Suicide rates have increased 60 per cent worldwide over the past 45 years, according to the World Health Organization. Phuket is not immune, but there is help available for those in need
PHUKET: Tourist Police arrested two Chinese nationals in Phuket Town yesterday for working illegally as tour guides catering to Chinese tour groups. Phuket Tourist Police Inspector Urumporn Khundejsumrit named the two men as Hung Jin Tia, also known as “Mr Tawan”, 34, and Cao Jiandong, 40.
PHUKET: In a first-of-its-kind robbery in the area, thieves attempted to rob an ATM machine at the Deep Sea Port by using a blowtorch. “This is something new for us,” said Sub Lt Suporn Muengkai of the Wichit Police
PHUKET: Officers from the regional Natural Resources and Environment Crime Suppression Division have identified 26 more elephants they suspect were illegally acquired. The news follows raids on elephant trekking companies in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, earlier this week, during which officers identified 40 elephants they suspect are illegal (story
PHUKET: Immigration Bureau Commissioner Pharnu Kerdlarpphon, in Phuket for a closed-door meeting of high-ranking officials, has expressed his concern for the growing number of Rohingya refugees being detained in Thailand.
PHUKET: Local concern peaked in Phuket after photos began to circulate of two baby scalloped hammerhead sharks on display in front of a restaurant in Kata last week. “The ones [scalloped hammerhead sharks] at that restaurant clearly show to everybody that they are fetuses – they are not fully grown sharks, so obviously fishermen caught a female shark somewhere, chopped her open and that’s what was inside,” said Tony Andrews, Thailand’s West coast PADI Regional Manager and Project AWARE Ambassador, who was notified of the fetal sharks on display by a local diver. “If you look at the back dorsal fin, it’s not developed yet.
PHUKET: Seven Thais working illegally as tour guides catering to Chinese tourists in Phuket were arrested in the wake of a mass protest on Monday demanding the government take action against illegal guides. The protest on Monday focused on Chinese nationals “stealing” the jobs of Thai tour guides, though those protesting also asked Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak to raise the cap on the number of professional Thai guides allowed to cater to Chinese tourists in Phuket, which now sits at only 80 (story
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is considering launching a Facebook page so that people can report foreigners working illegally in Thailand by uploading photos directly onto the Internet. The news came after DSI Deputy Director-general Yanapol Yungyuen heard a slew of complaints from Phuket business owners at a meeting in Cherng Talay yesterday. “I will open an official email address to specifically receive complaints, and we can also start a Facebook page, which might be easier for users to upload photos and tag them,” Pol Col Yanapol said.
PHUKET: Dirty water emptied into the canal that separates Phuket’s Bang Tao and Layan Beaches has caused a spate of health problems and has even sent unsuspecting people to the hospital for skin rashes and blood infections, local residents claim.
PHUKET: A British national died in a high-speed motorbike crash on Chao Fa East Road early this morning. The 31-year-old man, whose name the Phuket Gazette is withholding until family members are notified, overshot a curve while driving a 1000cc Yamaha R1 and crashed into a roadside post near Wat Ladthiwanaram (map