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  • Whale stranded in Patong dies | Thaiger

    Whale stranded in Patong dies

    PHUKET: A dwarf sperm whale that washed up on Patong Beach this morning died from ingesting a wide variety of man-made items, researchers at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) today told the Gazette. The whale was discovered by local residents on the beach near the Soi Bangla intersection about 6 am. Villagers and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers pushed the…

  • US Navy servicewoman dies in Patong | Thaiger

    US Navy servicewoman dies in Patong

    PATONG: A US servicewoman accidentally fell to her death from a seventh-floor hotel room in Patong yesterday, the Gazette has been told.In a news release posted on its website at noon today, Manager Online quoted Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark as identifying the woman as 25-year-old Ebony Cooper.There were few other details in the report, except that police were…

  • Korean businesswoman found dead | Thaiger

    Korean businesswoman found dead

    WICHIT: A Korean woman found dead in her third-floor bedroom in the Tango Pub building on Chao Fah West Rd last Tuesday has been confirmed by police as the pub’s owner, Kim Chu Mi, 48.Lt Col Vijak Tarom of Phuket City Police said that Mrs Kim may have been dead for more than eight hours before she was found by…

  • Runaway bride | Thaiger

    Runaway bride

    SAPHAN BURI: Being forced into a loveless marriage is an unhappy fate for any girl to endure, but not everyone takes the situation lying down. After being forced to marry the son of a wealthy local cattle owner, one young woman from Suphan Buri managed to escape with not only her freedom, but also the 400,000-baht sin sot (bride price)…

  • PPEO moves to allay manual labor shortage | Thaiger

    PPEO moves to allay manual labor shortage

    PHUKET: In a bid to ease Phuket’s manual labor shortage, the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) is accepting applications to extend by one year the work permits of the 19,000 Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian laborers working in Phuket whose work permits are set to expire this month.Employers can register their migrant laborers at the PPEO building on Rattanakosin 200 Pi…

  • Laguna Marathon traffic restrictions announced | Thaiger

    Laguna Marathon traffic restrictions announced

    CHERNG TALAY: As the island gears up for the big Laguna Phuket International Marathon on Sunday, June 15, the event’s organizers have announced traffic restrictions that will apply during the marathon so athletes can safely complete the course. Traffic along the following roads will be directed by police for the safety of runners as follows: 1. All roads within Laguna Phuket…

  • Nine arrested in series of ya bah raids | Thaiger

    Nine arrested in series of ya bah raids

    PHUKET CITY: The sale of a single ya bah (methamphetamine) pill to an undercover policeman late Sunday night sparked a series of arrests that netted nine suspects and nearly 3,000 pills by dawn yesterday.Muang District police announced at a press conference yesterday that Saroj Sopawaj, 25, was arrested in a sting on Soi Suthat 2 at 11 pm after allegedly…

  • Kukri Badgers win Phuket Rugby 10s | Thaiger

    Kukri Badgers win Phuket Rugby 10s

    KARON: In a high-quality match played to a packed Karon Municipality stadium on Sunday, the Kukri Badgers from the UK beat the Loki Odins from Canberra, Australia, by 12-5 to win the Overgaard 10th Anniversary Phuket International Rugby 10s. The invitational sides played impressive rugby on a relatively hard pitch that could well have done with some of the rain that…

  • Declaration of emergency not warranted: Boonsrong | Thaiger

    Declaration of emergency not warranted: Boonsrong

    BANGKOK (The Nation): Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces General Boonsrang Niumpradit sought this morning to allay growing concern that the Thai government might declare an emergency situation to crack down on the current street protests in Bangkok.“Citing of the emergency law might do more harm than good to the country,” he noted, arguing that there are many options to…

  • Burmese doing Thai homeWorks | Thaiger

    Burmese doing Thai homeWorks

    PHUKET CITY: That unregistered, migrant laborers from Burma continue to play a key role in the island’s construction industry was confirmed on Tuesday when 28 illegal workers were arrested at the one-billion-baht “homeWorks” project site at the Darasamuth Intersection on the bypass road.The arrests followed a tip-off from the Phuket branch of Thailand’s internal intelligence service (santibaan) to Phuket Provincial…

