PHUKET: Marine officers and volunteer divers who headed to Khai Nai island on Tuesday to help restore damaged coral – allegedly wrecked by a seawalking tour company (story
PHUKET: Two policemen on motorbikes chased two men believed to be carrying drugs through the early morning streets of Thalang today, fought with the pair and eventually arrested one of them – a vegetable seller – with almost 50 grams of heroin. Alerted by a tip-off that Wig Nillawan, 52, and another man would be picking up drugs delivered on the 5:30am bus from Sungai Kolok, Thalang Police Deputy Superintendent Amnuay Kraiwutthianun and his partner waited for them at the public housing development across from the PTT gas station on Thepkrasattri Road. “Mr Wig and his partner – who we only know by his nickname, ‘Kai’ – rode up on their motorcycle and picked up a satellite receiver box,” Lt Col Amnuay said.
PHUKET: A storage facility at the Thung Thong Ice Factory on Phuket’s busy Chao Fa West Road burst into flames this afternoon. The one-storey wooden building, north of the Software Park Phuket (map
PHUKET: Waves two meters high have caused damage along 13 kilometers of beachfront at Bang Niang Beach in Phang Nga. The coastal erosion has forced at least one hotel owner to set up sandbags to protect against the sea and prompted the local mayor to call for help from the Phang Nga Governor.
PHUKET: Krabi palm oil and rubber plantation workers have threatened to blockade Krabi Airport if the government does not increase the legal minimum prices for their produce by next Thursday. More than 500 plantation workers gathered in front of Krabi Provincial Hall on Tuesday morning to file a complaint to be handed to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The complaint calls for the government to increase the minimum price of raw rubber to 120 baht per kilogram and palm fruit to 5 baht per kilo.
PHUKET: Flagrant disregard for non-smoking laws in Phuket has prompted officers from the Bureau of Tobacco Control in Bangkok to plaster Phuket International Airport, Phuket Bus Terminal 2 and a variety of private businesses across the island with no-smoking stickers. “Most public areas are smoke-free areas by law, yet we still have found many tourists and local business operators disobeying the signs, despite having seen them,” Tobacco Control Bureau Legal officer Kanet Wongsa told the Phuket Gazette
PHUKET: As the new school year started in Phuket yesterday, parents turned to the Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop to cash in items to pay for their children’s school supplies. Trade was brisk at the government pawnshop, up 20 per cent on last year, said staff.
PHUKET: Three Phuket teenagers arrested last night have denied police charges of beating a Burmese man and setting his motorbike on fire. A fourth member of the gang is still being sought by police.
PHUKET: The Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO) will seek help from the Highway Police to tackle metered taxi drivers who refuse to use their meters. “I am aware that many tourists are unhappy with taxi drivers. We are going to talk about how to stop metered taxi drivers from cheating,” PLTO Chief Terayout Prasertphol told the Phuket Gazette.
PHUKET: A decision on whether or not to open an Australian consulate in Phuket is expected to be made within a month, Australian Honorary Consul Larry Cunningham told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “We have more deaths in Phuket than we have in Bali. We certainly need extra staffing,” he said.