Year: 2013
- Phuket News
Phuket Sports: Thailand beat England 4-2 at BIS – Fair Play League
PHUKET: THE Fair Play League (FPL) continued last Sunday (March 3), at Phuket’s British International School (BIS). The under-11s were first up and had some exciting matches in store. Spain continued their fine form beating a determined Brazil in their first match and Thailand managed to edge past an improving England side. The second set of matches saw an upset…
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Phuket Sports: Brits dip into TSLC
PHUKET: Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club’s (TSLC) management recently added the British sprint swim team to their list of world class sporting guests, welcoming the team of Olympians and world record holders to the international standard sports training facility in Phuket. Among the swimmers who flew out to Thailand for the training programme were two times world champion and world…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Syria rebels breach Homs; Pope vote begins; PNG quake; China land protests; Khmer war crimes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Syrian rebels pierce Assad’s siege lines in Homs – opposition Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET:Syrian rebels broke through government lines to ease a siege of their positions in the strategic central city of Homs yesterday despite coming under fierce aerial bombardment, opposition campaigners said. The communally…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Chelsea force replay as Liverpool win thriller; Euro roundup
Chelsea fight back as Bayern, Juve move clear Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Chelsea came from two goals down at Manchester United to draw 2-2 in a thrilling FA Cup quarter-final yesterday that capped a bad week for the Premier League leaders who were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday. Their conquerors in midweek, Real Madrid, beat struggling…
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Phuket book launch makes history
PHUKET: It was standing room only as more than 250 people crammed into the auditorium next to Les Anges bakery at Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) yesterday evening for the launch of Colin Mackay’s potentially seminal work,”A History of Phuket and the Surrounding Region”.More than six years in the making, the book references more than 800 texts detailing the arrival of…
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Chalong Bay’s sunken dangers
PHUKET: After spending 5.8 million baht to install new moorings in Chalong Bay and at Ao Por, on Phuket’s east coast, the chief of the local Marine Office now says he needs more money to fix the moorings, which have sunk one boat and damaged at least three others. The moorings in nautical terms are brand-new. They were dropped in…
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Driver with drugs in black plate taxi trunk gets attempted bribery charges to boot
PHUKET: A Phuket bound “black plate” taxi was caught doing double-duty yesterday as it hauled 45 kilograms of kratom leaves back from Surat Thani after dropping a group of Russian tourists off in a resort in Nakorn Sri Thammarat. The drug-running duo in the car have been charged with the intent to sell a category five drug and for bribery…
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Bamboozled by bamboo
PHUKET: A reader recently asked Normita Thongtham, who writes a Sunday gardening column for a national daily, if her earlier suggestion about making a living fence of bamboo “planted six to eight meters apart was a typographical error.” The writer’s answer was “no.” And the reason? Because bamboo (bambusa) grows very fast, and the space between the individual plants is…
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Phuket concrete-mixing truck kills 5-year-old boy
PHUKET: A concrete-mixing truck ran over a 5-year-old Burmese boy in Thalang on Friday night. The boy, “Juggy”, was on a motorbike with his 35-year-old mother, Mrs Namprik, and his 3-year-old sister. The concrete-mixing truck, allegedly being driven at a high speed toward a construction site in Patong, struck the motorbike at around 9:45pm on the Baan Don-Cherngtalay Road, Roonnaphum…
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Phuket Health: Learning to love your body
PHUKET: This week we are diving straight into what most people often need to hear when they come and ask how to improve their lives – health and fitness. Your body is constantly in flux (just like life) and your health will always be subject to your lifestyle choices. Healthy, happy people do not necessarily have to be fit people…
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Phuket Diving: Sidemounting a revolution
PHUKET: “CLICK, click”… with both tanks unclipped and held in front of us it is possible to make our way through the small window of the little dive-boat wreck sitting at a depth of about 18 meters off the coast of Racha Yai, Phuket. Tanks still stretched out in front of him, Kevin from Kiwidiver pushes through the small window…
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Phuket Sports: England in for hard time with Italian visit
PHUKET: Glasgoq Warriors flyhalf Duncan Weir will make his first start for Scotland in Saturdays’s Six Nations championship match against Wales at Murrayfield after replacing Ruaridh Jackson in the squad announced on Tuesday, Weir, 21, who has won his three previous caps from the bench, is one of two changes to the starting lineup who defeated Ireland in the last…
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Entangled manta ray ensnares international attention
