- Phuket News
Phuketians march in support of prime minister
PHUKET TOWN: Around 200 Phuketians and members of the Phuket People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) took to the streets on March 31, voicing their objections to the red-shirted United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) rally in Bangkok. The crowd marched from Queen Sirikit park to Phuket Provincial Hall waving banners and parading a huge national flag. In a show…
- Phuket News
Phuket Airport snubbed
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Bangkok Airways, Thailand’s largest privately owned carrier, plans to turn Samui Airport, rather than Phuket International Airport, into a second international air hub, after Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, in…
- Phuket News
Mass dive record postponed
PHANG NGA: Mr Wattana Pornprasert, chief of Khao Lumpi-Had Thai Muang Marine National Park revealed that the diving festival in Thai Muang District on April 3 that aimed to set a new dive record has been postponed due to bad weather. It had been hoped that over 3,000 divers would attend the record breaking attempt. Mr Wattana said that he…
- Phuket News
Phuket water woes averted
PHUKET: Recent heavy downpours have ensured that Phuket should now have enough water to last until the rainy season, according to the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO). Mr Issara Anukool, who heads the PPIO’s water management department, said that before the recent rains there was enough water in the Bang Wad dam to last until the end of May. “After…
- Phuket News
Phuket meeting to urge end to protests
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: More than 1,000 local tourism sector representatives and tour operators will gather in Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Pattaya and Samui tomorrow afternoon to urge anti-government red-shirt protesters to end their political rallies. The protests resulted…
- Phuket News
Phuket trash crisis: Tesco goes it alone
PHUKET: Tesco Lotus yesterday launched its own answer to Phuket’s long-delayed plastic bag charging scheme. The UK-based retail chain’s “Green Bag Green Point” initiative rewards customers who reuse old shopping bags with points which can be exchanged for cash coupons. Customers also receive “green points” when they buy certain environmentally friendly products. The project was launched in Bangkok on March…
- Phuket News
Phuket threatened as airfares soar
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: In what might look like an April Fools’ Day joke but isn’t, Thai Airways is increasing its domestic fares tomorrow in hopes that its passengers will be willing…
- Phuket News
Accused Australian bailed tonight
PHUKET: An Australian man accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy at an international school in Phuket is set to be released on bail this evening. Andrew Clements, 51, posted 800,000 baht in bail and will be released from Phuket Provincial Prison. Mr Clements, from northern Tasmania, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on…
- Opinion
OPINION: In defense of Phuket Town
PHUKET: What’s the name of the administrative capital of this island of ours? If you answered ‘Phuket City’, you are technically correct. The Thai government raised the status of the town to ‘thesaban nakhon’ – which can be translated as ‘city municipality’ – on February 13, 2004. According to the government’s definition, a municipality needs a population of at least…
- Phuket News
Life after death: Bereaved family turn Phuket lifesavers
PHUKET: The family of a young Canadian man who died in a freak accident in Patong six years ago have donated six Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to Phuket hospitals and rescue foundations. Noah Yelizarov, 19, died as a result of electrical shock on October 9, 2004. He was in Phuket on holiday with three friends. Standing knee-deep in flood water…
- Phuket News
Phuket protest against prawn farm poisonings
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Villagers are complaining that shrimp farms in Ban Tha Rua in Phuket are poisoning the canal their livelihoods depend on. Ten residents of Bang La village said last week that shrimp farm operators were letting chemical wastewater flood into Klong Pak Ka, killing marine life. Surasak Wahlum, a 55-year-old fisherman, said, “The wastewater kills shellfish and other…
- Phuket News
Dane found dead in Phuket guesthouse
KATA, PHUKET: A Danish tourist died while eating pizza in a Phuket guesthouse on Thursday. A maid at Tik Place in Kata told police she grew suspicious when Mr Svend Aage Schwaback, 69, failed to check out on time. After failing to get a response from Mr Schwaback, the maid entered his room and found him lying on the bed…
- Phuket News
Phuket Gazette moves to Koh Kaew
PHUKET: After 17 years in Phuket, the last 13 of them in Phuket Town, the Phuket Gazette moves to Koh Kaew on Wednesday. Located just off the west side (northbound lanes) of Thepkrasattri Rd, the new office complex is roughly midway between the Bypass Rd and the Heroines’ Monument. If traveling north, take a left turn immediately after the large…
- Chiang Mai News
Police raid bypass main contractor
PHUKET CITY: A team of Crime Suppression Division officers led by Pol Col Sompop Pongrerk, along with officials from the Phuket Provincial Industrial Office, on Friday afternoon seized rock-crushing equipment belonging to Chiang Rai Harn Charoen Enterprise Co, the main contractor for the bypass road widening project. The seizures took place following complaints that Harn Charoen had been crushing rock…
- Phuket News
Bikers descend on Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: More than 3,000 big bikers from across Thailand and nearby countries will gather in Phuket during ‘Phuket Bike Week 2010’ and celebrate the Thai Water Festival of Songkran,…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s praises sung – loudly
