Year: 2014
- Phuket News
Emerald EPL Masters Tour comes to Phuket
PHUKET: They might be past their prime, but still have a lot to prove to themselves, their fellow footballers and the spectators. “Once you’re on the pitch, the fighting spirit kicks in and you give your best. These guys don’t want to make fools of themselves,” says Paul Parker, former Manchester United player, and member of England’s national football team,…
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Phuket Governor assures Patong that NCPO wants to get the party re-started
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut paid a visit to Phuket’s premier party town last night to personally receive a formal request from Patong nightlife venue operators for the curfew to be lifted, and assure them that progress was being made to further relax the curfew. The governor was greeted by hundreds of business operators at about 7pm, many of whom were…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket’s new top cop to arrive today
PHUKET: A deputy commander at the Royal Thai Police Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani is to arrive in Phuket this morning to be installed as Phuket’s new top-ranking police officer later today. Maj Gen Krajang Suwannarat was officially promoted to the post of Phuket Provincial Police Commander in an order promulgated yesterday. “Maj Gen Krajang is to arrive in…
Read More » - Entertainment
Author Michael Chabon dishes up overripe Rococo
PHUKET: Michael Chabon’s third novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize. This exuberant romp about two young Jewish cartoonists during the golden age of American comic books in the 1930s and 1940s is one of the most enjoyable novels I’ve ever read. Now we have Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue (HarperCollins, New York, 2012, 468pp), and…
Read More » - Thai Life
History: One gun to rule them all
PHUKET: The Thai Ministry of Defence is located opposite the Grand Palace in the old part of Bangkok. What is interesting about this government building is its large collection of old cannons, which are exhibited within the courtyard parallel to the main road. The cannons date back to various periods in Thai history and range from small guns to intimidatingly…
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Chelsea great Lampard ends 13-year spell at club
PHUKET: Chelsea’s all-time record goalscorer Frank Lampard announced on Monday he was leaving the Londoners after a 13-year spell with the Stamford Bridge club. The England World Cup midfielder, who joined the Premier League club from London rivals West Ham United in 2001 for a fee of 11 million pounds ($18.43 million), scored 209 goals in all competitions for Chelsea.…
Read More » - Thailand News
Police fear Yala pickup in deadly hijack may be used as car bomb
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police hunt for pickup after fatal shooting The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Following the fatal shooting of a Yala man in Pattani’s Nong Chik district on Sunday, police yesterday hunted for the victim’s pickup out of fear that the attackers may have taken it to…
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Ubon businessman kills himself after receiving NCPO summons
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ubon businessman kills himself after receiving NCPO summons The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An Ubon Ratchathani businessman took his life yesterday after being summoned by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), but the local police chief doubts if the suicide was linked to…
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World War II bomb found at Bangkok MRT project site
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community World War II bomb found at Bangkok MRT project site The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A vintage aerial bomb discovered yesterday at a site near Bang Sue train station marked for construction of a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train station was secured by the Air…
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Government officials return to work
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Government officials return to work The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Government officials returned to work yesterday as Government House and the Interior Ministry opened for the first time since anti-government protests kicked off – eventually leading to the coup. Pol General Adul Saengsingkaew, the deputy…
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Thai tanker and crew home safe after hijack
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai tanker and crew back in Chon Buri after hijack and theft of oil off Kalimantan The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pirates have released a Thai tanker that was bound for Indonesia after stealing its oil, in the latest attack in Southeast Asian waters, the…
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At least 12 Vietnam students killed in Thai van crash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community At least 12 Vietnam students killed in crash The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Twelve Vietnamese students and a Thai van driver died after their chartered vehicle collided head-on with an 18-wheel truck in Chaiyaphum’s Kaeng Khro district yesterday morning. The van burst into flames after…
Read More » - World News
Spain’s King Juan Carlos abdicates to revive monarchy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Spain’s King Juan Carlos abdicates to revive monarchy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Spain’s King Juan Carlos said on Monday he would abdicate in favour of his son Prince Felipe, aiming to revive the scandal-hit monarchy at a time of economic hardship and growing discontent with…
