Phuket News and Events (thaivisa.com) http://www.thaivisa.com/forum Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:58:39 +0000 30 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531715-civil-servant-seeks-missing-mom-in-phuket/ Civil servant seeks missing mom in Phuket
Phuket Gazette –


Boonna Muangkod, 65, last seen in Karon on June 3 last year.

PHUKET: A civil servant in Nakhon Ratchasima is appealing to the public for help in finding his mother, last seen in Phuket in early June last year.

Kriengsak Muangkod, the Director of Bureau of Rural Roads Region 5 Office in Nakhon Ratchasima, said his 65-year-old mother Boonna Muangkod was last seen at his niece’s home in Karon on June 3 last year.

She was originally scheduled to travel back to her native Mukdahan province, in the northeast of Thailand, on May 11, he added.

The search for Mrs Boonna followed a request by the Office of Social Development and Human Security in Nakorn Ratchasima to Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa, who informed the Phuket Provincial Public Relations Office

Searches in both Phuket and Mukdahan have thus far been fruitless and Mrs Boonna has now been unaccounted for for eight months.

She was last seen wearing blue pajamas with a white-floral pattern. If anyone sees a woman resembling Mrs Boonna who walks with a limp and speaks with a northeastern dialect please call 081-5929212 or 083-9057013 .

Anyone providing information that leads to locating Mrs Boonna will be rewarded.

Leads can also also be phoned in to the Phuket Office of Social Development and Human Security at 076-212726

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2012/article12232.html .


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-07

]]> Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:58:39 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531715-civil-servant-seeks-missing-mom-in-phuket/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531689-alleged-call-center-gang-of-expats-busted-in-phuket/ Alleged 'call center' gang of expats busted in Phuket
Phuket Gazette


The three Filipino suspects (seated), with arresting officers at the Tourist Police office in Phuket Town.

PHUKET: -- Phuket Tourist Police arrested three Filipino members of an alleged ‘call center’ gang for fraud, but the alleged mastermind, a Briton, remains at large.

Nakkaphan Phota of the regional Tourist Police office in Phuket Town told the Gazette yesterday that all of the suspects were foreigners.

Following a tip-off from the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok, three suspects were arrested on Saturday and charged with “fraud and the import of illegal computer systems containing false information,” he said.

The three were identified as: Aubry Pengson, 31; Sarabeth Servit, 31; and Henry King Lee, 28. All are listed as Filipino nationals.

Lt Col Nakkaphan said both Miss Aubry and Miss Sarabeth were previously arrested on similar charges by Wang Thong Lang District Police in Bangkok, then released on bail. They moved to Phuket and went to work for a British man named Paul Antony Barret, who set up an office at 246/3 Phang Muang Sai Kor road in Patong, Phuket, he said.

Seized as evidence from his premises was one desktop computer, five laptops, a bank book, ATM card, one telephone, and eight mobile phones.

All three suspects admitted they were employed by Mr Barret, whose current whereabouts are unknown. Police are searching for him, but fear he may have slipped out of the country.

“This call center gang defrauded people by posing as investment brokers over the phone. They invited people to invest in commodities like gold and oil stocks. They made their operation appear legitimate by referencing an existing website hosted abroad,” he said.

“People who believed [in them] transferred funds. Many people have fallen for it, resulting in losses of over 20 million baht. Most of the unfortunate victims are foreigners, many of whom have contacted the British Embassy regarding the case,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12231.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-07

]]> Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:01:36 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531689-alleged-call-center-gang-of-expats-busted-in-phuket/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531650-phuket-prison-raid-reveals-rectal-stashing-of-telephones/ Phuket 'White Prison' raid reveals rectal stashing of telephones
Phuket Gazette


More than 200 officers were part of the dawn raid of Phuket Provincial Prison as they launched a search for drugs and mobile phones.


Randomly selected prisoners line up for urine drug tests.

PHUKET: -- More than 200 officers conducted a surprise raid at Phuket Provincial Prison yesterday as part of an effort to turn it into a “White Prison,” said Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon.