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: While not all is well in Thailand, with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatening to incite civil disobedience nationwide [see story below], Phuket continues to generate favorable…
- Phuket News
Englishman found dead in Phuket home
KATHU, PHUKET: A retired businessman from England was found dead in his Phuket home on Monday. Tung Tong Police found the body of William Mann, 63, lying on a sofa in the living room of his house with a bloody tissue in one hand and a wound on the right eyebrow. Investigators found no signs of a struggle. However, there…
- Thailand News
Peeping Tom’s tricks exposed
UDON THANI: Police are questioning the owner of a woman’s dormitory after residents found CCTV cameras hidden in their bedrooms and bathrooms. The cameras were first spotted by 24-year-old Phornphat Kimsee as she was taking a shower in the early hours of February 28. Miss Phornphat, who manages a branch of fast food chain Chester’s Grill, said she looked up…
- Phuket News
New reef guarding Phuket ecosystems
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources has sunk 1,310 concrete blocks into the Andaman Sea off Phuket to create an artificial reef aimed at protecting the marine life of Sirinath National Park. The reef lies 3,000 meters from the coast, marking the area where sea fishing is forbidden. It extends from Sarasin Bridge in Mai Khao…
- Phuket News
Breaking through: Phuket road near completion
WICHIT, PHUKET: The final stages of construction are set to begin on a long awaited road connecting the bypass road near HomeWorks to Ekwahnit Road behind Surakul stadium. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop swung the project into action by helping demolish a wall with a sledgehammer on March 24. The 550-meter-long road, running behind Darasamuth School, was expected to have been…
- Phuket News
Phuket rescuer: Italian’s boat “did not capsize’
KAMALA, PHUKET: An elderly Italian man found unconscious on a dinghy in Phuket’s Kamala Bay on Friday reportedly complained to his girlfriend of chest pains before setting out. Dinu Costa, 71, was later pronounced dead by doctors at Patong Hospital. Some local media reported that Mr Costa died after waves caused his boat to capsize. However, Phuket Ruamkatanyu Foundation rescue…
- Phuket News
Phuket yacht enthusiast ‘Boo’ dies
PHUKET: Local yachting enthusiast Boo Meesuk died this morning in Malaysia after falling ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. Boo had been in a coma for more than two and a half weeks at a hospital in Terengganu. In a statement to members of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC), Mick Kealy said, “It is with deep regret that…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s orange bike guard arrives
PHUKET TOWN: Orange clad volunteers on bicycles are patrolling Saphan Hin park in a new drive to make people feel safe at night New chief of Muang District, Supachai Pochanukul, wants to end the violent crime that has made the park a ‘no go’ area for some after dark. “Saphan Hin park is a location that tourists and locals alike…
- Phuket News
Private jets to rise in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Thai business aircraft operator MJets has opened the country’s first dedicated fixed-base operation (FBO) at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport to exploit the growing demand for business aviation throughout…
- Phuket News
Fundraiser for Phuket yachtsman Boo Meesuk
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) in Phuket will host a fundraising event on Friday for local yacht enthusiast Boo Meesuk. About two and a half weeks ago, Boo fell seriously ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. His condition was critical by the time the rest of the crew managed to get him to a hospital in Terengganu,…
- Phuket News
Phuket slaying: man murdered for making noise
RASSADA, PHUKET: Police are hunting two men they believe stabbed a neighbor to death in Phuket on Sunday night for making too much noise in an apartment block. Ponsan Noi-oonsaen, a 41-year-old Chiang Mai native, died around 10:30pm after being stabbed at least five times in the chest with what were described by a witness as “foot-long knives”. Thirty-year-old Teeradech…
- Cannabis News
Aussie awaits Phuket drug trial
PHUKET: An Australian man arrested for possession of marijuana in Phuket faces a possible prison sentence of up to a year and a fine of up to 20,000 baht. Richard Beaver, 28, was arrested on March 16 by Chalong Police and presented in court the next day. The tourist, who is currently out on bail, is awaiting formal charges to…
- Phuket News
Fires rage again in Phuket
KOH KAEW, PHUKET: A forest fire threatened to scorch nearby communities in Phuket yesterday as it blazed through uninhabited forest. The fire began around 2:00pm in a stretch of forest about 300 meters from Tha Reua shrine, next to Jee Teng Villa in Koh Kaew. Fire engines from five local organizations were dispatched to the spreading blaze and had the…
- Phuket News
FC Phuket trounce Pattani
PHUKET: FC Phuket cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Pattani yesterday to solidify their status as the Division Two (southern section) league leaders. Goals from Diarra, Poramut and Sarach sealed the win as Pattani were able to offer little more than token resistance. The Southern Sea Kirin dominated early possession with the visitors struggling to string passes together. Pattani…
- Phuket News
Australian teacher held for sex abuse in Phuket
CHALONG, PHUKET: An Australian man has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a four-year-old male student at an international school in Phuket. Andrew Clements, 51, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on Friday. The arrest came after a Thai woman told police Mr Clements abused her son in a toilet at Phuket International Academy…
