Volume 15 Issue 11 News Desk - Tel: 076-236555March 15 - 21, 2008 Daily news at www.phuketgazette.net 25 Baht The Gazette is published in association with 7-baht Disgraced police wage hike had ‘no IN THIS ISSUE sentenced over NEWS: Crashes leave two effect’ – dead; Brits still in prison; Sto- len goods crackdown. Pages 2 & 3 Ko Noi murder Labor chief INSIDE STORY: Should Phuket By Natcha Yuttaworawit take the gamble with casinos? By Semacote Suganya Pages 4 & 5 PHUKET: Two former police PHUKET: The seven-baht in- AROUND THE NATION: Thais officers on February 28 were sen- crease in the minimum wage in not ready to face life after tenced at Phuket Provincial Phuket to 193 baht a day, which work. Page 7 Court for their part in the assas- came into effect on January 1, sination of well-known business- has not negatively affected busi- AROUND THE REGION: A tale man Preecha “Ko Noi” Kraitas, nesses on the island, Vice-Gov- of one city upgrade. Page 8 who was shot dead on March 14, ernor Worapoj Ratthasima an- AROUND THE SOUTH: Mass 2006. nounced on March 10. murderer gives himself up. According to a report re- Before the rise from 186 Page 9 leased by Phuket Provincial to 193 baht, bestowing Phuket Court, Wanchana Polpalangkul, with the second-most-expensive AROUND THE ISLAND: Sea gyp- who pleaded not guilty to all minimum daily wage rate in the sies calm the waters. charges, was sentenced to death country – and just a baht below Page 10 for conspiracy to murder for or- the daily rate in Bangkok – con- ganizing the hit. GOOD LIVING: Magical Mexi- cerns had been expressed that can mouthfuls at Sala Pongsak Kosiratanapibal, the move could be a threat to Mexicali. Page 12 who pleaded guilty to all charges, the survival of small businesses was sentenced to life imprison- in Phuket. PEOPLE: Big Mother gives ment for accessory to murder for “We have found that the in- hope to the homeless. identifying K. Preecha to gun- crease has not affected Phuket’s Pages 14 & 15 man Samrerng Klaising. economy at all,” Suthipong Petchaburi native Sam- Saiskarej, director of the Phuket SPORTS: Boxing roundup; Junior Optimists; Mulligans rerng was arrested at a wedding Provincial Labor Office, said. golf; Pétanque; Cricket. in Petchaburi’s Baan Laem Dis- “Phuket’s economy de- Pages 34 & 35 trict March 9, 2007, only to dis- pends mainly on tourism, and appear and remain at large after The car Preecha ‘Ko Noi’ Kraitas (pictured, inset) was driving on people in the hospitality industry Wiset Rd, with his wife and nine-year-old son as passengers, smashed PROPERTY: Construction Up- being granted bail. are generally paid above the mini- into a tree after he was shot twice in the head on March 14, 2006. date; Home of the Week: Fu- K. Preecha, who owned mum wage anyway, so they have sion living; Design: White Fisherman’s Way housing estate tional Hospital. His wife and son hours of questioning by police, not been affected by the move,” Box; Gardening: Hapless hip- and Phuket Shooting Range in escaped without serious injury. confessed to having pointed out K. Suthipong explained. pies give Bert a headache. Rawai, was driving his Jeep The driver of the sedan has the target to Samrerng before the It is believed that Phuket Pages 37-42 Cherokee along Wiset Rd with never been identified. attack. Governor Niran Kalayanamit aims his wife and nine-year-old son at In March 2006, police said Wanchana and Pongsak to have the minimum wage in PLUS about 11 pm when Samrerng and they believe Samrerng and the were released on bail and sus- Phuket raised by another seven a driver pulled up alongside them driver were hiding in Central pended from duty pending trial. baht before the end of the year. QUEER NEWS, TRASHING P HUKET in a red sedan. Thailand. Police initially said they “If the economy continues 6; HAPPENINGS 16; HOROSCOPES Samrerng opened fire and Wanchana and Pongsak, thought the motive for killing may to grow at its current rate, it is 17; MOTORING 20; WHAT’S ON hit K. Preecha twice in the head who were formerly attached to have been related to a business possible that raising the minimum 21; TAKE A BREAK 23 & 24; with two 9mm bullets. the Phuket Elite Special Opera- deal, although there has since wage even further will be con- GRAY AREA 26; BOOKS, LAYING K. Preecha’s vehicle col- tions Unit, were arrested March been no confirmation of this by sidered, although it’s not some- DOWN THE LAW 27; EDITORIAL, lided with a minivan, then ca- 18, 2006, by a team of police led police. LETTERS 28; FIRST P ERSON, IS- thing that will happen right now,” SUES & ANSWERS 29; FIT FOR reened off the road, scraped by the deputy chief of the Jurairat Kraitas, K. K. Suthipong said. LIFE, TSOWNDINGS 30; COMPUT- along a wall and crashed into a Bangkok-based Central Investi- Preecha’s wife, 37, declined to “There are many factors to ERS 31; BUSINESS, MONEY TALKS tree. gations Division. comment, citing that the case be considered before we can in- 32 & 33; CLASSIFIEDS 43-55. K. Preecha died the fol- Pongsak, who allegedly must now go through the Courts crease the minimum wage lowing day at Phuket Interna- cracked after more than four of Appeal. again,” he added. 