Month: April 2014
- Business News
Revamped Tesco Lotus Extra fully open from today
PHUKET: Renovations on the Tesco Lotus Extra Phuket mall, located off the bypass road in Sam Kong, were recently completed and the revamped mall is now fully open for business as of today. Tesco says that more shops, famous brands, and a new food court have been added to the mall, including Starbucks, Fuji, Giordano, Air Asia, as well as…
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Phuket airport health officials ramp up MERS surveillance
PHUKET: Health officials at Phuket International Airport have ramped up efforts to identify any travellers arriving in Phuket who are suspected of carrying the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV). The news follows the death of a Malaysian man from complications caused by MERS after returning from Saudi Arabia, in what appears to be the first fatal case of the disease…
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Brazil set to pass Internet bill of rights
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Brazil set to pass Internet bill of rights Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Brazil’s Senate unanimously approved groundbreaking legislation on Tuesday that guarantees equal access to the Internet and protects the privacy of Brazilian users in the wake of U.S. spying revelations. President Dilma Rousseff, who…
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Yingluck offers to quit; Park chief probe over missing activist; Four dead from swine flu
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck to leave politics if country wants it; hasn’t raised issue with Thaksin The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday she is ready to step down if the people want her out, but added that she had not discussed the…
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First sign of South Korea ferry disaster was call from a frightened boy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community First sign of South Korea ferry disaster was call from a frightened boy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The first distress call from a sinking South Korean ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice to a fire station, three minutes after the vessel…
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Teens confess to rape of pregnant Phuket woman
PHUKET: Twin brothers confessed yesterday to the rape, sexual assault, assault and robbery of a 25-year-old pregnant woman along a dark stretch of road in northern Phuket on Sunday. “The suspects face all four charges, including ‘use of a vehicle, in a robbery and evasion of police,'” Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Peerayut Karajedee told the Phuket Gazette. “They claim…
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Manchester United’s manager canned
PHUKET: David Moyes’s troubled reign at Old Trafford came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when the Scot was sacked after a hugely disappointing 10-month spell as manager after replacing Alex Ferguson last July. Announcing his departure in a terse, two line statement, United thanked Moyes for, “the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role”. Veteran midfielder…
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Blackout in parts of northern Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: Thalang District Electricity Authority (TDEA) has announced a major blackout scheduled to affect residents in Thalang tomorrow from 9am to 5pm. The scheduled blackout will affect areas along the southbound lane of Thepkrasattri Road, from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Thalang branch to the LPG gas station in Baan Li Porn. Thalang Hospital will be affected, but…
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Laguna Phuket to launch “Fully Booked!’ mobile learning center
Laguna Phuket has announced that it will be launching a new community project, “Fully Booked!”, which will see the opening of a new mobile learning center for schoolchildren. The project is one of many initiatives set up by Laguna Phuket to support its wider strategic goal on social and educational development, which aims to build the capacities of local communities…
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Phuket residents approve north-south Chalong underpass
PHUKET: Local residents yesterday voted to approve a route for the Chalong underpass: a two-way underpass stretching one kilometer long that joins Chao Fa West Road and Wiset Road. The selected route was chosen at the second public hearing for the project, held at The Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town. The chosen route was among four options presented yesterday. The…
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Twin brothers arrested for rape of pregnant Phuket woman
PHUKET: Police are questioning 17-year-old twin brothers suspected of raping a pregnant woman along a dark stretch of road in northern Phuket on Sunday night. Tah Chat Chai Police have the pair in custody and are currently questioning them over the incident. The brothers are suspected of kicking a 25-year-old woman who is five months pregnant off her motorcycle, causing…
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Kuwait’s MG7 Cricket Club take out Cup Final; CBBs win Plate Final
The 11th Annual Phuket International Cricket Sixes Tournament 2014 wrapped up on Sunday after eleven hard-fought matches. Match oneThe final play-off match one saw Wild Men From Borneo (WMFB) against the Southern Stars. The Wild Men went out and scored 33 runs with Scarface retiring hurt on 11. The Southern Stars won. Match twoThe first semi-final in the Plate division…
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PACC to dive in on Phuket corruption case on Monday