PHUKET: The sighting of a 5-meter manta ray entangled in heavy ropes off Koh Racha Noi has galvanized marine experts from as far away as Bangkok and Singapore to come to its rescue. Nantarika Chansue, the director of the Veterinary Medical Aquatic Animal Research Center and faculty of Veterinarian Sciences at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, has called on the entire…
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Dokset murder trial postponed for want of a translator
PHUKET: The murder trial of Stein Havard Dokset was due to continue yesterday but was postponed until August 22 after it was discovered that no court translator was available. Mr Dokset, accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong and leaving her remains in a trash bin for months, appeared at Phuket Provincial Court yesterday at 9am (story here). After a…
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Aussie life savers dive in to boost Phuket beach guard training
PHUKET: The Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) yesterday announced it has joined with the renowned Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) to develop world-class public education programs that aim to improve water safety and reduce the number of drownings on Phuket’s beaches. This week, six senior lifeguard trainers from Phuket beaches and resorts worked with SLSA Community Education Manager Anthony Bradstreet to…
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Phuket Sports: Rotary Club of Patong paired up with Laguna for fun in the sun
PHUKET: On Friday March 1, the Rotary Club of Patong Beach held a charity golf tournament at Laguna Phuket Golf Club. A total of 66 players braved the brutal heat to battle for prizes in several categories. Singles winner was Best Wannamakok with 36 stableford points. The winning pair were Keith Bennet and Sandor Levai. The winning team were Martin…
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Dutch tourist retracts Phi Phi rape report
PHUKET: A Dutch woman who reported to police that she was raped on Monday while on holiday on Phi Phi Island, near Phuket, recanted her story yesterday. The 25-year-old woman told police that she and a friend arrived on Phi Phi on Monday and checked into a hotel. “She then went alone to a bar by the beach,” said Krabi…
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Phuket Poll: Time to round up the dogs?
PHUKET: The island of Phuket has a lot of dogs – from pampered poodles that ride motorcycles with their masters to skinny, mangy dogs that live on charity in the streets. Because there are no leash laws and because people support stray dogs by feeding them, it’s easy to see all types of dogs out and about on their own.…
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Phuket Poll: Russian tourists equals “No money, no matter’
PHUKET: In the latest Phuket Gazette online reader poll, asking whether the tourism infrastructure in Phuket is sufficiently developed to handle all the Russian visitors, 44% said it doesn’t matter, because very little Russian money reaches the pockets of Phuket residents anyway. The remaining responses were evenly divided between those who believe the infrastructure for Russian tourists is sufficient, those…
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Phuket tourists warned about illegal slow loris touts
PHUKET: A seven-day educational campaign against profiteering from slow lorises and other wildlife is now underway on the streets of Patong. Last night about 30 government officers handed out English-language brochures on the illegal use of wildlife in one of the most tourist-dense areas of Phuket, between Loma Park and Soi Bangla in Patong (map here). The officers were from…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Chelsea face second exit as Spurs trounce Inter
Tottenham thump sorry Inter, Chelsea stung Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Tottenham Hotspur trounced a sorry Inter Milan 3-0 in the Europa League yesterday while last year’s European champions Chelsea were humbled 1-0 by Steaua Bucharest after being stung by a Raul Rusescu penalty.Big-spending Russian pair Zenit St Petersburg and Anzhi Makhachkala failed to manage a goal between them. Zenit lost…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Brazil nightclub fire toll climbs; 31 militants slain on Borneo; China land grab
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Victim from Brazil nightclub fire dies, 16 still hospitalized Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A young woman died yesterday from injuries sustained during a January 27 fire at the Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil, bringing the death toll from the college town tragedy to 241, Brazil’s health ministry…
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Phuket Food: FroYo – The cool new trend in healthy snacks
PHUKET: The latest Korean craze to hit Thailand, after TV dramas and the Gangnam-style dance, is soft-serve frozen yoghurt, also known as “FroYo”. Opened recently in The 6th shopping mall in Patong (just across the road from Jungceylon and next to the White Tiger Bar), Bang Frozen Yoghurt offers a healthy alternative to traditional full-fat and sugared ice cream. “Although…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Chavez to be embalmed; Bin Laden son in law arrested; Rohingya crisis spreads
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bin Laden son-in-law arrested in Jordan, taken to New York Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: U.S. prosecutors unsealed an indictment against a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden yesterday that charged him with conspiracy to kill Americans, after U.S. government sources said he was arrested overseas and brought to…
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Phuket protest delivers possible reprieve for Muslim teacher sacked for joining Hajj