2 PHUKET GAZETTE NEWS March 15 - 21, 2008 IN BRIEF Gazette Square underway On Friday, March 7, contractor Force 4 charged in ya bah busts Construction drove home the first piling in PHUKET CITY: About 6:30 pm on March 6 police arrested Thanat a ground-breaking ceremony for Gazette “Ped” Soithong with 10 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills at the home Square. Upon completion, the 1,400- of 23-year-old Chamaiphon “Ann” Kanrit on Luang Por Chuon Rd square-meter complex, situated on three rai Soi 5. near the Isuzu showroom in Koh Kaew, will Police had earlier arrested Ann for possession and sale of ya become home for the Phuket Gazette. bah at the nearby Jatujak Market. She confessed to the charges, Designed by the late award-winning police said, saying she bought the pills from Ped at 380 baht each and architect Tucker Bishop, the "Square" will resold them at 500 baht each. also house the studios of PGTV, the Gazette Police later arrested Ped, 30, from Bangkok, outside Ann’s Theater, two restaurants and the Phuket home. Under questioning, he told police that he had 550 more pills at editorial and business offices of the Nation his home on Phuket Rd, police said. Multimedia Group. Ann and Ped were denied bail and were being held at Phuket Pictured are Prasong Meepeuch of Force Construction (2nd from left), Gazette Provincial Prison. shareholder Janpen Arno (2nd from right), Also busted on March 6, were Kathawut “Boy” Wimutisuk and the newspaper’s managing director and Apichat “Cha” Channam, both 22. The Thalang men were ar- Oranee ‘Ann’ Pienprasertkul (right). rested after selling six ya bah pills to undercover police about 11:30 pm near the Laem Hin turnoff on Thepkrasattri Rd in Koh Kaew. Drug dealer avoids capture KATHU: Kathu Police failed to snare a drug dealer from Chiang Runaway bus slams Mai known as “Suphawat” on March 3. Pol Lt Col Nitikorn Rawang said that police had arrested Nattawut Kachinrat, 21, from Trang, and two 16-year-old males sit- ting in front of a house on Phra Barami Soi 1 at 2:45 am after finding them in possession of 46 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills. into house in Patong The three men said that they had bought the drugs from Krissada Yakiti, 19. Police arrested Krissada the same day, charging him with By Alin Boonkrungthong possession of 10 ya bah pills. Krissada told police his supplier was “Suphawat” from Chiang Mai and helped police organize a sting op- PHUKET: Two people died and eration, arranging to pick up ya bah pills on Thaweewong Rd. many more were injured after a When police moved in to catch Suphawat, they found a locked truck overturned in Kamala on suitcase with the drugs inside, but Suphawat had already fled. March 10 and a tour bus slammed into a house in Patong around Forest blazes in Karon hills 6:30 pm the day before. The brakes on a Nareuporn KARON: On March 7 at dusk, Karon Municipality firefighters were Tour bus failed as it was entering called in to fight a forest fire in the Nakkerd Hills, upslope from the Patong. The bus plowed into a desalination plant on Siriraj Rd. sedan car in front of it and into Firefighters tried to gain access to the blaze for two hours be- an abandoned house opposite fore giving up. Wat Patong. Fortunately, the fire burned itself out during the night. At least one person has No injuries or property damage were reported. been confirmed dead and at least 15 others injured, including one A crowd looks on in Kamala as rescue volunteers work to free one victim who will have a leg ampu- of the truck’s passengers, who was crushed under the overturned Major blackouts truck. tated. PHUKET: In order to continue its work on high-voltage power lines, Patong resident Simon Rooke who were asleep in the cab at the negligent driving resulting in the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced of England said, “There was glass time died in the accident. Identi- death, Lt Col Warit added. scheduled blackouts that will affect major business areas as follows: everywhere, people everywhere fied only as “Yantra”, the man Wangsen told the Gazette March 18, from 9 am to 4 pm.