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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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Customs Dept goes online
THAILAND: The Customs Department today launched its revamped website featuring details of procedures for importing or exporting goods, items prohibited in Thailand, and a range of online services. The website – found at https://www.customs.go.th – is currently in Thai only. An English version of the website is expected to be online by the end of the year. The new services…
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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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Taiwanese tourist drowns
CHALONG: A 56-year-old woman from Taiwan died yesterday after she got into difficulties in the sea off Koh Hey (Coral Island) while on a guided tour. Police named the tourist as Huana Yuying, who arrived in Phuket with several members of her family on Saturday. “The area where the agent took the tourists to swim was not very deep and…
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What’s on at the movies?
Get ALL the details – Titles, Summaries, Ratings, Languages and Screening Times – updated DAILY at https://thethaiger.com/movies Avoid disappointment – know before you go!
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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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Regatta starts at Rai Ley tomorrow
PHANG NGA BAY: Some 30 yachts are expected to set off tomorrow from Rai Ley Beach on the first of three races in the 2003 QBE Phang Nga Bay Regatta. The first leg will take the yachts from Rai Ley to Koh Chong Lat, at the southern end of Koh Yao Yai. On Monday, the second leg will be between…
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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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Brit nabbed for theft of B245,000 ring
PHUKET TOWN: Thomas James Wynn, 36, from Liverpool, England, was arrested today and charged with theft after allegedly stealing a quarter-million-baht diamond ring from Pornthep Gems on Montri Rd this morning. The shop’s owner, Thanongsak Sakasamekit, said that Wynn came into his shop and asked to see diamond rings with him. “I let my wife take care of him. He…
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Indian Deputy PM to visit Phuket
PHUKET: India’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Lal Krishna Advani, will spend the weekend in Phuket as a guest of the Thai Government. He and his wife will fly in tomorrow with the Thai Minister of Interior, Wan Muhamad Nor Matha. In the evening they plan to go to Phuket FantaSea. On Sunday, the couple will tour Phang…
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Gov urges caution over Cambodians
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi said today that although Cambodia is a long way from Phuket, residents should be cautious following the burning and looting of the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh on Wednesday night. He added that the authorities will crack down swiftly if there is any kind of disturbance on the island in the wake of the Phnom…
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In vino stupiditas
BANGKOK: Most drunks will stop imbibing when they have spent their last baht on the devil’s brew, but not 41-year-old Kiat Sommee. Kiat was out drinking with friends one day when he ran out of cash. A bank, he reasoned, is a place where a lot of money is kept. There was only one possible course of action, so Kiat…
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Bus driver scuttled
BANGKOK: All the cockroach did was behave the way any cockroach is expected to behave – by scuttling about the room in an annoying fashion. Yet its perfectly normal behavior started a chain of events that resulted in one man being killed and another being arrested. Bus driver Prayad “Pui” Kwanyun, 29, came home after work on January 13 and…
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Governor to lead the war on drugs
PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi plans to devote the next three months to personally leading the fight against illegal drugs. His pledge, announced today, follows a promise by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to obliterate the illegal drug trade in Thailand within three months, starting from February 1. At the regular meeting of senior officials at Phuket Provincial Hall this…
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Chinese New Year a blessing for hotels
PHUKET: The island’s hotels are enjoying a surge in occupancy rates with many ethnic Chinese flying in from around the region to celebrate the advent of the Year of the Goat on February 1. Phuket Town hotels are nearly full, both with Asian and Western visitors, said Napasorn Kakai, Deputy Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Region 4 office.…
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“Foreigners grabbing Thai jobs’: Karon Mayor
KARON: The Mayor of Karon Municipality has lodged a complaint with Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi that foreigners in the Karon area are “grabbing” jobs that Thais can do, and has urged the authorities to be more thorough about checking work permits and other licenses. The Mayor, Tawee Thongcham, told the Gazette that the Governor went to Karon on Saturday as…
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Phuket Town to become Phuket City?
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok has invited a cross-section of municipal leaders to join a public hearing to discuss the town’s possible upgrade from tessaban muang (town) to tessaban nakhon (city) status. The meeting will be held from 1-4 pm on Thursday at the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel. K. Phummisak said the Municipality first got the go-ahead from…
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War on drugs begins soon
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s part in a national plan to obliterate illegal drugs within three months will be revealed when Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi speaks on the topic on Friday. Police will have drug control as part of their duties, even if they are assigned to traffic, administration or management, said Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police…
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Purachai aiming to cut prison population
PHUKET TOWN: More prisoners are likely to be freed on probation to reduce the problem of overcrowding at Phuket Provincial Prison. The announcement was made today by visiting Justice Minister Purachai Piemsomboon. “The prison in Phuket is very old,” he said. “The number of prisoners is increasing but the budget and the number of prison officers is not. “Phuket [Prison]…
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Billions of Baht for Phuket
PHUKET: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dealt a major blow to the Democrat Party yesterday, announcing a multi-billion-baht plan to turn Phuket into the country’s biggest economic and tourism hub over the next five years. The premier has pledged that more than 100 billion baht would be invested in the development program over the next 5-6 years. The Thai Rak Thai…
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Police New Year target is helmets
PHUKET: Police will crack down on bad driving over Chinese New Year next weekend – especially on motorcycle riders who do not wear helmets at night. The Chinese New Year, which falls on February 1 this year, always brings an increase in traffic and accidents. Police are keen to halt the rising toll of unnecessary deaths and injuries in 2003.…
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Parties slug it out over Phuket billboards
PHUKET TOWN: Accusations are flying across the political divide in a slinging match that broke out on the eve of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s party congress in Phuket this weekend. With more than 300 Thai Rak Thai (TRT) MPs gathering from today in the heartland of the opposition Democrat Party, billboards began appearing around the island about three weeks ago,…
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Cough syrup the new menace
PHUKET TOWN: Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyurapan chaired a crisis meeting in Phuket today to plan action to stem the rising misuse of cough syrup among Thailand’s young people. Among the 120 provincial officers who met at Royal Phuket City Hotel were Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi, Public Health officers from the 14 southern provinces and others from as far…
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Islanders win top ecotourism prize
PHANG NGA: An ecotourism strategy devised by the residents of Koh Yao Noi, off Phuket, has won a prestigious World Legacy Award, which will be presented later on today in Washington DC by Queen Noor of Jordan. The award, one of only three throughout the world for 2002, will be presented on Wednesday in the US capital to Jaranya Deangnoy,…
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Early-teen motorcycle thieves nabbed
PHUKET TOWN: A gang of eight boys, all aged about 14, were taken into custody and charged with motorcycle theft following a police raid on their hangout off Sakdidet Rd on Sunday. Police suspected the boys might responsible for a surge in motorcycle thefts in the Sakdidet Rd area when they observed the gang involved in a bustling trade in…
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