Month: April 2013

  • Thai LifePhuket Tech: Measuring (actual) internet speed – Live Wire

    Phuket Tech: Measuring (actual) internet speed – Live Wire

    PHUKET: Over the years we’ve had a lot of ups and downs with the Phuket Internet Speed reporting site, phuketinternetspeed.com. We’ve gathered 30,000 speed tests from around the island, from almost 900 computer users, covering nearly 100 different internet packages. That makes Phuket Internet Speed, by far, as best I know, the largest community-based independent speed reporting site on the…

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  • Phuket NewsPolice offer B200k reward for gold shop robber

    Police offer B200k reward for gold shop robber

    PHUKET: Police are offering a reward of 200,000 baht for information leading to the arrest of the man who robbed the C.P. Gold Master & Jewelry store at gunpoint yesterday evening, shooting dead a customer at the store in the process. Apichet Choo-kliang, 32, was shot in the chest trying to stop the gold heist (story here). Mr Apichet was…

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  • Phuket NewsCity keep slim hope of retaining title alive with win at Old Trafford

    City keep slim hope of retaining title alive with win at Old Trafford

    Special Aguero goal helps City sink United Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Sergio Aguero tore through the Manchester United defence to score a dazzling winner as Manchester City beat the Premier League leaders 2-1 yesterday evening to remind them they are still champions for a few more weeks. Second-placed City’s second successive league win at Old Trafford, following last term’s…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket sings: Big bird contest around the corner

    Phuket sings: Big bird contest around the corner

    PHUKET: One of the biggest events Phuket will see this year – if you are the owner of a singing bird, that is – will take place in Thalang tomorrow. As many as 720 singing red-whiskered Bulbuls, Nok Pa Rod Jook in Thai, are expected to take part, coming from all over Thailand to do so. The winner of this…

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  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: Putin laughs off topless protest; Body in Paris plane; UN whistleblower in spotlight | Thaiger

    Phuket Gazette World News: Putin laughs off topless protest; Body in Paris plane; UN whistleblower in spotlight

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Putin laughs off topless protest, defends NGO moves Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russian President Vladimir Putin laughed off a protest against him by topless women in Germany on Monday, joking that he liked what he had seen while sharply rebuffing German criticism of his human…

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  • Phuket NewsRussian tour company worker freed after proved legal

    Russian tour company worker freed after proved legal

    PHUKET: The Russian woman arrested for working illegally at a tour counter in Kata last week has been released after her company proved to Phuket police that she was legal. Natalia Nikiforova, 33, was arrested at the Rus Info Tour Center in Kata last Wednesday for working without a work permit and for illegally entering the country (story here). Karon…

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  • Phuket NewsMan shot dead in B2.3mn Phuket gold heist

    Man shot dead in B2.3mn Phuket gold heist

    PHUKET: A man was shot dead while trying to stop a hold-up at the C.P. Gold Master & Jewelry store at Tesco Lotus on the bypass road (map here) early this evening. The robber made off with gold jewelry with a reported value of more than 2.32 million baht, The shop’s CCTV security cameras show the robber parked his motorbike…

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  • World NewsBreaking News: Margaret Thatcher dies, aged 87

    Breaking News: Margaret Thatcher dies, aged 87

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Britain’s “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher dies Reuters /Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” who dominated British politics for two decades, died today following a stroke, a spokesman for her family said. She was 87. Britain’s only woman prime minister, the tough, outspoken Thatcher led…

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  • Phuket NewsPrincess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup Tour of Thailand

    Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup Tour of Thailand

    PHUKET: The women’s section of the “Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup Tour of Thailand” started today on Phuket. The event features 15 international teams (including T-Thailand and T-All Star from Thailand). The first stage of the women’s race was completed earlier today on Phuket and the race schedule for tomorrow’s Phang Nga leg is as follows:9am: The race starts from…

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  • PropertyPhuket Property: Resorts help water crisis

