Phuket Gazette � Queernews

Tiger pelts gone to the dogs

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 9:53:0 GMT

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: More than 200 tiger skins seized near Khao Yai National Park recently weren�t quite what they first seemed: examination revealed that the majority actually came from dogs and cows and had been painted with stripes.

The 204 animal pelts were seized from a temple in Pak Chong District by officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) on February 12.

The officers were acting on a tip-off from locals who saw a suspicious number of animal pelts being dried in Wat Simalai Songdhamma. ... Full story

HIgh on human ashes

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:3:0 GMT

NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: In the latest drug craze to hit the south, youths in Nakhon Sri Thammarat�s Muang District are reportedly drinking a concoction that includes the ashes of recently-cremated corpses and extract from leaves of the krathom tree.

�Phon�, a 17-year-old from Muang District, said he and his gang of about 10 friends had tried every known concoction of krathom leaf available until they stumbled upon the new formula.

The mixture is made by boiling the leaves and then adding ashes taken from beneath funeral pyres following cremation ceremonies. ... Full story

Cell phone fears grip the North

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 11:13:0 GMT

CHIANG MAI: People in Northern Thailand have been afraid to answer their cellphones in recent weeks, following claims that calls from certain numbers cause instant brain haemorrhages.

People are warning each other to watch out for numbers containing the sequence 3333. If the gossip is to be believed, when calls from the numbers are answered the phones send out a high frequency signal causing blood to explode out of the ear. ... Full story

Pad Thai feast turns fatal

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:41:0 GMT

PHETCHABURI: A pensioner died on stage after choking on a clump of noodles while participating in a pad thai eating contest.

Until his collapse, sixty-six-year-old Hing Laichan was leading the competition on his second plate of the famous fried noodle dish, nationalistically named by prime minister Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram during the World War II era.

Onlookers took Mr Hing down from the stage and rushed him to hospital, but doctors were unable to save him. ... Full story

Naked intruder gets painful lesson

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:46:0 GMT

NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A would-be rapist got his comeuppance on January 7, when he climbed naked through the wrong window and met his intended victim�s mother � meat cleaver in hand.

Twenty-eight-year-old villager Phongphetch Bunyadisak climbed through the window of a home in his village in Muang District, allegedly after the prize-winning teenage schoolgirl who lived there.

When he crawled under the mosquito net on the ground floor however, he found not the young girl he had hoped for but her 52-year-old mother, Phimphimon Phetchcharoen. ... Full story

Friendly frogs draw tourists to temple

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 12:32:0 GMT

AYUDHAYA: Tourists have been flocking to a temple in the old capital district to get close to a group of tame frogs that have taken up residence in a lotus pond.

The frogs sit happily on lotus leaves, allowing tourists to stroke and play with them. They even allow photos to be taken, free-of-charge. ... Full story

Wrong corpse: cremation cut short

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 9:35:0 GMT

ANG THONG: A funeral was called to an abrupt halt on December 12 after mourners opened the coffin just before the cremation was to begin and realized they were about to burn the wrong corpse.

The funeral was ostensibly for 39-year-old Prachuap Arachon, found dead of apparent heart failure in Chachoengsao at the end of October.

Finding Mr Prajuap�s ID card on the body, Chachoengsao Police managed to track down who they thought were the dead man�s relatives in Ang Thong and arrange for the body to be returned home. ... Full story

Domestic dispute turns explosive

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 10:48:0 GMT

TRAT: A quarry worker and his wife were blown up after the man apparently detonated a quantity of C-4 plastic explosive during a domestic dispute on November 19. The blast, heard for up to 50km away, had villagers fearfing an invasion by the Cambodian army.

Police and rescue workers found the house of Phen Buntham, 42, and his wife Saijai Buntham completely destroyed by the blast. ... Full story

Fear of girlfriend leads to death plunge

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:46:0 GMT

BANGKOK: A man fell to his death November 15 as he tried to lower himself onto the balcony of his fifth floor flat � rather than go in through the front door and meet his angry girlfriend.

The body of 29-year-old Surasak Kasan was found lying on the ground under the balcony of his apartment in Din Daeng. He had some television aerial cable wrapped around his leg. ... Full story

Canine caper leaves cleric in coma

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 9:53:0 GMT

PITSANULOKE: An errant monk was caught in a compromising position on November 5 after he suffered a stroke while having sex with a temple dog behind Sam Toei Temple in Wat Thong District.

Villagers were drawn to the scene by the howls of protest from the dog, which the monk had lashed to a tree.

After seeing the monk in flagrante delicto with the heavily pregnant Thai Bangkaew dog, villagers called the police. ... Full story

Beeswax boost for beef bayonet

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:57:0 GMT

LAMPANG: Youths in the North have found a dangerous new way to impress the ladies: a home-made penis enlargement therapy using beeswax.

The new trend came to light when a 21-year-old unnamed man checked into hospital at the end of October with a badly infected member.

The man sheepishly told doctors that he had injected his penis with warm beeswax to pump it up to a more impressive size. ... Full story

Snake bite saves man�s life

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 14:20:0 GMT

SRISAKET: A one-legged fisherman fought off two ten-foot pythons he caught in his net by biting them in the throat.

Fifty-six-year-old Chachawan Chaowaphithikul said the snakes attacked him when he tried to free them from his net.

Mr Chachawan said he placed the net in a brook near his house every day. ... Full story

Headless baby draws crowds

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:13:0 GMT

NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A family in Ron Phibun District have set up a shrine to house the body of a stillborn headless baby.

The baby was the second of a pair of twin girls born to 30-year-old Saijai Sriraksa on October 14.

After the first healthy twin was born, doctors noticed Mrs Saijai still had a lump in her abdomen. ... Full story

Loan shark shaken by suicide cell

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 17:1:0 GMT

BANGKOK: A loan shark found the police were the least of his worries after being detained in a haunted cell.

On September 1, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers arrested Sombun Thong-kham, 39, for extortion and unauthorized money lending, and placed him in custody at CSD headquarters on Phahonyothin Rd.

Around 3am the following morning, the duty sergeant heard Mr Sombun screaming for help from his cell. ... Full story

Drunk driver chows on cops

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 16:47:0 GMT

UDON THANI: A drunk driver bit two police officers who asked him to take a breathalyser test.

Police said salesman Chatsak Ploicharoen, 36, was weaving all over the road as he drove his pickup truck towards a police checkpoint in Udon Thani.

Police signaled for him to stop, but he drove straight through the checkpoint. ... Full story