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Phuket’s “Great Mother 1999” announced
PHUKET: The best mum in Phuket is 67-year-old Sukanya Limsomboon, and that’s official. Khun Sukanya, who lives in Thanon Ranong in Phuket Town, has been chosen by the Bangkok-based Social Welfare Council to represent the island at a special ceremony on August 12, which is both HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday and Thai Mother’s Day. She was selected after her daughter-in-law…
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Governor opens King’s Cup Regatta office
CHALONG BAY: The Governor of Phuket, Chadej Insawang, officially opened the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta organizing committee’s permanent office in Chalong Bay on Saturday. At the opening, the committee announced that the 13th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is scheduled to begin on Monday, December 6, 1999 off Ao Nang in Krabi and finish on Saturday, December 11, 1999 at Kata…
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264 hurt in crashes in Patong in April
PATONG: A total of 264 were injured in traffic accidents in the Patong area in April, of which 67, or 25%, were foreigners. There were no fatalities. Patong Hospital reported that 238 of the victims, or 90%, were riding motorcycles. Only 48 were wearing helmets. It added that 77, or about one one-third, of the injured were under the influence…
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Sea World project a dead duck for now
CAPE PANWA: Phuket’s ambition to build a major tourist attraction around its sea life has been put on hold, indefinitely. The original plan was to build a “Sea World”, costing about 1.5 billion baht, as a major tourist attraction. The centrepiece of the facility would have been a huge three-storey-high, 2-million-litre aquarium with a glass tunnel running through it, allowing…
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Sun Vista sinks off Malaysia
PENANG: The luxury cruise liner Sun Vista, a familiar sight in the waters off Phuket, sank at 1:22 this morning after its engine room caught fire yesterday. The 210-meter ship, which was en route to Singapore with 472 passengers and 632 crew, went down about 60 nautical miles south of Penang. The Gazette understands that everyone on board was rescued…
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Inferno yacht to be salvaged
PHUKET: The Head of the Harbour Master’s Office has told the Gazette that the wreck of the yacht Catalina, which burned and sank in Chalong Bay in March, will be salvaged. Khun Soontree Hirunwan said that following talks with a representative of the Catalina’s owners, a salvage company has been contracted to raise the wreck in the coming week. Following…
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Security guard returns 1.4 million baht to owner
PHUKET AIRPORT: Japanese visitor Mitsuru Yamaguchi is a lucky man. After arriving in Phuket on Saturday, the Hokkaido businessman mislaid his tote bag containing his passport, return ticket and the equivalent of 1.4 million baht in cash at the airport. And he got it all back, thanks to Aroon Sanghiran, a guard with Group A Security, which provides security for…
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Chicken wholesaler shot dead
PHUKET TOWN: Chicken farmer and wholesaler Yunud Kayankit was shot in the head in the garage of his Koh Kaew home early yesterday morning. He died in the emergency room at Wachira Hospital. Phuket Town Police told the Gazette that Khun Yunud, 31, was shot twice, once in the left cheek and once in the forehead, as he prepared to…
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Fisherman finds unidentified corpse
THALANG: A fisherman yesterday found the body of an unidentified man in the water near Baan Tah Chat Chai. Police said the dead man was Asian, dressed in brown trousers and shirt. They estimated his age at around 25 to 30 years, and his height at about 1.6 metres. The corpse carried no identification, but police believe he may have…
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Emergency helicopter saves sick islander
ANDAMAN SEA: A police helicopter from Phuket braved stormy weather earlier this week to rush a woman with acute appendicitis from Koh Yao Yai to hospital in Phuket Town. The woman, 35-year-old Khun Sukanya Jittanavee, was whisked from the island to Phuket’s Wachira Hospital on Tuesday for emergency surgery, thanks to a new initiative by the Phuket Provincial Health Office…
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Drivers advised to divert around sewerage work
PHUKET TOWN: Drivers are advised to avoid possible traffic jams caused by the laying of sewers on Mae Luan Rd (see yesterday’s story, below) by using Susan Rd, around the Sarakul Stadium. The diversion will be signposted. At a later stage, parts of Si Sena Rd, Si Suthat Rd, Amphoe Rd, Surin Rd, Luang Pho Rd, Wichit Songkram Rd and…
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Phuket prepares for regional sports contest
PHUKET TOWN: The local office of the Sports Authority of Thailand is currently putting together the squad to represent Phuket in the “Four Ages Sports Against Drugs” tournament in Songkhla between May 29 and June 2. Khun Wirat Visuttarom, head of the office, explained that the purpose of the tournament is to promote sport, to build relationships between various groups…
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Pipe work begins on wastewater treatment system
PHUKET TOWN: Traffic on Mae Luan Road is likely to be disrupted for about three months from next Monday (May 17) as pipe-laying work begins on the second phase of Phuket Town’s sewerage system. The excavations will extend from the offices of Phuket Prevention Guard Co to the junction with Wichit Songkram Road. Phase 1 of the project, which involved…
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Mountain hikes to resume
PATTANI PROVINCE: Local authorities here have decided to repeat their successful eco-hikes to the top of Sankalakiri Mountain, the highest peak in southern Thailand. Over the course of two days and one night, hikers will be guided through the forest and to the top of the mountain. From the summit, 1,300 metres above sea level, they can look down into…
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Governor urges tougher action against drugs
PHUKET TOWN: The Governor of Phuket, Chadej Insawang, has urged the Phuket Office of Narcotics Control to work harder to stamp out drug use on the island. At a meeting of the Narcotics Control Committee yesterday, the Governor said that although the spread of narcotics in Phuket was “moderate” he was very unhappy that it existed at all. He pointed…
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Advice on spotting funny money
