Month: October 2011
- Phuket News
Illegal dam bursts, mudslide hits Phuket housing estate
PHUKET: Continuing rains across Phuket last night caused a mudslide that forced the evacuation of a residential estate in Rassada. There was considerable property damage, but no injuries were reported. After another night of heavy rain, the mudslide hit the Baan Natkamon estate at about 3am. The first home inundated with flowing mud was that of Opas Chupan, whose unit…
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Phuket Gazette’s Top Sporting Tips: Tennis
PHUKET: This week’s tennis tip about the serve comes courtsey of Travis Bertram who is the Tennis Director for Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club, Phuket. The serve is one of the most important shots in tennis, if not the most important. There are two major checkpoints to look for or be aware of on the serve, the wrist and balance…
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Phuket’s Young gunning for India
PHUKET: Atlantic Racing Team driver Dylan Young from Phuket proved his worth to sponsors and other supporters with a superb drive at the JK Racing Asia Series in Singapore recently. Young finished Race One in 8th place and Race Two in 6th position, which gave the 22-year-old a double-points scoring finish for the weekend. Under lights at the Singtel Singapore…
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Swedish expat dies on notorious Phuket coastal road
PHUKET: A Swedish expat who ran a Phuket guesthouse died on Saturday in a motorbike accident in Karon on Saturday. Patong Police received a report that a “tourist” crashed his motorcycle and died on Patak Road in Karon early Saturday morning. Peter Nyman, 48, died when he overshot a curve on his motorcycle in heavy rain and struck a power…
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Phuket landslide update: Ongoing concern over road stability
PHUKET: One westbound lane of the road over Patong Hill will remain closed to traffic indefinitely as authorities survey the damage of a recent landslide and draw up plans to stabilize the slope before the situation worsens. Phuket Provincial Highways Office chief Arun Sanae today told the Phuket Gazette, “We are now co-ordinating with Kathu and Patong municipalities to fix…
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Phuket Police to send body of fallen tourist to Bangkok
PHUKET: Police will send the body of an Australian tourist to Bangkok for forensic examination in order to rule out any foul play in his fatal fall from a Phuket balcony over the weekend. Friends of the late Dean McKeon were questioned by Patong Police today about the events leading up to the discovery of his body in the car…
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Phuket Poll: Is B60mn “musical fountain’ worth it?
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) recently launched its 60-million-baht “musical fountain”, purported to be the largest of its kind in Thailand. At the opening of the fountain last month, OrBorJor President Paiboon Upatising said it was destined to become a must-see attraction that will draw tourists to Phuket, particularly Saphan Hin, and showcase Phuket’s unique history and culture.…
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Phuket dinghies join flood relief effort
PHUKET: Five rubber dinghies loaded with safety equipment left Phuket this morning for the flood-ravaged central plains, where they will assist in transporting goods and passengers until the situation there returns to normal. Four of the vessels are on loan from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Region 5 office in Phuket, and are operated by that agency’s…
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Mystery surrounds Aussie death plunge in Phuket
PHUKET: An Australian tourist on holiday in Phuket died over the weekend after falling off a hotel balcony in Patong. It is believed he was sleepwalking at the time. The story broke in the Thai press by Manager Online news site, which identified the deceased as 33-year-old Dean William McKeon. The site also posted graphic images of the late Mr…
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Thailand Floods: A Phuket view of the damage in a nutshell
PHUKET: Severe flooding has wreaked havoc and caused enormous damage across Thailand. Although Phuket is not among the 28 provinces currently on the radar of the national government’s new flood crisis ‘War Room’, monsoon rains are an ongoing threat here, despite the hiatus so far today. The damage nationally: 30 provinces in all regions except the South (where Phuket lies)…
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Phuket Opinion: Signs of progress against roadside pollution
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette fully supports the long-overdue effort by the Phuket Highways Office to remove billboards and other unsightly advertising signage from roadsides under its authority, and we would encourage the local Department of Rural Roads and other agencies with similar authority to follow suit as soon as possible. If there is another “tropical island paradise” with roadsides that…
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Construction worker drowns in Phuket klong
PHUKET: A construction worker trying to catch fish drowned in a fast-moving klong in Phuket’s Thalang District this afternoon. Thalang Police identified the deceased as 51-year-old Sawai Suksabai, a resident of Sukhothai province. Police were notified of the drowning by the victim’s friend, Soonthorn Nopsawan. The two men set out with a net to trap fish in the swollen waters…
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Phuket braced for landslides as more rain falls
