Month: July 2016

  • Phuket News

    Phuket marine chief replaced – again

    PHUKET: Phuket Marine Office chief Surachai Burapanontachai is to be transferred at the end of July to the Marine Department headquarters in Bangkok. Mr Surachai will be taking up the position as the department’s acting secretary. Mr Surachai is scheduled leave his post here next week after handing over his duties to his replacement, former Samut Prakarn Marine Office chief…

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  • Phuket News

    Naka Noi land dispute settled, as Land Department Gen revokes ownership

    The Land Department has concluded a Naka Noi land ownership dispute by revoking land ownership documents held by Six Mountain Company Co Ltd. Land Department Director-General Apinun Suetanuwong told the Phuket Gazette that he would side with the standing committee presiding over the dispute on July 14. That committee found that the NorSor3Kor of 24 rai held by the company…

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  • Phuket News

    Karon hit with historic floods

    PHUKET: Karon experienced the worst flooding in decades after a heavy downpour this morning, the municipality’s deputy mayor Ittiporn Sangkaew told the Phuket Gazette today. Shops and houses opposite hillside construction sites along Patak Road were inundated with mud and water up to one meter deep. “This is the worst flooding we’ve seen in decades,” said the deputy mayor. The…

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  • Phuket News

    Krabi lawyer charged for speaking out against referendum

    KRABI: A Krabi lawyer surrendered himself to the police on Saturday after he became a ‘wanted’ man for breaching the Public Referendum Act via a Facebook post. Chuwong Maneekul, 51, expressed his opposition to the referendum and its authors on his Facebook page about two weeks ago. “I posted the status to express my feelings without any hidden agendas, but…

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  • Phuket News

    Koh Lanta Yai vice president nabbed in B20mn bribery sting

    KRABI: Koh Lanta Yai Administration Organization (OrBorTor) vice president Anusorn Wangphon was arrested yesterday in an anti-corruption sting operation. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) allege that the 49 year-old official requested 20 million baht from a businessman in exchange for the issuance of land title deeds. The operation was led by NACC Assistant Secretary-General Colonel Ittiphol Kitsuwan, who said Mr…

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  • Phuket News

    Migrant workers arrested during registration

    PHUKET: Officers from the Phuket Provincial Office (PPO) and the Royal Thai Navy arrested 80 migrant laborers during two raids in Thalang on Sunday. The raids came after the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) encouraged illegal laborers to register throughout the month of July, with PPEO officials stating that the government is showing leniency with employers and illegal workers (story…

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  • Phuket News

    Thieves plague Srisoonthorn

    PHUKET: Thalang police are looking for a suspect or suspects who allegedly stole the batteries from a parked six-wheel truck in Srisoonthorn yesterday. Lt Suporn Muangkhai of Thalang police said officers were notified of the theft by the truck driver around 7:30am. Forty-seven year old Pipop Sasan from central Thailand said his vehicle was parked near the Democrat Party’s Phuket…

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  • Phuket News

    Three-day public holiday begins for Buddhist lent

    PHUKET: Government offices, along with many private businesses, will be closed over the next three days, as Buddhists across the country mark Asanha Bucha Day and the Khao Phansa Holiday. Alcohol sales are also prohibited during the official public holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday. Asanha Bucha, which falls on Tuesday, commemorates the Lord Buddha’s first teaching of Dhamma (Truth) to…

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  • Phuket News

    Body of missing Royal Thai Army officer found

    PHANG NGA: A Royal Thai Navy search and rescue team yesterday recovered the body of a Royal Thai Army officer, who reportedly slid off a rock at Khao Na Yak in Phang Nga and went missing on Friday. Pongsathorn Pakdee, 22, was fishing with his friends when the incident took place, after which Janya Plaimuang, his aunt, reported the incident…

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  • Phuket News

    Penis skinned in shrimp farm accident

    PHUKET: A teenage shrimp farm employee had the skin of his penis ripped clean off when he fell onto a spinning mechanical aerator used to oxygenate the water. The victim, a Myanmar national aged 17, suffered severe blood loss. “He was writhing in agony and covered in blood as locals rushed him to Thalang Hospital. He was later moved to…

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  • Phuket News

    Dolphins washing ashore, injured or dead

    PHUKET: A dead dolphin was discovered off a Patong Beach and another is recovering at a Royal Thai Navy facility on Koh Lanta. Both were discovered by scuba divers on Saturday. Phuket Marine Biological Center veterinarian Patcharaporn Gaewmong told the Phuket Gazette that she believes recent discoveries of sick, injured or dead cetaceans are likely the result of monsoon season…

