February 18, 2012
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ANDAMAN Edition Volume 19 Issue 7 February 18 - 24, 2012 Daily news at www.phuketgazette.net 25 Baht Strangled son identified By: Stephen Michael Fein THE PARENTS of Mark Robson, Over 2,000 school officials gather a 27-year-old who went missing to listen to Dr Smith. on Phuket last month, have con- firmed that the body of an uniden- tified victim of strangulation dis- Earhquake covered in Karon on January 25 is that of their son. Mr Robson, who held both Brit- threat 2012 ish and South African passports, DR SMITH Dharmasaroja, entered Thailand using his British former Director of the National passport on December 5 and ar- Disaster Warning Center, spoke rived on Phuket in mid-December, with secondary school directors when he was joined by both of and deputy school directors on his parents. February 9. After they returned to their He spoke on the likelihood of home in the South Africa, Mark an earthquake and tsunami disas- stayed in regular contact by email ter and urged the administrators until January 15, when his mes- to “prepare, but not to panic”. sages ended abruptly. “Earthquakes have occurred Mrs Robson’s growing con- in many countries lately, and cern heightened when she was our [National Disaster Warning contacted by school staff in Taipei asking why Mark never reported Council Foundation, a non-gov- The late Mark Robson, with his mother and father, during their December holiday in Phuket. Photo: Facebook ernment organization] warning for a teaching job he was sched- center has detected some move- uled to begin on February 8. known action was a bank with- graphic to be published. on January 27. Mr Tomenson was ment from [tectonic] plates in After confirming that he missed drawal on January 23. Realizing the body was recov- reluctant to forward the photos, the Indian Ocean and Andaman his flight to Taipei, Mark’s parents The break in the case came the ered on January 25, two days after but sent a single image at the Sea that indicates an earthquake contacted authorities in South Af- following day, when Mr Mr Robson’s last known bank family’s request. The parents con- could happen here soon,” he rica, as well as the Phuket Tourist Tomenson provided the media an transaction, the Gazette contacted firmed the body as that of their said. Police Foreign Volunteers. updated photo of Mark, with a Mr Tomenson to ask if police had son based on appearance and, af- “Although 2012 could be a Frank Tomenson, the volun- mustache and beard, taken by his compared photos of the unidenti- ter viewing more photos, the year when many natural disas- teers group leader, contacted the parents while on Phuket. fied body with those of Mr clothes he was wearing. ters occur, I would like everyone media on February 9 with a miss- That night, a Phuket Gazette Robson. Mr Tomenson said he was un- to prepare for the worst, but not ing person poster bearing an image news editor noted the resem- Learning that they had not, happy with some media reports to panic about the possibility,” of a clean-shaven Mark, along blance between Mr Robson and images were sent to Mr Tomenson, that seemed critical of the police. he told the educators. with the basic details about his last images of the body recovered near who contacted the family and known whereabouts. His last Freedom Beach, which were too mentioned that a body was found Continued on page 3 Monorail solution for British drunk driving concerns PHUKET Provincial Office will seek cen- lions of British tourists in Phuket annually. that a “don’t drink and drive” campaign tral government approval for a Korean- Consul Carpenter noted that the number could save lives. funded light-rail system with service from of British nationals involved in road traffic After promising to discuss the idea with the airport to Patong, Kamala and Rawai, incidents in Phuket had increased from pre- his officers, Gov Tri revealed that he in- the governor told a visiting British Em- vious years. He went on to suggest that tends to seek government approval for a bassy officials on February 17. alcohol was probably at fault in many cases. light rail service linking Phuket Airport to The news was revealed during a cour- “In the past we’ve lost many British na- points in Patong, Kamala and Rawai. tesy visit to Phuket Provincial Hall by tionals, particularly to motorbike accidents, The request would come during a mo- British Embassy Deputy Head of Mission many of them drink related. We would like bile Cabinet meeting next month, he said. Steven Chandler and Honorary Consul for it if the Phuket Police could run a ‘don’t Mr Chandler observed that improved Phuket