‘Farang’ robs Karon bank
KARON: Despite an intensive manhunt, police have yet to apprehend the Caucasian man who held up the Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) branch on Patak Rd in Karon on June 28, getting away with 420,000 baht in cash.

Sultan afloat!
PATONG: Eleven days after the 38-foot sailboat Sultan beached at the south end of Patong during a storm, salvage efforts at high tide around noon June 30 finally saw her afloat and sailing for safer waters.

Phuket to have biggest aquarium in SE Asia
BANGKOK (Nation, Gazette): Ripley Entertainment, operator of Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, plans to build and open a 2.1-billion-baht aquarium in Phuket within three years.

OrBorJor closer to buying Phyathai hospital building
PHUKET CITY: After years of failed negotiations, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has obtained permission to buy the abandoned Phyathai Phuket Hospital building and re-open it as a hospital with public organization status.

‘Slim’ survival odds for beached dolphins
PHUKET: Two gravely ill dolphins were taken to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) after washing ashore in separate incidents, the first at Karon Beach on July 1 and the second in Phang Nga’s Tai Muang District the next morning.

Experts to head Phuket property forum
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Real Estate Club (PREC) and Delice Thai Co Ltd will host a forum titled “Problems and Solutions in the Phuket Real Estate Market” on Saturday, July 14.

Phuket art gallery gutted by fire
PHUKET CITY: Firefighters were called to Phang Nga Rd June 28 after flames engulfed the 111 Phuket Art Gallery building, destroying up to 50 paintings on sale at prices ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 baht each.

Mixed messages from tsunami drills
PHUKET CITY: Mock tsunami evacuations at Baan Laem Tukkae and Saphan Hin were staged on June 29 and 30, but with voice announcements that could not be understood and firetruck sirens instead of the tsunami warning towers alarms.

Thai E-passport clinic to come to Phuket
PHUKET: The Thai Consul Department will hold a mobile service center at Central Festival Phuket for Thai nationals to apply for “e-passports” from July 27 to August 4.

Rotting corpse found in Thalang
THALANG: Police made a grim discovery on morning of June 25, when they found the badly decomposed body of an unidentified man lying in a ditch.