Month: February 2011

  • Phuket News

    UK Ambassador puts Phuket safety on common agenda

    PHUKET: UK Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahmad met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha this afternoon to discuss a slew of issues affecting British residents and tourists, with the aim of working together with local authorities to boost safety on the island. “We have 850,000 British tourists who visit Thailand every year. I’ll say up to half come to Phuket… The majority…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket cobras running out of room, into houses

    PHUKET: A family in Phuket had their regular laid-back Saturday evening rudely interrupted by a cobra trying to enter their home. “We had dinner with family and friends in the garden near the pool. After dinner, my wife, Nongyao, cleared the table, and on her way back to the kitchen she encountered a snake,” explained Lothar Schudt, who has lived…

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  • Phuket News

    Controversy reigns as FC Phuket drops league points at home

    PHUKET: FC Phuket’s first Thai League Division 1 home game of the season ended in frustration as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Rajpracha FC at Surakul Stadium on Saturday evening. In front of a crowd of over 2000, Phuket couldn’t do enough to prevail over a team intent on clinching a draw. The visitors brought howls from…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket beaches left unguarded

    PHUKET: The Phuket Lifeguard Club’s contract to protect the island’s beaches expired on Friday, leaving tourists to swim unprotected in seas that claimed many lives last year. On Saturday, staff removed their equipment from the beaches. The 9.9-million-baht contract to guard the beaches is put out on an annual tender, which critics claim is too short a period of time.…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket Live Wire: When good lines go bad

    PHUKET: International internet speeds in Phuket have been surprisingly good this week, with TOT finally recovering from whatever was ailing it last week. TOT Fiber Optic is only marginally faster than 3BB’s 12Mbps line or True’s 10Mbps line – at five times the cost. True “3G” HSPA continues to run very fast, but only on the extreme west coast of…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket to survey options for burying beach-front power lines

    PHUKET: Patong Municipality has approved a feasibility survey for a project to bury power and telephone lines along the road at Phuket’s most popular beach. The 8-million-baht study should take eight months to complete and work on the first phase of the project should be completed by 2013. The road project, called Route A, will run along Patong Beach and…

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  • Opinion

    Phuket Opinion: Bull elephants should be banned from Thai tourism

    PHUKET: The terrible stomping death of a Swiss tourist by a berserk male elephant last week once again underscores the need to restrict tourism work to female elephants, as many operators who provide these services already do. (See story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full issue.) Riding through the jungle on the…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket Readers’ poll results: Phuket is safe | Thaiger

    Phuket Readers’ poll results: Phuket is safe

    PHUKET: Phuket is a safe place to visit or live, a majority of Phuket Gazette readers believe. A recent Gazette readers’ poll asked the question: “All things considered, do you think Phuket is a safe place to visit and live?” Overall, just under 63% of the people who took part answered that Phuket is “very safe” or “fairly safe”, compared…

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  • Thai Life

    Phuket’s little Bird on the water paddles her heart out

    PHUKET: Rapturous applause and the roar of fog horns at Yacht Haven Marina signaled the end of 11-year-old Victoria Bird’s epic sea adventure – and a landmark moment in Phuket’s maritime history. Victoria, her Ironman athlete father Les, 59, and kayaking instructor Rob Ford paddled more than 120 kilometers around Phuket, completing the first recorded kayak circumnavigation of the island.…

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  • Phuket News

    “Lucky plates’ rake in millions for Phuket

    PHUKET: The sixth annual “Lucky License Plate Auction” kicked off today at the Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town with the much sought after Kor Nor 9999 plate selling for 1.4 million baht. The numbers “8” and “9” are auspicious numbers according to traditional Thai beliefs. In addition to taking home today’s top seller, motorcycle repair shop owner Jaruk Kaewpunnaray, 30,…

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  • Phuket News

    Motorbike taxi driver dies in Phuket police cell

    PHUKET: After a collision with a pedestrian, a Phuket motorcycle taxi driver was found dead in his cell at Patong Police Station early Thursday morning. Chalee Jampa-ngam, 53, was driving along Phra Barami Road in Patong, looking for custumers, around noon on Wednesday. As he drove past the Government Savings Bank he collided with a pedestrian and fell off the…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket sea kayak guide dies during tour

    PHUKET: Funeral services are being held this morning for a Phuket tour guide who drowned during a kayak tour in Phang Nga Bay yesterday afternoon. The deceased has been identified as 25-year-old Suriyan “Mee Mee” Rachapai, a resident of Ao Por. Mr Suriyan was employed by well-known kayak tour operator John Gray’s Sea Canoe. Mr Suriyan apparently had a diabetic…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket Football: FC Phuket in first home game today

    PHUKET: FC Phuket play host to Rajpracha FC in their first Thai League Division 1 home game of the season at Surakul Stadium this evening. Kickoff is at 6pm. Phuket opened their 2011 campaign in solid fashion two weeks ago when they bagged a deserved share of the spoils away from home against Suphan Buri FC. Phuket missed several chances…