Martin Carpenter. drink and drive’ campaign,” he said. public transport system would be good for The pair visited Phuket Governor Tri Mr Chandler added that of some 19 mil- the tourism industry and said he was aware Augkaradacha to discuss public transport lion British people who visit Thailand, many that such projects had been under consid- British Embassy Deputy Head of Mission and drunk driving issues that affect mil- include Phuket in their itineraries. He agreed eration for a few years. Steven Chandler. Photo Atachaa Khamlo 2 PHUKET GAZETTE PHUKET NEWS February 18 - 24, 2012 Policing Phuket’s News Swiftlet breeding: Regulating an illegal elephant business practice. Page 4-5 THREE elephant camps in Phuket are being investigated after con- Technology cerns were raised about the ori- How to keep bugs at bay gins of the baby elephants in their possession. with the right anti-virus Officers of Central Investiga- software. Page 12 tion Bureau of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok investigated People Phuthai Souvenir Market in Chalong, ATV Elephant Camp near Revealing lies and the Big Buddha image in Karon and facing emotions with Dr Sheraton Camp in Cherng Talay to determine if the baby elephants Paul Ekman. Page 17 were born in the wild or not. “We came down to examine the In Focus elephant camps in Phuket as part Pitch invasion: Quality of our investigation of Sai Yok El- ephant Park, where there are 51 The raid followed reports by Dutch wildlife activist Edwin Wiek. Schools International elephants. We got search warrants cause they do not have her identi- elephant rehabilitation camp,” said gets turfed up. Page 19 for the camps and found one baby fication document.” Col Watcharin elephant in each of the three “If the mother elephant is work- “Meanwhile anyone found camps,” said Col Watcharin ing illegally in the tourist trade, so guilty in this case can expect to Property Phusin, the superintendent of the are the baby elephants,” Mr get up to four years in jail, a 40,000 Island living gets a regional Natural Resources and Tassanes added. baht fine, or both in accordance lesson in green simplicity Environment Crime Suppression DNA from the three baby el- with Wildlife Preservation and Pro- Division. ephants will be checked against tection Act,” he added. from Jindarin. Page 27 Tassanes Petkong, an officer the DNA of the supposed mother While the testing is being done with the National Park Department in a laboratory in Bangkok. The the baby elephants will stay with Sport Wildlife and Plant Conservation results will take about two weeks, the present owners, who have been Center, told the Phuket Gazette, said Mr Tassanes. told they are not allowed to move Up the Andaman with a “The mother of the three baby el- “If the test leads us to believe them from their present location, paddle. A growing sport ephants from Sai Yok Elephant the elephants were illegally bought, said Col Watcharin. recognized. Page 44 Park is also being investigated be- they will be taken to Lampang’s – Atchaa Khamlo Gone in 60 secs, back in 30 mins Digging for drug treasure trove IT TOOK Police just half an hour PHUKET Police are searching for Kawee revealed that Mr Yusobe to arrest a suspect for the theft of a man-and-wife team of alleged and Mrs Patcharee had visited him a pickup in Thalang District on major drug dealers who are on the in Phang Nga the day before with February 9. They think the man run after officers unearthed a trove a plastic bucket. They asked him may have been deranged or under of methamphetamines outside to fill the bucket with ya bah and the influence of drugs. their home in Mai Khao. ya ice, and return by boat across Cherng Talay Police were noti- Phuket Provincial Police Com- the Chong Pak Pra Straits, to avoid fied of the theft at 10:30am by mander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul the prying eyes of officers at the Sakhon Chalermwanphenyo. provided details of the operation Tah Chat Chai road checkpoint. Mr Sakhon said he parked his at a press conference on Monday. Once ashore he was to bury the pickup in front of his home then Acting on a tip-off, Tah Chat drug-laden container in a specified left the keys in the ignition and The thief, who would only give his Transported by boat and burried, Chai Police on February 10 served but now police evidence. location near the couple’s house. went behind the house to eat. name as ‘Maan’, is now in custody. a search warrant at the Mai Khao At the location, police recov- As he was eating, he heard the the small RorPorChor Reservoir, home of suspected drug dealers of ya ice (crystal methamphet- ered 758.3 grams of ya ice, 7,800 truck engine revving.