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  • Phuket News

    Last call for illegal migrant workers to register

    PHUKET: Immigration officials are calling on employers of illegal migrant workers to register their employees before a grace period ends this month. “At least 20,000 foreign laborers, predominantly Myanmar nationals, have registered at Phuket’s ‘one-stop center’ since it began accepting applications on April 1, so they can be properly registered and issued with work permits,” said Phuket Provincial Employment Office…

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  • Phuket NewsBlaze guts alleyway of shops in Patong [video] | Thaiger

    Blaze guts alleyway of shops in Patong [video]

    PHUKET: A blaze gutted shops in a narrow alley off Bangla Road in Patong last night. The fire broke out about midnight near Thaweesawong Road (beach road), damaging several shops including a tailor’s and a minimart. Firefighters and six fire trucks took more than an hour to extinguish the inferno, which is estimated to have caused several million baht worth…

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  • Koh Samui News

    Indonesian busted at Samui airport with 3kg of cocaine in suitcase

    KOH SAMUI: An Indonesian man has been detained by police after picking up a suitcase stuffed with 3 kilograms of cocaine at Samui International Airport on Thursday (July 14). The suspect, named by police as Djemmy Petrus Mokodompit, 48, had arrived on Koh Samui a week earlier, on July 8, on a Bangkok Airways flight from Singapore. The unaccompanied suitcase…

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  • Phuket News

    Aussie drunk driver arrested after hit and run

    PHUKET: An Australian man is under arrest after he allegedly hit several parked vehicles in what police reported as a drunk driving incident in Cherng Talay early this morning. Police received a report from Somchai Choomrak, 52, at Baan Pa Sak in Cherng Talay at around 4:30am. Mr Somchai stated that the suspect left his Honda Jazz parked in the…

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  • Phuket News

    Government takes back more land, angers locals

    PHUKET: Locals are furious after government officers demolished plantations and houses in Thalang on Thursday. “This is incredibly unfair,” said Sorasid Saksuay, a representative of the 200-member community, talking to the press yesterday. “We’ve been living here since before 1998.” A Suan Pa Bang Kanun census in 1998 registered community members and property claims. The area, spread out over some…

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  • Phuket News

    Fake monks charged for begging in Patong

    PHUKET: Two monks with fake ordination certificates and a bank book were arrested by Patong Police yesterday. According to reports from locals, Tanai Jai-uea, 52 and Bundit Sairat, 42, have been regular food beggars at the Sai Nam Yen intersection on Rat Uthit 200 Pee Road in Patong for two years. “They were not doing alms rounds like other monks…

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  • World NewsTurkish coup bid crumbles as crowds answer call to streets, Erdogan returns | Thaiger

    Turkish coup bid crumbles as crowds answer call to streets, Erdogan returns

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Turkish coup bid crumbles as crowds answer call to streets, Erdogan returns Phuket Gazette / Reuters ISTANBUL/ANKARA: An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of this morning after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan’s call to take to the streets to support…

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  • Business News

    Analyzing the luxury car industry in Phuket

    PHUKET: Behind the closed doors of the glitz and glamor of the luxury car business in Phuket, are a host of complicated market forces at play. Let’s take a closer look at the factors that come together in the day-to-day running of this business. Millennium Auto, located on the Bypass Road, sells some of the most renowned luxury brands in…

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  • Thai Life

    Profile: DJ Retro hits the Phuket stage

    PHUKET: Jeff Retro, a DJ from a top night club in Las Vegas, performed for thousands of guests at Illuzion night club in Patong on July 9. Jeff has been a DJ for about 15 years now. He was born in Ohio and comes from a musical background. He was raised by a single mother who majored in music in…

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  • Phuket News

    Deadly man-of-war spotted off Phuket beaches

    PHUKET: Deadly Portuguese Man-of-War have been spotted floating off several of Phuket’s popular beaches this week. Phuket Lifeguard Club President Prathaiyut Chuayuan told the Phuket Gazette today that the venomous siphonophore are a common occurrence off Phuket shores during the monsoon season and warned swimmers to be extra vigilant to ensure they do not risk getting stung by them. The…

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  • Phuket News

    Condo conundrum

    PHUKET: Your ownership of a condominium or your ability to rent it out has nothing to do with whether or not you have a work permit, Phuket Employment Office Chief Pitool Dumsakorn has told the Phuket Gazette. Legal ambiguities over real estate regulations distressed foreign owners last week, when Phuket Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat announced a crackdown on condominium complexes…

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  • Opinion

    Island View: Irrefutable commandments for Phuket farangs

    PHUKET: Remember, I am the whiteness of thy skin. Despite how burned thou may become, I have led thee out of the land of the West, out of the bondage of actual behavioral standards. These are my commandments to you, Chosen People! THOU shalt not pay less than 200 baht for a taxi fare, regardless of the distance or length…

