Year: 2012
- Phuket News
Phuket beach tout turf war targets Cambodians
SPECIAL REPORT A FURIOUS beach brawl between rival groups of migrant Thai and Cambodian beach peddlers in February has led Karon Municipality to draft regulations to register all peddlers and rid the sands of illegal alien workers. Phuket Gazette senior reporter Atchaa Khamlo reports. PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak arrived at the Karon Municipality office in Kata on April…
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Phuket’s poor turn out for annual alms festival
PHUKET: More than 1,000 of Phuket’s poorest people were at the Kusoldharm Foundation headquarters in Phuket Town yesterday to receive donations of food as part of the annual Te Krajard merit-making ceremony. Starting at 2:30pm, Foundation President Benjawan Tamphanuwat led Kusoldham workers in handing out 4,800 packs of rice, each weighing five kilograms, as well as packs of other dry…
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Phuket very tolerant of gay lifestyles: Gazette poll
PHUKET: Phuket society is very tolerant of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lifestyles, according to the results of the latest Phuket Gazette readers’ poll. The poll, run to coincide with the Phuket Pride Festival held in Patong late last month, asked readers: “Overall, how tolerant is Phuket society of LGBT lifestyles compared to other places you have…
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Cop killer caught in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket City Police yesterday arrested an alleged hit-man and cop killer wanted in connection with two murders last year, one in Phuket and one in Trang. Samut “Moot” Keukgong, 44, was arrested by Phuket City Police at about 3:30pm at a snooker hall in Rassada, said the Phuket City Police report. Mr Samut signed a statement denying a charge…
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Weird World News. The unsinkable, unthinkable and unshrinkable
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News roundup is a tribute to the titanic accomplishments of vehicles as a big boat is redesigned to handle icebergs, a new motorized toilet speed record is set and BMW gets a stiff lawsuit for its motorbike allegedly causing a two-year long erection. Unsinkable – isn’t that what they said the first time? An Australian…
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Phuket sports: Saraburi ‘Warlords’ pound FC Phuket, Thai FA Cup commences
PHUKET: FC Phuket suffered their third loss of the season, losing 1-0 to the Saraburi FC “Warlords” on Saturday afternoon at Surakul Stadium. The loss was a disappointment for the Southern Sea Kirin, who hit the road to kick off their Thai FA Cup campaign this week. An early goal by Saraburi’s Panuwat Promyen was all that was needed to…
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Phuket City Police chief transferred amid underage nightlife staff probe
PHUKET: Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai has been removed from active duty pending an investigation into underage staff working at Phuket Town nightclubs. Col Chote told the Phuket Gazette today that he received the instant transfer order on Saturday. “I received the order from Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul on Saturday to transfer to Phuket Provincial Police Station…
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Expert in earthquake-proof building design helps ease Phuket fears
PHUKET: One of Thailand’s leading experts in earthquake-proof building design has offered to conduct computer simulation tests to ensure that major buildings in Phuket do not succumb to the recurring tremors the island has been experiencing since April 16. The news was delivered directly to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha by Assoc Prof Dr Paiboon Panyakapo, who heads the Engineering Institute…
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Switzerland appoints Honorary Consul for Phuket
PHUKET: The Swiss Embassy in Bangkok has appointed long-time Swiss resident Andrea Kotas Tammathin as its first honorary consul for Phuket. Mrs Tammathin was formally presented to Phuket officialdom on Friday afternoon, when Swiss Ambassador Christine Schraner Burgener and Head of Chancery Bernhard Bienz met Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa at Provincial Hall. “The consulate is the first contact point…
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Samson Kiplagat Tennai celebrates Phuket Trail Masters win
PHUKET: The second edition of the Columbia Trail Masters event was held at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) on Sunday morning with far larger than expected crowds and participants making it a huge success. There were more than 350 runners of all ages competing in a 3km fun run, a 10 km trail run, and a 21.5km half…
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Greater Phuket: Cyclists join Krabi Town 140-year celebrations
PHUKET: A cycling enthusiast impressed crowds at the 140th anniversary of Krabi Town over the weekend, managing to pedal all the way from Greater Bangkok with his disabled father riding in tow in a three-wheeler. Kittipong Kongkaew, who runs a coffee shop in Tibet, was among members of the Thai Cycling For Health Association that set off from Samut Prakan…
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Phuket underpass project unveiled
PHUKET: Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak at Phuket”s Boat Lagoon Resort Tuesday, chaired the third and final public hearing on the Bang Khu intersection improvement project, at which it was announced that a two-lane underpass construction had been selected over other designs. At the meeting, project manager Kaweerat Deeprasertwong announced the selected design for the two-lane underpass. “We chose this design…
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Phuket sports: F1 rumors, rules and rumblings
