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TANYALUK ‘MANGO’ SAKOOT
No deal in Patong bottle-slash talks Nattha Thepbamrung reporter2@thephuketnews.com
A
negotiation session between an Iranian man and his Peruvian fiancée, and a Thai man who had his face badly slashed in an nasty altercation in Phuket on Monday night (January 7) failed to reach a conclusion on Wednesday (January 9). The negotiations were called at Kathu police station between Iranian Sina Khalilifard, 30, and his fiancée Liselotte Diehl, 34, on one side, and on the other Mohamat Manot, 21, who ended up with 36 stitches in his face after a fight in the car park next to the Tai Pan bar in Patong. Ms Diehl was at the police station on Wednesday with her translator and a representative from the Iran embassy, Suppawat Watchara, while Mr Mohamat went with a colleague from the Patong Parking Lot, Wichai Saisamut, and his lawyer, Sarawut Sukban. Mr Khalilifard was still in the cells – he was released on bail after the negotiations took place. Mr Wichai said he had been involved in the incident since it started with Mr Khalilifard parking his rented jeep in their parking area and blocking the way. Mr Khalilifard said he left the car with Ms Diehl sitting alone in it. He said one of his colleagues tried to tell Ms Diehl to move the car but she refused to, so the colleague climbed in with the intention of mov-
091 034 2291 reporter4@thephuketnews.com
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ing it a couple of metres so that it was no longer blocking the way. “When my friend tried to move the car, she started to hit him with a full large beer bottle,” Mr Wichai said. He said that when Mr Khalilifard returned to the car and heard what had happened, he became angry. “He pushed my friend,” he said. “Then, Mohamat went to separate them but the man attacked him. “When my friend and I saw that we ran to them. When the man saw us, he maybe thought we were about to attack him so he started to run away. “Then he came back with a broken beer bottle he had found in the road. People from around the area helped us to restrain him. Also, he punched a policeman who intervened.
Mobile calls capped at 99 satang a minute THE NATIONAL BROADcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has capped domestic mobile phone call charges at 99 satang a minute from January 1. NBTC member Prawit Leesatapornwongsa explained that mobile phone service providers are now not allowed to charge more than 99 satang a minute for any domestic call. He said the fee cap was originally due to take effect on April 4 last year, but mobile service operators were allowed to charge existing fees until contracts with clients expired. The new rule takes promotional packages into account, meaning mobile operators will be in violation of the law if fees for packages average higher than B0.99 a minute. NNT
Power bills to go up T H E E N ERGY R EGUlatory Commission (ERC) has increased the fuel tariff rate (FT) on electricity, which will result in higher power bills from this month on. ERC Chairman Direk Lavansiri said from January to April, consumers will have to pay B3.76 per unit of electricity used, an increase of 4 satang, or 1.1 per cent. The FT, which is added to the standard rate for electricity, rises (or, theoretically, falls) depending on international oil prices. NNT
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NATTHA ‘KAMIN’ THEPBAMRUNG
A heavily bandaged Mohamat Manot attends the negotiation sessions.
Ms Diehl told The Phuket News a different story. She said that she and her fiancé do not drink alcohol because they are Muslim – which proved there could have been no bottle of beer in their jeep. “He parked the car and told them that he would come back very soon, then he went to buy a kebab nearby,” Ms Diehl said. “I was scared when 10 men asked me to move the car. One of them started to get into the car and the others tried to push it. I begged them not to move the car because I was afraid it might be damaged and I told them my boyfriend was coming back very soon. But they shouted and threatened me.” When her boyfriend came back and was angry, “they knocked him to the ground and I saw him bleeding. “I think he tried to protect himself and he managed to reach the bottle. He lashed out in the chaos and hit the man in the cheek.” By this time police had arrived, breaking up the fight and putting Mr Khalilifard in handcuffs. Mr Mohamat was rushed to hospital. His lawyer has demanded B1 million compensation for his client but after an hour’s negotiations no agreement could be reached. “If the negotiations over the damages do not result in agreement, the case will have to go to court,” said Mr Suppawat. He added that the embassy would provide a lawyer for Mr Khalilifard.
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