The search for drugs was carried out at 5am by officers drawn from all units of the Phuket police, who also targeted mobile telephones, some of which had been smuggled in "rectally".

“We regularly have searches at our prison, but this raid was in response to the new government policies to crackdown on drugs. We will continue to conduct searches until we can declare the prison 100 per cent free of drugs. Our main goal is to become a ‘White Prison,’” said Chief Rapin.

The operation, led by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Pornsak Nuannu, searched the entire prison after 1,615 inmates were rounded up and gathered together.

Despite the search failing to find any drug stashes or mobile phones, Chief Rapin admits that the smuggling of these items still exists at the prison.

“Some friends and relatives of the prisoners still try to send drugs to them by hiding them with other stuff in a parcel. They need to stop trying to make these attempts if they don’t want to also end up in prison. Whatever illegal substances they try to send through will never make it past our check point,” said Chief Rapin.

“We also seize about 20-30 mobile phones per month when people throw them over the prison wall. Ever since we installed CCTV cameras and Phuket City police provided officers to watch the prison perimeter we have been able to mostly eliminate the problem,” he added.

“Recently, some prisoners tried to smuggle mobile phones rectally back into the prison after being in court. We have busted some trying this as our officers always search them when they return from the outside,” he said.

As part of the search, officers also randomly selected 104 prisoners for a drug test. The results of the testing showed that none of them had taken drugs recently.

Though the search did not turn up any drugs or mobile phones, some prohibited books and small knives were seized, said Chief Rapin.

Coinciding with the prison search, officers launched an island wide search for drugs.

“We launched the search, ‘[Operation] Tapee,’ by sending more than 200 officers from the Phuket Provincial Police Station to 45 target areas on the island,” said Pol Col Pornsak.

“The search is focused only on drugs and so far I have received many reports. The results will be compiled once the officers have finished the operation,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12230.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-07

]]> Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:39:00 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531650-phuket-prison-raid-reveals-rectal-stashing-of-telephones/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531507-transportation-still-the-number-one-issue-over-phuket-airports-expansion-project/ Transportation still the number one issue over Phuket airport's expansion project
Phuket Gazette


Artists impression of the check-in hall at Phuket’s improved airport. Photo: AOT


Flying Officer Chaturongkapon believes both terminals will be completed by 2015. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

PHUKET: -- The tricky subject of transportation overshadowed other matters at a meeting intended to address concerns over Phuket International Airport’s expansion project.

The meeting which was held at Kata Beach Resort last Thursday, was well attended by both public and private sector representatives from Phang Nga, Krabi and Phuket.

Chairing the meeting were Tuyaratt Achariyachai, Chairwoman of the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism, Pratuang Sornkham, Director of Phuket Airport and Chaturongkapon Sodmanee, Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) executive vice president of engineering and information technology.

The matters discussed at the meeting ranged from restroom facilities, car parking, taxi services, the number of immigration counters and general safety issues.

Flying Officer (Flg Off) Chaturongkapon started by stating that the international terminal is expected to be finished in 2014 and the domestic terminal completed by the beginning of 2015.

The estimated costs for the expansion, expected to handle 12.5 million passengers a year, is 5.791 billion baht.

A request for AOT to add more immigration counters was made by Chairwoman Tunyaratt.

“The number of passengers arriving during September 2010 to October 2011 was about 8.2 million. That’s about 20,000 passengers a day last year, and this year it’s increased to 32,000 a day,” she said.

“During the construction we have to think how to not cause unnecessary delays for the tourists,” she added.

Flg Off Chaturongkapon replied “We are planning to set up more immigration counters, taking the total from 42 to 60.”

Methee Tanmanatragul, adviser from the Thai Hotels Association, noted that the way airport taxi services are currently managed needed changing.

He suggested that Phuket Airport use the model employed at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where taxis queue up, the drivers paying a 50 baht fee.

Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic, Anurak Tansiriroj, also had an observation concerning the airport transportation.

“I have heard that taxis are expensive because the drivers have to pay a high commission to pick up passengers. Also the taxi drivers are very competitive in trying to get passengers and have grabbed tourists. This is a problem that needs to be fixed, because internationally it doesn’t look good,” he said.