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  • Phuket News

    New regulations to impact Phuket development

    PHUKET: New environmental regulations may significantly affect property developments and land values, leading law experts told those gathered at the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket Chapter’s inaugural 2011 event yesterday. The keynote speakers at the event, entitled “Changes In Greater Phuket Planning and Environmental Regulations”, were Sorachon Boonsong and Kammalard Urapeepatanapong, partners at Baker & McKenzie, and Anurag…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket longtails get new pier at Chalong

    PHUKET: Work on a new pier for longtail boats in Chalong Bay is now about 25 per cent complete and should be finished by the scheduled completion date in late May, the project contractor says.Work on the 11.6-million-baht project, known in Thai as “Saphan Reua Hang Yaow”, is funded by the Ministry of Transport. Wandee Suwanchot, controller of the main…

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  • Phuket News

    Here comes the weekend: Phuket Gazette hits the streets

    PHUKET: This week’s Andaman Edition of the Phuket Gazette goes on sale this afternoon and our Nationwide Edition will be released in Bangkok and placed on board the major international airlines serving Thailand early tomorrow morning. Both editions contain scores of information, all in one place, including: NEWS – Elephant rampage – MP Tossaporn calls for a new hospital in…

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  • Phuket News

    Isarn comes alive in Phuket

    PHUKET: An Isarn (Northeastern Thailand) cultural heritage fair is underway in Phuket with fashion shows and products such as premium Isarn silk on offer. The “Heritage Cultural of Southern E-San” event began yesterday and will run through Monday in the 1st floor Event Hall at HomeWorks on the bypass road. The fair, which features the cultural heritage of Isarn’s Nakhon…

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  • Phuket News

    Woman found unconscious, half-naked on Phuket roadside

    PHUKET: An unconscious woman was found yesterday morning on a Phuket roadside, naked from the waist down with blood pouring from her head. The 58-year-old, whose name is undisclosed, may have been raped, Thalang Police Lt Col Weerayut Sittirattanakul said. At about 5am yesterday, Thalang Police received a report of a woman lying unconscious near a parked motorbike on the…

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  • Phuket News

    Elephant tragedy victim still in Phuket ICU

    PHUKET: All but one of the people injured in the elephant tragedy in Khao Sok National Park on Tuesday have been released from hospital. Christine Colomb of Switzerland remains in the ICU at Bangkok Phuket Hospital. Mrs Colomb met with the Phuket Gazette briefly last night after conducting a telephone interview for the Swiss newspaper Blick. Connected to several tubes…

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  • Phuket News

    Artificial reefs sunk off Phuket’s west coast

    PHUKET: About 200 concrete cubes were sunk in Bang Tao Bay, on Phuket’s west coast, today as the ongoing artificial reef project resumed. The current four-day installment, costing 7.9 million baht, aims is to sink 1,630 concrete cubes by sunset on Monday. The ongoing project is funded by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) and being carried out by the…

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  • Phuket News

    HIV up among Phuket ladyboys

    PHUKET: Increasing sexual activity among the youngest members of Phuket’s transgender community is leading to a worrying rise in HIV infection rates, public health officials say. Dr Sak Tanchaikul, chief of Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO), said he was deeply concerned about HIV infection rates among “men who have sex with men”, which his agency members refer to collectively…

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  • Phuket News

    Exclusive Interview: Scheffczik in Phuket protests his innocence

    PHUKET: Arrested German national Lars Scheffczik denies being involved in an alleged internet scam that defrauded people of about one million euros. Speaking exclusively to the Phuket Gazette from a holding cell at Chalong Police Station, Scheffczik said, “I have never used these people like that.” Scheffczik, 38, was arrested by Phuket Immigration at his home in Rawai on Monday.…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket Blues Rock Festival set for blast off tomorrow

    PHUKET: The Sixth Annual Phuket International Blues Rock Festival is set to rock the island from the moment it starts tomorrow evening. The ten bands come from seven different counties and are among the best in the world of Blues, many honored with multiple awards and nominations. Headliner Curtis Salgado, the man who inspired and mentored John Belushi for his…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket Zoning, Environment rules on firing line at public seminar tomorrow

    PHUKET: The Greater Phuket Chapter of AMCHAM Thailand has organized a seminar on the recent changes to the Planning and Environmental Regulations of both Phuket and Phang Nga.Two keynote speakers, both leading law experts, are featured: Sorachon Boonsong, Partner, Baker & McKenzie Thailand; and Anurag Ramanat, Partner, South Asia Law. Their briefings will be followed by a Question & Answer…

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  • Phuket NewsNew Phuket Zoning and Environment rules on firing line at public seminar tomorrow | Thaiger

    New Phuket Zoning and Environment rules on firing line at public seminar tomorrow

    PHUKET: The Greater Phuket Chapter of AMCHAM Thailand has organized a seminar on the recent changes to the Planning and Environmental Regulations of both Phuket and Phang Nga. Two keynote speakers

