- Thai Life
Profile: Miss World Australia 2016 visits Phuket
PHUKET: Madeline Cowe, winner of Miss World Australia 2016, visited Phuket last week as part of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s ‘Women’s Journey Thailand’ campaign. Her entourage included the runners up of this year’s competition, along with Courtney Thorpe, the winner of the 2014 pageant, and Deborah Miller, national director of Miss World Australia. Madeline and her group went to…
- Opinion
Island View: Burmese border visa run by car
PHUKET: Being relatively close to Phuket (about 350km), the Burmese border is a destination of choice for visa runs and can be done by car in a day. When you drive yourself, you can stop and snack or stretch out whenever you want, or even spend some time at one of the many beaches along the coast as you pass…
- Phuket News
Russian loses life in red flag swim at Karon Beach
PHUKET: A Russian man was pronounced dead shortly after lifeguards at Karon Beach pulled his unconscious body from the surf yesterday morning. Lifeguards reported that the 50-year-old man entered the water in the red flag (no-swimming) zone at the beach and disappeared in the surf about 11am. “It took awhile for the lifeguards to locate the man after he went…
- Phuket News
TMD issues storm warning for Andaman region
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) this morning issued a storm warning for the Andaman region as monsoon rains continue to batter the southern provinces and the Gulf of Thailand. All ships should proceed with caution and small boats stay ashore until August 18, as strong wind whips up 2-3 meter high waves in the Andaman Sea and the upper…
- Phuket News
Update: Security stepped up nationwide after bombings
PHUKET: In a statement issued this morning, Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada said has ordered additional security personnel to be deployed across the island, in the wake of two blasts in Patong this morning. The governor’s comments come after a meeting with military and police advisers at Phuket Provincial Hall. The province was put on ‘high alert’ yesterday, after a bomb…
- Phuket News
Blasts in Patong, across south, kill 3, injure dozens
PHUKET: Eleven explosions have rocked southern Thailand in less than 24 hours, including two blasts in Patong (story here). Explosions in Trang, Hua Hin and Surat Thani provinces have left three dead and more than 30 wounded. The blasts began yesterday in Trang, where an explosion killed one and injured seven others while vendors were setting up stalls in a…
- Phuket News
Patong hit by double bomb blasts during Mother’s Day ceremonies
PHUKET: Two bomb blasts in Patong this morning have left one man injured. One of the blasts occurred at the Bangla Police Box at 8am. The other explosion was a short while later at Loma Park, where provincial officials were conducting Mother’s Day ceremonies, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officer Sampawat Wannasangkam told the Gazette. The streets around the…
- Phuket News
Governor urges calm in wake of Trang bombing
PHUKET: The Phuket governor has put the province on high alert in the wake of last night’s bomb scare in Patong and this afternoon’s bombing in Trang. At least eight people were injured after a bomb exploded at a walking street market in downtown Trang city today. The blast occurred while vendors were setting up their stalls along Ruenrom Road,…
- Thailand News
Bomb wounds eight in downtown Trang
TRANG: At least eight people were injured after a bomb exploded at a walking street market in downtown Trang city today. The blast occurred while vendors were setting up their stalls along Ruenrom Road, on the same street as the Trang Provincial Justice Office, less than a block away from City Hall. Police have cordoned off the area, and are…
- Food
Treat yourself to Sunday tapas
PHUKET: Good food and relaxation are what Sundays are all about. The Sunday Tapas lunch at Banyan Tree Phuket provides this and more. This weekly event is about a three hour affair, which starts at noon and replaces the resort’s Sunday Seafood Brunch. The ambience at the newly relocated ‘The Watercourt’ complements the meal, a live jazz band, a view…
- Business News
Finance: Hold on to stocks, more rallies are coming
PHUKET: The past one and a half years have been anything but a smooth ride for investors, given that the market’s seen two rapid 10 to 15 per cent pullbacks, and we’ve seen entire sectors (such as biotech, oil, industrials) and so on take some hard knocks. For investors exposed to unlucky sectors, it’s been difficult to keep pace with…
- Opinion
Ministry of Farang Affairs: Right way to hail a taxi
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.…
- Property
Listing your property on social media
PHUKET: During the green season in Phuket, most real estate brokers spend their time listing new properties to boost up their listing stock ahead of the high season. Good & varied listings across the market segmentation of the property market are ideal to appeal to a wider spectrum of clients. Property listings need not necessarily be large in numbers, but…
- Phuket News
Vachira, PRBC hold blood drive to honor HM Queen
PHUKET: Representatives of Vachira Phuket Hospital and the Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) are urging people to donate blood today and tomorrow in honor of HM the Queen’s birthday under the nationwide ‘Give Blood for Mom’ campaign. Vachira Phuket Hospital is accepting blood donations until 8pm tonight on the fourth floor of the hospital in Samkong, Phuket Town. Donors will…
- Phuket News
Double bomb scare in Patong turns up duds
PHUKET: Frightened locals alerted police of two suspicious, possibly explosive objects found in Patong last night. “We received reports of suspicious objects placed in two spots – one in China Town on Soi Sai Nam Yen road, and the second on Sai 2 Road in front of a nearby hotel. We ordered Patong Police officers to look into the matter,”…
- Phuket News
Rajabhat University to host ‘Science Week 2016’
PHUKET: Rajabhat University is inviting the public to visit its Phuket campus for ‘Science Week 2016’, which runs August 17-19. The annual exposition of the university’s science education facilities is part of an initiative sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology to motivate interest in science subjects. University students are putting on demonstrations of the institution’s science tech in…