Garun Panitpichetvong, Pheu Thai Party director, asked that the project move forward without corruption, and also commented on transportation matters.

“The parking lot allocation needs to be solved. Right now limousines, taxi vans and taxi cars take up most of the parking spaces,” she said.

Patong Mayor Pian’s request for more runways was noted by Flg Off Chaturongkapon, but he explained that the airplanes are only using 2,000 meters of the 3,000 meter runway for take-offs and landings. He also pointed out that building more runways would have an adverse effect on the environment.

There were also requests to establish plans for rubbish management as well as management of shops inside the airport.

“All issues brought up in the meeting we will considered to improve the plan,” Flg Off Chaturongkapon told participants.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12227.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-06

]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:52:46 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531507-transportation-still-the-number-one-issue-over-phuket-airports-expansion-project/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531504-swedish-tourist-drowns-south-of-phuket-in-ao-nang/ Swedish tourist drowns south of Phuket in Ao Nang
Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- An elderly Swedish woman was found dead in the waters off Ao Nang in Krabi yesterday, one of many recent drownings in Phuket and Krabi.

The unnamed 68-year-old, was found face down 10 meters off of Long Beach in Ao Nang at about 1:00pm, said Muang Krabi Police Lt Niwat Timket.

“Our tentative investigation revealed that she had been staying in a bungalow on Klong Muang beach and had a can of beer before going out alone for a swim,” Lt Niwat said.

“We estimated that her body was found about a half hour later by a tourist on the beach, who took her ashore and gave her CPR. Because she wasn’t responding to the CPR they called the police,” he said.

Both police and OrBorTor Ao Nang rescue workers arrived at the scene.

“We believe she had a heart attack during her swim,” he added.

Her body was transferred to Krabi Hospital.

Police have yet to contact the victim's relatives.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12229.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-06

]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:46:31 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531504-swedish-tourist-drowns-south-of-phuket-in-ao-nang/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531406-russian-tourists-stranded-including-340-in-phuket/ Russian tourists stranded including 340 in Phuket
Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- The bankruptcy of one of the largest tour operators in Russia has left thousands of Russian tourists stranded around the globe, including 340 in Phuket.

Soopakij Chearavanont, Russian Honorary Consul for Greater Phuket, said the sudden bankruptcy of Lanta Tour Voyage has cost Phuket resorts from tens to hundreds of thousands of baht.

Most of the Russians stranded bought tours of 10 days or longer, staying at resorts in Patong and Kata-Karon, he said.

Some of the tourists have already checked out. The consulate’s mission now is to take care of those still in Phuket by negotiating 40% discounts on room rates. Tourist Police are also involved in the negotiations, he said.

The hotels will suffer more than the tourists, who can be reimbursed through their travel insurance when they return to Russia. Most of the Russians stranded have enough cash on hand to comfortably cope with the ordeal, he said.

Mr Soopakij said the scandal was a tough lesson for Phuket hotel owners about the Russian market, which is now the single largest source of inbound tourists to Phuket.

Russian authorities will have to take steps both in Russia and its outbound markets to better guarantee hotels and other tourism businesses are reimbursed for services provided on credit, he said.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the Russian market in Phuket said the collapse of Lanta Tour has left over 20 "sitting guides" out of work and unpaid for work already performed.

The sitting guides were hired at a rate of 800 baht per day to ride along with the tour group in order to meet Thai labor law requirements, the source said.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12215.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-06

]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:34:36 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531406-russian-tourists-stranded-including-340-in-phuket/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531356-phuket-fire-guts-kathu-home-eight-flats/ Phuket fire guts Kathu home, eight flats
Phuket Gazette


By the time Phuket firefighters arrived, the flames had already consumed most of the Kathu home and a row of rental flats nearby.

PHUKET: -- A large fired completely destroyed a home and a row of rental flats in Phuket last night.