    Phuket Property: Resorts help water crisis

    PHUKET: According to the World Travel and Tourism Council there are around 12.7 million hotel rooms around the world, and another 1.3 million are in development, half of them being built in the Middle East and Africa. Bottled water is as common a sight in hotel rooms as thin-screen televisions and mass-produced art. Given that hotels generally charge for bottled…

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  • Business NewsPhuket Business: Job fair expected to fill 30% of vacancies

    Phuket Business: Job fair expected to fill 30% of vacancies

    PHUKET: Of the 6,000 job vacancies offered through the “e-jobs@Phuket 2013” job fair held recently at Phuket Rajbhat University, only 118 positions were immediately filled, the Phuket Gazette has learned. Phuket Provincial Employment Office chief Yawapa Pibulpol said that a total of 1,578 job applications were submitted. Of these, she said 548 were submitted at the fair itself, while the…

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  • Business NewsPhuket Business: B28bn worth of 20-baht notes to get exchanged

    Phuket Business: B28bn worth of 20-baht notes to get exchanged

    PHUKET: As part of the Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) policy to make its banknotes more modern and user friendly, 4 billion baht worth of new series-16 20-baht banknotes are being put into circulation. Until now, the Kingdom’s lowest-value, yet most widely used banknotes have not been fraud-proof in synchronizing with electronic finance machines. “The new design incorporates a range of…

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  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: Prof Nutt mad at magic mushroom testing stall

    Phuket Gazette World News: Prof Nutt mad at magic mushroom testing stall

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community First magic mushroom depression trial hits stumbling block Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The world’s first clinical trial designed to explore using a hallucinogen from magic mushrooms to treat people with depression has stalled because of British and European rules on the use of illegal drugs in…

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  • Phuket NewsFire scare at Phuket student dormitory

    Fire scare at Phuket student dormitory

    PHUKET: Smoke pouring from a second-floor window at a girls’ student dormitory late yesterday afternoon prompted no fewer than three fire trucks to rush to the scene to extinguish the blaze. Phuket City Police received a report of the fire, at the Phuket Rajabhat University dormitory on Rassada-anusorn Road (map here), at 5pm. Firefighters arrived promptly and took about 20…

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  • PropertyPhuket Property: Central bank fears bubble

    Phuket Property: Central bank fears bubble

    PHUKET: The Bank of Thailand (BoT) might reel in the real estate market after detecting some hot spots, especially in the condominium segment for units priced under 3 million baht. “A restriction on banks for 0% interest rates is one of the measures to control the market. But the central bank will have other measures such as tightening the loan-to-value…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket luminaries attend revered Abbot’s cremation

    Phuket luminaries attend revered Abbot’s cremation

    PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Maitri Inthusut, all three Phuket Vice Governors and both of Phuket’s members of parliament were present at the cremation ceremony yesterday of the former abbot of Wat Chalong, Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano. Also in attendance were local leaders and the general public, bringing the total number to about 2,000. The Abbot – Phra Ajarn Lim…

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  • PropertyPhuket Property Watch: Live by the sword, die by the sword

    Phuket Property Watch: Live by the sword, die by the sword

    PHUKET: They came, they spent, they left. That pretty much sums up the great Russian tropical cold war of this the high tourism season. Over the past month or so I embarked on a research project to try to learn more about the surge of visitors from the former USSR to the island of Phuket. Not content to simply put…

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  • Phuket NewsThai Football: Phuket FC sink Thai Navy in added time

    Thai Football: Phuket FC sink Thai Navy in added time

    PHUKET: Surakul Stadium erupted in celebration after Phuket FC’s “super sub” Chana Sonwiset scored in added time to secure his side three points in a league match against the Royal Navy football club in Phuket Town last night. The match was evenly poised at 0-0 going into the final minutes of added time, until Chana – whose name literally means…

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  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: China rebukes North Korea; Cairo clashes; Ukraine’s Lutsenko freed

