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Public hearings on reform to start on December 27
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Public hearings on reform to start on December 27 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Legislative Assembly will commence public hearings on national reform and reconciliation in the northeastern provinces of Mukdahan and Bueng Karn in late December. Under the process, NLA vice president…
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Hong Kong police clash with protesters near financial district
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hong Kong protesters clash with police near heart of financial district Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists clashed with police early on Monday as they tried to encircle government headquarters, defying orders from authorities to retreat after more than two months…
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Debt collectors arrested in police corruption scandal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two civilians arrested in CIB chief graft case The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The roundup of accomplices of the former Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) chief facing corruption probe continues with the arrests of two civilians yesterday and the scheduled surrender today of two soldiers to…
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Here they come! Big guns line up for Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
PHUKET: Neil Pryde’s Hi-Fi and Frank Pong’s Jelik, both out of Hong Kong, are lined up to go head to head in the leading racing division of the King’s Cup Regatta 2014, which begins in earnest on Monday. Looking to cause an upset are Karl Kwok’s Team Beau Geste and Ahern, Bailey, Wilmer’s Oi!, both from Australia. Fellow Aussie Ray…
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Land-grab probe off Phuket mired in claims
PHUKET: A team of police officers from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NED) arrived on Koh Naka, off the east coast of Phuket, yesterday to investigate a complaint of illegal encroachment on public land. However, the officers, led by Lt Col Sutthinan Kongchamdee, found themselves amid a confounding spat over private land leased out by the same…
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From Sweden with love: Cyclists on final stretch to Phuket tsunami orphanage
PHUKET: A group of cyclists raising funds for a post-tsunami orphanage are on the final stretch toward Phuket after having departed Sweden in March. Calle Wollgard and his team have already conquered 18 countries (including Iran), almost 16,000 kilometers of questionable roads, insane traffic, mountain passes, visa issues and countless other unexpected setbacks that lurk within the pages of an…
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Phuket beach club to be demolished
PHUKET: The owners of five businesses at Nai Yang Beach have been given just 11 days to pull down their buildings – or else have the might of a military-backed demolition team do it for them. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak issued the deadline at a meeting on Thursday, when he explained that the Court of Appeal had dismissed the…
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American arrested for sex crimes in Thailand and the US
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community American arrested for sex crimes in Thailand and the US The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police have arrested an American man for sex crimes allegedly committed in the United States and Thailand. Thomas Andrew Erickson, 47, who is also known as Andrew McLean or Barry…
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Phuket Highways Office to target illegal roadside advertising
PHUKET: The growing number of unsightly roadside advertising signs illegally erected on government land will be pulled down, confirmed a Phuket official today. The news flies in the face of reports that all billboards along Phuket’s roadsides will be pulled down. “I have already discussed the problem of haphazardly erected signs beside Phuket’s roads with Governor Nisit Jansomwong,” Samak Luedwonghad,…
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Phuket man robbed of B1mn worth of amulets
PHUKET: A local resident is pleading with police to track down those responsible for stealing amulets and other valuables worth more than 1 million baht from his home in Chalong last week. Charoen Chamnanyon, 56, even put a large, vinyl sign in front of his house on Soi Chao Fa 45 addressing the thieves. It reads: “To my dearest thieves…
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Navy backs Patong jet-ski plan as model for Phuket
PHUKET: Patong’s management system for jet-skis will be the model for the rest of Phuket, the Royal Thai Navy announced yesterday. “Zones separating swimmers from jet-skis will be applied in Patong first, and then at other beaches on the island,” said Vice Admiral Sayan Prasongsamrej, commander of the Royal Thai Navy’s Third Area Command. “The order has already been signed…
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Phuket King’s Cup: The countdown is on (video)
PHUKET: The countdown to the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2014 is on, with official sail measurement for boats entering the annual beginning this morning. A total of 150 boats from 40 countries are registered to take part in the annual regatta, which will begin off Kata Beach on Monday and conclude on December 6. Competing sailors come from the USA,…
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Phuket sailors head for Platu Trans World Invitational
PHUKET: Fresh from his team’s 2014 Platu One Design Championship victory, Kingdom Property helmsman Scott Duncanson has announced his intention to compete in the Platu Trans World Invitational. Held from March 18-22 out of the Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, up to 20 crews will compete for the internationally recognized trophy. Five European teams have entered, including current world…
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Phuket health officials: no need to panic over plague outbreak
PHUKET: Health officials are urging Phuket residents fearing bubonic plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, not to panic following an outbreak of the deadly disease in Madagascar. Krit Sakulpat, deputy chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO), confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that his office has not been alerted to the Madagascan plague endemic by the Ministry of…
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Abuse against women on the rise: study
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Abuse against women on the rise: study The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Moves to stem the rising incidents of violence against women have not succeeded and in Thailand there are almost 100 abuse cases reported daily, with most of the attackers a partner or family…