PHUKET: About 100 parents, students, community leaders and other Muslim residents from across Phuket gathered in front of Muslim Wittaya School on Thepkrasattri Road in Koh Kaew this morning to protest a teacher being sacked for taking unapproved leave to join the Hajj. The protesters called for the school board to recast their decision to sack Parinya Payadsub, a respected…
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Man dies in reservoir after sacrilegious “wicky leak’
PHUKET: The death of a man who apparently went insane and dived into a reservoir is the talk of a village in the province of Roi Et, in the northeast of Thailand. Villagers of Nonrang, in Muang District, believe the cause of the strange death of 32-year-old Daorueang Chaiyahong was his sacrilegious antics at a company party on New Year’s…
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Phuket Reminder: AMCHAM meeting to shed light on Phuket history
PHUKET: This evening the Phuket Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) is proud to promote the island’s heritage through the launch of Colin Mackay’s new book, A History of Phuket and the Surrounding Region, one of the first publications of record to so thoroughly examine the little-known history of the island and its neighboring provinces in the Andaman…
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Phuket People: Chanchai Doungjit
PHUKET: As the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket, Chanchai Doungjit needs no introduction. In a province where tourism is the main livelihood for most of the population and the industry’s marketing needs to be robust, the director is always in the media.Just before our interview, Chanchai had been in a weekly meeting with the…
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Phuket Opinion: Dumping drugs for scouts’ honor
PHUKET: Rapin Nichanon, 58, has been the Provincial Prison Chief since 2011. Originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, he served as the director of Krabi Provincial Prison before moving to Phuket. Here, he talks about how successful the prison’s “scout training courses” (story here) are in helping drug users become valuable citizens: We have been holding our “scout training” courses for…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Saddle sore; Meditate for charity
Saddle sore but satisfiedPHUKET: On January 28 local expat James Mason left Tiger Muay Thai camp in Chalong (one of his main sponsors) to cycle 890 kilometers to Rainbow House, a home for disabled or abandoned children, in Bangkok. James, who used to weigh 235 kilos, was given five years to live by a doctor in the UK until joining…
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Hail Phuket Provincial Hall
PHUKET: Protests over the recently-unveiled plan to build a new 465-million-baht Phuket Provincial Hall (story here) strike us as quite surprising, especially the fact that self-described “local people” are leading the opposition: virtually all of the land in the immediate vicinity belongs to the state. Few would argue the need for a larger provincial hall complex on Phuket. Various plans…
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Phuket Gazette World News: FBI probe launched after drone spotted at JFK airport
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Feds checking pilot’s report of drone sighting during JFK landing Phuket Gazette / News wiresPHUKET: Federal authorities launched an investigation on Tuesday after the pilot of a commercial plane reported seeing a remote-controlled drone near his plane while preparing to land at New York’s John F. Kennedy…
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Reflecting on currency exposure
PHUKET: If you are a long-term expatriate living in Phuket, Thailand, you have probably seen the Thai baht appreciate significantly against your home currency – a trend that will likely continue for the foreseeable future. This appreciation (along with an average inflation rate of 2.7% since 2000) makes it increasingly expensive to live in Thailand at a time when you…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United win four in a row
PHUKET: The Pearl of the Andaman won their fourth straight futsal league match last night, defeating Prachin Futsal Club (5-3) in a thrilling match in Phuket Town. Played at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports complex, the match was both sides 27th match of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier League 2012-2013 season. The visiting team broke the ice early…
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Escape from Boracay
PHUKET: Timing is everything, and my recent sortie to the Philippines for island hopping was ill advised. I’m stuck in the middle of what they are politely calling a ‘tropical depression’, or what could eventually become a typhoon. The depression thing reminds me of Tony Soprano and his psychiatrist: “So how are you feeling today Tony?” Yesterday’s highlight was a…
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Phuket Legal: Property purchase in the name of a Thai company
PHUKET: In many cases, foreign investors wish to register a company in Thailand with an eye toward purchasing property in the name of that company to use for business purposes, or simply to use as the company’s registered office. Although it is commonly believed that a Thai company with foreign shareholders cannot purchase and own land, or that it’s very…
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US Embassy to stage “outreach visit’ to Phuket
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an “Outreach Visit” at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort in Karon (map here) on March 15. Consular staff will be available from 8am to midday to provide services on: • Passport renewal applications (US$110 or 3,520 baht for adult passports, US$105 or 3,360 baht for a child’s passport).…
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