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  • Business News

    Finance: Investment potential of the Philippines

    PHUKET: I recently spent a week in the Philippines – a country long labeled with the dubious distinction as ‘the sick man of Asia’ and a country investors might want to take a closer look at. The Philippines’ presidential and vice presidential election on May 9 saw the rise of Rodrigo Duterte, after incumbent President Benigno Aquino III (who took…

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  • Phuket News

    Gulu opens up about RPM sale

    PHUKET: The Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) is on the market. The announcement of the ‘luxury lifestyle development’s impending sale comes as a surprise to many industry analysts, particularly as RPM Chairman Gulu Lalvani has often referred to the development as his legacy. Just last year, Mr Lalvani announced a 5 billion baht investment plan for the marina. In an exclusive…

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  • Thai Life

    Excuse Buster: Energizing smoothie to jump start your day

    PHUKET: A lot of people ask me about how to make the perfect smoothie. Here are my steps on how to build a great green smoothie that is a meal containing fibrous carbs (veggies), protein and good fats, and is packed full of nutrition. A lot of my clients start the day with this formula and tweak it to suit…

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  • Opinion

    Ministry of Farang Affairs: Mythological Tree of Women

    The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…

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  • Opinion

    Opinion: Phuket chosen as ‘model city'”¦ again

    PHUKET: While the media narrative abroad regarding our Land of Smiles has focused on such lofty issues as democratic development, freedom of expression, human rights and so forth, it is somehow reassuring to know that here on the ground the saying plus ็a change, plus c’est la m๊me chose still seems to apply as far as daily life is concerned.…

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  • Thai Life

    Blazing Saddles: Cycling and your sex life

    PHUKET: There is no doubt that cycling is tremendously beneficial for your body and you only have to look at the fine physiques of such super-cyclists with strong Phuket associations as Chris McCormack, Clint Kimmins, Belinda Granger and Anan Duangsopa in order to see how true this is. But how good is cycling for your sex life and does it…

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  • World NewsTruck attacker kills up to 80 in Nice Bastille Day crowd | Thaiger

    Truck attacker kills up to 80 in Nice Bastille Day crowd

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Truck attacker kills up to 80 in Nice Bastille Day crowd Phuket Gazette / Reuters NICE, FRANCE: An attacker killed up to 80 people and injured scores when he drove a heavy truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French…

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  • Phuket News

    19-year-old arrested for more than 20 robberies

    PHUKET: Police arrested a teenager yesterday who confessed to committing more than 20 robberies in Phuket since February. Channarong Petchmanee, 19, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm in public, gang theft and evading arrest using a vehicle, as per the arrest warrant issued on April 1. Among other incidents, Mr Channarong confessed to using a firearm to steal…

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  • Phuket News

    Marina developers to fight encroachment charges

    KRABI: The developers of the Port Takola Yacht Marina in Krabi have been charged with land encroachment after Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) officers raided the site on June 29. The DMCR officials said that during the raid more than 100 officers inspected the marina property to determine whether or not it was encroaching on government land. After…

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  • Phuket News

    Tourists thanked by Ao Nang officials for beach cleaning

    KRABI: Public officials in Krabi began picking up trash that had washed ashore along a two kilometer stretch of Ao Nang beach yesterday. The officers were joined by private companies, as well as tourists, who pitched in to clear the beach after the heavy rains and strong surf washed trash up along the Ao Nang shoreline. Krabi officials said they…

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  • Thai Life

    Looking Back: The siege of Chantaburi

    PHUKET: In the year 1767, the Burmese had laid siege to the ancient capital of Siam for many months. Eventually they were able to breach the city’s walls. What followed was an orgy of violence and destruction as the invaders laid waste to the once magnificent city. Ayutthaya was torched, its treasures plundered and hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants…

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  • Phuket News

    Dolphin dies despite locals’ efforts

    PHUKET: A lost and weakened dolphin found at Rawai beach last night has died, despite rescuers attempts save the mammal. Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos told the Phuket Gazette that he received a report around 5pm from locals that they had found a dolphin in trouble off Rawai beach. “We immediately called the Phuket Marine Biological Center’s (PMBC) Endangered Species Unit,”…

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  • Thai Life

    Suffering for the sake of education

    PHUKET: Just by reading this you are doing something 611,000 children in Thailand cannot do, which is to read at the most basic level. The Asia Center Foundation is a well-established organization doing great work here in Phuket. They provide basic education as well as safe houses for the poorest of the poor – helping not only Thai but Burmese…

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  • Food

    Indulge your cheesebuds at Only Cheese

    PHUKET: Three hungry Gazette editors with a craving for cheese descended on ‘Only Cheese’ in Kathu for lunch last week, and much to the annoyance of other editorial team members couldn’t stop talking about it for a week afterward. Whether you are a cheese lover or not, there’s something for everyone on the menu. At first glance, it looks like…

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