News
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Sponsored Mark One Tailor: The best bespoke tailor in Khao Lak
When it comes to high-quality bespoke tailoring in Khao Lak, Mark One Tailor stands out as one of the most trusted names. With decades of experience, this tailor shop has built a solid reputation for exceptional craftsmanship, premium fabrics, and...
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Off-duty cop accused of Phuket shooting kicked off police force
PHUKET: The off-duty police officer accused of shooting a man dead in Phuket Town on May 5 has been kicked off the police force, but has yet to face charges for the killing. Rachaporn Semaksorn was discharged from the Royal Thai Police about a month ago after months of being relegated to desk duties, Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Kittipong Klaikaew…
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On-board CCTV snaps Phi Phi “iPirates’ stealing tourist laptop
PHUKET: Two ferry crewmen were arrested and charged yesterday after CCTV evidence showed the pair stealing a laptop computer from a tourist travelling on their boat. The victim, 31-year-old Australian national Evan Russell Darnley-Pentes, was returning with a friend from Phi Phi Island on Sunday when the theft occurred. However, it was only after his return to Rassada Pier that…
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World News: Deputy al-Qaeda leader killed in Yemen, US drone suspected used
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yemeni forces kill deputy regional head of al-Qaeda Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Saudi national Said al-Shihri, who was previously released from Guantanamo Bay and later became the deputy commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been killed by Yemeni troops during a military…
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Road safety campaign to slash Phuket death toll to 50 per year
PHUKET: Officials are moving ahead with a campaign to reduce the number of deaths on Phuket’s roads to just 50 per year within the next three years. Last year, 116 died in road accidents in Phuket. The move is part of a nationwide campaign to reduce the road accident death toll in conjunction with the United Nations’ “Decade of Action…
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Phuket Governor to retire September 30, but replacement yet to be named
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha is set to retire from civil service on September 30, just 19 days away, but his replacement has yet to be named, the Phuket Gazette has learned.Governor Tri took up the position of Governor of Phuket on October 1, 2010, but had already served as a Phuket Vice Governor for four years following a posting…
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Phuket Sports: ASC’s final ride at Quiksilver Open Phuket
PHUKET: The Quiksilver Open surf contest is back in town with surfers streaming in from all over the world. Patong Beach, the most popular in Phuket, will host professional surfers from all over Asia, from Wednesday to Sunday. This year’s tournament has been upgraded to a 6-Star, dual-sanctioned competition and Asian surfers are expected to turn out in force. They…
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New B153mn indoor sports center opens in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Sports fans and spectators packed the 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex at Saphan Hin to the rafters on Saturday for the new venue’s official opening ceremony. Built on 207 rai at a cost of about 153 million baht, the center was first used for the 28th National Youth Games, dubbed the “Phuket Games”, held on the island earlier this year.…
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Central Festival Phuket set to expand to east, not south
PHUKET: The rumor that Central Festival Phuket is intending to expand onto 30 rai of land that is currently home to the Thainaan Restaurant on Wichit Songkhram Road has been dismissed by a company spokesman.Speaking to the Phuket Gazette, Lertwit Bhumipitak, the business development Deputy Managing Director for Central Retail Cooperation Co Ltd, said that the company had no plans…
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“I honestly can’t believe I won…”
“I honestly can’t believe I won. I was preparing my runner-up speech because she was playing so great.” PHUKET: American Serena Williams won her 15th Grand Slam singles title and became the first woman over 30 to win the US Open since Martina Navratilova in 1987. Williams beat world number-one Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted…
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Phuket Live Wire: A galaxy of pads, a clamour of nooks and an army of androids
PHUKET: Welcome to the third of four installments in my ongoing series about where the computer industry is headed as we barrel along to the Christmas season. If you are thinking about buying any new electronics – computer, tablet, phone, maybe even a TV – it would be worthwhile to stay on top of developments between now and Christmas. Some…
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Death of German woman ‘natural’, say Phuket Police
PHUKET: Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a foreign woman found dead in her Phuket villa yesterday morning. Cherng Talay Police inspector Sarubadee Butranongsaeng told the Phuket Gazette that the woman was found dead by her husband at her home in Baan Layan. He named the deceased as German national Maria Makeenta, as identified by her…
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Phuket Business: Taking care of your parents
PHUKET: No, the title of this article isn’t a joke. Obviously, there is a big difference in cultural attitudes toward what responsibilities people have when it comes to family. There is no need to discuss this at length. Generally speaking, most Westerners are not under the same pressure to look after their aging family members as most Thais are. But…
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Phuket Business: Thailand – US trade reviving
PHUKET: More than 700 American companies will have a combined investment of US$40 billion – approximately 1.25 trillion baht – in Thailand by the end of 2012, a business leader recently told the Thai government. The president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), Joe Mannix revealed the figure in a speech given at a thank-you function for the government,…
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Phuket’s first underpass to spur new traffic woes
PHUKET: Motorists have been warned to expect major delays when construction begins next month on a 599-million-baht underpass at the Darasamuth Junction, on the bypass road near the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall. Chavalert Lertchavanakul, Project Manager at the Department of Highways’ Bureau of Bridge Construction in Bangkok, broke the news at a meeting in Phuket to finalize areas of…
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Phuket Opinion: Time to roll on traffic law enforcement
