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Tsunami early-warning buoys to deploy from Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Thailand’s tsunami early-warning system will take a big step forward this month, when a high-tech monitoring buoy able to directly detect tsunami waves will be deployed about 1,100 kilometers off the Andaman Coast, near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.The announcement came during a meeting on disaster preparedness in the six tsunami-affected provinces held at the Royal Phuket City…
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Phuket Prison now a tourist attraction
PHUKET CITY: For most societies, prison is an undesirable place to which law-abiding citizens send the the community’s undesirables, i.e., the deviants, perverts and miscreants. But in Phuket, prison has become just another tourist attraction.Helping to keep alive the strong local tradition of anywhere-anytime tourism, Paisarn Suwannaraksa, Director of Phuket Prison, told the Gazette that the 1,500-inmate prison is now…
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“Peanut gambling’ gang caught
KAMALA: Four men, including a retired police officer, have been arrested for their participation in a “peanut gambling” swindle after a woman, whose name is being withheld at her request, was conned out of 1 million baht before reporting the racket to the police.The woman reported the con to police on November 8 and cooperated in a sting operation, luring…
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Pencak Silat moved to Turkey
PHUKET: The 13th Pencak Silat Martial Arts World Championship, set to open in Phuket this Saturday, has been moved to Turkey due to the coup.The competition was originally scheduled to be held November 18 to 26, with more than 500 competitors from 25 countries registered for the event.Pencak Silat is a group of martial arts of Indo-Malaysian origin that can…
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Jazz Royale Festival schedule announced
KARON: The Jazz Royale Festival – organized to honor HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday – will be held at Karon Beach on December 16 and 17, 2006.Among the big names to perform in the show are Kenny G, The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, and jazz great Ahmad Jamal.Tickets are priced at 1,500 baht and are available from the…
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Barami 8 squatters spared – for now
KALIM: Fearful of inciting a riot, municipal officials yesterday decided not to remove three squatters homes along Soi Phra Barami 8.The three homes, the first of 61 to be removed to make way for a government road-widening project, was ordered on Monday by Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat at a meeting at Kathu District office.Owners of the…
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Alcohol advertising ban threatens Johnnie Walker Classic
BANGKOK (The Nation): Riche Monde, distributor of Johnnie Walker whiskey, has urged the government to decide within two weeks whether it can use the logo and brand to promote the upcoming Johnnie Walker Classic golf event at Blue Canyon Country Club in Thalang.If the government bans the use of the logo and brand, as well as prohibits the company from…
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Weapons seized in Kathu
KATHU: Four men were arrested yesterday after a routine inspection of their pickup at the Phra Barami Rd vehicle control point uncovered four pistols, ammunition, a walkie-talkie and two pairs of latex gloves.Tung Tong Police Deputy Inspector for Crime Suppression Pol Capt Wiwut Chumnankit said police pulled over the red-gray Mitsubishi pickup, with a Phuket license plate, at the checkpoint…
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Pian authorizes Phra Barami 8 evictions
KALIM: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has reluctantly agreed to demolish three squatters’ homes on Soi Phra Barami 8, the site of a proposed road-widening project that has been delayed by the numerous illegal dwellings there.The three houses are among 61 that face eventual destruction, but are the only dwellings that the court has thus far ordered demolished. Workers will begin…
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Dive operators get court reprieve
PHUKET: The Administrative Court in Nakhon Sri Thammarat has ruled the new regulations affecting Phuket dive operators suspended indefinitely, pending the results of a court case challenging their legality.News of the suspension came from Aekachai Soonthorn, who has been appointed defense attorney for the province in the case. Aekachai is also Secretary to the Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad),…
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Chinese take FIVB gold in Phuket
KARON: It was an all-China final in the Swatch FIVB Phuket Thailand Open international women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday. The last stop on the FIVB world tour pitted third-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi against compatriots Tian Jia and Wang Jie in the final.Xue and Zhang went on to win in the third all-Chinese final of this season’s FIVB tour.…
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Chetwynd-Talbot still in Phuket jail
PHUKET CITY: Briton Paul Chetwynd-Talbot is still being held at Phuket Provincial Prison, though he is expected to be transfered to the more comfortable Klong Prem Prison in Ladyao, Bangkok, before the end of the year.Paisarn Suwannaraksa, Director of Phuket Prison, told the Gazette, “It will be more comfortable for the prisoner because he is a foreigner, and easier for…
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A bloody offal story
CHALONG: Residents of Chalong Village 10 called police on the evening of October 11 to report a pile of apparently-human organs tossed into a thicket along Saneh Soi 10. Shocked and in fear that a serial killer was on the loose, they were somewhat relieved to eventually learn that the abandoned innards were of canine, not human, origin. Responding to…
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I’ve got WHAT in my hair?