PHUKET: Phuket officials are urging more residents to evacuate as torrential rain continues to fall on exposed soil at a landslide risk zone along the bypass road northbound in Rassada. Rassada Mayor Suratin Lianudom, who has been at the scene all day, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that officials are closely monitoring several stretches of the road. This morning…
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Special report: Phuket foreigners losing homes to con men
PHUKET: Phuket homeowners are a prime target for regional fraud gangs that leave their “marks” heartbroken and penniless, with wives of wealthy foreigners often falling victim. Reports of people being cheated out of tens of millions of baht in such scams are rife on the island, but the victims are often too ashamed to come forward to warn others. Under…
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Phuket crash uproots tree, two slightly injured
PHUKET: Two people were injured in Phuket this afternoon when the driver of a pickup truck lost control on the bypass road, hit a tree on the median strip and collided with a sedan heading in the opposite direction. The accident occurred at about 2pm on the stretch of the bypass road in front of the Premium Outlet Mall in…
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Phuket Gazette: ‘War Room’ intensifies fight against Thai floods
PHUKET: Representatives of numerous government agencies started work this morning at the newly established ‘Flood-Relief Operations Command’ in a concerted effort to help Thailand through one of the worst flooding crises in its recent history. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced the establishment of the command in a televised address last night. “This is now a national effort,” she said. “We…
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Hajj 2011: Phuket Airport prepped for pilgrims
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport is making special preparations to help Thai Muslims from the South as they prepare to embark on this year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Airport Director Duangchai Condee says the Thai pilgrims will leave Phuket for Saudi Arabia aboard four Thai Airways flights, two each on Monday and Tuesday. This year, pilgrims from Haad Yai…
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Phuket News Hound: Thai flood deaths continue climb; 36 more dead in Mexican drug bloodbaths; Italians love wiretaps
Phuket NEWS Hound – world NEWS compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. Immigrant Population reaches 40 million Phuket Gazette The population of immigrants in the United States has grown to more than 40 million people, according to a study released yesterday by the nation’s New Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). The center’s analysis of Census Bureau data…
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Phuket officials “helpless’ in bypass road landslide threat
PHUKET: Local officials have decided on a “hands-off” approach to the nearly 250,000 cubic meters of soil threatening to break loose, destroy buildings and spill across the heavily-trafficked bypass road, a major artery skirting Phuket Town Following a landslide on Wednesday morning and the alarming results of an examination of the risk area, the Rassada Municipality mayor, local officials and…
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Phuket PAD remembers protest victims
PHUKET: Phuket members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) yesterday took part in an alms-giving ceremony to remember the victims of the October 7, 2008 clashes between PAD protesters and government troops who forcibly removed them after a 193-day blockade at Government House in Bangkok. The merit-makers offered donations of food and other necessary items to monks at Wat…
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OPINION: Phuket’s Battle for the Beaches – a poster child in distress
PHUKET: Much of Phuket’s allure as a leading resort destination in Asia is its number of beaches. Put shopping in the bag, along with Bangkok, and Thailand’s second most vital generator of tourism demand is the motion of the ocean. Views and proximity to the water are catalysts for real-estate values, accelerated sales and capital appreciation. Premium residential and hotel-managed…
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Calling all Phuket’s statisticians
PHUKET: When the game of cricket is mentioned to people who have never been involved with this multi-faceted sport, invariably a statement is made to the effect, “I don’t understand the rules and how it’s scored”. Well, here is your chance to learn the intricacies of cricket scoring from one of the region’s most highly respected and experienced scoring technicians.…
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Weird World News: Recipes for disaster when entertaining guests
PHUKET: If you’ve ever had a friend or date come over for a meal only to wince in disgust, spit out a half-chewed mouthful of goop, make a few nonsensical excuses and promptly leave, then it’s safe to say you’re a dud in the kitchen. If you don’t know a courgette from a zucchini or a spatula from a spade,…
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Tush-tattooed teens end clerical career
NAKHON SAWAN: A monk at a local temple in this central Thailand province has been defrocked after tattooing the buttocks of two 15-year-old schoolgirls. In a single session, Phra Theera Chaya Chansophana tattooed the two girls and nine male students, all of whom were wearing school uniforms when they arrived to see him. Parents and teachers of the teens claim…
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Phuket divers sought for coral cleaning day
PHUKET: Fifty divers are needed to take part in the clean-up of a popular dive site off the coast of Phuket later this month. The clean-up, to take place at Koh Hei (Coral Island) on October 29, is part of three days of activities organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket Town, the Thailand Diving Association…
