- World News
Phuket Media Watch – Man confesses to setting elderly woman on fire
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Man confesses to setting elderly woman on fire in NYC elevator Phuket GazetteA 47-year-old man has confessed to killing an elderly woman by setting her on fire in a New York City elevator during the weekend, local media reported on Monday. Jerome Issac turned himself in…
- Phuket News
Swede found dead on superyacht in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a Swedish woman whose body was discovered yesterday in the cabin of a superyacht where she worked as a crew member. Devina Marie Lindgren, 21, was found dead aboard a private yacht moored off Patong Beach yesterday. The 90-meter yacht Lauren L, taking part in the Asia Region…
- Phuket News
Phuket Town hotel raises stink over fish factory smell
PHUKET: The Silver Hotel in Phuket Town has complained to the province that odor from a nearby seafood processing plant is costing them up to 400,000 baht monthly in lost revenue. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak met with Silver Hotel Managing Director Monluck Tantipornsawat on Thursday to discuss the issue. The formal complaint followed an inspection of the nearby Phuket…
- Phuket News
Expert panel to lead Phuket tsunami memorial activities
PHUKET: A panel of experts led by Dr Smith Dharmasaroj, former head of the National Disaster Warning Center, will stage a public discussion on disaster management as part of the tsunami memorial services on December 26 this year. Dr Smith, also a former head of the Thai Meteorological Department, is renowned as the man who warned the Thai government to…
- World News
Phuket Media Watch – Death toll nears 1,000 in the Philippines
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death toll nears 1,000 after Tropical Storm Sendong hits the Philippines Phuket Gazette The death toll after Tropical Storm Sendong hit the southeastern Philippines over the weekend has surpassed 950, emergency officials said on Tuesday morning. Dozens more remain missing. Sendong made landfall over the northeastern…
- Phuket News
“Washi’ goes wishy-washy: no effect in Phuket
PHUKET: Tropical storm “Washi”, which killed nearly 1,000 people in the Philippines, will have virtually no effect on the weather here in Phuket, the Phuket Gazette has been told. However, residents of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Trang and Satun provinces could experience unseasonable rainfall over the next two days. A forecaster at the Southern Meteorological Center…
- Phuket News
Don’t judge Thorpe… yet.
PHUKET: “It’s not a concern now. Maybe later, but now it’s too premature. I’m in training at the moment. I don’t look at where I come in the race.” Ian Thorpe, former Olympic and world swimming champion, said it was much too early to judge his recent comeback results in Italy. Thorpe finished 16th overall in the 100m freestyle and…
- Phuket News
Dispute between Phuket expats may lead to charges of extortion
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested a restaurant owner in Phuket’s busy tourist town of Patong, on Phuket’s west coast, after he visited another Patong restaurant owner and threatened him if he didn’t “repay” 7 million baht. Lt Col Tammasan Boonsong told the Phuket Gazette today that he arrived at Orient Restaurant at 7pm last night with a squad of police officers…
- Thai Life
Phuket Lifestyle – King’s Cup review
PHUKET: It has been quite a few years since I’ve joined the melee of press at Phuket’s King’s Cup Regatta. But this year was special. It was the 25th regatta and the closing party was a celebration of a sailing event that has survived such catastrophes as tsunamis, bird flu, economic disasters, change of venues and unreliable sponsorship. The King’s…
- Property
Mandala Phuket takes home best condo award
PHUKET: Mandala Condominiums took home the prestigious Best Condo Development at The 2011 Thanachart Bank Thailand Property Awards, held recently at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel in Bangkok. Mandala Condominiums – a collection of 24 over-sized apartments, all with private pools and located in Phuket’s prestigious Laguna area, was recognized at a gala ceremony attended by more than 600 CEOs,…
- Business News
Chalong Marina ready in 2012
PHUKET: Work on the 70-million-baht Chalong Bay Marina project is now about 90% complete and should be finished early in the new year, officials say. Phuriphat Teerakulpisut, Chief of the Marine Department Region 5 office in Phuket Town, said opening of the 44-slip facility will improve the island’s ability to accommodate the growing number of yachts that port in Phuket…
- World News
Update – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies of heart attack
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies of heart attack Phuket Gazette Kim Jong-il, the mysterious Communist leader who ruled North Korea for more than seventeen years, died of a massive heart attack on early Saturday morning, the government announced today. He was 69 or 70 years old.…
- Phuket News
MMA bar brawler Junie Browning: “not in Phuket’
PHUKET: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Junie Browning, who is wanted by Phuket Police for his role in two serious brawls, has contacted the Phuket Gazette with his detailed version of events. At the time of posting, the Gazette was seeking comments from people and institutions mentioned in Mr Browning’s version of events. In his email below, Mr Browning did…
- Phuket News
Yvon Van Eyersen cremated in Phuket
PHUKET: A small group of friends and Red Cross officials gathered at Wat Saen Suk on Wednesday for the somber cremation ceremony of long-time Phuket resident Yvon Van Eyersen of Belgium. Mr Van Eyersen passed away early Tuesday morning, immediately after staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital turned off his life support apparatus. The Belgian suffered a stroke early some time…
- Thai Life
Phuket Gardening – put a cork in your garden
PHUKET: There are small trees around Phuket that you simply never notice until they suddenly burst dramatically into bloom. Millingtonia (Indian cork tree) is one of these. A verdant wayside presence during the monsoon, it comes into its own in October, producing masses of white, fragrant flowers which account for one of its popular names of “tree jasmine”. A more…
- Phuket News
Phuket golfers getting ready for Youth Games
