PHUKET: Police in the tourist area of Ao Nang, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, have beefed up patrols and launched a tourist-friendly campaign to heighten security ahead of the huge influx of visitors expected during the tourism high season.
PHUKET: A pre-dawn search of Phuket Prison today failed to uncover any drugs or contraband being hidden by prisoners. The mass raid of the entire compound was held to establish the facility’s status as a Department of Corrections “White Prison”.
PHUKET: A distraught mother has made a heartfelt plea to find her seven-year-old daughter, Natthapa “Nong Dear” Papkaew, last seen in a Chalong neighborhood on Friday. Nong Dear is about 120cm tall and about 16kg.
PHUKET: Police are questioning residents in the central Phuket area of Srisoonthorn after a baby was found abandoned in front of the local mayor’s house on Sunday.
PHUKET: A clear majority of Thai nationals believe foreigners should not be compelled to buy health insurance when entering Thailand, but fewer than half of all tourists and expats living in the country shared that view, at least according to the results of the latest Phuket Gazette online readers’ poll. The poll – asking “What is the best insurance solution for foreigners entering Thailand?” – was drawn up after Public Health Minister Pradit Sintavanarong announced that related agencies were discussing a plan to charge tourists for compulsory health coverage, up to 500 baht for a three- to 30-day stay, and 30 baht for stays of less than three days (story
PHUKET: The body of a woman believed to be a westerner was found by a fishing boat off Ranong on November 30, and brought to Phuket yesterday.
PHUKET: While illegal taxi, tuk-tuk and tour van drivers continue to work freely in Phuket under a government pledge of immunity from arrest, foreigners waiting for work permits will receive no such protection. In their long-accommodating efforts to encourage drivers working in the tourism industry to become legal, the provincial government has granted amnesty to all illegal transport drivers in Phuket until December 31 (stories
PHUKET: The trio of professional thieves who were busted in Bangkok after robbing an ATM in Phuket were caught with what police believe to be ATM skimming equipment in addition to safe-cracking tools. Yesid Alexander Ledesma Gutierrez, 50, Luis Fernando Guarin Suta, 44, and Carlos Arturo Amariles Marin, 57 have all confessed to the blowtorch robbery, and took part in a re-enactment of it yesterday morning (story
PHUKET: A KBV Visa Run van that left Phuket for Penang last night collided with a motorbike in Malaysia at about 9:30 this morning. Ukrainian Dmytro Kolot, 30, was in the van and called a Russian friend in Phuket, Oleg Spitsin, to report the accident. “Dmytro was sitting next to the driver.
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Superintendent Napat Nusen issued a press release today clarifying that the rules regarding retirement visa extensions will remain unchanged, but will be interpreted more strictly.