2013 Year in Review: a look back at Phuket's top stories

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2013 Year in Review: a look back at Phuket's top stories
Claire Connell

PHUKET: -- Despite being a small island, Phuket sure has its fair share of big news events and 2013 was no exception. The Phuket News takes a look back at some of the top stories of the year.

JANUARY

2013 kicks off in style across the island with various beach parties – most notably the Sydictive Element party, which makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. Phuket residents issued a resounding “not again” after the event, and organisers have not returned for 2014.

Several days later, Phuket residents Tom Travers and his girlfriend Jen Khamsorn are left shaken after they say they were the subject of an “unprovoked attack” by a group of Russians in Surin.

An unrelated “anti Russian” protest is then held by Thai businessmen in Bang Tao on January 28, after locals say that Russian and other foreign businesses are undercutting the market and working illegally. This event is the catalyst for various crackdowns on the island relating to immigration issues, work permits, and foreign-run companies for the entire year.

Five tourists, including two Australian sisters, are injured on a speedboat trip to Phi Phi island, sparking debate over the safety of boats in rough seas.

Jintana Mahattanapak, HR director at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort at Karon Beach, is killed by a single shot while driving on the island. The murder case remains unsolved.

Australian John Cohen is arrested after a shoot-out on Soi Sansabai in Patong – he hits two innocent German tourists instead of the Danish man he was targeting.

FEBRUARY

A team from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in Bangkok arrives in Phuket to gather information about Russian-operated businesses suspected of operating illegally in Bang Tao. Later, dozens of government officials are involved in tracking down illegally-formed or -run companies with foreign shareholders.

The DSI are also involved in picking up the torch of the investigation into encroachment in Phuket’s Sirinart Marine National Park. This was initially put on hold with the retirement of Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) Director General Damrong Pidech.

Stocks of 91-octane gasoline on Phuket rapidly disappear as filling stations around the island comply with government policy to phase out pure gasoline 91 and replace it with gasohol – a mixture of gasoline with ethylene produced from vegetable matter. Many vehicles need to be adapted to be able to handle the change.

MARCH

Four Russians from Phuket spend 13 months at sea, sailing some 60,000 kilometres and making landfall in 38 countries, in an epic first-of-its-kind voyage around the world on an inflatable catamaran.

Members of the island’s skateboarding community announce a plan to raise funds to build a state-of-the-art B1 million skate park in Bang Tao. The park is still yet to be built.

Plans for the controversial plan to establish a public bus service to and from Phuket International Airport hit a wall when Karon taxi drivers say they “will not allow” the service to take their jobs, saying they “guarantee” protests if the buses start running.

Another idea to take tourists from the airport to the west coast beaches via speedboat is mooted. The plan receives cautious support, but the proposed shuttle has yet to materialise.

APRIL

The month starts with a gold robber ransacking the CP Goldmaster gold shop next to Tesco Lotus on the bypass road (and opposite The Phuket News’ office), shooting dead a customer who tries to remonstrate with him. The robber flees with 106 bahtweight of gold jewellery, estimated to be worth more than B2 million, and has yet to be caught.

Around 400 people on board the diveboat Little Princess have a terrifying ordeal when the boat sinks in heavy seas off Koh Tachai on April 16. Many passengers jump overboard, and their belongings sink to the bottom of the sea, before the Thai Navy comes to the rescue.

More than a hundred tour guides protest for about three hours at Phuket Provincial Hall, furious at the rapidly increasing numbers of illegal Chinese tour guides on the island.

Police on Koh Samui scramble to untangle the implications of a gruesome find on the island – a skeleton buried under a luxury villa owned by Hungarian-Israeli Phuket murder accused Moshe David. One theory is that the bones are those of Hungarian retail chain multi-millionaire Laszlo Csapai, who went missing more than two years ago.

The first public hearings about the proposed Kathu-Patong expressway and tunnel take place with an avalanche of criticism, particularly from residents of Patong, whose homes may have to be swept away to make space for access roads.

MAY

Two Thais are arrested for the attack on Mohd Sobri Bin Said, a personal bodyguard to the Malaysian crown prince HRH Tunku Annuar Ibni Sultan Badlishah, who was attacked in his five-star hotel room in Patong.

May 21 sees the biggest power outage ever in Thailand as Phuket and 13 other Southern provinces are plunged into darkness for lengthy periods. The same night, friends of well known expat Stu Clark hold a fundraiser after he was left paralysed in a bike smash.

The Deputy Director of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) calls on the people of Phuket to submit pictures and videos of illegal foreign businesses in action.

The island’s Soi Dog Foundation makes a bid to take over the local government dog pound as funding shrinks for it, and conditions deteriorate for the dogs inside. Last time such an agreement was proposed it was decided that it would not be appropriate for an NGO to run a government establishment on government land. A decision has still not been made.

Thailand’s first real third-generation (3G) mobile broadband service is introduced.

JUNE

Twelve hotels in Karon, Kata and Kamala complain en masse to the Damrongtham Centre – twice – that they have been threatened by “taxi mafia” who sit at the entrances to the hotels and regard guests as their “property”.

The island comes to a standstill as heavy rains lead to flooding in Patong and Phuket Town, yet again.

Vasiliy Tubaev, a visitor from Russia, has a gun pointed at his head by a Thai man, in what appears to be a misunderstanding over a Thai woman in Phuket. He captures the entire thing on video, which then goes viral on the internet.

