Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Via: Teak Door

1970

http://teakdoor.com/famous-threads/39970-siam-thailand-bangkok-old-photo-thread-187.html

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2012

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personal thought:

My first trip to Patong was in ’83, and it looked very much like it did in ’70 – PARADISE!

And now? No way, will I ever go back to Patong; I mean, it just breaks my heart.

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Phuket – Monk defrocked after alleged drunk, drugged altercation at funeral

Via: Phuket Gazette

A monk has been defrocked in Phuket and is being held by police after a violent and possibly drug-induced incident at a cremation ceremony this morning.

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At about 10am Nusit Phanu, reportedly leapt from a wall at Wat Saensuk temple in Phuket Town and seized a 12-year-old girl by her neck.
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Mr Nusit was was reportedly seen drunk near the temple earlier this morning.
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“He jumped from the wall and came directly at my daughter,” said Thawatchai Pongpetchwiset.

(Man, if that doesn’t give you nightmares, I don’t know what will)

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“It looked like he was going to strangle her, but she managed to run away,” he said.

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Mr Thawatchai and his cousin, Teerapat Chidchiew, moved to protect the young girl, but the Mr Nusit allegedly fought back and kicked Mr Teerapat in the shoulder.
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Although Mr Thawatchai said there were other monks in the area when the incident occurred, Mr Nusit was the only person apprehended until the Phuket City Police arrived.
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Police held Mr Nusit at the temple until he calmed down.
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The abbot of Wat Saensuk defrocked Mr Nusit before the police took him to the Phuket City Police Station.
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“Nusit Phanu isn’t from this temple, he came from Northeastern Thailand more than three years ago,” said one of the monks at the temple who wished to remain anonymous. “This man is always drunk, and he probably uses drugs,” he added.

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Witnesses who also asked to remain anonymous have confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that they could smell alcohol on Mr Nusit’s breath.
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Mr Nusit is currently being held at Phuket City Police Station.

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http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2012/article15993.html

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Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do?

When they come for you?

Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?

Whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

- Bob Marley

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(1 of 2) Thailand – Three Colombians arrested in 20 Million Baht ($645,000 USD) burgulary case

Via: Pattaya One

Three Colombian men accused of multiple burglaries in villages around Bangkok have been arrested. Police Lieutenant General Panya, Region 2 Police Commissioner held a press conference at Chonburi Provincial Police Headquarters to announce the arrests of Mr. William David Corredor Fuentes aged 23, Mr. Brayan Omar Corredor Fuentes aged 21 and Mr. Wilson Ricardo Ramos Samaca aged 36.

They were arrested in Phuket and taken back to Pattaya where they were believed to be storing stolen items which they would then send on to colleagues in Colombia. The stolen items include Gold bars and luxury Wrist Watches as the suspects were believed to target houses in high-end estates in Bangkok. A broken safe which is believed to have been taken from a house down to Pattaya and forced open there was also recovered by Police.

The three men were charged with multiple counts of theft and the stolen items have been valued at over 20 Million Baht ($645,000 USD).

http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/55405/colombians-arrested-20-million-baht-bangkok-phuket-pattaya-burglary-case/

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Phuket – Norwegian man confesses to ‘accidentally killing’ Phuket girlfriend

Via: Phuket Gazette

The Norwegian man arrested last night after the gruesome remains of a human body were found in his Phuket home has confessed to “accidentally killing” Rungnapa Suktong, his girlfriend of nine years.  Stein Havard Dokset, a 50-year-old retired car dealer from Oslo, Norway confessed to officers at Chalong Police Station today.

“I did it, but it was an accident,” he said.

“We had an argument. She pushed me and then I pushed her, and she fell down the stairs. I checked her pulse and she was not breathing… I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, so I hid her body,” (in a trash bin locked in a downstairs bathroom) he told police.

Mr Dokset was arrested at his house off Soi Koktanode in Kata last night when officers from Crime Suppression Division, Sub Division 5, in Bangkok, arrived in force along with Chalong Police and Phuket Provincial Police.

About 20 officers were involved in the raid, the Phuket Gazette was told.

