Phuket News September 2011

   

If there is a lot of noise next door of construction - 
just fire a gun over them - he did.


Beach volleyball competition possible cxl?
not sure we need this, how many viewers look at the ball


80 meter high building restrictions a failure.
Why is this so difficult when there is so much
 planning / paperwork involved?


2 homosexuals dead in 2 days
- and their sexual preference is relevant because?


The tailor touts which harass you at Kata / Karon / Patong have a
work permit for some trades BUT sales work is restricted to Thai nationals.
These touts can't be too hard to catch for Visa Irregularities?

photo courtesy of the Phuket Gazette

Happy Birthday Luang Pu Supha - 115 years


Hint of the week: When you move to a new house do not leave the valuable in plain view and then go out - what happens?


New Tourist visa regulations...
They are already confusing.


Thing again about that elephant ride especially when the company tell you that they have not had any accidents previously


Then I read that the TAT logo has been copied by organisations which HAVE NOT been endorsed... (especially time shares...)


No booze zones in Phuket... unless...?


Anti-drug volunteer caught selling drugs...
Deep Cover and Carlito's Way were the movies.


A dancing fountain at Sapan Hin... hope it worked

Then Phuket spends 17million Baht on Speed cameras for the red lights
- more money?
- where will the switched be to turn them off?
- then the evidence...


Mad bomber arrives to 'bomb the bank'
Sorry but we are closed?
But the bomb was not real?


Big Buddah near completion - watch this space...


A Phuket Expat is defrauded by his partners (Western) and has to leave.
Full story from the US...
"but if I had not come back to Thailand I would have lost the land"
"As far as we know, none of the victims are Thai"

Ouch - with all the rain....

a tourist trod on a live electricity spot in Patong 
- I am surprised that this has not happened previously.


Then the Korean whose leg gets trapped in a hole in the pavement
More accidents to come...


A Canadian is sent back to Thailand to face murder charges (after 15 years)
and why do we wait for Lee Aldhouse (after 1 year)?

As posted previously - Aldhouse will be extradited from the UK.

Then I read that he will (looks inevitable) - watch this space.

Thailand to shed sex tourism label
has anyone told the workers?


Farmer Jo's turkeys - a story about the Thai wife leaving and wants all the land BUT the husband thought that he had a 30 year lease...
comments from the forum:
1) he is business here but his children in care in the UK - does he pay?
2) check all your 30 year leases (and the back page)
3) check your wife

Cough cough but not too much

Image from Phuket News permission requested

A popular concoction here is a cough syrup which really does sooth the throat and does wake you up.


It is similar to Red Bull - a similar concoction with similar effects .

But the pharmacy was raided because:

“A total of 6,288 bottles of cough syrup containing Diphenhydramine were seized from the store.

“Even though Diphenhydramine in cough syrup is legal, having more than 6,000 bottles in one shop is unusual,” he said."
(text from the Phuket Gazette)


Dr Sak said, “We believe that the shop was selling the syrup to teenagers to be used for things other than curing a cough.

“We received reports from Thalang police that many teenagers came to the shop to buy cough syrup. That’s why we raided it.”

The use of cough syrup in a local concoction called “4x100” – combining the medicine with kratom tea, cola soft drink and ice – is well known throughout Southern Thailand."
(text from the Phuket Gazette)

What does a red flag flying at a beach mean? Part 2

Red - Beach Closed DO NOT enter the water

Yellow - Warning - potentially dangerous conditions

Red and Yellow - Patrolled area, the safest swimming area

Now I did not know this !

What if there is a red flag and a yellow flag 50 metres away?

I have never seen a shark flag!

What does a red flag flying at a beach mean? Part 1

from the Phuket Gazette

"According to Phuket Lifeguard Services; 66 Thais and 38 foreigners needed help at Ya Nui, Nai Harn, Kata Noi, Kata and Karon beaches over the month.

People being caught in rip tides was the major cause of incidents, with 47 Thais and nine foreigners needing lifeguard help.

At Patong, Kamala and Laem Singh beaches, eight Thais and 45 foreigners required assistance.

Jellyfish stings accounted for half the help rendered at these west coast beaches, with four Thais and 24 foreigners being stung, with rip tides, sharp glass and jet-skis named as the causes of the remaining incidents.

At Surin, Bang Tao, Nai Thon, Nai Yang and Mai Khao beaches, one Thai and six foreigners required assistance.

Jellyfish stung one Thai and two foreigners, while the other swimmers were caught by rip tides and hit by big waves."

from the Phuket Gazette

Thank you to the Phuket Lifeguard Services
I hope there is no problem with the contract this year?


But there have been a number of sea accidents relating to the rip tides
1) Karon
2) Karon
3) Kata
4) Kata and Karon.


 how many languages does red flag have to be written in to say that the sea is dangerous?

Tourist Visa for Phuket?

Just read that there are new rules for the Tourist Visa Regulations.

Have a look at this forum to try to understand more
BUT I read that this should not affect the tourists who are staying less than 30 days?

What's for sale?

Had a trip to Krabi and I could not resist a photograph of this sign.


