Month: September 2011
- Phuket News
Clarification sought over car tax rebate plan: Phuket Excise Office
PHUKET: First-time car buyers should wait until rules regarding the much-publicized tax rebate are clarified before signing off on purchases, Phuket’s Excise Office has advised. Thanongsak Booncluab, Acting Director of the Phuket Excise Office, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that a senior specialist will be arriving on Phuket on Monday to explain the populist program. “Ministry of Finance Inspector General…
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Luang Pu Supha marks 115th birthday
PHUKET: Phuket’s best-known monk Luang Pu Supha marked the grand old age of 115 years yesterday and received an honorary doctorate in Buddhist theology from Chulalongkorn University. Representatives from the Buddhist clergy were joined by Phuket Governor Tri Augkadachara in presiding over the merit-making ceremony at the temple in Chalong that bears Luang Pu Supha’s name. Also in attendance were…
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Road work clogs Phuket’s main artery
PHUKET: Motorists commuting along Phuket’s Thepkrasattri Road northbound should try to avoid rush hour as resurfacing work is causing long tailbacks and dirty conditions. The work is part of a three-month, 42-million-baht contract to improve the road from in front of the Seventh Day Adventist Church near Super Cheap to Srisoonthorn Temple, which is 12 kilometers to the north. The…
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Phuket’s Windsor big in Japan
PHUKET: British International School (BIS) Phuket swimming sensation Raymond Windsor is making waves for his local swimming club in Japan. In July, during the BIS summer vacation period while at home in Japan, Raymond dived into Japan Prefectural (State) competitive swimming for the first time. At the Japan Junior pre-Olympic cup meet for Tochigi Prefecture (Honshu Island) on July 17,…
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AFL Phuket dishes out another night of thrills
PHUKET: Round three of Phuket’s Adult Futsal League (AFL) season eight presented by Thanachart Bank Premier Division kicked off with much anticipation for an action packed night on Thursday at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club. Reigning champions Portrait FC played Honda in the first match of the evening’s schedule. Portrait’s top scorer Pongsatorn got his team off to the perfect…
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Phuket Police help nab drug kingpin in Krabi
PHUKET: After a gunfight and a chase through a rubber plantation, police on Wednesday arrested two men in connection with a drug-trafficking network that allegedly spanned from Phuket to Malaysia. One of the men was a known kingpin already wanted by police in Bangkok. Police presented the suspects – Krabi resident Songchai “Aied” Chumpon, 51, and alleged associate Paechon Navadej,…
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Call for Phuket Vegetarian Festival “gods’ to carry ID
PHUKET: The organizers of the upcoming Phuket Vegetarian Festival are calling for Chinese shrines taking part in the annual rituals to issue identity cards to their spirit mediums. The move to issue the ID cards to the mediums, called mah song (literally “Horses of the Gods”), is to preserve the integrity of the spirit-medium community and to stop “fakes” from…
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Phuket drug haul: 4 suspects, 4 guns and B13.5mn in drugs seized
PHUKET: A small pier popular for tourists heading out to the islands in Phang Nga Bay was a major drug-trafficking portal, Phuket police revealed today. The news was announced by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong at a press conference to present to the media four suspects arrested for trafficking ya bah (methamphetamine) and ya ice (crystal methamphetamine). On show…
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Phuket Police recover fake bomb used in botched bank heist
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have recovered what they believe to be the fake bomb and clothing used by a man in a botched attempt to rob a Phuket Town bank on Monday. Phuket’s top police rushed to a remote rubber plantation in Rassada at about 11am today after they were informed that what appeared to be a bomb was discovered…
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Tsunami drill on Phuket’s west coast
PHUKET: A tsunami-evacuation drill will be held tomorrow afternoon (September 16) at Baan Kalim School, just north of Patong, on Phuket’s tourist-popular west coast. The drill, organized by Patong Municipality, will involve 191 students and teachers from Baan Kalim School and from Tessaban Baan Sai Nam Yen School, in the heart of Patong. The teachers and students from Baan Sai…
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Angels and Demons
PHUKET: “I ain’t going to say attack don’t let the media make u believe that was terrorist that did it. #OTIS.” Liverpool striker Nathan Eccleston apparently sent out a comment on Twitter indicating his belief that the September 11 attacks on the US were not those of terrorists. Allegedly OTIS is an abbreviation of “Only The Illuminati Succeed.” When not…
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Weird World News: Goody for Guinness 2012
PHUKET: It’s that time of year again, when the book dedicated to all things weird, tall, short, big and bizarre hits the shelves of bookstores around the world this week – it’s time for the next volume of Guinness World Records. Here a few of the 4,000 records – half are new – soon to be turning heads and dropping…
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Aussies, Chinese fuel Phuket’s “green season’: PTA
