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1,881 more people register as living in Phuket
PHUKET: Between February 21 and March 20, 1,881 people registered with the government as living in Phuket, bringing the island’s official population to 313,955.Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase to Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima yesterday.Part of the increase is thought to be in response to the Governor calling for island residents to register themselves on Phuket…
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Rock City co-owner dies after heart attack
PATONG: Swedish national Carl Essler, 47, one of the investors in the popular Rock City nightclub in Patong, died after suffering a heart attack early on Wednesday.He was rushed to Patong Hospital after suffering chest pains in the early hours of the morning and was later pronounced dead.Fredrik Klingvall, Managing Director of Rock City, told the Gazette, “It has come…
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Karon restaurateur kills next-door rival
KARON: Police are on the lookout for Karon restaurateur Suban Pon-iamsaen after eyewitnesses reported that he calmly walked into the kitchen of the Mala Seafood restaurant, next door to his own restaurant on the beach road, and shot dead the owner, Mala Peng-iam, 52.Eyewitnesses reported that Suban carried out the execution at point blank range at about 7 pm yesterday.He…
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Slum dwellers of Phuket unite
PHUKET CITY: About 300 angry villagers representing more than 20 slum communities from around Phuket protested noisily outside Phuket Provincial Hall Thursday morning, demanding that Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit help alleviate their poverty.A protest leader, Supat Nunkhao, from Pla Katak Pattana community on Koh Sireh, told the Gazette that the villagers want the provincial authorities to develop their homes and…
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Search for bypass shooter continues
PHUKET CITY: The search continues for a Phuket youth suspected of shooting and beating a man along the bypass road near the Tesco-Lotus intersection on February 19. Chatchai Chuenjitsoonthorn and his wife, Maliwan, were attacked by a motorbike gang of about 20 youths while on their way home from a late-night meal. The couple was able to identify the shooter…
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Austrian found dead in hotel room
PATONG: An Austrian man was found dead in his hotel room on the afternoon of March 22, an apparent victim of alcohol poisoning. According to the Kathu Police daily log for that day, 38-year-old Dr Werner Jellen was found dead in room 302 of Patong Resort Hotel at 2:30 pm.Pol Lt Col Sophon Borirak reported that there was no evidence…
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7-Eleven robbed at gunpoint
KOH KAEW: A bandit toting a shotgun made off with about 4,900 baht in a robbery on a 7-Eleven in Koh Kaew at about 4 am yesterday.Staff at the mini-mart, located on Thepkrasattri Rd just north of Boat Lagoon, told police that the robber was tall with light-colored skin and was wearing a black jacket and motorcycle helmet. Approaching the…
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Phuket-Penang direct flights to launch April 13
PHUKET CITY: As part of a drive to boost the number of tourists to Malaysia, Malaysian Airlines’ new low-cost carrier Firefly airlines will start daily direct flights between Phuket and Penang beginning April 13. Malaysian Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor discussed the new service at a press conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Thursday. Firefly,…
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Domestic flights return to Don Muang
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI), Nok Air and One-Two-GO domestic flights between Phuket and Bangkok will resume using Don Muang Airport, Bangkok’s former international airport, this weekend.Kalayapha Panich, THAI’s District Sales Manager for Upper-Southern Thailand, explained that THAI flights to and from Bangkok will run from both airports in the capital.“Passengers are welcome to choose which destination they want: Don…
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Cocaine mules nabbed at airport
PHUKET: Two Peruvian men were arrested at Phuket International Airport on Wednesday with more than two kilograms of cocaine that they were carrying internally.A press release from Somyot Santarvorn, Chief Customs Inspector at Phuket International Airport, reported that Godoy Paz Sadi Mercedes, 29, was found in possession of 91 packets of the cocaine, weighing a total of 882.7 grams.His accomplice,…
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Police box torched
RASSADA: A “temporary” police box installed at the entrance to Pahin Namsai Village, located off Ruam Pattana Rd, has turned out to be very temporary indeed. It was burned to the ground by persons unknown at about 4:30 am on Monday – just one week after it was installed.Lt Col Adul Niraphai, Duty Inspector at Phuket City Police Station, told…
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Second incinerator “not likely’
PHUKET CITY: Phuket will likely have to wait for a new government before getting a second incinerator to deal with the island’s increasing volume of trash, Wisut Singkhachornworakul, Advisor to the Ministry of Interior, told a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Monday.During the meeting, held to discuss problems faced by the province, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwannasuppana said that…
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Burn victim Saijai slowly healing
PHUKET: Saijai Phromdaen, the woman set on fire at Patong Beach in February, is continuing to improve at Vachira Phuket Hospital, where she is undergoing skin graft surgery. Pennee Phromdaen, K. Saijai’s mother, told the Gazette that Saijai’s wounds are healing properly and she is now able to speak, eat basic foods and wash herself. “Every day she exercises by…
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Police to press charges over sea gypsy assault
PHUKET: Police are preparing to press grievous bodily harm charges against a businessman accused of cutting the oxygen line of a sea gypsy diving off Nui Beach in January, Lt Col Peerapan Meemak of Chalong Police Station announced at a meeting at Provincial Hall to discuss Rawai sea gypsies’ fishing rights.“I received a report from two sea gypsies on January…
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Phuket prepares for water shortages
PHUKET CITY: Despite a spattering of some much welcome rain on the island yesterday, provincial authorities are preparing for water shortages as Phuket is expected to endure more hot weather before the annual rains arrive in May.At a March 15 meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall chaired by Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima, Aroon Kerdsom, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster…
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BIS to teach English at Phuket schools