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Deep South death sentences prompt fears of attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Deep South death sentences prompt fears of attacks The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Security officers were tightening security across the deep South amid fears of retaliatory attacks by insurgents following the Pattani Provincial Court’s verdict on Wednesday sentencing five men to deaths for their roles…
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Elections ‘unlikely before 2016’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Elections ‘unlikely before 2016’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The next general election could be delayed by a year, two top ministers said yesterday. In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Finance Minister Sommai Phasi said bringing back democracy any time before mid-2016 was…
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Evidence mounts against 3 DSI agents in police graft scandal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Evidence mounts against 3 DSI agents in police graft scandal The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Three DSI agents have been incriminated in the probe of the petrol-smuggling ring in the Deep South allegedly involving former crime-buster policeman Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan. Suwana Suwanjuta, director-general of…
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Video Report: Dutch diplomat poses tough questions to Phuket Governor
PHUKET: The Dutch Ambassador to Thailand posed some tough questions during a visit with the new governor yesterday, honing in on the island’s biggest problems and the future of Phuket’s tourism sector. Due to numerous complaints that have streamed in to the Embassy from Dutch tourists visiting the island recently, Ambassador Joan Boer focused mainly on the high cost of…
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Testing reveals “female’ body washed up on Surin Beach is male
PHUKET: The unidentified body initially reported to be that of a woman found washed up on Surin Beach in September has turned out to be that of a man, police revealed to the Phuket Gazette today. “DNA testing has now confirmed that this is the body of a man – not a woman,” Lt Jeerasak Sungwisut of the Cherng Talay…
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Challenge Laguna Phuket ready to break records (video)
PHUKET: A record 900 participants have registered to take part in the second annual Challenge Laguna Phuket triathlon on Sunday. The event’s inaugural edition launched last year with 602 entrants signing up to complete the 1.9 kilometer swim, 90km bike ride and 21km run. The Challenge Laguna Phuket triathlon will bring to a close the iconic week-long “Challenge Laguna Phuket…
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Opinion: Beware of deadly little worms, Phuket
PHUKET: I am surprised that the Department of Disease Control does not inform the public of or educate it about the dangers of eating raw foods. There is a disease, called gnathostomiasis, caused by a nasty little worm that is ingested by eating raw or partially cooked foods, particularly freshwater fish and crustaceans, but also eels, frogs, birds and reptiles.…
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Australian cricketer Hughes dies after being hit by ball
PHUKET: Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died in a Sydney hospital on Thursday, two days after being struck by a ball that led to a “catastrophic” injury which caused “massive” bleeding to his brain and ultimately proved fatal. The international batsman was struck on the neck by a short-pitched delivery when batting in a domestic match on Tuesday, with the force…
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Body of Caucasian man found floating off Phuket beach
PHUKET: Officers are attempting to identify the body of a Caucasian man found floating in the sea off Phuket this morning. The body was spotted by Chaimongkol Yaemaroonpattana, a Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) officer, while he was patrolling the waters near Kata Beach. “I saw the body floating about one kilometer from shore. My colleagues and I retrieved it,…
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Brakes not to blame for fatal car plunge from Bangkok mall car park: expert
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Brakes not to blame for fatal car plunge from Bangkok mall car park: expert The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Brake failure has been ruled out as a likely cause behind a fatal accident at a Bangkok shopping mall on Tuesday, a police expert has reported.…
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Five more caught in police graft scandal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Five more caught in police graft scandal The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Five civilians accused of involvement in the corruption scheme engulfing crime buster Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan have been apprehended and are going through the criminal process, National police chief Gen Somyot Poompanmoung said…
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British man arrested in Udon for sex offences in the UK
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community British man arrested in Udon for sex offences in the UK The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A British man, wanted for 17 counts of sexual violation and molesting girls under 14 in the United Kingdom, was arrested on Tuesday at a local school in Kumphawapi…
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Military units to be opened for sale of cheap goods and ‘freebies’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Military units to be opened for sale of cheap goods and ‘freebies’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday he would open all military units in Bangkok and encourage business operators to hand out “freebies” to the public in the New…
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36 ‘illegal’ resorts face demolition in Thap Lan National Park
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 36 ‘illegal’ resorts face demolition in Thap Lan National Park The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thap Lan National Park officials set up signs early yesterday warning that 36 resorts allegedly encroaching on the park will be demolished, despite reports of officers being threatened while putting…
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Phuket’s new vice governors to arrive on Monday
PHUKET: Two senior officials will arrive in Phuket on Monday to start their new roles as vice governors, providing Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong with his full complement of three deputies. According to the official order published by the Ministry of Interior, Phuket’s new vice governors are Suthee Thongyam and Pranrob Singhasanee. Mr Suthee was promoted from his post as Provincial…
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