PHUKET: Police have warned hoteliers across the island to beware of thieves targeting Phuket hotels after a Patong hotel room safe was robbed by a man who reportedly used a master key to enter the room. The news follows 29-year-old Russian tourist Egor Nikolaev reporting valuables being stolen from his hotel room safe at The Bliss South Beach Patong hotel, on the Patong beach road, on Monday. Among the items reported stolen were a mobile phone, US$1,500 and 5,700 rubles in cash, a Canon camera lens, a Samsung netbook, a silver earring, a Festina watch and his passport.
PHUKET: An unlicensed pharmacist in central Phuket Town has been charged with illegally selling abortion pills after being caught in an undercover operation carried out by Ministry of Public Health officials. A complaint filed directly to police in Bangkok resulted in the sting operation on the City Health Care pharmacy, on Dibuk Road, near the junction with Soi Romanee, late yesterday afternoon.
PHUKET: A bevy of 20 Miss Thailand World 2013 contestants are in Phuket to attend high-profile publicity events and join a swimsuit beach photo shoot tomorrow morning. After the contestants arrived at Phuket International Airport yesterday morning, they paid homage to Thao Thepkrasattri and Thao Srisoonthorn at the Heroines’ Monument in Thalang, then visited the Phuket Pearl Farm at Koh Maphrao, off Phuket’s east coast.
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Social Security Office (PPSSO) has denied any liability for a tree – believed by locals to be about 100 years old – that fell and crushed five cars in the Social Security car park this morning. No injuries were reported in the incident.
PHUKET: A professional travel photographer and boutique resort owner in Phuket is offering a 100,000-baht reward for any information leading to the return of his MacBook and backup hard drive – which contain his life’s work. Brian Skyum, owner of Coco Palace Resort in Rawai, returned to Phuket after five weeks in the Philippines to find his maid was the only staffer still working for him and electronic items worth reportedly more than 500,000 baht were stolen from his room.
PHUKET: At first I was charmed by Thai driving idiosyncrasies, like motorcycles puttering along on the wrong side of the road. To all those who said “There are no rules”, I said “But there are!” For example, that wrong-way driving motorcyclist knows he had better stay well to the side and go slowly.
PHUKET: A Phuket bound “black plate” taxi was caught doing double-duty yesterday as it hauled 45 kilograms of kratom leaves back from Surat Thani after dropping a group of Russian tourists off in a resort in Nakorn Sri Thammarat. The drug-running duo in the car have been charged with the intent to sell a category five drug and for bribery after allegedly offering cash to the investigating officers.
PHUKET: The sighting of a 5-meter manta ray entangled in heavy ropes off Koh Racha Noi has galvanized marine experts from as far away as Bangkok and Singapore to come to its rescue. Nantarika Chansue, the director of the Veterinary Medical Aquatic Animal Research Center and faculty of Veterinarian Sciences at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, has called on the entire Phuket community for help, suggesting that community members post comments on “Save the Manta” Facebook event (
PHUKET: A Dutch woman who reported to police that she was raped on Monday while on holiday on Phi Phi Island, near Phuket, recanted her story yesterday. The 25-year-old woman told police that she and a friend arrived on Phi Phi on Monday and checked into a hotel. “She then went alone to a bar by the beach,” said Krabi Provincial Police Commander Nantadech Yoinuan.
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an “Outreach Visit” at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort in Karon (map here) on March 15. Consular staff will be available from 8am to midday to provide services on: • Passport renewal applications (US$110 or 3,520 baht for adult passports, US$105 or 3,360 baht for a child’s passport). • Notarial Services and Certified Copies (US$50 or 1,600 baht), includes income affidavits for retirees in Thailand.