There are a plethora of signs in Asia which are wrong
 but they are funnier when you see them...

Telephones and prisons

permission requested to use the image - Dvorak.org

The Phuket Prison is going to install security cameras to combat the problem of mobile phones being smuggled in.


Then I read that

"as many as 12 mobile phones a day were being thrown over the walls, some stuffed with dead rats".


"twenty of these phones had been confiscated".


Which means that there are still a lot in the prison?

photo from the Phuket Gazette

Then I read that AIS has set up a stall outside the prison to give away free Sim Cards.


"A sales hostess stationed at the booth said the prison was a good place to promote AIS services as there were always large crowds of people facing long waits to see inmates."


A shrewd business move and subsequent exposure...

Tuk Tuks, taxis, driving and a bison

image from the Phuket Gazette

Another report of a beating by taxi!

Very soon there won't be any tourist to argue over - then the hotels will be empty and then where will the economy of Phuket be then?

A forum from Thai Visa about Travel Warnings.

Tuk Tuk and Jet Ski is Aussie top complaints...

English? - potatoes not right?

Italian? - pay for the women?

French? - but she said yes?

Welsh? - I did not agree that price?

American? - burger too small?

is there a website of common complaints?

Then there is an EU directive about NOT using Tuk Tuks.

Do not argue with a Tuk Tuk driver - ouch.

I pay when I get on?

Tuk Tuk standard fares in Phuket

- standard is not the same as extortionate standard AND how many locations?

Airport?

Cape Panwa?

Splash Jungle?

the list is endless.... then read the small print...

Then a cartel set upon a driver from 'outside' the area whilst there is a tourist inside.

Good PR for Phuket?

The taxi cartel? grants US military access from the Deep Sea Port

- so business was good in Patong...

An Airport Limousine drives into a bison?

Not sure that all the blame for poor driving should be aimed at the Tuk Tuk?

A land deal goes sour...

Richard Miller, a Phuket Expat is defrauded by his partners (Western) and has to leave.

Okay this is standard.

Full story from the US.

As I read the report in the Phuket Gazette I am puzzled.

Quotes are from the report:

"but if I had not come back to Thailand I would have lost the land"

- but how could HE have lost the land because as a foreigner he cannot own it?

"As far as we know, none of the victims are Thai"

- if there are no victims which are Thai then how was the land his, unless...?

there is obviously a lot more to this story...

I woud not get involved with land deals or home shares in Phuket, 

not that I have any money...

Killer could be extradited to Thailand...

A Muay Thai boxer from the UK, with the nickname 'Pitbull' killed a fellow Muay Thai boxer (outside of the ring), posted previously and then was stopped in the UK for 'parole violations'?


Recently there were postings that Lee Aldhouse (aka Pitbull) could be extradited to Thailand to face charges - I watch this with interest.

text below from the Phuket Gazette

Britain's Sunday Mirror today reported a source in the British Home Office as saying: “The only way he could have realistically avoided extradition is if he would have faced the death penalty if found guilty. But the Thai Government have assured us that he will not.”

Phuket News August 2011

Jemma feeding the swans at Windsor NOT Phuket

Corruption in Thailand is rampant - a survey in the Phuket Gazette BUT Thailand is based on a commission industry is there a different definition for this word?


Two Swedish men staying at the Surin Sweet Hotel confess to murdering a Swedish gentleman who informed the tourist police of a scam they were operating from an Internet Cafe.
How did they do this?
Facebook
Were they friends?
Next time think about it...


Prison Time?
According to the agreement, the pair would be required to serve one-third, or no more than eight years, of their sentence before having the opportunity to apply to the Swedish government for a transfer.

If the Swedish government accepts the transfer request, it would then be forwarded to the Thai government for approval...


Another death in the water - after swimming at Kata beach BUT not the waves.

Recently there has been a number of foreign deaths... why?

Then I read that the Phuket Gazette web-site crashed because of the demand for information - isn't this a little morbid?
There is more to this story
a war about statistics


Internet Speeds in Phuket have improved 
but could they get worse? and not here :-(


There is a missing hill?
It took a long time for people to notice that it was gone 
- I look forward to the outcome 
- please return the hill.


Sea Gypsies have to move
because of sea / environment change/ land issues?


Death from a fall at Cape Phromthep - she was on the rocks?
I am scared at the top!


Police tell the Tuk Tuk drivers - NO more blockades
watch this space

Well I now know that there are no red shirts in Government - but I would be awfully annoyed if I had voted for them and worn a shirt...


AND Thaskin's family DO NOT need to pay the 11 billion baht owed to the (then) government.

photo from Phuket Gazette

Tablets in schools!
1) Now I know why my iPad took so long to be delivered!
2) Tablets - take 2 a lesson!

A dogs dinner (sic)
my apologies...


The deaths of the tourists in Chang Mai - possible cause of death was pesticides 
- where's John Grisham when you want him?
The Downtown Inn
If you stay there these are the rooms ...
Waraporn Pungmahisiranon found dead in room 516
Sarah Carter found sick in room 518. She died in hospital on Feb 6
George and Eileen Everitt found dead in room 42