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Legal tour guides furious over police arrests, demand illegal guides be targeted
PHUKET: About 100 angry tour guides protested at Chalong Police Station today after 23 legal members of a local Chinese tour guide association were brought in for questioning this morning. Three members of the association had been attempting to collect evidence of illegal guides operating in the popular tourist destination when they were taken into police custody. “We do not…
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Cocaine blues: Phuket tourist busted with over 20g of “paradise white’
PHUKET: A Phuket sting operation netted two tourists in possession of more than 21 grams of cocaine last night. “An undercover officer met with the 46-year-old suspect, Nigerian tourist Colins Ifeanyi Ugwoeruchkwu, to buy drugs in Patong,” said Tourist Police Division 5 Superintendent Jirapop Phuridet. “When Mr Ugwoeruchkwu arrived on Soi Nanai 2, off Nanai Road, we searched him.” Officers…
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“I thought I saw MH370 on fire,’ says Phuket yachtie
PHUKET: A British sailor crossing the Indian Ocean en route to Phuket in March has stepped forward to file a report that she may have seen the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370. Katherine Tee, 41, was sailing from Cochin, India to Phuket with her husband Marc Horn, 50, when she saw what looked like a plane on fire crossing the…
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Dazed and confused: Swedish tourist loses hotel, saved by police volunteers
PHUKET: A confused Swedish tourist located his guesthouse after two days of being lost in Patong thanks to the combined effort of the Tourist Police Volunteers and Region 8 Police Volunteers. Karl “Tommy” Berglund, 67, left his hotel shortly after checking in on Thursday night to go for a walk, taking just a little cash and leaving his room key…
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Phuket sailor breaks two records
PHUKET: “I’m hoping it will take me no more than 48 hours,” Yassine Darkaou told me when I met him in Ao Yon in Cape Panwa, on Wednesday May 28, minutes before he took off for his record breaking journey. A grueling 77 hours later he reached the shore again, with not one, but two records in his possession, neither…
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2022 Wold Cup vote must be re-run if corruption proved, says Goldsmith
PHUKET: The vote for the hosting of the 2022 World Cup must be re-run if corruption allegations surrounding Qatar’s winning campaign are proved to be accurate, Lord Goldsmith, a member of FIFA’s Independent Governance Committee, said on Monday. A British newspaper on Sunday claimed it had evidence that around $5 million (3 million pounds) was paid to officials in return…
Read More » - Thai Life
Flight of the Little Bumble Bee: Gyrocopter update
PHUKET: Flight training on the island’s one and only “gyrocopter” is going off without a hitch at Phuket AirPark in Pa Khlok. Phuket AirPark Flight Operations manager Pat James is among four trainees being instructed to operate the AutoGyro Cavalon by a factory-trained instructor from Sweden who is staying at Phuket AirPark for one month. “It’s looking really good. Everything…
Read More » - Business News
Lion Air roars into Southern Thailand
PHUKET: Regional low-cost carrier Lion Air has launched services to several new destinations in Thailand, with its Thai subsidiary Thai Lion Air, aiming to establish Hat Yai Airport (HDY) as a second hub in Thailand. Executive Managing Director of Thai Lion Air, Andi Burhan, said that the carrier’s decision to use a 72-seat ATR 72-600 prop plane, the first ATR…
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Phuket Governor prevents anti-curfew rally, whispers curfew repeal coming
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut has vowed to visit Soi Bangla in Patong tonight to personally receive a formal request by nightlife venue operators pleading for the curfew to be lifted. Governor Maitri announced the news after a closed-door meeting with Patong Entertainment Business Association President Weerawit Krueasombut this afternoon. The meeting lasted just a handful of minutes. Mr Weerawit had…
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Breaking News: Furious tour guides protest at Chalong Police Station over arrest
PHUKET: About 100 angry Phuket tour guides descended on Chalong Police Station today to protest the arrest of a legal tour guide. “Police arrested a legal tour guide. Why aren’t they looking for the illegal guides? Why are they targeting us?” asked protest leader Jaifu Sae-lee. An investigation into officers at the Chalong Police Station concluded earlier this year. Shortly…
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Phuket top cop flip-flop: Gen Ong-art gets his marching orders
PHUKET: Phuket’s top-ranking police officer, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, earlier this afternoon received his marching orders to report to the Royal Thai Police Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani – effective immediately. The news comes just hours after Gen Ong-art publicly confirmed that he had not received any transfer orders (story here). However, Gen Ong-art told the Phuket Gazette that…
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Phuket’s top cop to stay – for now
PHUKET: Despite rumors that the island’s top-ranking police officer, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, had been ordered to leave his position as Phuket Provincial Police Commander, Gen Ong-art has confirmed that he has been ordered to stay. “I will remain here until I receive orders stating otherwise,” Gen Ong-art told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “It all depends on my superiors…