Thung Thong Police were notified of a blaze on Soi Bangthong, about 50 meters from the Family Mart convenience store on Phra Barami Road on the Kathu side of Patong Hill, at about 8pm.

Arriving at the scene, duty officer Capt Sakchai Choonyong and fellow officers found one house and a nearby row of eight single-story flats in flames.

It took 20 firefighters and five fire engines about 40 minutes to finally extinguish the flames, but not before the home and flats were completely gutted.

Twelve officers and three trucks from the Patong Municipality Fire Station joined counterparts from Kathu Municipality in the operation.

The owner of the properties was identified as Suchada Thianthoobdaeng.

There were no injuries, in large part because the flats were rented out to people who had already left for night work in Patong.

Investigators will today begin sifting through the charred remains of the dwellings to figure out what caused the fire, which appears to have started in the first flat in the row of eight.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12213.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-06

]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:35:38 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531356-phuket-fire-guts-kathu-home-eight-flats/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531355-more-phuket-school-kids-caught-with-meth-krathom/ More Phuket school kids caught with meth, krathom
Phuket Gazette


Evidence seized in Phuket yesterday included a large batch of the "4 x 100" drug cocktail popular with youths in the Deep South provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. Photo: Warisa Temram.

PHUKET: -- Schoolkids in Phuket are taking pharmaceutical drugs after ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) smoking sessions in an attempt to turn up negative in urine tests for the drug, local officials have revealed

Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanakul described the trend of growing drug abuse by schoolchildren in Muang District as “very worrying”.

The statement follows a recent round-up of 19 truant school children in secondary schools, 15 of whom tested positive for ya bah (methamphetamine pills).

Mr Supachai said the drug of choice among the children was ya ice (crystal methamphetamine), typically bought from suppliers in Patong, on the west coast of Phuket.

Some of the youths caught using the drug recently confessed to taking an unspecified “kidney cleaning” pharmaceutical drug in order to test negative if forced to provide urine samples.

The youths said the drug also causes them to vomit. A sample of the drug provided by one youth was sent for analysis, he said.

Officials in Phuket use a "meth cassette" test kit in conducting urine tests. If the urine turns telltale purple, the test is considered positive, although the results need to be verified by more accurate blood testing.

Meanwhile, Muang District drug suppression officers coordinated with the headman of Rassada sub-district Village 2 to raid a group of youths in a small shack in the Bang Chee Lao Community yesterday.

The community, built on reclaimed mangrove forest, is home to many transplants from the three Deep South provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, where the “4 x 100” drug cocktail is popular.

Four youths were found in possession of leaves of the krathom tree, which is native to the region. The leaves, which act as a mild stimulant, are restricted as a Category 5 drug.

The boiled leaves are the key ingredient used to make the “4 x 100” cocktail. Other ingredients include cola, cough syrup and, in some cases, ground up mosquito repellant coils.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12212.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-06

]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:10:20 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531355-more-phuket-school-kids-caught-with-meth-krathom/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531137-phukets-war-on-drugs-why-has-bebe-gone/ Phuket's War on Drugs: Why has Bebe gone?
Phuket Gazette –


Beagle Power: It was a marriage made in heaven, but now the bride has vanished.

PHUKET: It is sad that Phuket’s two specially-trained drug dogs have been suspended from “active duty” for lack of dedicated handlers, especially given the time invested in their training and the phenomenal results displayed by the beagle Bebe during her first day on the job last July.

[See page 6, this week's issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.]

Despite a steady stream of highly-publicized drug arrests and seizures over the past year, there can be little doubt that our island is still awash in illegal narcotics, especially ya bah (methamphetamine) and its crystallized version ya ice (crystal methamphetamine).

Statistics released by Phuket Provincial Police show that drug-related arrests accounted for 3,385 crime cases recorded in Phuket in fiscal 2011, more than half (54.1%) of all crime cases in the province during that period. This was a 6.2% increase year-on-year in the number of drug cases, which was almost five times the number of cases in the second most popular crime category: gambling.

With figures like these, it comes as little surprise that drug convicts make up about 75% of the inmates at Phuket Prison.