Hair styling has long been a key part of the female beauty regimen, regardless of what fashions have come and gone. Hair accessories, however, do not usually come flavored, lubricated or coated in spermicidal jelly – well, not until now. The latest rage in hair products was brought to light by some young women in Chiang Mai, who discovered that…
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Trio of transgressors
Three monks welcomed the end of Buddhist Lent, called Ork Pansa, with an over-indulgence in bad habits this year: one crashed his pickup drunk-driving, one forced himself on a young woman, and another shot and killed a fellow monk… all on the nights of October 7 and 8. The first, a monk from Buri Ram, celebrated the end of Lent…
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18 wheels of karma
A would-be car thief was given a crushing dose of justice on the motorway between Bangkok and Pattaya, after his bid to rip off a taxi driver’s vehicle ended with him being flattened by an 18-wheel truck. Taxi driver Nirit Luangjan, 40, picked up a passenger in Bangkok one day early last month, driving the fare all the way to…
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US Olympic champs through to FIVB semi-finals
KARON: Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, top seeds for the FIVB Phuket Thailand Open being held at Karon Beach this weekend, secured a place in the semi-finals by defeating fourth-seeded Nila Ann Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen of Norway 21-17, 19-21, 15-11 in 48 minutes.The win extended Walsh and May-Treanor’s winning streak in the tourney to 11 matches The duo…
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B1m fugitive arrested in Phitsanuloke
PHITSANULOKE (The Nation): Fugitive murder suspect Thai-American national Saner Wonggoun was arrested yesterday at a market in Phitsanuloke province.The former US Air Force non-commissioned officer pleaded guilty to a murder charge filed by local police in California for the murder of his pregnant wife Sopha in 1994, police said.The arrest came just seven days after Thai and US authorities announced…
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Foreign teachers: eligible bachelors only need apply
PHUKET: Schools across the island will ask Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit to petition the Ministry of Education (MoE) to ease new regulations requiring all new teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree and to pass an extensive background check before they can begin work.The decision was made at a meeting at the Phuket Educational Service Area (PESA) office on…
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Jimmy Carter visits tsunami-struck village in Phuket
TAH CHAT CHAI: Former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday visited villagers at the north end of the island who lost their homes to the tsunami. New homes were provided for them by Habitat for Humanity, a charity headed by Carter.Villages gave a heartfelt welcome to Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who were accompanied by US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce,…
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Misbehaving medium beaten and arrested
KATHU (Kom Chad Luek): Tung Tong Police are preparing to file charges of “deceiving the public” against a mah song (“spirit medium”) who pretended to skewer his tongue with a sword during this year’s vegetarian festival, but in fact ran the blade through a pig’s tongue that he had secretly concealed in his mouth to fool onlookers.The incident was reported…
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Hazy days
PHUKET: The mysterious haze that descended on Phuket yesterday is the result of a high-pressure system centered in China and local atmospheric effects and not related to forest fires in Sumatra, the island’s top weatherman has told the Gazette.Chumnong Chitpukdee, Director of Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) Phuket, said that low visibility along much of Thailand’s Andaman Coast was from…
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THAI boosts flight services
BANGKOK: Thai Airways International (THAI) on Tuesday increased its weekly number of domestic flights from Bangkok to Phuket from 77 to 82. The increase is part of its route extension and adjustment plans to cope with an expected increase in air passenger traffic during the northern winter period. The extra flights will continue until March 24, 2007. Service on the…
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New Governor warns of ‘problems’
PHUKET: Bangkok native Niran Kalayanamit was promoted to Governor of Phuket yesterday following the weekly Cabinet meeting in Bangkok.Cabinet approved the promotion as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle of 60 Ministry of Interior officials.Governor Niran, 52, has been Phuket Vice-Governor for the past five years, moving to the province after tenure as Director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the…
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Valentino and wife released on bail
BANGKOK (The Nation): Well-known Phuket resident Tan Teik Hai, aka “Valentino”, and his wife Suwaphat Kheereephon were released on bail of 600,000 each on October 29 following their arrest on charges of encroaching on a vast plot of beachfront land on Koh Yao Yai in Phang Nga.Tan, a Malaysian national who serves as the honorary consul to Morocco, and his wife,…
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Illegal Nai Harn resort raided
NAI HARN: Two construction foremen were arrested and their equipment seized on Wednesday in a raid by forestry officials on a resort complex being built illegally on protected forest land above Baan Krating Jungle Beach at Ao Sane, accessible from the road that runs through Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club.The raid was carried out by 30 volunteers and officials…
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Honorary Consul couple arrested
BANGKOK (The Nation): Police last night arrested Malaysian national and honorary consul to Morocco Tan Tek Hai, known better on the island as “Valentino”, 56, and his wife Suwaphat Kheereephon, 41, who is an honorary consul to Djibouti.The couple were arrested by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) agents at their home for allegedly encroaching on a large plot of public…
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B1m reward for US-Thai fugitive
BANGKOK: Thai and US law enforcement officials today announced a 1-million-baht reward for information leading to the capture of Saner Wonggoun, a most-wanted US fugitive believed to be hiding in Thailand. Saner, alias “Shorty” or “Buck”, is wanted in connection with the 1994 murder of his pregnant wife and their eight-month-old unborn child. Saner, born in Nakon Nayok Province in…
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Nominee crackdown halves new company registrations
PHUKET: Only 76 new companies were registered in September – compared with 135 and 132 during the same month in 2005 and 2004, respectively – following the August 15 announcement from the Ministry of Commerce that rules regarding foreign partnerships would be strictly enforced.Veerachai Tantiwathanavallop, Chief of the Phuket Commercial Registrations Office, told the Gazette that the number of new…
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Phuket Carnival to be record-breaker
PATONG: This year’s Phuket Carnival, a celebration held to ring in the official start of the high season for tourism, is being touted to be the biggest ever with a record 3 million baht in funding provided by the Phuket Tourist Association. This year’s activities will be centered along Thaweewong Rd, between Soi Bangla and the Holiday Inn on Soi…
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