    Phuket Gazette World News: China rebukes North Korea; Cairo clashes; Ukraine’s Lutsenko freed

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China rebukes North Korea, says no state should sow chaos Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: China’s leaders issued thinly veiled rebukes to North Korea for raising regional tensions, with the president saying no country should throw the world into chaos and the foreign minister warning that Beijing…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket shelter in fight against HIV stigma

    Phuket shelter in fight against HIV stigma

    Daoroong ‘Joojee’ Rodsamnam, 49, from Bangkok, has been project manager for the Life Home Project Foundation, a shelter for HIV-positive mothers and their children, for seven years. Here, she talks about HIV in Phuket, the goals and challenges of the Foundation and what motivated her to work there. PHUKET: Phuket is always in the top-five provinces in Thailand in terms…

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  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Queer News: Woman delivers egg-straordinary baby | Thaiger

    Phuket Gazette Queer News: Woman delivers egg-straordinary baby

    PHUKET: A woman in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province claims to have given birth to an egg. Sopharat Phantharak, 36, from Village 5 in Mokhlan Subdistrict, has placed the miraculous object on a pedestal lined with white cloth and is inviting local villagers to come and pay their respects to it. Mrs Sopharat, who is already a mother of four, claims…

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  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: Forever at the mafia’s mercy

    Phuket Opinion: Forever at the mafia’s mercy

    PHUKET: The proposal by the chief of the Phuket Marine Office to launch a “sea taxi” to ferry passengers between Patong and Phuket International Airport deserves credit for innovation, but appears somewhat impractical. There can be no doubt that visiting tourists need – and fully deserve – better public transport options between Phuket Airport and west coast resort destinations. The…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket on alert for H7N9 bird flu virus

    Phuket on alert for H7N9 bird flu virus

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has set up rapid-response teams and alerted all hospitals on the island to monitor patients for any signs of the H7N9 bird-flu virus. The move follows Chinese officials finding traces of the new strain of bird flu in more areas in Shanghai and in the nearby city of Hangzhou, as authorities slaughtered birds…

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  • Phuket NewsDSI: Aerial photos may save Phuket sea gypsy village

    DSI: Aerial photos may save Phuket sea gypsy village

    PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has obtained historical aerial photographs of the Rawai beachfront dating back as far back as 1950, which may prove to be the evidence needed to save the village from being plundered by private investors. Lt Col Prawuth Wongsinil, chief of the DSI’s Consumer and Environment Protection Office, inspected the village on Friday as…

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  • Phuket NewsTheft at Phuket tax office not an inside job, police say

    Theft at Phuket tax office not an inside job, police say

    PHUKET: The burglary of the Phuket Ministry of Finance office on Narisorn Road yesterday was not likely an inside job because important documents were not taken, case investigator Siean Keawthong told the Phuket Gazette today.Finance Department officers who worked in the ransacked room and the cleaner who discovered the robbery told police the only thing missing was 2,000 baht.The thief…

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  • Phuket NewsBattle lines drawn over new Phuket bus service

    Battle lines drawn over new Phuket bus service

    PHUKET: Tuk-tuk and taxi drivers in the southern beach resort areas of Kata and Karon yesterday vowed to stage protests if the new Phuket bus service from the airport is launched. Local police, however, said plainly that road blockades would not be tolerated. The news came at a two-hour meeting held to resolve the conflict between the local drivers and…

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  • Phuket NewsDSI, AMLO join Phuket park probe

    DSI, AMLO join Phuket park probe

    PHUKET: Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) have been called in to assist in the investigation into corrupt officials illegally issuing land titles for plots in Phuket’s Sirinath National ParkLt Col Prawuth Wongsinil, chief of the DSI’s Consumer and Environment Protection Office, joined AMLO’s Charnchai Pongpassorn to announce the joint effort on Thursday.AMLO will pursue…

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  • Business NewsIndia travel delegation arrives on inaugural Mumbai flight