The raid was coordinated after a tip-off from a Bangkok law firm who were working on a missing person report filed by Mrs Rungnapa’s family in Surat Thani TWO YEARS ago.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2012/article12452.html

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Phuket – update: Swede horror smash driver surrenders

Via: Phuket Gazette

The reckless truck driver who killed FOUR Swedish holidaymakers in Phuket as well as their Thai driver on Wednesday morning surrendered to police in Phang Nga yesterday.

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The driver, 27-year-old Muhummadyukee Jehyusoh, was held in a cell at Phang Nga Provincial Court yesterday. He has since been transferred to Phang Nga Provincial Prison.

Media access to the Narathiwat native was restricted by Khok Kloy District Police after he turned himself in at about 10am yesterday.

Despite the confession, Khok Kloy Duty Officer Capt Santi Prakobpran told the Phuket Gazette this morning that they still don’t know what caused Mr Muhummadyukee’s six-wheel truck to cross a median strip and crash head-on into a Toyota Altis driven by Wichit Phromluang, a 26-year-old from Udon Thani Province.

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Mr Muhummadyukee, who fled the scene after the accident, surrendered himself after conferring with his employers at the Chotepatama Company.

He abandoned the company’s six-wheel refrigerated truck at the scene of the accident, which killed all five in the car instantly and ripped the axle off the front of the truck.

Mr Muhummadyukee was unhurt.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2012/article12207.html

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personal thought:

I’ve said it before, and I’ll no doubt say it again:

Thailand is a wonderful country, but the roads can be very dangerous.

Please be careful.

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Phuket – Russian ‘anti-Santa’ behind bars

Via: Phuket Gazette

A Russian man was arrested by Kamala Police yesterday on suspicion of robbing several homes during the festive holidays.

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The 35-year-old, Pavel Zhuravlev, was arrested at 3am at a house where he was staying on Soi Massayid Naka in Kamala.
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He was found in possession of 800 milligrams of ya ice (methamphetamine) and drug-taking paraphernalia, as well as many items that police suspect were stolen, police announced today at a press conference.
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“We tracked him down by following the signal from a Mac notebook, that was stolen in Chalong,” said Kamala Police Superintendent Nathapakin Kwanchaipruek.

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Mr Zhuravlev was charged with the possession and use of drugs, robbery and is also looking to face overstay charges once his visa status has been confirmed by the Phuket Immigration Office.
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One victim has already stepped forward and identified a Mac Air notebook, two 3G iPads, a watch, a driver’s license and a mobile phone as his.
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Mr Zhuravlev confessed that he broke into the victim’s house in Chalong on December 24 at about 7am, said police.
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The rest of the items seized in the raid, such as bags, mobile phones, cameras and binoculars, Mr Zhuravlev said belonged to him.
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Police said that they were skeptical and planned to continue their investigation of both him and his partner Mathurin Sophapol, 29.
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Read more, HERE:

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article11811.html

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Phuket – Facebook ‘predator’ arrested as mum pleas for help

Via: Phuket Gazette

Eleven days after her disappearance from a Phuket Town internet cafe, 12-year-old Phuket schoolgirl Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya remains missing.

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Nong Pin’s mother Samruay Saenthaweesuk told the Phuket Gazette this morning she has yet to receive any leads regarding her daughter’s whereabouts and continues to fear she might have been abducted by someone she met online while using the popular social networking website Facebook.

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The possibility of such predation was confirmed by reports yesterday from Nakhon Sri Thammarat where 37-year-old Phuket resident Wimol Srida was arrested for raping three young teenage girls he met on Facebook. The youngest was just 13.

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Wimol, a security guard at an unnamed Phuket hotel, allegedly lied to his Facebook friends that he worked with security operations in the Deep South. Once he gained their trust he drove to a hotel in Nakhon Sri Thammarat to meet them.
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The suspect said yesterday that he had sex with only two girls, and that it was consensual in both cases.
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In a re-enactment of one of the rapes at a hotel in Nakhon Sri Thammarat’s Muang District, Wimol used a teddy bear in place of one of the girls to show how the claimed consensual sex took place. (note: In Thailand, it’s standard operating procedure to ‘re-enact’ the crimes) .

He also showed where he placed his telephone on a nearby stool to record video clips, which he would then threaten to release if the girls reported what had happened.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article11731.html

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Phuket – expat saved in beach rescue – again

Via: Phuket Gazette

An emotionally distraught (at the EU Summit, I suppose?) man was saved from drowning at Phuket’s Nai Harn Beach this afternoon.