PHUKET: Tourist arrivals to Phuket during the current “low season” are up year-on-year thanks largely to the increased number of direct flights from Australia and China, according to the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA). PTA President Jirayus Somboon said current hotel occupancy rates in Phuket are higher than for the same period last year. The improved performance was in large part…
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Phuket green group “seeks’ NGO status
PHUKET: The “Coalition of Global Citizens” known as SEEK Phuket (Society, Environment, Economy, Knowledge) is currently compiling its application to become a fully-fledged non-governmental organization (NGO) in Thailand, one of their founders has told the Phuket Gazette. “We started informally about four months ago and our lawyers are currently in the process of attaining formal Thai NGO status,” said Nick…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Dream voyage with Silver Lining
PHUKET: A superyacht made in Thailand has left Phuket’s shores on a circumnavigation of the World. It has taken more than three years and 375 workers to build, but at last the superyacht Silver Lining has begun its round-the-world voyage. And for Canadian owner Chris Lenz, 45, it’s a dream come true. Formerly one of Hong Kong’s most successful food…
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Phuket hosts Thai handicrafts fair
PHUKET: Fans of Thai handicrafts will want to visit Phuket’s Jungceylon shopping complex over the weekend, as the second annual Thai Handicrafts Domestic Roadshow is in town until Monday. Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen presided over the event opening yesterday. A large and varied selection of the best Thai handicrafts are on sale from 11am to 10pm daily in the…
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Phuket Live Wire: Finding your “True’ internet speed
PHUKET: I’ve received email from all over the world as a result of the ‘Bang for the Baht’ chart that Khun Roger and I put together for the August 27 Live Wire in the Phuket Gazette. The emails I received fall into three broad categories. Some people expect to be in Phuket shortly – either moving here or taking an…
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Korean tourist rescued from Phuket drainage ditch
PHUKET: Phuket rescue workers and local residents came to the aid of a Korean tourist whose leg became wedged between two cement drainage ditch covers on Tuesday night. Phuket Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers were alerted to the man’s plight at about 8:30pm on Tuesday. Racing to the scene, near the Bank of Ayudhya branch on Chao Fa East Road in…
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US Embassy reaches out to Phuket
PHUKET: During a visit to the Phuket Gazette offices last week, US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie A Kenney asked staff to remind readers that there will be an outreach clinic by the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Phuket tomorrow. During her visit, Amb Kenney said that given the current funding problems in the US there was little likelihood…
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Phuket investor Allan Zeman to speak about Brand Andara at AMCHAM on Friday
PHUKET: Leading Asian-based entrepreneur and businessman Allan Zeman talks about his journey developing Andara Phuket into a sought-after brand, and how his investment in Phuket has paved the way for a continuing success story. Organized by the Greater Phuket Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM), the event is expected to draw substantial attendance. A spokesperson for…
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Phuket Big Buddha image nears completion, huge ceremony planned
PHUKET: The Big Buddha image in the Nakkerd Hills is scheduled for completion next month, with a nationally-televised prayer ceremony in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej and HM Queen Sirikit to take place in November, its builders say. The Mingmongkol Faith 45 Foundation, set up to construct the Big Buddha, made the announcement at a press conference on September…
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Phuket passenger van crashes in Trang: 1 dead, 4 injured
PHUKET: One person was killed and four badly injured when a Phuket passenger van bound for Haad Yai lost its brakes and crashed into a car in Trang yesterday afternoon. Muang District Police in Trang were notified of the accident at 2pm yesterday. At the scene, a four-way intersection on the Trang bypass road in Nayong subdistrict, they found a…
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Phuket Airport to double car park
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport will open its new car park to vehicles by November, Airport Director Duangchai Condee announced today. “The new car park will be ready to use by this coming high season,” Ms Dungchai told a meeting chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen. The new car park, located in front of the airport cargo buildings just to…
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Phuket’s unsightly roadside signs finally fall
PHUKET: Advertising signs and billboards on public land lining Phuket’s main roads are being removed, the Phuket Highways Office confirmed yesterday. Sathaporn Sornchana, Deputy General Manager of the Phuket Highways Office, announced the news at the second meeting of Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha’s advisory committee, which the governor formed in May to start tackling such issues. The move follows Surin…
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Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation opens cat hospital
PHUKET: Phuket’s renowned animal welfare charity Soi Dog Foundation has opened the island’s first facility dedicated to providing medical treatment to cats. The new “Cat Hospital“, which cost more than a million baht to build and equip, opened quietly last week and already has 10 cats in its care. “Previously, cats have had to be kept in small cages, often…
