PHUKET: An out of control cement truck flipped at the bottom of Patong Hill last night, skidding on its side into a motorbike and two houses before coming to a halt about 50 meters away from Wat Suawan Kiriwong Patong on Phra Baramee Road (map
PHUKET: The annual Phuket Old Town Festival will begin on February 15, ushering in the three-day celebration of the town’s historical origins and unique ethnic mix of cultures. To announce this year’s festival, leading Phuket dignitaries gathered at Queen Sirikit Park on Thursday night.
PHUKET: A breakthrough arrangement with banks and insurance companies means that all taxi drivers in Phuket have until February 28 to become legally registered – or face a 2,000-baht fine every time they are caught carrying passengers. The deal, brokered through the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO), was announced at a meeting with illegal taxi drivers at the Amora Beach Resort Phuket in Bang Tao on Wednesday. PPTO chief Teerayut Prasertpol explained that one of the biggest obstacles for many illegal drivers was changing the registration of their vehicles from “private” to “public” so they can be registered with the PPTO as taxis.
PHUKET: Police in the northern Phuket area of Thalang yesterday raided and shut down a tropical fruit orchard that was also being used as a kratom-growing operation. The orchard owner, named by police as Nathee Tianthong,50, had five kratom trees growing on his property – in his house police found 400 grams of harvested leaves
PHUKET: Police quickly nabbed a Phuket druggy by using the GPS tracking feature of the iPhone he had stolen from a German tourist yesterday. The German tourist, David Trebs, was standing in front of the 99 Oldtown Boutique Guesthouse in Phuket Town at about 2am yesterday when a man on a motorbike drove by and snatched his iPhone, explained Lt Col Prawit Engchuan of Phuket City Police. Acting quickly, the Phuket City police arrived at the scene and used the “Find my iPhone” function of another iPhone operating system that allowed them to track the GPS signal of the stolen iPhone.
PHUKET: Moevenpick Resort Bangtao Beach, a luxury boutique hotel in Phuket, aims to raise its profile in the local arena by increasing the proportion of Thai guests to about 5% this year, up from a tiny slice at present.
PHUKET: Cabinet has passed a resolution allowing migrant workers in Phuket and across the Kingdom an additional three months to complete the nationality verification process, Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) chief Yawapa Pibulpol told the Phuket Gazette today. “According to Cabinet’s resolution, migrant workers‘ deportation deadline has been extended until April 15,” Ms Yawapa said. “What action we will take against those who have not started the process by April 15 will depend on Cabinet’s decision on the matter,” she added.
PHUKET: A rapid loss in oil pressure forced the pilots of a Royal Thai Army helicopter to make an emergency landing in a field in central Phuket yesterday. No injuries were reported in the incident. Thalang Police were alerted to the emergency landing by villagers in Baan Pru Champa.
PHUKET: A Russian biker remains unconscious in Bangkok Hospital Phuket’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after being knocked from his motorbike by a rogue wheel that flew off a 10-wheeled truck on Thepakasatrri Road yesterday. The Russian, named by police as Alexey Balabko, 26, was a riding a “big bike” when he was struck by one of two wheels that came loose off the southbound truck, transporting asphalt to Phuket Town, at about 2:25pm
PHUKET: Police have apprehended the Phuket jet-ski operator who reportedly swung an anchor angrily at the head of a German tourist at Kata Beach on Monday (story