  • Tsunami victims to regain access to their homes | Thaiger

    Tsunami victims to regain access to their homes

    CHALONG: Residents of Baan Fah Mai will have a bridge built so they can regain access to their village, which was cut off after excavation of a drainage ditch.Baan Fah Mai, which is located at the end of Soi Mayuree, opposite the entrance to Land & Houses Park on Chao Fa East Rd, comprises homes for about 20 families whose former…

  • Quayle calls for better tourist safety

    PHUKET CITY: Following a wave of Phuket Gazette reports of crimes against foreigners in recent weeks, British Ambassador to Thailand Quinton Quayle today voiced his concern over the personal safety of British citizens in Phuket.Speaking to the Gazette at the Royal Phuket City Hotel this morning, Mr Quayle said, “I think safety is a worrying aspect…“[Safety] is one of the things…

  • 5bn baht airport expansion approved

    MAI KHAO: Airports of Thailand (AOT) is set to inject 5 billion baht into the expansion of Phuket International Airport (PIA) to bring its capacity up to 11.5 million passengers by the year 2016 – an increase of 77% over current capacity.The announcement was made on May 23 by Deputy Transport Minister Songsak Thongsri, who joined Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Rathasima,…

  • More donations needed for Burmese aid shipment

    PHUKET: Donations of equipment to provide emergency food and shelter for victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar are gradually piling up at collection points around Phuket, but more donations are needed before there is a chance of them providing the much-needed relief. The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) Third Naval Command at Cape Panwa, Baan Kamala School and the Kusoldharm Foundation…

  • SIPA takes steps to fast-track yacht and crew registrations | Thaiger

    SIPA takes steps to fast-track yacht and crew registrations

    PHUKET: The Phuket office of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) has announced its plan for a first step in creating a true one-stop service for yacht and crew registrations at Chalong Pier. In February, SIPA was tasked with creating a “device” to help track yachts visiting Thai waters, as well as streamlining procedures among the Marine, Immigration and Customs…

  • Secret list of “influential people’ drawn up | Thaiger

    Secret list of “influential people’ drawn up

    PHUKET: A confidential blacklist of “influential people” in Phuket’s criminal underworld has been drawn up as part of a nationwide government campaign to monitor individuals who “pose a threat to society”.Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday met senior provincial officers at Provincial Hall to finalize the list before sending it to Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit for approval.The final list was compiled…

  • 5 billion for airport expansion | Thaiger

    5 billion for airport expansion

    MAI KHAO: Airports of Thailand (AOT) is set to inject 5 billion baht into the expansion of Phuket International Airport (PIA) to bring its capacity up to 11.5 million passengers by the year 2016 – an increase of 77% over current capacity.The announcement was made on May 23 by Deputy Transport Minister Songsak Thongsri, who joined Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Rathasima,…

  • Ao Phuket hearing changed to Thursday | Thaiger

    Ao Phuket hearing changed to Thursday

    PHUKET CITY: The Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) and Phuket Province will hold a public hearing on Thursday, May 29 to gauge local response to the plan to move forward with the Ao Phuket megaproject, a 100-million-baht marina and convention center on 3,000 rai of reclaimed land in Phuket Bay.The meeting has been moved up one day from its…

  • British celebs to storm Patong tomorrow | Thaiger

    British celebs to storm Patong tomorrow

    PATONG: A troop of British celebs will be on hand at the Patong Municipality football field tomorrow morning to train 30 lucky local children. The event is part of the Asian Celebrity Golf Tour charity event, which will see players of all handicaps going head-to-head with the celebs at Loch Palm on May 28 and 29 Among those who will…

  • Brit shot, robbed in Chalong | Thaiger

    Brit shot, robbed in Chalong

    CHALONG: Police are hunting two suspects who shot and robbed a British man while he was riding home on Patak Rd before dawn yesterday.Chalong Police Superintendent Col Samarn Chainarong today confirmed that UK national Richard Hendren, 50, who runs the September beer bar on Soi One Man in Karon, was riding home to Chalong around 5 am when he was attacked.After…