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It was the fourth time in recent weeks that the man has been rescued from drowning in the same fashion.

Beach vendor Song “Dui” Sa-ingtong told the Phuket Gazette that the Belgian man, aged in his 40s and a regular visitor to the beach, arrived at about 4pm.

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“He was very drunk (I know, hard to believe, huh?) and he dragged his own private kayak into the water and started paddling. When he was about 60 meters offshore, the kayak overturned and he was in the water,” said Mr Song.

“The lifeguard kept a close eye on him and when the kayak overturned the man disappeared from view, so the lifeguard raced out to rescue him,” he added.
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When the man was brought safely back to shore, he was unconscious but breathing easily on his own, Mr Song said.
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“When he regained consciousness, he kept calling out his wife’s name. She came to the beach and he started to calm down,” he added.

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A Tourist Rescue Center officer at the scene told the Gazette that the man did not want to be taken to hospital.

“He has done this three times before,” another Rescue Center officer confirmed.
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The Belgian embassy had been notified of the incident, the officer added. “Lui faire foutre! Appelez-nous au six, sans en faire sept “, they didn’t say.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article11660.html

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Phuket – Austrian tourist stabbed, robbed by Phuket youth gang

Via: Phuket Gazette

An Austrian tourist is recovering from a punctured lung and other injuries sustained in a brutal robbery attack by four knife-wielding youths in Phuket yesterday.
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Patong Police identified the victim as Rupert Wilhelmstatter.

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Mr Wilhelmstatter, in his early 50s, was returning by motorbike to his hotel in Patong at 1:45pm when the attack occurred. He was returning from Paradise Beach, on the south end of Patong Bay.

The gang members, aboard two motorbikes, approached the Austrian with one bike on each side.

The youngest gang member, aged 13, kicked out at Mr Wilhelmstatter’s motorbike, causing him to crash. Mr Wilhelmstatter fought back from the ground, but was stabbed and suffered a punctured lung. The gang then robbed him of 200 baht before making their getaway.

Mr Wilhelmstatter was taken to Patong Hospital for emergency treatment, then transferred to the better-equipped Bangkok Hospital in Phuket Town. A source at the privately-run facility confirmed Mr Wilhelmstatter is in the intensive care unit, but declined to give further details.

Police investigating the incident did not need to travel far to make the first arrests. At an address on Ratchapatanusorn Road, just around the corner from Patong Police Station, they arrested two youths aged 13 and 14 at about 5:30pm.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article11632.html

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Aussie pays Bt40mn ‘boybride’ price

Via: Phuket Gazette

An Australian man wed his young Thai boyfriend in Chiang Mai yesterday, forking over 40 million baht in “boybride price” to the man’s family for the privilege.

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The traditional ceremony took place at the Chiang Mai home of Mr Chaiyanon “Un” Worasilp, a 27-year-old from Chachoengsao province, whose first name is unfortunately translated by the on-line Google Translation service as “Mr Bologna Repository”.

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The groom, 60-year-old former Qantas Airline executive (former flight attendant?) Leigh John Pleasance, was all smiles as he showered his young spouse with a non-binding dowry of cash, land and diamond and gold jewelry valued at 40 million baht ($1.3million USD – man, that’s alot of balogna!).

He sold his home and other belongings in Thailand in order to buy the luxury home with swimming pool where he will live with his betrothed, he said.

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Mr Chaiyanon, who has since graduated, said he chose Chiang Mai because he liked the relaxed lifestyle there. In keeping with the northern locale, both bride and groom wore traditional Lanna wedding attire at the ceremony.

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The union was approved by friends and relatives on both sides, who turned up in proud support at the couple’s home in a housing estate in Doi Saket District.

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The couple first met while Mr Chaiyanon was working in a Thai restaurant in Australia to help finance his undergraduate studies in advertising in the Land Down Under.
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He said he decided to accept the marriage proposal last year, three months after the pair began dating.

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While the marriage was approved by relatives on both sides, it could be a long time before the couple can legally register the union: the governments of Thailand and Australia do not recognize same-sex marriage.

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While change in that regard could be a long time coming, the Thai custom of paying a dowry to the family of the bride has apparently been better able to keep up with changing times.

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http://www.phuketgazette.net/queernews/index.asp?id=11607