The ease with which these drugs are obtained was highlighted yet again recently when six young teenage students were found to have skipped school and broken into a derelict disco, where they smoked meth for two consecutive days. How 13-year-olds can come up with the money to pay for these expensive drugs is anyone’s guess, but the fact that it happened puts the role – or lack thereof – of parents at the forefront.

Despite such worrying trends, suppression efforts by both police and provincial drug units have largely remained static in terms of approach. Where “innovation” has been called into play in terms of improving detection capability, the results have bordered on the comical. As anyone who follows the local news is aware, mountains of ya bah pills have been smuggled onto the island over the years aboard tour buses running the Bangkok-Phuket route.

Yet, rather than training dogs to check the baggage holds of buses and suspicious vehicles crossing onto the island at Tah Chat Chai, the authorities a few years back opted to invest millions of baht to buy Alpha 6 “molecular resonance” detectors, even after the “technology” they were based upon had already been completely discredited abroad.

Thus it was an exciting breakthrough when Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanakul’s beagle Bebe sniffed out stashes of both yah ba and yah ice just five minutes into her first assignment last July. Unfortunately, she and her handler have now parted ways and what looked to be a very promising career is now on hold – indefinitely.

It is time for the police themselves get into the drug-dog training business, rather than leaving it as the 'pet project' of one well-intended civil servant. Meanwhile, it is to be hoped most fervently that Bebe is not gone because she proved too effective on the job.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2012/article12209.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-05

]]> Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:17:33 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/531137-phukets-war-on-drugs-why-has-bebe-gone/ http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/530512-phuket-medical-tourism-threatened-by-taxi-thuggery/ Phuket medical tourism threatened by taxi thuggery
Phuket Gazette


Pareeya Jullaphong, director of business development at Bangkok Hospital Phuket, addresses the meeting.


Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa, who chaired yesterday's meeting.

PHUKET: -- One of Phuket’s leading hospitals has complained that ‘taxi mafia’ are preventing its drivers from picking up patients staying at certain resort hotels.

The complaint was one of many aired at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on the topic of tourists being cheated in Phuket. The meeting was chaired by new Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa.

Pareeya Jullaphong, director of business development at Bangkok Hospital Phuket in Phuket Town, told the meeting that ‘taxi mafia’ has prevented hospital vehicles from picking up patients for about one year now.

“Sometimes we have to pick up patients from hotels as part of our service agreement. We have to hire other vans or limousines to pick up our patients, because we do not use ambulances to pick up customers who are not emergency cases. When we go to pick them up from the hotels, local taxi drivers surround our vehicles, scaring our customers,” she explained.

“Fortunately none of our workers has been attacked yet,” she added.

In order to avoid blockades, patients have to walk a long way with their belongings, she said.

To alleviate the problem, the hospital advises its agents to tell patients not to stay in hotels the hospital drivers have issues with.

“We don’t do this to hurt the hotels, but rather to avoid influential people in those locales,” she said.

Bangkok Hospital Phuket was not the only medical facility affected.

Peter Davidson, assistant manager of international services at Phuket International Hospital, said his drivers had encountered similar problems, even when using clearly-marked hospital vehicles.

“We’ve had problems in the past, but we try to manage them on a case-by-case basis and have not blacklisted any hotels,” he said.

There were no such cases when ambulances were involved, he said.

Such incidents occurred with drivers from a wide range of tourism-related businesses, not just international hospitals. The two hospitals are key components in the Phuket inbound market, combining for 20,000 room nights annually, he said.

Phuket’s third private hospital, Mission Hospital Phuket, had no such cases to report. Mission Phuket CEO Atikom Sriratanaprapat said the vast majority of patients arrive on their own or by ambulance.

Despite being popular among expat residents, the hospital does not market its services internationally in the same way as Phuket International and Bangkok Hospital Phuket, he explained.

It was founded in Phuket 72 years ago as a non-profit organization to help the local community, he said.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12190.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2012-02-02

]]> Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:12:48 +0000 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/530512-phuket-medical-tourism-threatened-by-taxi-thuggery/