- Phuket News
Phuket braces for more underpass traffic jams at Tesco junction
PHUKET: Motorists who have seen the road blocks placed on the median strip in front of Tesco-Lotus on the bypass road (map here) need not fear about long traffic jams at that intersection just yet, the Phuket Gazette has been told. Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Luedwonghad confirmed to the Gazette that there are no plans to block the road…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Two guards gunned down at rubber rally; Case of missing Saudi reopened; DSI ‘allowing itself to be manipulated’ – Phinyo Thongchai; Supermodel downfall; Magical boy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tension rises after killing of protesters The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Tension at the week-long rubber growers’ rally in Cha-uat in Nakhon Si Thammarat intensified early yesterday when unidentified men opened fire on volunteer guards, killing one and seriously wounding another. The shooting came just…
- Phuket News
Campaign launched to preserve Phuket sea gypsy culture
PHUKET: Plans are afoot at a local-government level to improve living conditions and enhance opportunities for the Phuket sea-gypsy community.“We will start working on Phuket sea gypsy communities at Baan Hin Luk Diao and Baan Laem Lah in Thalang on September 5. These are the first areas we will address,” Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut said on Friday.He was speaking after…
- Phuket News
Phuket cobra gunned down in village standoff
PHUKET: Rescue workers in Thalang, in the north of Phuket, last night were forced to shoot dead a meters-long cobra after frantic attempts to remove it from a tree within a workers camp failed. Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers were called to the camp, located in Baan Lipon, Srisoonthorn, at 10:30pm by Somneuk Jaturapushkul, the village headman’s assistant. “Villagers were afraid…
- Phuket News
Human Rights Commission Rohingya-shooting report due “this month’
PHUKET: The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) yesterday confirmed that the report on the case of the Royal Thai Navy opening fire on Rohingya refugees off the coast of Ranong in February, will be concluded this month. During the shooting, naval personnel allegedly killed at least two refugees fleeing arrest. The report will be handed over to Prime…
- Phuket News
Two Frenchmen and a Thai busted for stealing in Karon
PHUKET: Two Frenchmen and one Thai woman have been arrested after being caught stealing booze and snacks from a local chain of convenience stores in Karon.The arrests followed reports of three people working together to shoplift at three different outlets of the Bamboo store franchise all on one day – Thursday.Their modus operandi was to have one of them distract…
- Thai Life
Skeletons from Phuket’s past
PHUKET: In 1992, a peculiar discovery was made in a village on Phuket Island. Baan Khok-Tanod, situated in Chalong sub-district in the south of Phuket, was the site of the strange discovery when a local company that owned a piece of land in the village decided to dig up the area in order to build a wall around the land.…
- Phuket News
Phuket Cricket: ICC on a roll, youth team crushes Laguna
PHUKET: In round 8 of Phuket’s Outrigger T20 cricket league, ICC took on Patong in the morning session, while the Youth side faced Laguna in the afternoon session. In the morning match, Patong’s total of 136-5 was comfortably chased down by ICC who reached 139-3 in the 17th over. In the afternoon encounter, the Youth side amassed the league’s highest…
- Phuket News
Rise in Phuket metered taxi fares to thwart cab cheats
PHUKET: Taxi fares are set to rise in Phuket in an attempt to thwart the illegal-taxi trade and to provide legitimate taxi drivers with a decent standard of living. “We will increase taxi fares as part of our campaign to solve the problem of taxi-driver cheats in Phuket,” said Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada. “If the standard fares rise, taxi…
- Phuket News
Krabi killer manhunt moves to Koh Lanta
PHUKET: Police are scouring the tourist island of Koh Lanta, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, in their efforts to arrest double-homicide fugitive Samran “Khui” Suetrong. Samran is wanted for shooting dead his stepson’s wife, Siripan Noorod, 24, and her 19-month-old son Autthakorn Noorod, at their home in Krabi’s Khao Phanom District on Monday night (story here). A warrant for…
- Phuket News
Ao Chalong Yacht Club Sailing School to host Open Day
PHUKET: On Sunday September 8 Phuket’s ACYC Sail School is holding an “open day” event, starting at 10am. Club members will be taking kids and adults sailing in the Open BIC dinghies and taking bookings for their “dinghy sailing program”. There will also be kayaks to use, mirror dinghy and tasar sailing and onshore games – including a bouncy castle!…
- Phuket News
Beach Volleyball World Tour hits Phuket’s sands in October
PHUKET: The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour will make its penultimate stop at Karon Beach, Phuket at the end of October. This will be the 8th successive year that Thailand has staged an Open series women’s event on the FIVB calendar. The US$110,000 Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT, which is organized by Pentangle Promotions Co., Ltd and the…
- Thai Life
Pampering yourself – Phuket Lifestyle
PHUKET: Beauty and relaxation therapies such as massage, facial, and body wraps remain popular spa treatments for those who want to relax their mind and body, and melt away the stress of a busy work schedule.Spa treatments have a huge range of benefits, which include: increased relaxation, reduced stress, relief from headaches, relief from muscle tension (including facial muscles), improved…
- Phuket News
Phuket Special Report: One fateful night at the Longhorn Saloon
SPECIAL REPORT POLICE promptly arrested three Thai musicians for the stabbing murder of American tourist Bobby Ray Carter Jr and the assault of his 27-year-old son in Krabi four weeks ago yesterday. Since then, however, the case has slowed to a crawl. A trial date has yet to be set, police have yet to press formal charges and all three…
- Opinion
Phuket Opinion: The Carnival of Corruption
PHUKET: Corruption has publicly reared its ugly head as a topic of much heated debate, with one and all tacitly accepting that the situation in Phuket is out of hand. However, few are offering any realistic strategies to combat the problem at its roots: the well-entrenched mind-set that “playing by the rules is for suckers”. The good news is that…
- Phuket News
Burmese Rambo stabbed in Phuket slap flap
