ANDAMAN Edition PHUKET’S LEADING NEWSPAPER... SINCE 1993 Now NATIONWIDE Model home Architect and Engineering Exhibition woos homemakers INSIDE TODAY August 4 - 10, 2012 PhuketGazette.Net In partnership with The Nation 25 Baht COMPLAINT OF LAND ENCROACHMENT LEADS TO FULL-SCALE RAID ON RESORT UNDER CONSTRUCTION Casino fears spark raid on resort island Foreign investor’s link to casino in Laos raises suspicions By Kritsada Mueanhawong MORE than 50 officers raided a resort under construction on a small island off Phuket’s east coast on Tuesday with the suspicion that the project was intended to be opened as a casino hotel. Armed with a search warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court, the officers Belgium’s most inspected the site on Rang Noi Island, located about six kilometers directly off- wanted caught shore from Boat Lagoon and only 2.5km from Koh Maphrao. BELGIUM’S most wanted criminal, Marc Leading the sortie was Pol Maj Gen de Schutter, is to be extradited to Belgium Norrasak Hemnithi, Commander of Natu- to face charges of murder, money laun- ral Resources and Environmental Crime Surasak Suwannachote, 26, who confessed to ‘accidentally’ killing Ms Smith during the botched dering and economic crimes after police Suppression Division (NREC) in Bangkok, bag snatch, has denied charges of murder. Photo: Gazette file raided his home in Rawai on Monday. joined by NREC Superintendent Col Mr De Schutter, 57, was arrested by Watcharin Phusit and Witoon Chalayon- over 30 officers from the Phuket Immi- navee, an expert in aerial map photography A KILLER DAY OF DENIALS gration Police and Chalong Police at a from the Courts of Justice. THE two men charged with the death of Surasak Suwannachote, 26, and Surin luxurious home in a soi off Saiyuan Gen Norrasak explained that he became Australian travel agent Michelle Smith, who Tadthong, 37, were presented at Phuket Pro- Road, where he reportedly had been liv- aware of the resort only after he received a died from a stab wound inflicted in a bag- vincial Court to enter pleas to the charges… ing for 17 months with a 24-year-old complaint that public land on the island… snatch in June, denied all charges against Thai woman… Continued on Page 2 them at a court appearance on Monday. Continued on Page 3 Full story on Page 3 2 PHUKET GAZETTE PHUKET NEWS August 4 - 10, 2012 Raid on Rang Noi Island Business raises gambling suspicions Merchandising football: See how Phuket FC From Page 1 scores. Page 13 may have been encroached on by the developers of the resort, and that the Chanote land title deed for Technology the resort site may have been ille- Email scams: Nigeria’s gally issued. third largest export NREC Superintendent Col Watcharin told the Gazette that his industry. Pages 14 investigators found several as- pects of the Chanote title for the History resort plot, issued in 1997, suspi- cious. “The company [Kan Krao Anand Singh continues Company] claims they have a his account of Phuket’s SorKor 1 [which confers the right past. Page 16 to occupy land] issued in 1954, but when Rang Noi Island was After inspecting the site and seeing that the construction resembled a added to the Land Office register casino, Gen Norrasak (center) believed the resort might be used as one. People in 1969, no one declared to be the Q&A with the organizer owner of that land,” he said. “We found that the land previ- “We will also have to check the ously belonged to Bridge Rang Noi of the 12th Architecture SorKor 1 document since the Company, which has two foreign- EXPO. Page 17 document said the land was in ers [as executives], including Mr Moo 3 [Village 3] of Koh Kaew, Baldwin, and one Thai as the man- which was correct at that time. aging director. Music But the administrative boundaries Mr Baldwin is involved in Kan Art is ... Ron Artis II talks within Koh Kaew have since Krao Co, which is developing the with the Gazette about changed, and the island is now in resort, Col Watcharin said. Mr what is called in Moo 6 [Village 6] Baldwin is also allegedly involved his passion. Page 18 of Koh Kaew,” he explained. in the Savan Vegas Casino in He added that a discrepancy be- was illegally issued, we will press Savannakhet, Laos, where gam- Sports tween the plot size marked on the charges against both the person bling is legal, he added. Chanote and aerial photographs of who issued the document and the “After inspecting the site, we Good vibrations: Power the island prompted the NREC to company that claims ownership saw that the construction looks plate exercises at apply for the search warrant that for this land,” Col Watcharin like a casino, so Gen Norrasak be- Thanyapura. Page 