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Phuket’s Koh Kaew Market to rise from the ashes
PHUKET: Forensic Police continue to investigate the cause of the fire that ripped through the Koh Kaew Market in Patong last month, raising the distinct possibility that the complex could be rebuilt and open for business before the cause of the blaze is determined. Tossapol Rungruengpawan, president of Patong Retail Business Club, said work cleaning up debris is ongoing and…
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Korean Ambassador says “Farewell, Phuket’
PHUKET: South Korean Ambassador to Thailand Chung Hae-moon today paid a visit to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall to say farewell before his return home.“I am going back to [South] Korea at the end of this week as I have completed my four-year term in Thailand,” Ambassador Chung told the Phuket Gazette. He encouraged more Korean companies to…
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Phuket “mad bomber’ bank robbery foiled by closing time
PHUKET: Police are hunting for a man who tried robbing a bank in Phuket Town late this afternoon reportedly with grenades strapped to his chest, but was foiled by the bank having been closed for business just five minutes earlier. The man, described as dark-skinned and about 30-35 years old, arrived at the Kasikorn Bank branch on the corner of…
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Phuket convention center plan gets bi-partisan backing
PHUKET: Government spokesman Prompong Nopparit was in Phuket over the weekend to assure that the Pheu Thai Party has no plan to cut central government funding for the international convention and exhibition center project planned for Phuket. Mr Prompong made the announcement in Mai Khao on Saturday after meeting villagers at the project site on the island’s northern tip. Mr…
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Teaching 9/11 in Phuket schools
PHUKET: A decade on from that fateful day, what are Phuket schoolchildren learning about 9/11? Teaching children too young to remember the events of 9/11 is difficult to imagine for adults who can recall the carnage of that day as if it were yesterday. For us adults, 9/11 will be an event that defines our time, but for children it…
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Phuket ‘Kidnap rapist’ freed from jail, Nepali community in fear
PHUKET: In response to media reports on the release of a man who confessed to multiple counts of kidnapping, imprisonment, and repeated rape and robbery of Nepali women, the Thai-Nepalese Club held a meeting yesterday to discuss the community’s fear of reprisals and options for legal action. Phuket’s Nepali community members are living in fear of the “powerful” Phakpoom Maneerat,…
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Phuket weather report: wet and windy all week
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued another weather advisory for Phuket, the second in as many days. Issued at 6am today by the Southern Meteorological Center at Phuket Airport, the advisory notes a “rather strong” southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea and coastline. People living in windward coastal areas should be especially prepared for “abundant and heavy” rain…
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Phuket schools get ‘drugged up’
PHUKET: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) and island pharmacists have joined forces to provide every Phuket school with a free medicine cabinet and first-aid training. The project, “Medicine Cabinets Donated to the Community”, was arranged by the PPHO, Phuket Pharmacists Association and Phuket Drug Shop Association. Paiboon Upatising, president of Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), presided over the launch…
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Catamaran founders off Phuket, passengers saved
PHUKET: Heavy seas off Phuket over the weekend swamped a German man’s sailboat and prompted a dramatic rescue of his three Thai passengers off Mai Thon Island yesterday. German sailor Paul Zicman, 68, invited 34-year-old friend Thewarat Kongmuang and her two daughters aboard his catamaran Blue Lagoon for a trip to Koh Khai on Saturday afternoon. The four set sail…
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Asia’s first Urak Lawoi cultural center set for Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office is pushing ahead with the construction of a 5.4-million-baht culture center for Urak Lawoi sea gypsies, with the facility set to become the first of its kind in Asia. The center, which is more than 70% complete, will aim to preserve the distinctive way of life and culture of the Urak Lawoi and to attract…
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Phuket in transport crisis: Taxis take tourism to the brink
PHUKET: Despite a great deal of press coverage and international diplomatic pressure, altercations between foreign tourists and tuk-tuk drivers are increasing, both in frequency and severity. In one of the latest attacks, a German tourist in Patong was beaten close to death by a pack of gangsters who remain at large. And a week ago today a Thai tour van…
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Man survives jump off Phuket’s Thepkasattri Bridge
PHUKET: A man is in hospital recovering today after being plucked from the fast-flowing waters under Phuket’s Thepkrasattri Bridge. Sen Sgt Maj Sayan Mesang, stationed at Tha Nun Police Box under the nearby Sarasin Bridge, told the Gazette that he received reports of a man attempting to jump off the bridge at about 10:45am yesterday. “I rushed to the scene,…
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