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Patong nightlife operators to risk assembly ban to plea for curfew to be lifted
PHUKET: About 100 Patong business operators and their staff plan to gather at Phuket Provincial Hall tomorrow to submit a formal request asking for the curfew to be lifted. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut have been informed of the plan, Patong Entertainment Business Association Weerawit Krueasombut told the Phuket Gazette this morning.…
Read More » - Thai Life
Video report: BISP graduates ready to change the world
PHUKET: Hope and nostalgia, vivid memories and plans for a bright future, words of inspiration and inside jokes, bright smiles and rivers of tears – all this was present in abundance during the British International School Phuket (BISP) Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2014 on Tuesday, May 27. Honored by the Governor of Phuket, Maitri Inthusut, British Honorary Consul…
Read More » - Koh Samui News
Only seconds in it on final day of Samui Regatta
PHUKET: The sun and wind greeted sailors with equal measure on the morning of the last day of the Samui Regatta last Saturday, May 31. With the best pressure to the north, Principal Race Officer (PRO) Ross Chisholm headed out to lay a start line with two races planned for all – first a trapezoid course followed by a fast…
Read More » - World News
France arrests suspect in Brussels Jewish museum shooting
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community France arrests suspect in Brussels Jewish museum shooting Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: French police have arrested a man suspected of being involved in the shooting deaths last weekend of three people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum, official sources in Belgium and France said on Sunday. The…
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Pele’s son sentenced to 33 years in prison
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pele’s son sentenced to 33 years in prison Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The son of former Brazil striker Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for laundering money earned from drug trafficking, Brazilian media reported. Edinho, who played as a goalkeeper for his…
Read More » - Thailand News
Thailand News: No retreat from democracy; Reporter freed; Soldiers play cat-and-mouse with protesters
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘No retreat from democracy’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand is not retreating from democracy and seeks understanding from its economic and strategic partners while the country undergoes political reforms, a top Thai official said yesterday. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs, was…
Read More » - World News
Airlines resume Bali flights as ash cloud dissipates
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australian airlines resume flights as ash cloud dissipates Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Australian airlines forced to cancel flights due to a volcanic ash cloud from Indonesia’s Sangeang Api volcano resumed flying on Sunday as the plume cleared. With the threat to Australian airspace now abating,…
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Did you win a private Phuket airplane ride?
PHUKET: Two lucky people out of the more than 500 who took part in the Phuket Gazette’s 2014 Reader Survey have won a free ride over the island in the company’s new airplane. Each person who completed the survey was issued a lucky number. The winning numbers, drawn late yesterday, are 8584 and 7546. Maintaining our promise of anonymity in…
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Navy experts disarm Japanese WWII torpedo in Krabi
PHUKET: The WWII Japanese torpedo brought to Krabi’s shores by fisherman on Tuesday was removed from the beach by experts and disarmed on a nearby island yesterday . “Officers from the Thai Navy Ordinance confirmed that the torpedo was from World War II, and that it was capable of destroying everything within a 1 kilometer radius,” Koh Sriboya Kamnan Samran…
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Irish teacher dies after motorbike crash in Phuket
PHUKET: An Irish teacher at Baan Maireab School in Phuket died today from head injuries sustained in a motorbike accident last night. Denis Bates, 30, was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital at about 11pm. The Irishman, originally from Dublin, had been in a coma until he succumbed to his head injury at 12:10pm today. “He died of intracerebral hemorrhaging,” confirmed…
Read More » - Thailand News
Gen Prayuth says reconciliation, reform to take about a year – elections to wait
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gen Prayuth says reconciliation, reform to take about a year Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) leader Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said yesterday that a process of reconciliation between political factions and reforms would take about one year, and only after…
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Driving courses to be offered in English, Russian and Burmese for Phuket foreigners
PHUKET: Several educational institutions on the island will soon offer training courses in English, as well as Russian and Burmese, for foreigners wanting to get a driver’s licence. The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with five educational institutions on the island – Rajabhat University, Thalang Technical College, Phuket Technical College, Phuket Polytechnic College and…
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