PHUKET: The three week gap between grand prix events is to accommodate FIA approved testing of upgrades at Mugello, near Florence. It is also time the “rumor and disinformation mills” upgrade. Mugello is not an F1 circuit, and according to hearsay teams are ambivalent about testing on an unknown track. McLaren scheduled test drivers only, although Lewis Hamilton suggested he…
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“Gold Den’ bandit back in Phuket for re-enactment
PHUKET: Phuket City Police yesterday led a recently-arrested gold shop bandit “Den” through a re-enactment of his June 2011 heist of a Phuket Town gold shop. The suspect, Krittasak “Den” Heetkaew, was arrested at his Bangkok apartment on Thursday and confessed to the Phuket heist and several others using the same modus operandi. Yesterday afternoon’s re-enactment was led by Phuket…
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Speed bumps: more harm than good
PHUKET: Among the many factors conspiring to make Phuket roads some of the most dangerous in Thailand is the proliferation of poorly-designed, poorly-marked and poorly-maintained speed bumps that needlessly cause untold millions of baht in car damages and wasted fossil fuels every year.The Phuket Gazette does not refute the effectiveness of speed bumps at slowing down traffic. Speed bumps do…
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“Thank you, Phuket’ – says Dome The Star’s parents
PHUKET: The parents of Jaruwat “Dome” Cheawaram, who last Sunday won the national singing contest The Star 8, today publicly thanked the people of Phuket and all Dome’s fans around the country for their support. Dome’s parents, Tawatchai and Raewadee Cheawaram, also announced that Dome will sing at the opening ceremony of the the Thailand National Youth Games in Phuket…
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FC Phuket host Saraburi FC today
PHUKET: FC Phuket will be seeking their first home win of the season when they kick off against Saraburi FC “Warlords” at Surakul Stadium this afternoon. The Southern Sea Kirin, now 15th in the table with 7 points, will be hoping to collect all three points against Saraburi, who are still winless on the road after seven matches and sit…
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Austria-Phuket Community Center burns again
PHUKET: Another fire broke out at the Austria-Phuket Community Center in Phuket Town last night, the second blaze there in less than 24 hours. Police once again suspect teenagers, who probably broke into the building to take drugs, were responsible. Phuket City Police at 9:10pm received a report of the fire from local residents in the densely-populated area, on the…
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PHUKET ALERT: Monsoon comes, Patong Hill road goes
PHUKET: The monsoon season has officially arrived in Phuket and is already taking its toll, causing a landslide along a stretch of Patong Hill road that the Highways Department was hoping to shore up by year’s end. Sampawat Wannasangkam of the Patong Municipality Department of Disaster Mitigation and Prevention said his office received a report of the slide at around…
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Taxi, tuk-tuk co-ops blame “unfair rules’ for problems
PHUKET: Groups of tuk-tuk and taxi operators in Phuket blame “unfair regulations” as the underlying cause of most problems faced by tourists who use Phuket’s public transport services. The accusations were made during a meeting of senior government officials, including Government Spokesperson Prompong Nopparit, at Phuket Provincial Hall on April 27. Tuk-tuk representative Darun Suksai, the “president” of a consortium…
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Bangkok Police arrest Phuket gold heist bandit
PHUKET: The brazen thief who made off with an estimated 6 million baht in cash and gold jewelry from a Phuket shop in June last year was arrested in Bangkok on Thursday. Krittasak “Den” Heetkaew, 25, was arrested in his apartment by Col Narongyod Unnahabunthit and his team at about 1:30pm. He was then presented at the Region 8 police…
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Phuket police officer held for off-duty killing
PHUKET: A Phuket police officer and his brother are being detained at Phuket Provincial Court tonight after both were charged with accessory to murder over a fatal shooting in Phuket Town’s red-light district early this morning. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Jamroon Plaiduang told the Phuket Gazette that the shooting occurred at about 2:30am in Phuket Town’s infamous Phun Phol…
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Phuket teenage drug addicts blamed for community center fire
PHUKET: Phuket City Police believe that a fire at the Austria-Phuket Community Center in Rassada in the early hours of this morning was started by a group of teenage drug addicts known to frequent the area. It was the second time the center had been set on fire within a month. Phuket City Police received a report at 1:10am from…
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Phuket sea gypsies celebrate their heritage
PHUKET: Preparations for the first of the twice-yearly sea gypsy Loy Reua festival are underway at Laem Tukkae on Koh Sireh, on the east side of Phuket Town. The festival is renowned as a celebration of local culture during which sea gypsies build a boat by hand and adorn it with garlands, then place inside it personal items and set…
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No lifeguards on beaches as Phuket enters surf danger season
PHUKET: As the southwest monsoon sets in and Phuket enters the most dangerous period for beach swimmers, the Phuket lifeguards have yet to return to their towers at popular tourist beaches along the west coast. The news comes as the Phuket Gazette today received confirmation that not a single company or organization bid for the government contract to provide lifeguard…