PHUKET: British International School (BIS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) to teach English-language classes at five Phuket schools.BIS teachers will teach English at Muang Phuket School, Kathu Wittaya School, Cherng Talay Wittayakom School, Baan Maireab School and Thalang Phra Nangsang School.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thephabutr said, “The OrBorJor is committed to developing education…
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Legal fracas over alleged swindling of dive boat
BANGKOK: Two Norwegian operators of the 85-million-baht M/Y Viking of The Orient have sought help from the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) in Bangkok, claiming they were cheated when one of their Thai employees signed ownership of the vessel over to a local moneylender to cover an unpaid debt of seven million baht.Norwegians Einar Meling, Managing Director of Viking Cruises…
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License plate auction raises B11.62m
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Transport Office (PPTO) and Pun-Neung Co Ltd’s third car license plate number auction at Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel March 17 and 18 raised 11.62 million baht, which will be donated to the Road Safety Fund to help victims of road accidents and to support traffic safety education in schools.The previous such auction in 2005 raised…
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West Sands to be investigated over encroachment
MAI KHAO: Thalang District Chief Samart Waradisai and Mai Khao Tambon Administration Organization President Sarawut Srikookam will spearhead an investigation into whether the West Sands development being built near Phuket International Airport is encroaching on government land.The investigation follows allegations by villagers from Mai Khao Village 4, led by Boonlit Sae-aew, who filed a complaint to Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit on…
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Patong one-way to stay
PATONG: The one-way traffic system in Patong will stay after the 90-day trial period is over, the Superintendent of Kathu District Police Station has told the Gazette. Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen said the system would definitely remain in place, though with improvements to meet the demands of people in Patong. To this end, a survey will be carried out to gauge…
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“Ko Noi’ gunman arrested at wedding
PHUKET: Almost a year after well-known Phuket businessman Preecha “Ko Noi” Kraitas was gunned down in Rawai, police in Petchaburi arrested the alleged gunman at a wedding reception on March 9.Lt Col Somyot Chimplee of Petchaburi Provincial Police told the Gazette that Petchaburi native Samrerng Klaising was arrested as he stood in a wedding reception line waiting to wish good…
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Chalong policeman’s wife arrested for Phichai murder
CHALONG: Col Chalit Kaewyarat, Superintendent of Chalong Police Station, today confirmed that the wife of a Chalong police officer has been arrested for allegedly hiring four men to kill 44-year-old construction contractor Phichai Wanlayapetch, who was gunned down after dropping his child off at a Chalong day care center on February 26. Col Chalit declined to name the officer, but…
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Guts and glory
PATONG: The champion of Jungceylon’s first Charity Eat-A-Thon, held from March 9 to 11, is Brazilian Moises Huerta. He downed two large hamburgers, a personal-size pizza, three donuts, a pitcher of beer and a bottle of water. The massive meal earned him 10,000 baht in winnings.The Eat-A-Thon raised about 20,000 baht in donations to help buy lunches for poor children…
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Water shortages imminent – ODPM Chief
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) has identified 43 areas in Phuket that are expected to suffer water shortages in upcoming weeks with some areas already trucking in emergency water supplies.Some areas in Thalang are expected to run dry within days, said Phuket ODPM Chief Aroon Kerdsom.“We know from previous years where the trouble spots…
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Arrests for illegal firearms rise
PHUKET: Twenty-five people were arrested for possession of unlicensed firearms from February 1 to 28, compared with 10 arrests during the same period in January, according to the latest crime statistics released by Phuket Provincial Police.Gambling again saw the most arrests with 260 people charged, and 57 people were arrested for drug-related cases.Cases involving ya bah (methamphetamine) totaled 31, with…
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“Red tide’ blooms cause murky conditions
PHUKET: Many of the island’s beaches are experiencing algal blooms that are causing murky conditions commonly called “red tides”, but marine biologists say the situation is not dangerous and sea conditions are expected to return to normal soon.Suree Satapoomin, a researcher at the Phuket Marine Biological Center, told the Gazette that the blooms were first detected on west coast beaches,…
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Kamala school gets freshwater supply
KAMALA: Some 500 students and 30 teachers at Rajaprachanukroh 36 School in Kamala now have fresh water piped in from a groundwater well some two kilometers inland.The water is piped to the school, where it undergoes treatment with iron oxide filtration and reverse-osmosis (RO) technology installed by the Department of Groundwater Resources (DGR) at the cost of 400,000 baht, explained…
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Charity gorge
PATONG: Gluttony and generosity will go hand-in-hand this weekend, when 80 contestants take part in Jungceylon’s first-ever “EAT-A-THON” to raise money to buy lunches for poor local students.Jungceylon Public Relation’s Manager Slilla Svetsreni explained that on Friday, Saturday and Sunday contestants will compete in devouring four categories of fast food to be provided by sponsors Burger King, Swensen’s ice cream,…
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Teen murder suspect arrested
RASSADA: Police on Saturday arrested another member of the glue-sniffing youth gang wanted in connection with the murder of Keittirat Longnawa, a 31-year-old transsexual and glue addict who was beaten and had his throat slashed January 31.Police identified the suspect as 18-year-old Thitinun “Wung” Vongnayat, arrested in his Rassada home at about 1 am.Phuket City Police Investigations Inspector Lt Col…
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License plate auction to top 10 million baht
PHUKET: A total of 301 “lucky” numbers will be up for bid at Phuket’s third two-day auction of auto license plates, starting at 8:30 am on March 17 and 18 at the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel.Suraphon Tanrungruangthawee, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Transport Office (PPLTO), told the Gazette that there will be a variety of categories of numbers up for…
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