PHUKET: The Youth Golf Club of Phuket has sent one young player to compete in the United States before preparing for the Phuket Youth Games to be held from May 28 to June 5 with 10 other members of the club. Jinjuta Thongtan, a student at Satree School Phuket, was selected to represent Thailand at the World Junior Golf Series…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s Flynn second on Asia Pro surf tour
PHUKET: Thirteen-year-old surfing star Annissa Flynn from Phuket closes her 2011 surfing season with top-ranking success. Phuket’s own super surfer has returned home after three weeks on the road to finish up the 2011 surfing season on a high. Having posted three wins and a second place at competitions held in Hong Kong and Malaysia, Annissa has finished second overall…
- Thai Life
A blistering effort yields stout respect
PHUKET: They may not have made their way into the Guinness Book of World Records, but Jay Walker and Russell Distance Russell made their way into local folklore on December 11 after walking three-legged for over 16 hours and 40 minutes and covering over 70km. The two men, also known on the island by their DJ monikers “Shark” and “Sniffer”…
- World News
Phuket Gazette breaking news – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies during train ride Phuket Gazette The Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, died on early Saturday morning, state-run media announced today. He was 69 or 70 years old. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim died at…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s ‘labor shortage’ more imagined than real
PHUKET: Government assistance to help solve the chronic “labor shortage” in the island’s tourism industry is unlikely to have much impact this high season, given Phuket’s reputation as an expensive place to live. (See page 11, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full issue.) A scan of the comments in popular online forums…
- Phuket News
Facebook ‘predator’ arrested as Phuket mum pleas for help
PHUKET: Eleven days after her disappearance from a Phuket Town internet cafe, 12-year-old Phuket schoolgirl Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya remains missing. Nong Pin’s mother Samruay Saenthaweesuk told the Phuket Gazette this morning she has yet to receive any leads regarding her daughter’s whereabouts and continues to fear she might have been abducted by someone she met online while using the…
- Phuket News
Phuket port expansion to get Cabinet push: Kittisakdi
PHUKET: Deputy Minister of Transport Kittisakdi Hathasongkorh yesterday vowed to support plans to expand Phuket’s Deep Sea Port, which have run aground over its environmental impact assessment (EIA) report. At a meeting at Phuket’s Deep Sea Port, Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut yesterday explained to Mr Kittisakdi that his office had been working for more than a year on…
- World News
Phuket Media Watch – journalist killed; radioactive metal in Moscow
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Founder of political newspaper shot dead in Russia’s Dagestan Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A leading Russian journalist and the founder of a local political newspaper was killed by a gunman on late Thursday evening, officials said on Friday. Human rights organizations are calling for a full investigation.…
- Phuket News
Peacock delivers “pheasant surprise’ in Krabi
PHUKET: A rubber tapper in Krabi, Phuket’s sister province across Phang Nga Bay, got an unexpected surprise this week when he discovered a live peacock of a species thought to be extinct in the region. Jamrad Kuannakorn and his wife arrived at a rubber plantation in Khao Kram sub-district before dawn on Tuesday, starting work as usual, when they heard…
- Phuket News
Driver charged over death of pregnant Phuket resort worker
PHUKET: The driver of the six-wheeled truck that struck and killed 27-year-old resort worker Arayada Budsayakul on the Patong beach road last month has been charged with reckless driving causing death. Ms Arayada was four months pregnant when she died in the accident on November 8. Lt Pathapee Srichai of Patong Police yesterday told the Phuket Gazette that the driver,…
- Phuket News
Phuket Update: Krabi massacre mastermind caught in Phang Nga
PHUKET: Police in Phang Nga have arrested the mastermind behind the triple-homicide that took place outside a Krabi mosque on Sunday night. The suspect confessed to organizing the massacre. He said the attack was revenge for “insults” the targets had made about his brother after defeating him in a local election. Region 8 Police in Surat Thani identified the suspect…
- Thailand News
Phuket Media Watch – Six bombs defused in eastern Bangkok, man arrested
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six bombs found and defused in eastern Bangkok Phuket Gazette / The NationThai police found and defused six home-made explosive devices at three separate locations in Bangkok, officials said. One suspect has been arrested. One explosive device was placed in front of a Bangkok Bank branch;…
- Phuket News
Phuket TB outbreak prompts call for “better migrant worker tracking’
PHUKET: An outbreak of tuberculosis in Phuket that has hospitalized nearly 60 Burmese workers has prompted the Phuket Immigration chief to call for a more integrated approach to tracking their growing numbers on the island. Phuket Immigration Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak called for more comprehensive tracking of migrant workers during a fact-finding visit to Phuket by the House Committee on Labor…
- World News
Phuket Media Watch – dengue outbreak; alcohol update; New York woman crushed by lift
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dengue fever outbreak in western Indonesia kills 27 Phuket GazetteAn ongoing outbreak of dengue fever in western Indonesia has killed at least 27 people in the past two months, officials said on Thursday. Hundreds more have been affected. Health officials on Thursday confirmed that two more…
- Phuket News
Superyachts arrive for Phuket Rendezvous
PHUKET: Superyacht spotters in Phuket are in for treat this weekend as some of the finest luxury yachts in Asia ply Phuket’s west coast as part of the annual Asia Superyacht Rendezvous. The Rendezvous, now in its 11th year, is the longest-running superyacht event in Asia and boasts the largest gathering of superyachts in the region, explained Nina Larsson, Public…