- Phuket News
Park Chief praises Chinese woman’s viral video
PHUKET: The Chief of Koh Phi Phi National Park said he was impressed after watching a video in which one Chinese tourist lambasts another for trying to drag driftwood off Ao Nang Beach. Translated versions of the video (which can be seen here) went viral and are being shared by media outlets across the region and throughout China. The woman,…
- Phuket News
One dead in stabbing incident on Bypass Road
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are searching for two unidentified men, believed to be Myanmar nationals, who stabbed another Burmese man to death on his first day of work at a wood factory on the bypass road last night. The police received reports of the stabbing from staff at the factory at about 7pm. “Ar Naing, 42, was sprawled face-up over…
- Phuket News
Elderly tourist dies while swimming on Koh Phi Phi
KRABI: An elderly tourist is dead after reportedly suffering health complications while swimming off Phi Phi Island Monday afternoon. Krabi tourist police reported that 67-year-old Hongzhu Tang, a Chinese national, was swimming with a life vest at Loh Mu Di Beach when he reportedly cried out in distress. “Mr Tang was part of a Garden Hill Company tour group, which…
- Phuket News
Foreign tourist apologizes for visiting temple in sexy dress
PHUKET: A tourist who wore a see-through dress while visiting a temple in Chalong apologized yesterday after pictures of her outfit were shared on social media. Tourist police ‘invited’ the foreigner, her tour guide and a representative of a tour company to apologize at a police station in Phuket Town. Also present at the station was a representative of the…
- Phuket News
Migrant worker registration deadline pushed forward, again
PHUKET: The deadline for illegal migrant workers to register in Phuket has been extended until the end of August, officials confirmed yesterday. According to the original schedule, the registration was to have finished by the end of July (story here). Launched in April, the registration campaign is part of a nationwide push to legalize unregistered migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and…
- Phuket News
Chinese tourist run over, killed, in front of wife and kids
PHUKET: A father of two on holiday with his family was run over by a car and killed in front of his wife and children while crossing Thepkassattri Road during a stop-off to shop at 7-Eleven late last night. The 54-year-old man, identified as Shengbin Lu, was part of a group of Chinese tourists on their way to Phuket Airport…
- Phuket News
Cash reward offered to find missing Phuket man
PHUKET: The daughter of an 80-year-old man who allegedly disappeared from a hotel in Patong in the early hours of August 3 has appealed for help locating her father. Kanjana Danaisuthikul and her husband Praditsakan Danaisuthikul filed a missing person report with Patong Police the same day but after not hearing anything for almost a week, the couple yesterday went…
- Thai Life
Melting your worries away at Breeze Spa
PHUKET: Breeze Spa, located in the four-star Amari Phuket hotel in Patong, recently announced its partnership with leading American dermatologist Dr Howard Murad. Combining Dr Murad’s innovative skin therapies with Breeze Spa’s facilities, the partnership introduces five new facial treatments this month, which I, of course, had to try. Once I arrived at the reception area, I was welcomed by…
- Phuket News
Phuketians say ‘yes’ to Thailand’s draft charter
PHUKET: More than half of Phuket’s eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots yesterday over the draft constitution referendum, Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada told the Phuket Gazette today. Almost 90 per cent of the 150,326 voters in the province voted to accept the proposed draft constitution. Provincial Election Commission officials said they had hoped for an 80 per cent…
- Phuket News
Man dies after jumping off Sarasin Bridge
PHUKET: A 51 year-old man died after he and a 15 year-old girl jumped off the Sarasin Bridge at about 7pm yesterday. The Thai pair, who police believe to have been father and daughter, were rescued by fishermen passing by on a boat. Police said that the man, named as Ruab Duangjan, was unconscious at the time of his rescue,…
- Thai Life
Profile: Wicky Sundram – Boat Lagoon’s new brand builder
PHUKET: Last week, the Global Marina Institute (GMI) announced that Wicky Sundram, the new executive director at Phuket Boat Lagoon, was the latest ‘Certified Marina Professional’ (CMP) to join its ranks. Wicky is only the sixth person in Asia to receive this accolade and the first in Thailand. That’s a fine achievement for someone who, when he first joined the…
- Opinion
Opinion: Tracking tourists for ‘national security’
PHUKET: An online forum recently published an article titled ‘NBTC to propose special SIM cards for foreign tourists so they can be traced’. The article states that the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) intends to introduce ‘special’ SIM cards for mobile users, in order to ‘track’ foreigners while they are staying in Thailand. The news is worrying on so…
- Phuket News
Police arrest bag-snatching brothers, recover stolen items
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Saturday night captured robbers who stole a bag from a Slovakian tourist at Phuket Downtown Fresh Market on Friday. Riding a motorbike, the robbers snatched a bag from Domonkoso Vaniko, 28, after pulling up beside her. It was initially believed that the suspects threatened their victim with a small hammer. However, it was revealed following…
- Thailand News
Thai weightlifter wins first gold at Rio Olympics
THAILAND: Thailand’s national anthem was played at the Olympic Games for the first time in eight years yesterday after determined weightlifter Sopita Tanasan captured the first Rio Games gold and became the fourth women’s weightlifter from Thailand to win an Olympic gold. The pint-sized lifter from Chumphon, 22, dominated the women’s 48kg event, lifting 92kg in the snatch and 108kg…
