Month: February 2015
- Phuket News
Phuket Old Town plays host to Sketchwalk 2015
PHUKET: Some of Phuket’s most beautiful and historical locales will play host to the second annual Phuket Old Town Sketchwalk event this year from February 20 to 23. The Phuket Old Town Sketchwalk – organized by the Phuket Sketchwalk Club, Phuket City Municipality and The Attitude Club Co Ltd – will feature many special events, including sketchwalks in Phuket Old…
Read More » - Thai Life
Excuse Buster: Charging up your willpower
PHUKET: It’s a new year and a new opportunity for a new you, so let’s wipe that slate clean and start afresh. It’s just like we said to ourselves last year… and the year before that… and probably the one before that, too. For those of us who fall off the wagon: what is it that stops us from reaching…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket teacher answers prayers of mum with deaf son
PHUKET: The deaf man who disappeared from his family home last week has been found alive and well, and may soon undertake schooling thanks to a teacher at Phuket Punyanukul School for special children. Therdsak Sankaeo, 22, disappeared from his home in Phuket Town on January 27, prompting his mother, Ms Saithong, to make a public plea to find him…
Read More » - Opinion
Opinion: Jet-skis: a hazard for everyone
PHUKET: This letter goes out to Lt Col Chatchai Sakdee of the Phuket Marine Police. Dear Col Chatchai: My wife and I have been visiting Thailand on our yacht on and off now for the last four years and generally love it. There is one matter, though, that I would like to draw to your attention: jet-ski hazards to anchored…
Read More » - Phuket News
Patriots Super Bowl XLIX champs, Seattle in shock
PHUKET: The New England Patriots sealed a come-from-behind victory, 28-24, over the defending champions Seattle Seahawks with a goal line interception in the final seconds on a pass play that will go down as one of the most questionable offensive play calls in NFL playoff history. This was a game for the ages and one with more ebb and flow…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Police raid bags nigh B3mn in counterfeit goods
PHUKET: Fake brand-name products valued at nearly 3 million baht were seized on Tuesday in police raids on shops in Patong. The early evening raid, led by officers of Economic Crime Division 4 (ECD 4), resulted in the seizure of more than 2,200 counterfeit items masquerading as luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Channel, Prada, Nike, Adidas, Calvin Klein and Billabong,…
Read More » - Thailand News
Police see political overtone in pipe bombs
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police see political overtone in pipe bombs The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The twin pipe bombings near Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok last Sunday night were “very similar” to two other bombing incidents – the explosion at Samarn Metta Mansion in Nonthaburi in 2010,…
Read More » - World News
TransAsia plane crash in Taiwan leaves 31 dead, 12 missing
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community TransAsia plane crash in Taiwan leaves 31 dead, 12 missing Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A TransAsia Airways (6702.TW) plane with 58 passengers and crew on board careened into a river shortly after taking off from a downtown Taipei airport on Wednesday, killing 31 people and…
Read More » - Phuket News
Police bust yields more than 14 kilos of kratom
PHUKET: Police arrested two kratom dealers and one user yesterday, following a tip-off that netted more than 14 kilograms of kratom leaves and a list naming more than 100 kratom customers. Lt Col Sutthichai Thianpho of the Patong Police led the raid that took detectives to the house of a suspected dealer in Soi Phra Barami 9. “On arriving in…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Bangkok shopping malls step up security after bomb blasts
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok shopping malls step up security after bomb blasts The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: MAJOR MALLS in prime shopping areas in Bangkok have stepped up security measures after bomb incidents on Sunday. Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, executive vice president for marketing at Central Pattana (CPN), said the…
Read More » - Hua Hin News
Anger at secret moving of Rohingya
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anger at secret moving of Rohingya The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Residents in Nakhon Sri Thammarat’s Hua Sai district were upset after the provincial office for social development and human security yesterday relocated 99 Rohingya people from the shelter where they had stayed for 22…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Warrants for Bangkok bomb suspects expected today
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Warrants for Bangkok bomb suspects expected today The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Arrest warrants are expected to be issued today for two men suspected of planting and setting off twin pipe bombs near Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok on Sunday night. Information about the…
Read More » - World News
Jordan vows revenge for ISIS burning alive captured pilot