PHUKET TOWN: Khun Chaiyos Chinda-Udomset, president of the Phuket Commercial Banks Association, has offered advice on how the public can identify forged 1,000- and 500-baht notes that are circulating in Thailand. He said the fake bills are printed on thinner paper than the real ones, and the surface of the paper is more slippery than that of genuine notes. In…
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Eleven dead of AIDS in past month
PHUKET TOWN: The government Health Office recorded 11 AIDS-related deaths in Phuket province during the month to April 20, and 30 new cases of full-blown AIDS. The new cases bring to 945 the number registered by the Phuket Provincial Health Department since it began keeping records of AIDS cases in January 1989. Of the 945 cases, 403 are, or were,…
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Bank officer testifies in Tong murder trial
PHUKET TOWN: The prosecution called a bank officer to the witness stand at the Phuket Provincial Courthouse today, in the resumption of the trial of five people charged in connection with the murder of businessman Danis Wayne Tong. Manit Panme, Prajuab Sukkong, Pairat Raksawong, Pratin Praktong and Belgian entrepreneur Hugo Vandervelde stand accused of taking part in a murder-for-hire scheme…
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Gazette Special Edition hits the streets
PHUKET TOWN: The fifth anniversary issue of the Phuket Gazette was released today – a special edition that includes a complimentary, full copy of the May 1994 issue, the very first Gazette. Celebrate with us! Get your copy now — it’s full of news and views, including: · Why Phuket continues to suffer from water shortages; · How tourists may…
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Latest monthly road toll: 18 dead, 948 injured
PHUKET: Eighteen people died in traffic accidents in Phuket between February 20 and March 20. Khun Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn, the Professional Nurse at the Phuket Provincial Health Office, reported that according to figures from the three government hospitals — Wachira, Thalang and Patong – 948 people were injured on the island’s roads during the latest reporting period, some of them severely.…
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Murder trial testimony again delayed
PHUKET TOWN: Judge Amornpoj Kulwijit today postponed testimony in the murder trial of Nongnut Tungkaburi and Kraisorn Kamnoun. The two stand accused of participation in a murder-for-hire scheme in connection with the brutal stabbing death of 56-year-old British publican Roger Jennings at his home in Patong Hill Estate on December 15, 1997. The judge heard that the lawyer for one…
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Weatherman warns swimmers: Be careful!
PHUKET: The island’s top meteorologist has warned that people should be careful when swimming off Phuket’s beaches because of large swells generated by storms out at sea. Khun Amorn Chantanavivate, Director of the Meteorological Department, said a tropical depression over the South China Sea was causing storms in the region. He urged swimmers to check flags on beaches to see…
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Pétanque players call it a draw
CHERNG TALAY: The winners of prizes in Phuket’s fourth international pétanque competition on Sunday (April 25) had to be decided by a draw after confusion over the points awarded in the final. Philippe Cablat, manager of the Black Cat restaurant where the tournament was held, was a little embarrassed. “I don’t want to tell you the names of the draw…
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Ministry boss gives progress the thumbs-up
PHUKET TOWN: A senior government official today gave Phuket his seal of approval for its progress in implementing projects funded by the central government. Khun Anand Tejavanija, Deputy Director-General of the Community Development Department of the Ministry of the Interior explained that he was visiting Phuket to check on progress in using the 2.15 million baht allocated by Bangkok for…
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Public meeting to discuss local elections
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Election Commission will hold a public meeting next Wednesday (April 28) to discuss local administration elections. Khun Kitipong Thienkunagrit, one of Phuket’s five Provincial Election Commissioners, said that the election commissioners and the legal advisory committee have completed a draft bill to cover the way local elections are to be handled. But since these elections…
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Fund to pump millions into democracy education
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket has received approval from the Miyazawa Fund to spend millions of baht educating people about Thailand’s new constitution. Though the exact amount to be spent on the five-month project is not yet finalised, it will involve hiring four coordinators at 8,000 baht a month each, and 96 educators at 5,000 baht a month each, for a total…
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Commercial fishing limited in Andaman Sea
PHUKET: Fisheries Department Director-General Thamrong Prakobboon has announced temporary restrictions on commercial fishing in the Andaman Sea off the coasts of Krabi and Phang Nga provinces between April 15 and June 15. Among the restrictions imposed by the department is a ban on fishing using certain types of nets with holes smaller than 4.7 centimeters. The measures, which cover a…
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Wettest March in 30 years
PHUKET: Rainfall in Phuket in March and the first week of April this year was the heaviest in 30 years, a government meteorological officer told the Gazette today. Khun Amorn Chantanavivate, Director of the Weather Forecasting Sub-Division of the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center, reports that Phuket had 132.7mm of rain in March and 31.7mm in the first week of April.…
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Snake strikes foreigner in the Similans
SIMILAN ISLANDS: Australian Anthony Lynam was airlifted from the Similan Islands to Phya Thai hospital earlier this week after being bitten on the foot by a deadly Pope’s pit viper. Lynam, 34, was on a diving trip with Santana Diving Co of Patong when he decided to take a look around the local forest. Because of storms and high seas…
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Teenager dies after saving swimmer
BANGTAO: The Governor of Phuket Province, Chadej Insawang, is to make a posthumous award for courage to Patchya Dangkrajang, who died in heavy seas on Songkran Day after rescuing a foreigner who got into trouble swimming. The Governor is also expected to award 22,000 baht from public welfare funds to the family of the 16-year-old hero. Patchya, who was helping…
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