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Earthquake aftershock spooks residents in northern Phuket
PHUKET: A 2.3 Richter aftershock centered in Phuket’s Thalang District struck at 4:54am today, waking some residents with a loud bang, while others reported feeling nothing at all of the tremors. “The epicenter of the aftershock was at Latitude 8º 00′ 36″ N, Longitude 98º 21′ 00″ E. It was almost at the same location as the 4.3 quake on…
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Blooming jellyfish stay for safety-stop
PHUKET: Directly in front of my mask, as we hang on the mooring line for our safety-stop, is a small jellyfish (jellies or sea jellies depending on your concern about the misnomer), not a box jellyfish or an infamous jelly-like Portuguese man-o-war washed up from Australia, just a little ambiguous jellyfish. Then through the bubbling of our regulators comes the…
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Phuket United gets Gov Tri’s backing
PHUKET: Last year’s CAT Regional Futsal Tournament champions Phuket United have been assured financial support from “Phuket’s father”, in a gesture that will ensure the team can compete in the prestigious Thailand Futsal League (TFL) for the upcoming season. Club administrators met with Phuket Governor Tri Augaradacha at his office on Tuesday. Their first agenda was to appoint the governor…
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Speed radar project most helpful: Phuket poll
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette readers overwhelmingly think the installation of radar speed cameras to monitor road traffic and automatically fine violators will be the most helpful of six projects recently approved for Phuket by Cabinet, according to our most recent online poll. In the poll launched March 23, readers were asked which of six projects approved by Cabinet during the “Mobile…
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Xayaburi Dam protesters in Phuket maintain threat of closing Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge
PHUKET: Residents of eight Thai provinces along the Mekong River traveled to Phuket to protest construction of the Xayaburi Dam in Laos during a three-day meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) that ends today in Phuket. The protesters gathered on Tuesday morning at the Movenpick Resort, which is hosting the “Mekong 2 Rio” conference of high-level delegates from Mekong…
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Weird World News: Trinity of time teams up for postmortem sex, kebabs and asteroid mining
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News round-up is dedicated to the trinity of time: past, present and future. Postmortem sex-laws in Egypt , a stab victim stemming a wound with a kebab and billionaires funding asteroid mining projects all made headlines this week. Passed away, Egypt plans “Farewell Intercourse Law” RUMORS that Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to…
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Laguna Phuket Marathon to take “Chi Running’ in its stride
PHUKET: The revolutionary “Chi Running” technique will be showcased at the forthcoming Laguna Phuket International Marathon in a workshop led by one of Asia’s leading exponents of the method that has taken the running world by storm. Lit Onrubia of the Philippines, a US-certified Chi Running instructor, will lead the workshop at Laguna Phuket on June 9, the day before…
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Thailand News: Ultralight aircraft to land on river as offering to Thai King
PHUKET: Four Thailand made single-engine aircraft will soon land on the Chao Phraya River in downtown Bangkok as an offering to His Majesty the King if a Royal Thai Navy (RTN) plan is brought to fruition. The navy team is hoping to present the experimental two-seat amphibians to the much-loved monarch who has been undergoing treatment in hospital. Vice Admiral…
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FC Phuket draw Burmese league leaders in friendly
PHUKET: Yadanarbon FC from Myanmar and home favorites FC Phuket played to an uneventful 0-0 draw in a friendly match at Surakul Stadium last night. The game was generally played at a slow pace and had the feel of a match where both sets of coaches acknowledged the low key nature of the contest. Phuket did most of the running…
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Phuket Police blame “business conflict’ for snake show arson attack
PHUKET: Phuket’s top police officer said a business conflict was the most likely motive for last week’s arson attack on a health store and snake show complex that left one security guard comatose in hospital. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul on Tuesday announced the news while inspecting the scene, at the Phuket Healthy Nutriment and Snake Show on Soi…
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Phuket sports: The Golf Guru’s weekly round-up
PHUKET: This week was the turn of players coming through their respective mini-tours, the Challenge for Europe and Nationwide for America. They use this as a stomping ground to see if they are good enough to play on their main tours both had graduated from there as winners could they now bring it to the big show. The players use…
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Phuket Red Cross pumps up blood donation campaign
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (RBC) has stepped up it mobile blood collection campaign as blood stocks are dangerously low following the annual Songkran Festival last month, which resulted in a surge in road accidents in the region. The Phuket RBC, run by the Thai Red Cross Society, is responsible for collection of blood stocks in Phang Nga, Krabi,…
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