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Jordan vows revenge for ISIS burning alive captured pilot Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Islamic State militants released a video on Tuesday appearing to show a captured Jordanian pilot being burnt alive in a cage, a killing that shocked the world and prompted Jordan to promise…
Read More » - Thailand News
Serial rapist of elderly put on CSD ‘most wanted’ list
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Serial rapist of elderly put on CSD ‘most wanted’ list The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) has put the much-sought serial rapist who assaulted several elderly women in recent years on its “most wanted” list and has issued details of his…
Read More » - Thailand News
NACC revokes land deeds for iron smelting plant in Prachuap
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NACC revokes land deeds for iron smelting plant in Prachuap The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has ruled that land-right documents for 11 plots in Prachuap Khiri Khan province were issued illegally and should be revoked. Prachuap Pattana Development Co Ltd,…
Read More » - Thailand News
Police nab B21mn gold heist bandits after ‘insider’ confesses
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police nab B21mn gold heist bandits after ‘insider’ confesses The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: POLICE quickly nabbed two men yesterday for allegedly stealing gold ornaments worth Bt21 million. Suriyachan Thaitanu, a new employee of gold-ornament factory Shining Gold, told police that he plotted the robbery…
Read More » - Phuket News
New tour guide regulations rolled out at Phuket airport
PHUKET: The Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket Office is cracking the whip on tourism businesses in Phuket, conducting island-wide raids and imposing stricter requirements for tour companies. “We checked the documents of tour companies and guides collecting incoming tour groups from Phuket International Airport, but did not find any illegal activity,” Santi Pawai, director of the MOTS Phuket…
Read More » - Thailand News
Two Aussies plunge from waterfall, one killed
PHUKET: One Australian is dead and another remains under observation in hospital after falling from Nah Muang Song Waterfall in Koh Samui on Sunday evening. Hugh Smith, 24, was pronounced dead on arrival at Bangkok Hospital Samui after he andBenjamin Thomas Kemp, 20, plunged about 60 meters down from the waterfall. Rescue workers spent about two hours transporting the men…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket Marine Police step up human-trafficking raids on fishing boats
PHUKET: Marine Police searched six Phuket fishing boats today and checked the documentation of 155 crew in their efforts to stamp out human trafficking in the region. The mass raid targeted vessels at the Tah Jeen Canal, near the fishing port area in Rassada, where Marine Police arrested two Myanmar nationals last night. “We found no illegal workers today,” said…
Read More » - Phuket News
Video Report: Police raid massage parlors for human trafficking, child prostitution
PHUKET: Police came up empty-handed in a series of raids on massage parlors in Phuket Town in search of human-trafficking victims and underage sex workers last night. “We had more than 300 officers checking massage parlors at Phun Phol Plaza, and along Soi 11 and Phun Pol Road,” Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Khunnadet Nanongkhai told the Phuket Gazette this…
Read More » - Phuket News
No change in Phi Phi national park fees
PHUKET: The entrance fees to the national park at Phi Phi Island remain unchanged, with foreign adults charged 400 baht per visit, a top park official there has confirmed. “There have been no changes to the national park entry fees at Phi Phi,” said Boonname Chauyradom, assistant park chief of the Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi National…
Read More » - Business News
Video Report: Thousands crowd launch of Laguna Market
PHUKET: More than 4,000 people turned out for the launch of “Laguna Market on First” at Laguna Grove in Cherng Talay on Sunday. The four-hour market generated an estimated 1.2 million baht, as more than 200 local vendors plied their goods. “I am delighted to see that the market attracted both [people from] the local communities and tourists,” said Ravi…
Read More » - Thailand News
Registration of ivory ‘aimed at killing trade in African tusks’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Registration of ivory ‘aimed at killing trade in African tusks’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A new law requiring people who own locally sourced ivory to register with the government is meant to separate them from people who own ivory from Africa, Nipon Chotibal, director-general…
Read More » - Thailand News
Six suspects arrested, accused of being part of network to overthrow monarchy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six suspects arrested, accused of being part of network to overthrow monarchy The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Six suspects were arrested yesterday in connection with alleged involvement in the Bunpodj network’s plot to overthrow the monarchy. The arrests were carried out by police from the…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Hunt for Bangkok bombers begins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hunt for Bangkok bombers begins The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Security will be heightened across the country following double explosions in Bangkok’s shopping district on Sunday night as police hunt for at least two culprits believed to have been recorded on surveillance cameras. Prime Minister…
