PHUKET: The body of a mentally-handicapped man who was knocked off a Phuket longtail boat by a large wave on Friday was found washed ashore yesterday.
PHUKET: Uncertainty looms over Phuket polls as hurdles multiply for a successful national election tomorrow. Perhaps the most significant obstacle to be jumped is getting the party list ballots for Phuket out of Chumphon Province and distributed throughout the island. Protesters in Chumphon are preventing staffers at a post office housing the ballots from distributing them to other southern provinces, said Phuket Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn.
PHUKET: Two Russian tourists foundering in Phang Nga Bay after their kayak sprung a leak were rescued by a passing Phuket fishing boat yesterday afternoon. Maxim Abaturov, 37, and Valerii Grakhouskii, 38, were three kilometers from Phuket when a seal in the front of their two-man vessel began to let in water. Although the kayak remained afloat, it could not support the weight of the men, who ended up in the water clinging to it.
PHUKET: The annual three-day Phuket Old Town Festival will kick off on February 7 with a parade to celebrate the unique culture of Phuket’s residents. Events will be held along Thalang Road, Soi Rommanee and Krabi Road – the heart of the Phuket Old Town area, explained Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana. “The main purpose of this festival is to preserve our beautiful culture and traditions, and to promote cultural tourism,” said Mayor Somjai.
PHUKET: A 10-day mission departed from Phuket late yesterday to replace a tsunami warning buoy in the Indian Ocean. The original buoy was severed from its anchorage months ago (story
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an Outreach Visit at Le Meridien Hotel in Karon on January 29. Consular staff will be available from 8am to midday to provide the following services: • Passport renewal applications (US$110 or 3,410 baht for adult passports, US$105 or 3,255 baht for a minor’s passport).
PHUKET: Kittipong Thiengkunakrit, Director of the Phuket Election Commission (PEC), has vowed to close advance voting polling booths in Phuket tomorrow if protesters arrive in numbers to rally against the February 2 national election. “We will avoid any possibility of a fight. We do not want to have any problems at the polls,” he told the Phuket Gazette today.
PHUKET: Phuket will face an alcohol ban starting at 6pm tonight ahead of the advance voting tomorrow for the February 2 national election. “According to the Election Act, all alcohol sales in Phuket are banned from 6pm tonight through to midnight tomorrow because of the advance voting for the MP elections,” Phuket Election Commission (PEC) Director Kittipong Thiengkunakrit confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. The ban prevents all retail shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and convenience stores from selling alcohol during that period.
PHUKET: Over 300 people from throughout Southern Thailand yesterday concluded a two-day seminar geared to develop methods to reduce road-traffic deaths.
PHUKET: Swedish national Johan Sebastian Ljung today was sentenced to life imprisonment for the stabbing murder of Maxim Schantz in Phuket two years ago. He was also ordered to pay 12.5 million baht in compensation to the victim’s family.