    India travel delegation arrives on inaugural Mumbai flight

    PHUKET: Laguna Phuket hosted a welcome lunch for Indian travel agents, media, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) executives and airline representatives who traveled on the inaugural Thai Smiles flight from Mumbai on Thursday (April 4). The lunch at Banyan Tree was hosted by Ziya Birkan, deputy managing director of Laguna Phuket. The travel agents later attended a business-to-business conference organized…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket FC takes aim at Thai Navy

    Phuket FC takes aim at Thai Navy

    PHUKET: Phuket FC’s Southern Sea Warriors will be hoping to keep their unbeaten start to the Yamaha League One season going when they face Royal Navy tomorrow at Surakul Stadium. In the two games the teams played against each other in the league last season, Phuket FC lost 2-0 at Royal Navy Stadium, Chonburi, and won 1-0 at Surakul Stadium.…

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  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: N Korea warns of war; China bird flu cull; UN broke; Spanish royals exposed

    Phuket Gazette World News: N Korea warns of war; China bird flu cull; UN broke; Spanish royals exposed

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea moves missiles, calls for embassies to withdraw; markets roiled Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: North Korea has placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or U.S.…

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  • Phuket NewsGazette office closed on April 6, Chakri Day | Thaiger

    Gazette office closed on April 6, Chakri Day

    PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow in observance of Chakri Day. Chakri Day commemorates the founding of the royal Chakri Dynasty of which the present Thai monarch, HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth king (Rama IX). As Chakri Day this year falls on…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket Governor to call in Bangkok crew to pave way for B450mn Provincial Hall

    Phuket Governor to call in Bangkok crew to pave way for B450mn Provincial Hall

    PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday announced he would call in officers from Bangkok to help verify – or discredit – claims made by opponents to Phuket’s proposed new 450-million-baht Provincial Hall. The debate over whether or not the new five-story building should be built at Sanam Chai (map here) continued yesterday with hundreds of local residents turning out at…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket Gazette Sports: Grand National must stay unique

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Grand National must stay unique

    PHUKET: Safety and welfare should always be a priority in jumps racing but the Grand National must remain a test of horse and jockey and not lose its unique character, according to Aintree racecourse chief John Baker. The deaths of two horses during last year’s race and two in 2011 brought equine safety into focus and prompted an official inquiry…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Season of action for Jackson

    Phuket Sports: Season of action for Jackson

    PHUKET: The standout player of futsal’s Phuket United, Brazilian Jackson Santos, finished last season as the league’s second top scorer, and his goals helped the Andaman Pearl achieve their pre-season aim of a top five finish. Now the season has come to a close and Jackson has headed back to Brazil to recuperate and take care of his pregnant wife.…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket power to flow despite Myanmar shutdown

    Phuket power to flow despite Myanmar shutdown

    PHUKET: Phuket’s electrical supply will remain unaffected from today through April 14 while Myanmar shuts down its natural gas fields to fix drilling rigs, the chief of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has assured. “Phuket uses about 380 Megawatts of electricity per day from the national grid. I have been approved a reserve of up to 400MW a day,…

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  • Phuket NewsRoyal flame at cremation to honor revered Phuket Abbot

    Royal flame at cremation to honor revered Phuket Abbot

    PHUKET: The cremation of the former abbot of Wat Chalong, Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano, will take place on Sunday using a ceremonial lamp given by His Majesty the King, which will arrive by plane on Phuket.The funeral service, which began on Wednesday and culminates on Sunday, is being held at the special crematory in Wat Chalong and is open to…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket’s TSLC a swimming success

    Phuket’s TSLC a swimming success

    PHUKET: Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) hosted some of Asia’s most prolific rising sport stars from Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and mainland China to compete alongside local swimmers in the 2013 Thanyapura Long Course Swim Championships, held March 30-31. With 17 teams and 215 competing athletes; this event, part of a Rocket Science Sports Swim Championship series of…

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