Tough points about tourist safety and fair treatment of visitors are made when 17 ambassadors from the European Union meet with Phuket Governor Maitree Intusut.

Two hundred tuk-tuk drivers drive their vehicles to Phuket Provincial Hall to protest against a growing problem of “black” tuk-tuks stealing their business.

Warning that Phuket “is now a place tourists are unlikely to visit for a second time,” Vice-Governor Jamroen Thipayapongthada announces that “tuk-tuks, taxis, motorcycles and businesses along the beach must be brought into line”.

JULY

Laguna Phuket announces a significant restructure, with one of the company’s – and the island’s – best known figures, Destination Marketing chief Debbie Dionysius, leaving the company along with many others.

Phuket, along with Pattaya, is to get a Centre for Control of Organised Crime, the director of the DSI announces.

On July 19, the island’s new bus service makes its first run from Phuket International Airport to Patong. It is still in service.

Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkhaosutthirak gives people found to be polluting Klong Bang Tao one last chance to clean up, but warns that if they continue to ignore official requests to change their ways they will face prosecution.

Bangladeshi freighter MV Hope capsises south of Phuket, leaving 11 crew missing.

Six different possibilities for a proposed new underpass or overpass are mooted in an effort to solve the traffic jams at Chalong circle. Plans are still under consideration.

The case of disappeared American Brett Bean, who had not been in contact with his distraught family for six months, is called off after he finally phones home.

AUGUST

The Phuket News reports on how Thai women are being scammed by foreign men they meet on the internet and fall in love with. The story attracts attention across Thailand. The scam is similar to the classic “Nigerian scam” whereby victims are offered a share of huge amounts of money if they first pay an “administration fee”. Fraudsters seduce their credulous victims over several months.

One of Patong’s best known characters, Paul Gibson of the Yorkshire Inn, dies of a stroke in Britain on August 19.

Phuket’s new Tiger Kingdom opens in Kathu, sparking discussion over animal rights.

SEPTEMBER

Popstar Rihanna comes to town and creates a media storm. She is photographed with a endangered loris on Bangla Rd and tweets about watching a sex show, making international media headlines. Authorities launch into damage control.

American drug lord Joseph Hunter is arrested at his rented Kathu house – along with five alleged accomplices caught elsewhere – and they are all deported from Thailand.

Phuket’s Honorary Consul for Australia Larry Cunningham announces he won’t be renewing his contract, and steps down after nine years in the position.

The Operations Division Manager of Central Festival Phuket Preecha Ritthiratree admits he’s ‘scared’ of tackling rebellious taxi drivers operating at the mall.

Phuket’s new Tourist Court opens, as well as the new Sunday Walking Street in the Old Town.

OCTOBER

October brought the biggest news story of the year, the SuperCheap fire of October 16. The iconic store on Thepkrassatri Road is reduced to its steel framework in minutes, attracting the attention of the whole island as smoke billows high into the sky – a spoof Russian-language Facebook post describes it as a volcano causing a mini-panic.

Oleg Fomenko shines a bad light on the island’s Russian expat community after he is arrested for smashing an abbot statue at Wat Karon and trying to steal a truck using a crowbar. A group of Russians and the Russian Deputy Honorary Consul in Phuket, Santi Udomkiratak, later deliver B310,000 in compensation to the temple.

Language schools are required to fill out a more in-depth form for visitors applying for education visas from November 1, as part of attempts by Immigration to control the number of people working illegally in Phuket.

Phuket Police launch a new Tourist Care project, and plans for a new mass transit system connecting Phuket and Surat Thani are announced.

NOVEMBER

Bangkok’s political protests against the government led by Yingluck Shinawatra come to Phuket, with large crowds assembling at Phuket’s Provincial Hall, effectively closing it. The hall and other government departments remain closed for around a week.

British kick boxer Lee ‘Pitbull’ Aldhouse – the first Briton to be extradited to Thailand since the two countries signed an extradition treaty 101 years ago – is sentenced to 25 years in jail for the murder of American Marine Dashawn Longfellow. Longfellow’s family say the sentence is not nearly enough.

A rogue crocodile is spotted in the water off Mai Khao beach, closing it for swimming while locals and authorities hunt for it. Weeks later there are no more sightings and the croc is presumed dead.

German Honorary Consul Dirk Naumann announces his retirement after almost 12 years in the position.

Around 40 boats, including several high profile yachts, are left severely damaged after a freak storm with high seas batters Phuket.

DECEMBER

Two Colombians and a Mexican are arrested in Bangkok after breaking into a Patong ATM and stealing B200,000.

Former Tourist Police Volunteer Garry Halpin from New Zealand is arrested after being caught with 18 grammes of crystal methamphetamine (ya ice).

Six-year-old Natthapa “Nong Dear” Tubkaew goes missing in Chalong. Remains are found several weeks later and are taken for DNA testing.

Phuket Immigration deny rules have changed regarding Thailand’s retirement visas, and instead say that the current rules will be more strictly monitored.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/2013-year-in-review-a-look-back-at-phukets-top-stories-43738.php


-- Phuket News 2013-12-30

[Blindside]

If I hear 89.5 FM do this review one more time I think I am going to fall off a balcony or stab myself in the back or something.