PHUKET: A Public-sector Anti Corruption Commission (PACC) team will begin its investigation on Monday into extortion charges lodged last month by 41 members of the Phuket dive community (story here). “At least nine PACC officers will form the investigation team. They will stay for as long as it takes to ensure that we have enough information to proceed with the…
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Pregnant woman kicked off her motorbike, raped in northern Phuket
PHUKET: Two men kicked a pregnant woman off her motorcycle, causing her to break a leg, then dragged her off the road and raped and robbed her in Mai Khao on Sunday night. The 25-year-old woman is five months pregnant. She was riding home alone from her job as a convenience store cashier when the attack occurred at about 10:30pm…
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Search for MH370: Seabed scans draw blanks, cyclone nears
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cyclone threatens to disrupt search for missing Malaysian plane Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A tropical cyclone was threatening to hamper the search for a missing Malaysian jetliner in a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean on Monday, as a submarine drone neared the end of…
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Saudi Arabia sentences eight to death for 2003 attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Saudi Arabia sentences eight to death for 2003 attacks Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Saudi Arabian court on Monday sentenced three more men to death, raising the number of people condemned for their involvement in a suicide attack on expatriate residential compounds in Riyadh in…
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U.S. force in Afghanistan may be cut to less than 10,000 troops
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. force in Afghanistan may be cut to less than 10,000 troops Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan may drop well below 10,000 – the minimum demanded by the U.S. military to train Afghan forces – as the longest war…
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South Korean ferry crew’s desertion ‘tantamount to murder’: Park
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korean ferry crew’s desertion ‘tantamount to murder’: Park Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Monday the actions of some crew of a ferry that sank with hundreds feared dead were tantamount to murder, as a four-year-old video transcript showed…
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Parents search for abducted Nigeria girls, say 234 missing
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Parents search for abducted Nigeria girls, say 234 missing Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Parents of girls abducted by Islamist militants were searching for their daughters in a remote forest, they told the state governor on Monday, adding that 234 were still missing, a much higher…
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Disappearance of Karen activist prompts concern; NACC denies bias; Teacher exam cheating probe begins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Disappearance of Karen activist prompts concern The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Several organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Thailand, are pressing Thai authorities to speed up investigation into the disappearance of a leading Karen activist. Por Cha Lee Rakchongcharoen, also known as “Billy”,…
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Thaksin ready to sacrifice family; Triple murder in Yala; and more…
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thaksin ‘ready to sacrifice family’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to “sacrifice his family” by ending its political roles so the country can emerge from the ongoing political impasse and move forward, his close aide said yesterday. However,…
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Ukraine peace deal falters as rebels show no sign of surrender
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine peace deal falters as rebels show no sign of surrender Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An international agreement to avert wider conflict in Ukraine was faltering on Monday, with pro-Moscow separatist gunmen showing no sign of surrendering government buildings they have seized. U.S. and European…
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Police believe French national killed during robbery
PHUKET: Police believe a French national found dead in his rented Phuket bungalow on Friday was killed in the midst of a robbery. Officers are now working on identifying two suspects recorded by the resort’s CCTV cameras. The body of Fabrice Boigeol, 37, was found lying in a pool of blood partially under a stripped mattress in a room at…
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Employers escape jail terms for Phuket sewer deaths
PHUKET: The investigation into the deaths of four workers in a Phuket Town sewer last month has ruled that the two companies involved will face fines only. The news follows the Phuket office of the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare (DLPW) concluding its investigation on Saturday. “The next step is to send the case to Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut,”…
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Emerald pools and more just across the bay from Phuket
PHUKET: Typically, upon hearing any reference of Krabi, the first thing that springs to mind is the stalactite-studded Railay, party-island Phi Phi or any one of the other 154 awe-inspiring islands that draw millions of visitors a year to this quiet province on the Andaman Sea. Without a doubt, visitors who come to this little corner of the world would…
