beaten 2-1 at home by Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi in the opening round of the Toyota League Cup. The first leg of the pairing, which took place at Surakul Stadium yesterday, was a big step up in opposition for FC Phuket, currently two divisions below their opponents. It was Osotspa Saraburi…
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Chuan Leekpai defends democracy at Phuket seminar
PHUKET: Former prime minister Chuan Leekpai said in a speech in Phuket on Saturday that Thailand’s political crisis stems not from flaws in the democratic system, but from the self-serving actions of some individuals. Mr Chuan, a senior advisor to the Democrat Party, was speaking at Royal Phuket City Hotel at a seminar entitled “Reforming the Country at a Time…
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OPINION: Should Phuket be more of a colony?
PHUKET: Consider the humble ant. Ever industrious and capable of astonishing engineering feats, she comfortably air conditions her entire polity, maintains traffic control so no one ever experiences a fatal collision, and supports avidly the concepts of sufficiency economy and Gross Domestic Happiness.She lives in a crime-free, environmentally friendly colony, without recourse to burning hydrocarbons.On Phuket, we too are highly…
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Phuket respects hungry ghosts
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality hosted the annual Por Tor festival this week (August 26-27) to appease spirits said to be visiting families and roaming the streets of the island throughout their month-long reprieve from the spirit world. The festival – chaired by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, his wife Taisika, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana and Phuket MP Raywat Areerob –…
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Media menaced in Thailand
PHUKET: Press freedom in Thailand, especially for broadcast media such as community radio stations and Web boards, has “palpably deteriorated” over the past six years, says Roby Alampay, outgoing executive director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa). “The Internet over the past six years has played a crucial role in allowing people to debate and air their views,” Alampay…
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Phuket newborn dead in a dump truck
PHUKET: A garbage truck driver came across the dead body of a newborn baby while separating trash in the back of his truck in Pa Khlok this morning. Thalang police were notified of the grim discovery by a Pa Khlok Tambon Administration Organization (TAO) officer around 8:30am. “The baby was wrapped in a T-shirt and pieces of newspaper and put…
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