47 permitted the raid on Tuesday to warned. lieves that the resort might be used take place. It was during the investigation as one,” he explained. “We will compare aerial photo- of the land ownership history that Among the partly finished build- graphs from the past with images NREC officers found that a for- ings and sea-view swimming pool taken in recent years. If we find eigner, who they named as John at the site, officers found a cus- Flood of candidates register that this document [the Chanote] Kevin Baldwin, was involved. tom-built walk-in safe. for OrBorJor council election REGISTRATION for candidates Resort removed from protected forest to enter the Provincial Administra- MORE than 150 officers from the site in the protected forest area in tion Organization (OrBorJor) Royal Forest Department (RFD) the Kamala Hills, but found no one council election opened on Tues- led raids on three sites in Phuket violating the law. day with so many entries that some on July 28. “However, we found one case candidates had to draw lots to In Thalang, officers discovered in the Nakkerd Hills where a per- contest the election. a resort under construction within son was violating the law by A total of 24 council seats are the boundaries of the protected having built a restaurant beside the up for grabs, with 15 for Muang Bang Kanoon Forest. road just before the entrance to district, six for Thalang district “We found buildings that looked the Big Buddha site,” Mr Amnart and three for Kathu. like a resort under construction on said. The Khon Baan Rao Party, land inside the forest. However, The owner was given 30 days to “The officers ordered the headed by current OrBorJor Presi- Khon Baan Rao Party supporters. there was no one at the site to remove the buildings. owner to remove the building dent Paiboon Upatising, enrolled tions, everything went smoothly. declare ownership or the purpose the RFD regional office for Krabi, within 30 days. The officers are candidates to contest all but three “We expect about 70 per cent of the buildings. So we put up a Phang Nga and Phuket. now inspecting other areas of the constituencies. of eligible voters to show up on sign and an official letter asking “If they don’t comply within the Nakkerd Hills, since it is land that OrBorJor Chief Administrative election day, because almost ev- the owners to remove the entire stated period, we will remove the everyone wants to encroach on,” Officer Manop Leelasuthanon said ery voting district has more than construction within 30 days,” ex- buildings ourselves,” he warned. he added. that despite the flood of registra- one candidate,” he said. plained Amnart Sroykyo, head of The officers also inspected a – Kritsada Mueanhawong August 4 - 10, 2012 PHUKET NEWS PHUKET GAZETTE 3 Belgium’s most wanted White sands of Phi Phi snatched up in Rawai turn black BELGIUM’S most wanted crimi- with overseas criminal syndicates ONE kilometer of the once pris- nal, Marc De Schutter, is to be ex- in countries including Italy, Israel, tine sands of Koh Phi Phi went tradited to Belgium to face Netherlands, Ireland and Armenia. black from the oil of an unknown charges of murder, money laun- Tuesday, Mr De Schutter was source on July 31. dering and economic crimes after brought before the press in the “We have no idea where these police raided his home in Rawai presence of senior Thai police of- stains came from, but they’ve been on Monday. ficers and a Belgian Embassy on the beach for two days now,” Mr De Schutter, 57, was ar- representative. said Phi Phi Tourism Association rested by over 30 officers from The Belgian admitted that he President Veerapat Jantharo. the Phuket Immigration Police and was the person appearing on his “The tourists are scared and Chalong Police at a luxurious country’s police list of most don’t want to go to the beach,” home in a soi off Sai Yuen Road, wanted fugitives, with outstand- he added. where he reportedly had been liv- ing arrest warrants in several The potential damage to tourism ing for 17 months with a cases. Mr De Schutter claimed, the blackened kilometer of Lo 24-year-old Thai wife, reported however, that he came to Thailand Dalam Beach on Koh Phi Phi might The Nation. for business purposes, reported cause, prompted beach vendors to Police confiscated his computer, MCOT. demand local authority move a mobile phone and a bankbook, Mr De Schutter fled to Thai- quickly to clean up the beach. as well as some documents that the land in 2011. The Belgian Embassy Chaisiri Kundum, Chief of Ma- suspect allegedly used to contact asked for cooperation from Thai rine Office 5 in Krabi suspects that overseas crime syndicates.