PHUKET: Any serious effort to improve road safety in Phuket will need a major shift away from the existing “police checkpoint” method of enforcing traffic law and instead move towards catching violators in the act. Results of a recent Phuket Gazette online poll revealed that three-quarters of those taking part had never been fined for a moving violation of traffic…
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Phuket park raids prompt villagers’ plea to keep road, power supply
PHUKET: A community of farmers living on a road leading into Sirinath Marine National Park, on Phuket’s west coast, have appealed for the road and power supply to their village not be cut off following a police complaint being filed against a nearby villa project for encroaching on national park land. In making the plea, Jaroon Boonchu presented to Sirinath…
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Phuket hacks back drug “growers’ in Thalang
PHUKET: Thalang police and district officers hacked open a path for progress in the war on drugs in Phuket by cutting down more than 60 kratom trees in Srisoonthorn yesterday. Despite the trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been designated a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943.…
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Phuket Sports NFL kicks off
PHUKET: Super Bowl Champs the NY Giants hosted the Cowboys on Wednesday night to kick off the 2012 NFL regular season. These two teams clashed last year during the final game of the 2011 regular season, which decided the winner of the NFC East. New York went on to win that game and gain a wild card birth, which paved…
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Phuket Sports: Rory continues to roar; Golf tip
PHUKET: This week marked the second of golf’s FedEx playoffs, with the PGA’s Deutsche Bank Open at the Tournament Players Club, Boston. The parkland golf course with narrow curving fairways requires more precision than power off the tees and tests players accuracy and short games more than their all out power games. Only 100 players from the FedEx points list…
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Phuket Sports: Italian Grand Prix preview
PHUKET: In my last article I said I thought Hamilton would be a very strong contender at Spa together with Räikkönen, Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button. I said it looked hard for Ferrari and Red Bull to shine, but also said “Who knows“? In the event Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were shunted off the…
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Phuket Park chief files complaint against “Encroacher No 5′
PHUKET: The new chief of Sirinath National Park, Cheewapap Cheewatham, has filed a police complaint against another landowner for allegedly encroaching on national park land. The complaint, against the fifth landowner of the 10 plots raided on August 15, accused two companies of encroaching on five rai of state forest land. The two companies are allegedly controlled by the same…
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Wives bet in deadly drunken takraw match
PHUKET: A drunken takraw match, the renowned game of “foot volleyball” using a rattan ball, got out of hand in Rayong early last month after construction workers bet their own wives as collateral during the game. When a fight broke out and one member of the group pulled out a gun, the weapon went off, hitting a 27-year-old woman in…
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Phuket gets ready for tourism boom with “Big Cleaning Day’
PHUKET: The three district offices covering the entire island staged cleanups at public areas across Phuket yesterday as part of the “Big Cleaning Day” initiative. More than 500 people, including government officers, staff from private businesses as well as local students and residents, gathered at Saphan Hin Park in Phuket Town, where the Muang District Office held its activity under…
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Phuket ocean trash inflicting mayhem on turtles
PHUKET: A turtle with one flipper severed and another suffering a deep cut inflicted by discarded fishing nets was recovered from Karon Beach yesterday. The discovery brought to 24 the total number of turtles rescued from Phuket and Phang Nga beaches in the past two months alone. Lifeguards patrolling Karon Beach found the turtle stranded in the sand near Karon…
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Thai Smile launches new Phuket routes
PHUKET: Thai Smile Air, the new regional sub-brand of Thai Airways International (THAI), will launch daily direct flight services from Phuket to Bangkok and Chiang Mai starting next month. Prasert Tanhansa, manager of the THAI district sales office in Phuket Town, announced the new flights yesterday.“We are going to start one daily round-trip from Phuket-Chiang Mai-Phuket and Phuket-Bangkok-Phuket on October…
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Asean in Phuket: Immigration to launch fast-track entry for tourists
PHUKET: The Commissioner of the Thai Immigration Bureau has announced that a new automated entry system will be installed at all airports in the country, including Phuket. The system will allow passengers to enter the country without having to endure long immigration lines.The technology, called “Advance Passenger Processing” system, or “APP”, will be installed at all international airports in Thailand…
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Patong Hospital staff get wet for fire safety
PHUKET: As the rain continued to drench Phuket, staff at Patong Hospital this afternoon staged their annual fire and evacuation drill. “The exercise simulated a fire starting in a medical storeroom in a building next to the inpatient ward. The flames spread into the recovery ward, forcing us to evacuate the entire inpatient building,” explained Hospital Director Phumin Silapunt. As…
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Phuket baby elephant probe sparks raids
PHUKET: The inspection of elephant camps in Southern Thailand, geared to ensure that all pachyderms on the premises are legal, started on Monday and will include searches of the locations in Phuket where elephants were seized earlier this year. “We received an order on Monday from National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department [DNP] Director-General Damrong Phidet to send Regional…
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“It’s a huge challenge…”
“It’s a huge challenge – probably the biggest I have ever undertaken, especially in such a short timeframe”. PHUKET: The 34-year-old former England cricketer, Andrew Flintoff, has been training with boxing legend Barry McGuigan and his son Shane McGuigan in preperation for his boxing debut on November 30. The popular 6’4 cricket legend is yet to announce his heavyweight opponent…
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ASEAN in Phuket: Australians to assist handling of Rohingya landings in Thailand
PHUKET: The Commissioner of the Thai Immigration Bureau announced yesterday that immigration officials from Australia will assist Thai officials in their handling of ethnic Rohingya refugees who enter Thai territorial waters illegally.“They have a serious problem with Rohingya and Sri Lankans illegally entering their country,” Lt Gen Wiboon Bangphamai explained to the meeting of ASEAN immigration chiefs held at the…
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