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Chinese tourist drowns while snorkelling, prompts life jacket warning
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has issued a warning over the improper use of life jackets following a Chinese tourist drowning while snorkelling off Racha Yai Island on Saturday. Chalong Police were notified of the tourist’s death at about 3pm after the body of Ting Hong, 29, had been transferred from Racha Yai Island to…
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Tattooed body found off Phuket beach, believed to be foreigner
PHUKET: Police are trying to establish the identity of a body, believed to be of a foreign man, found floating off Pansea Beach this morning. The gruesome discovery was made by Santisuk Patkhim, a beach guard at the upscale Amanpuri Resort. Mr Santisuk secured the body then called Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers to help bring it to shore. “So far…
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Governor orders probe into “reckless’ bungy-jump operators
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut has ordered police to investigate the illegal construction site of the Phuket bungy-jump tower where two men died and one was seriously injured on Friday (story here). “I received a report that the bungy-jump tower was illegal. The owners were issued a permit to construct a building 12 meters tall, but they erected a structure reaching…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Prosecutors extend Korea ferry captain’s detention as death toll mounts
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prosecutors extend Korea ferry captain’s detention as death toll mounts Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korean prosecutors investigating a ferry disaster said on Sunday they would seek to extend the detention of the ship’s captain and two other crew by 10 days as they tried…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Reds to rally; Election slated for July; Farmers threatened over rice payments
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Red shirts to rally on eve of Yingluck verdict The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) will hold a mass rally of red shirts one day before the Constitutional Court delivers its verdict on whether Yingluck Shinawatra has lost…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Malaysian plane lands safely after landing gear scare
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Malaysian plane lands safely after landing gear scare Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane with 166 people on board landed safely at Kuala Lumpur airport early this morning after being forced to abandon a flight to Bangalore because of problems with its…
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Phuket officials order a halt to deadly bungy jump
PHUKET: Officers have ordered a halt to any further development of the illegal bungy-jumping site in Phuket where two men died and one was seriously injured Friday night. “It was built more than four times higher than had been approved,” said Chalong Mayor Samran Jindapol. The Chalong Municipality had approved construction of a 12-meter jump tower. However, the final construction,…
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Kamala combats black water threat
PHUKET: Phuket officials pushed for a 300-million-baht water-treatment plant on Friday after Kamala residents filed a complaint about stinking black wastewater. Officials and residents chalked the rancid water up to laundries and residents washing clothes and releasing the untreated wastewater into a canal that connects to the sea, said Krit Sariya, chief of the Kamala branch of the Community Organizations…
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Phuket laundry raided over wastewater poisoning canal and wells
PHUKET: A commercial laundry in Chalong has been ordered to restrict its operations pending an inquiry into untreated wastewater poisoning of private wells and killing fish in a nearby canal. Officials led by Chalong Mayor Samran Jindaphol Friday morning raided the laundry, located along a dirt track off Soi Klumyang, about 300 meters south of Wat Chalong. “Just the stench…
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Police begin hunt for French murder suspects
PHUKET: Police are hunting for suspects involved in the killing of a French national who was found dead in a Phuket rental room yesterday. The body of Fabrioe Boigeol, 37, was found lying partially under a stripped mattress in a room at the Morgot Resort in Chalong at about 1:45pm (story here). “Police and forensic investigators are checking CCTV in…
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Two dead in Phuket bungy jumping accident
PHUKET: Two men died and one was seriously injured in a Phuket bungy-jump test last night after the lift they were on crashed to the ground. The owner, Tossaporn Suksri, 27, and his mechanic Pitakchai Wongsricha, 30, were waiting in the lift for their turn to test the jump when a malfunction caused the platform they were standing on to…
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Video Report: Phuket’s B70mn one-stop yacht center to open Monday
PHUKET: Two years behind schedule and 70 million baht in the making, Phuket’s long-awaited one-stop yacht center will open with a two-week trial period, starting on Monday. “Officers involved in yacht-arrival services, such as immigration, customs and the harbor master, are now moving into their new offices,” Phuket Marine Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut told the Phuket Gazette. The rotunda-style building at…
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