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  • Phuket News

    Another Phuket Burmese labor camp destroyed by fire

    PHUKET: A Burmese labor camp said to belong to a Phuket City policeman was completely destroyed by fire this morning. The blaze, which broke out in the Samkong camp at about 4:30am, leveled 15 huts and damaged three neighboring homes. More than 30 workers were asleep in the camp, but none was injured. Four fire trucks took almost 40 minutes…

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  • Phuket News

    Elephant trek tragedy: Victims speak from Phuket hospital

    PHUKET: A Swiss woman is dead and three other foreign tourists are in hospital in Phuket after an elephant went berserk during a trekking tour in Surat Thani yesterday. Speaking from his wife’s bedside at Bangkok Hospital Phuket this afternoon, Australian tourist Sean Gothe said he and his wife Helen were among eight couples on a one-day tour to Khao…

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  • Phuket News

    Finn fights off knife-wielding thugs in Phuket Town

    PHUKET: A Finnish tourist is recovering from a gash to his arm after fighting off two young thugs who attacked him with a knife in the heart of Phuket Town before dawn this morning. The Finn, 59-year-old Heikki Antero Malkki, arrived at the bus station on Phang Nga Road at about 3:30am. He had just arrived from Malaysia and planned…

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  • Phuket News

    BREAKING NEWS: Sale of Phuket’s Laguna Beach Resort approved

    PHUKET: THE 252-room Laguna Beach Resort in Phuket has transacted to Laguna Phuket Club Co, a Thai company controlled by Singapore-based private equity fund Recap. According to documents filed with the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the Board of Directors of Laguna Resorts and Hotels (LRH) approved the sale of the company’s 60% shareholding in the resort for 723.565 million baht.…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket communities disappointed by Cabinet inaction | Thaiger

    Phuket communities disappointed by Cabinet inaction

    PHUKET: Six communities in Phuket, of 34 others across Thailand, hoping to receive “community” land title deeds have reacted with disappointment after Cabinet’s decision yesterday not to address their concerns. A Prime Minister’s Office regulation announced last year called for the government to legalize and protect communities who make their living on idle plots of government land. After a lengthy…

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  • Phuket News

    British tourist drowns in Phuket

    PHUKET: A party among friends turned tragic early this morning when a British tourist, whom Cherngtalay police had originally identified as French, entered the surf and drowned at Phuket’s northern Bang Tao Beach. Lt Col Wicharn Suwannasit of the Cherng Talay Police identified the victim as 34-year-old Daniel Medhurst. He was a guest at the Best Western Laguna Phuket Resort,…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket police seeking survivor of assassination attempt

    PHUKET: Police are seeking a half-Thai, half-French man recovering from a gunshot wound sustained in Phuket Town Sunday afternoon. They expect to arrest his assailant soon. Phuket City Police duty officer Anek Mongkol said he suspects the victim, 27-year-old Patong businessman Markudom Boulbet, may be intentionally avoiding police questioning. Mr Boulbet was shot once in the right shoulder by a…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket consuls keep pressure on tuk-tuk, jet-ski scams

    PHUKET: Following the success of the honorary consuls’ meetings in Phuket, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has announced that a nationwide gathering of all honorary consuls will be held at the ministry in Bangkok next month. News of the meeting was announced by Korn Suwanasai, director of the MFA Passport office in Phuket, at the first Phuket Honorary…

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  • Thai Life

    PHUKET DINING: Great value at vintage vamp Kopitiam

    PHUKET: If you crave quality Chinese-accented Thai cuisine, and might like to savor it in a retro ambiance, you need to visit the latest addition to Old Phuket Town’s culinary scene. Kopitiam Cafe and Restaurant – a family-owned kitchen located at the Yaowarat Road end of Thalang Road – opened only three months ago but has already established itself as…

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  • Phuket News

    Mayor Pian ponies up for Phuket police houses

    PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin today handed over one million baht to build two retaining walls around accommodation being built for Phuket police officers. Mayor Pian handed over the cheque to Kathu Police Superintendent Col Arayapan Pukbuakhao at a ceremony at Patong Municipality offices this morning. The money was garnered from rental fees levied on fair operators for staging a…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket police raids reap grenade, drugs

    PHUKET: Complaints to police about “suspicious youngsters” in a housing estate in Wichit sparked three days of raids that led to 13 arrests and netted seven stolen motorbikes, heroin and other drugs – and a defunct grenade. The raids followed tip-offs from residents at Irawadee Village who complained about youngsters constantly riding motorbikes without license plates through the estate, located…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket’s “landless’ pin hopes on Cabinet support

    PHUKET: The fate of six Phuket communities hinges on the outcome of a key Cabinet meeting tomorrow that could result in their gaining title deeds to the state-owned land they live on. The six villages are among 35 nationwide selected to pilot a Prime Minister’s Office regulation from last year that allows for issuance of so-called “community” Chanote land titles.…

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