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Frenchman arrested for fraud in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Tourist Police on Wednesday arrested a Frenchman for ATM card fraud in Patong, but his alleged accomplice managed to flee on foot. The suspect, 31-year-old Rodi Yagir, was presented to the media by Tourist Police at their office in Phuket Town. Also displayed were a variety of electronic devices including a laptop computer, a credit card “skimmer”, two…
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Landslide threat prompts Phuket evacuation
PHUKET: Residents in a landslide risk zone in Phuket have been ordered to evacuate following fears of a major slide that could bury businesses and block the bypass road. The order followed a landslide on Wednesday morning behind the Adisak Equipment store on the bypass road northbound in Rassada. Store owner Adisak Lertchuwongsa said, “The soil slid down suddenly at…
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Phuket panel pushes for minimum wage hike
PHUKET: The Phuket provincial subcommittee for minimum wage rate review has applied to the Central Wage Committee in Bangkok to increase the minimum daily wage in Phuket to 300 baht, effective from January 1. A 300-baht-per-day minimum wage for all government employees was passed by Cabinet on Tuesday and made retroactive to October 1 of this year. Sutthipong Saisakares, chief…
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Phuket officials assess Patong Hill landslide damage
PHUKET: Phuket Highways Department engineers are today assessing the damage from a landslide that toppled electric power poles and may have dangerously undermined the foundation along a stretch of Patong Hill road yesterday. The slide occurred at about 1pm, washing some 100 rubber trees downslope and toppling four electric poles. A crack of a few centimeters wide appeared along a…
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Tesco Lotus dismisses Phuket closure rumors
PHUKET: Tesco Lotus executives have dismissed rumors that the opening of its new hypermarket in Thalang will be followed by the closure of its flagship property near Phuket Town. “The one in Phuket Town will stay open as long as people continue to shop there,” said corporate affairs executive Martin Clutterbuck. The comments came following the opening ceremony of the…
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Phuket task force named to push Convention Center
PHUKET: The Phuket Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) is set to argue against its counterpart in Bangkok, which ruled against a plan to build an international convention and exhibition center (ICEC) on the island. The local MNRE office is one of four “proponents” chosen as part of a Phuket task force to counter the reasons given by the…
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Record entries for Phuket Beach Volleyball
PHUKET: The Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT will complete the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour, and once again the event has proved its increasing popularity by attracting the highest number of entries for a women’s tournament out of 29 stages on the World Tour calendar. This year’s tournament has attracted 82 entries from 32 countries, including 28…
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Jürgen Zack – training tips for the Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: Jürgen Zack has won the European Ironman Championship five times, the Ironman Austria twice and has been Ironman Australia Champion. This supreme German athlete has also had three top ten finishes at the most gruelling distance event in the world – The Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. With just eight weeks to go before the island’s Tri-Fest…
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Phuket Gardening – Between a rock and a hard place
PHUKET: Since we all live on Phuket island, seaside plants deserve a bit more attention here. Like the screw pine and sea vine, there are other plants that also stubbornly refuse to lie down when inundated by seawater. Take the casuarina tree. Although this tropical pine normally spreads its extensive roots on slightly higher ground, it still grows close enough…
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Malaysian tourist dies during Phuket Veg Fest finale
PHUKET: An elderly Malaysian tourist died while watching the final street procession of the 2011 Phuket Vegetarian Festival in Phuket Town last night. Heng Yak Seng, 76, came to Phuket with a tour group from Malaysia, which has a large ethnic Chinese population interested in Phuket’s signature cultural event. Pol Capt Somchai Nuboon of the Phuket City Police said, “Mr…
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Phuket Gardening – Covering a lot of ground
PHUKET: The many virtues of ground cover plants were have already been discussed: their contrasting textures and colors; their capacity to act as a retaining layer by protecting the topsoil during tropical downpours, or as a natural mulch that absorbs much of the sun’s heat and inhibits the growth of weeds. Most importantly, they cover bare and unsightly areas. No…
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Phuket News Hound: Steve Jobs is dead; Phuket tennis tourney shaping up; Listeria alarm in US
Phuket NEWS Hound – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has died Phuket Gazette Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died last night in California. In a statement, Apple’s Board of Directors confirmed the passing of Jobs. “Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of…
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