PHUKET: A man humiliated by a slap on the head in front of a group of people stabbed his assailant four times, sending him to the hospital. The event transpired after an evening of drinking at a Burmese workers’ camp behind Phuket Simon Cabaret in Patong (map here). After work yesterday evening, a 30-year-old man known as “Rambo” got together…
- Phuket News
Grimes brothers take on tough international field – Phuket Sports
PHUKET: The Grimes brothers have had a fairly busy summer with their racing schedules, having took part in the Rotax Invitational Thailand race, which was held in conjunction with the fourth round of the Thailand Rotax Max Challenge at Bira International Kart Circuit, just south of the Bangkok.The Rotax Invitation race was held for the first part of the weekend.…
- Phuket News
Phuket kratom arrests continue as nation ponders decriminalizing the leaf
PHUKET: Three Burmese men were arrested in Thalang yesterday for possession of kratom leaves. Their arrest follows the felling of a kratom orchard in Patong three days ago and precedes a meeting of the Narcotics Control Board, Food and Drug Administration, Public Health Ministry and National Police next week about whether to decriminalize the leaf (story here). The arrests yesterday…
- Phuket News
Phuket jet-ski operators urged to be fair, polite
PHUKET: Complaints about jet-ski operators filed by tourists holidaying in Phuket have prompted the island’s authorities to launch a two-day seminar aimed at educating the operators about charging fair prices and being polite. Tourist complaints about jet-skis reached such a level that Qin Jian, Vice Consul of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China, based in Haad Yai, lodged…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Britain says no to military intervention in Syria – Stunning parliamentary defeat
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Britain says no to Syrian intervention as U.S. considers actions Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Britain will not join any military action against Syria after a stunning parliamentary defeat yesterday of a government motion on the issue, dealing a setback to U.S.-led efforts to punish Damascus over the…
- Phuket News
Phuket Court orders media blackout on Swedish murder trial
PHUKET: Officials at Phuket Provincial Court today ordered a media blackout on the ongoing trial of Swedish nationals Tommy Soderland and Sebastian Ljung amid concerns that the media was influencing witness testimonies. The two men are on trial for the alleged murder of Maksim Schantz in Phuket in 2011(story here). “We have seen at least one story in the media…
- Phuket News
Phuket expats corralled by new immigration rule for passports
PHUKET: Officers at Phuket Immigration are calling for all foreigners whose passports are set to expire within the coming year to ensure they are issued new passports and apply – and are issued – new long-term permits-to-stay* before their current permits expire. The call follows a new regulation issued by the Immigration Bureau on August 13 (click here), explained Lt…
- Phuket News
Phuket party thieves loot liquor store
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for the suspects who stole 12 kegs of beer, two cartons of cigarettes and 10 bottles of whisky from a liquor store in Baan Lipon, in Phuket’s northern district of Thalang.They even stole the store’s pickup truck to make off with the party essentials, reported police.So far, officers are stumped for clues.“We have checked…
- Phuket News
Human bones found in Phuket could bolster sea gypsy land claims
PHUKET: Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officers have found human bones in the sea gypsy settlement in Rawai that may help bolster the gypsies’ claim to have lived on the land for generations. Establishing long duration of residency is a key element in the gypsies’ fight against private investors who have already won court orders to evict some villagers from…
- Phuket News
Patong bag-snatcher tracked by phone, caught in Chalong
PHUKET: Police arrested a construction worker in Chalong on Tuesday after tracking a phone stolen during a bag-snatch in Patong.The suspect confessed to conducting a series of bag-snatchings in Patong after losing his job due to his drug habit, police said.Lt Col Somsak Thongglieng led fellow Patong Police officers to arrest Worakiet Sriwong, 32, originally from Mae Hong Son in…
- Phuket News
Chief vows to boost patrols to protect Phuket divers
PHUKET: The chief of the Fishery Management Center in Krabi has vowed to bolster patrols at Phuket dive destination Shark Point after photos surfaced of a gill net being dropped over the protected marine area when divers were in the water.“To ensure diver safety, we will increase the frequency of our patrols in the area to prevent any type of…
- Thailand News
Thailand News: Kratom may be decriminalized; Govt firm on rubber; Chinese tourists in speedboat crash; Blair’s visit confirmed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kratom may be taken off narcotics list The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) is responding positively to the proposed legalisation of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), which is currently on the narcotics list. The ONCB will be meeting with the…
- Phuket News
Aldhouse pleads guilty to Phuket murder charge
PHUKET: Lee Aldhouse, the British kickboxer extradited from the UK to face murder charges in Phuket, today entered a plea of guilty to murdering former US Marine Dashawn Longfellow in Rawai three years ago. The plea was entered after Judge Montri Saroj, speaking via a court translator, reminded Aldhouse that a guilty plea would likely “help” commute a possible death…
- Phuket News
Golfing champion to return for defense
PHUKET: The 2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel will defend his Thailand Golf Championship crown alongside colorful PGA Tour star Rickie Fowler at this year’s edition of Asia’s flagship tournament scheduled for December 12-15 at the picturesque Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, just outside Bangkok. The Thailand Golf Championship will once again see some of the world’s top golfers competing…
- Phuket News
Sporting Tips: Balance; lifting and pushing the limits
PHUKET: Thanyapura Sports & Leisure Club (TSLC) boasts some of the best sporting facilities in Asia, if not in the world and coaching staff to match. The Phuket Gazette caught up with TSLC’s Tennis Head Coach Roger Cochrane, Fitness Manager Brian Finniss and Aquatics Head Coach Randy Simon to provide tips to “push the limits”. Ensuring good balance – Roger…