Read More » - World News
Japan PM calls to consider military undertaking overseas rescues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Japan PM calls to consider military undertaking overseas rescues Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET:Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he wanted to debate the possibility of Japan’s military rescuing Japanese citizens abroad, a day after Islamic State militants said they had beheaded a Japanese…
Read More » - Bangkok News
No Phuket security boost in wake of Bangkok bomb blasts: Police
PHUKET: There will be no boost in security by police following the two bomb blasts outside the Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok last night, one of Phuket’s top cops confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha earlier today ordered police in the capital to ramp up security following two pipe bombs detonating on a pedestrian…
Read More » - Phuket News
Bill Barnett launches new book: Collective Swag
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette‘s “Island Fever” columnist, Bill Barnett, is back with his third book, Collective Swag, a phantasmagorical collection of rabid essays on everything from the evils of low-cost travel to blunders in modern architecture. Reading his frantic, caffeine-charged chronicle of life on the road throughout the Indian subcontinent and the Asia-Pacific region is a sure cure for elevator…
Read More » - Thailand News
Move to merge human rights agency raises concern
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Move to merge rights agency raises concern The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The decision by the charter drafters to merge the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Ombudsman has sparked concerns over what its means for the human rights situation in Thailand and the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Ghostrider killed in hit-and-run
PHUKET: Police are hunting the driver of a sedan that killed the passenger on a ghost-riding motorbike in the northbound lane of the bypass road this morning. “Anukul Polrop, the 25-year-old driver of the bike – which was travelling in the wrong direction on the road – was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital,” said Maj Rachan Panwai of the Phuket…
Read More » - Phuket News
Taiwanese “bank account mule’ arrested in Patong
PHUKET: Police have arrested a Taiwanese man who was found in the illegal possession of bankbooks and ATM cards for 12 Thai bank accounts opened by local residents. Chen Yu-Chung, 34, was arrested on Saturday, after a tip-off from a Phuket tuk-tuk driver, who told police that he was paid 6,000 baht to open a bank account in Patong. “The…
Read More » - Phuket News
Motorcyclist without helmet dies in road collision
PHUKET: Police are trying to identify a man who died in Wichit yesterday after the motorcycle he was riding struck the side of an oncoming car. The man was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Wichit Police and Ruam Jai Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene, in Soi Thep Anusorn, at about 12:30pm. The…
Read More » - Phuket News
Patriots beat Seahawks for first Super Bowl win in 10 years
PHUKET: The New England Patriots were crowned Super Bowl champions on Sunday after defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 to capture their first National Football League title in 10 years. The victory put New England alongside five other teams with at least four Super Bowl wins while Tom Brady joined Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw and childhood idol Joe Montana as…
Read More » - Phuket News
Djokovic grinds Murray down to win Australian Open
PHUKET: Novak Djokovic ground down Andy Murray 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 on Sunday to win a record fifth Australian Open title in the professional era and consign the Scot to further grand slam pain Down Under. The pair waged a fierce baseline duel for the opening two sets, but after taking a 2-0 lead in the third set, Murray crumbled…
Read More » - Thailand News
Homemade bombs detonate outside Siam Paragon
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Homemade bombs detonate outside Siam Paragon Agencies / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two homemade bombs exploded in front of the Siam Paragon shopping mall on Sunday night, police said. Nobody was injured. The BTS suspended services at the Siam Station at 8.10pm after the two bombs exploded…
Read More » - World News
Egypt frees Al Jazeera journalist Greste, 2 others still held
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt frees Al Jazeera journalist Greste, 2 others still held Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste was released from a Cairo jail on Sunday and left Egypt after 400 days in prison on charges that included aiding a terrorist group, security officials…
Read More »