  • Royal Phuket Marina dredging wins Governor’s Office support | Thaiger

    Royal Phuket Marina dredging wins Governor’s Office support

    PHUKET: Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima and the provincial committee looking into whether Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) should be allowed to dredge Klong Koh Kaew gave its support in principle for the project on May 21.The plan is to dredge the klong the three kilometers from the mouth of the watercourse to the marina. The project aims to dredge the klong…

  • American commits suicide in Chalong | Thaiger

    American commits suicide in Chalong

    CHALONG: According to a business card left at the hotel where he took his own life, a man found hanged in his rented room in Chalong on Monday was American dive instructor Adrian Martin.On Monday evening, staff at Ao Chalong Mansion reported to police that the guest in room 206, on the third-floor of the small shophouse hotel, had used…

  • Phuket’s antiques all present and accounted for

    THALANG: After a nationwide spate of thefts and damage to important cultural and religious sites, Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima yesterday paid a visit to Thalang National Museum to make sure its collection, for which the Fine Arts Department is responsible, remains safe. Thalang Museum Curator Atjima Nukong told him all the museum’s items were accounted for and being properly protected. V/Gov Worapoj’s inspection…

  • Intarat calls for SorPorKor probe

    PHUKET: Gen Intarat Yodbangtoey, in his capacity as “special adviser” to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Anongwan Thepsutin, led an inspection tour on Sunday of properties believed to be illegally owned by virtue of their location on agricultural reform (SorPorKor) land. The properties are located on hillsides in Kamala, Kalim and Patong hillsides on Sunday.On Saturday, Gen Intarat and his team inspected…

  • Internet petition calls for another One-Two-Go crash probe | Thaiger

    Internet petition calls for another One-Two-Go crash probe

    BANGKOK (Daily Xpress): More than 4,400 people, mostly foreigners, have “signed” an Internet petition seeking another formal investigation into the crash of One-Two-GO Airlines Flight OG269 at Phuket International Airport on September 17 last year. The petition calls for a formal probe into claims that the crash may have been caused by controversial management practices by the airline. Relatives of…

  • Drug arrests on the rise | Thaiger

    Drug arrests on the rise

    PHUKET: Crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police show that the number of drug-related arrests was about 52% higher in April than for the same period last year.There were 120 arrests for drug-related offenses, 63 of which involved ya bah (methamphetamine) with a total of 3,761 pills seized. However, arrests for gambling offences still topped the list with 202…

  • So Sung killers still at large | Thaiger

    So Sung killers still at large

    KATHU: Police have thus far been unable to arrest either of the two police impersonators who shot dead Burmese laborer So Sung at a workers camp on March 30. So Sung was shot in the face at close range with a shotgun after he told fellow workers not to give in to the two imposters’ demands. (For our original report, click…

  • Local shooters take aim at park pokers | Thaiger

    Local shooters take aim at park pokers

    BANGKOK: The world of Thai clay-pigeon shooting has been rocked by the daily desecration of one of the sport’s club headquarters in Hua Mak. Coinciding with a group of homosexual patrons using the range for open-air trysts, shooters have had to gingerly tread around a sea of discarded condoms. While you may think that this reporter is exaggerating what could…

  • Mobile phone ban nets six on first day | Thaiger

    Mobile phone ban nets six on first day

    PHUKET: Up until 5 pm today, the first day of the ban on driving while using a mobile phone without a hands-free set, Phuket Traffic Police fined six motorists.Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Col Chalit Thintanee told the Gazette that three car drivers and two motorcycle riders were fined in Phuket City and one car driver was fined in Thalang.“In Phuket…

  • Suspect in Patong 7-Eleven shooting surrenders to police | Thaiger

    Suspect in Patong 7-Eleven shooting surrenders to police

    PATONG: After meeting Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, the prime suspect in the shooting murder of a motorcycle-taxi driver in a 7-Eleven store handed himself in to police on Sunday night.The suspect, Chainart Yuyen, 31, has denied any involvement in the murder.About 2 am on Friday, motorcycle-taxi driver Satien Wongwai, 35, was shot twice in the back and once in the neck with…