Legacy Phuket Gazette

Archiving articles from the Phuket Gazette circa 1998 - 2017. View the Phuket Gazette online archive and Digital Gazette PDF Prints.
  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 venue chosen

    Phuket Sports: AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 venue chosen

    PHUKET: Singapore and Vietnam will jointly host the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, the ASEAN Football Federation said on Wednesday (April 3). Speaking at the press conference before the start of the 2013 AFF Awards in Pahang, Malaysia, Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Tengku Abdullah ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah, the deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia and vice-president of the…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: TrueVisions prepares for life after EPL

    Phuket Sports: TrueVisions prepares for life after EPL

    PHUKET: With the English Premier League (EPL) no longer on its program list, TrueVisions, a leading subscription-based television operator, has earmarked more than 1.5 billion baht for new content and technology, offering more high-definition (HD) channels and a fee discount for existing customers to retain them. The audio and visual broadcasting rights to the EPL soccer matches for the next…

  • Business NewsApril festivities to generate millions for Phuket

    April festivities to generate millions for Phuket

    PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office expects upcoming festivities this month to generate between 600 and 700 million baht for the local economy. TAT Southern Region 4 Office director Chanchai Doungjit talked about the current tourist situation ahead of the upcoming two-week festive period. He announced that the holiday period officially starts tomorrow, with Chakri Memorial Day,…

  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: Bird flu toll hits 6; Argentina floods; Nobel Peace Prize stolen; Dancer Ruby riles Berlusconi

    Phuket Gazette World News: Bird flu toll hits 6; Argentina floods; Nobel Peace Prize stolen; Dancer Ruby riles Berlusconi

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China readies to fight new bird flu; Japan, HK on guard Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: China said it was mobilising resources nationwide to combat a new strain of bird flu that has killed six people, as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance and the United…

  • Phuket NewsVillagers appeal to Prime Minister’s Office over Phuket land claim

    Villagers appeal to Prime Minister’s Office over Phuket land claim

    PHUKET: Villagers fighting a land claim to 83 rai near an old tin mine in Chalong say they have turned to the Prime Minister’s Office to settle the dispute, in which they claim to have lived at the site for nearly a decade. The move to appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office follows more than 50 villagers turning out in…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Immigration task force targetting foreigners nabs Russian

    Phuket Immigration task force targetting foreigners nabs Russian

    PHUKET: Phuket Immigration officers yesterday arrested a Russian woman caught without a passport and working illegally selling tours at a kiosk in Kata.Officers led by Capt Angkarn Yasanop arrested Natalia Nikiforova, 30, after an officer pretended to be interested in some of the tours on offer at the Rus Info tour counter on Kata Road.“She explained the tours to us…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket teacher sacked for performing Hajj reinstated

    Phuket teacher sacked for performing Hajj reinstated

    PHUKET: A Muslim teacher fired from Muslim Wittaya School for taking unapproved leave to join the Hajj has got his job back. Parinya Payadsub was fired after he went on the Hajj three times in five years, breaking a school rule that allows staff to join the Hajj once every five years. Following protests by teachers, students and community leaders…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket joins Royal project to turn aluminum trash into prosthetic legs

    Phuket joins Royal project to turn aluminum trash into prosthetic legs

    PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Environment Office is calling for all donations of aluminum to donate to a nationwide project that seeks to recycle at least 80 tons of aluminum into prosthetic legs. The project, initiated by the Prostheses Foundation of HRH The Princess Mother (click here), aims to reduce the volume of garbage and make prosthetic legs more…

  • Phuket NewsLaguna return to form in Phuket cricket league

    Laguna return to form in Phuket cricket league

    PHUKET: As Phuket’s Jones Lang LaSalle cricket league nears completion of its round robin matches, teams are still fighting for a finals spot. Laguna returned to the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) after suffering a comprehensive defeat against league leaders Patong the previous week, hoping to get back on track against the Village, who were also defeated by Patong in their…

  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: Toothless, but no fairy

    Phuket Opinion: Toothless, but no fairy

    PHUKET: The other day I had the unpleasant middle-aged experience of breaking a tooth. Not just any tooth, but the right incisor tooth. Alfred E Neuman, eat your heart out. By some amazing stroke of luck, the tooth had broken off but the root stayed intact, which made my experience relatively painless and gave me the chance to consider my…

  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: US-Korea standoff deepens; Cuban ballet defectors, China bird flu death toll rises

    Phuket Gazette World News: US-Korea standoff deepens; Cuban ballet defectors, China bird flu death toll rises

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. to send missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The United States said on Wednesday it would soon send a missile defence system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what Defence…

  • Thailand NewsEastern European tourists inject 35bn into Phuket

    Eastern European tourists inject 35bn into Phuket

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community East Europeans help drive Phuket’s tourism boom Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Thailand’s current tourism bull-run is being underscored by a watershed of Eastern European travellers, a soaring source of business that delivered 1.6 million visitors last year, led by Russia with an 82-per-cent share,…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket booze ban dampens Songkran revelry

    Phuket booze ban dampens Songkran revelry

    PHUKET: Officials may have just thrown a wet blanket on party plans for Phuket residents and locals alike with the announcement that the sale, purchase and consumption of alcohol will be banned on Patong’s famous Soi Bangla on April 12 as part of a slew of new precautions to make Thai New Year festivities safer.Phuket officials today established six main…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Gazette Sports: Motorcycling – No end in sight for the reign of Spain

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Motorcycling – No end in sight for the reign of Spain

    Motorcycling – No end in sight for the reign of Spain Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Valentino Rossi is back on a Yamaha but it will take some heroics for the aging Italian great to wrest the MotoGP title from Spanish hands in the season that starts under the Qatar floodlights this weekend.Honda’s Dani Pedrosa lines up as the early favourite,…

  • Phuket NewsFamous boxer arrested in Phuket for dealing drugs

    Famous boxer arrested in Phuket for dealing drugs

    PHUKET: Karon Police yesterday arrested famous former Muay Thai boxer Sumonchai Mad-adam, better known to his boxing fans as Rungsaknoi Dejrit (“Powerfully Popular”), for dealing ya bah (methamphetamine) in the car park of a Phuket hotel. Maj Theeradet Jiraksa led fellow police officers in a sting operation, during which an undercover officer bought several pills from Sumonchai, 32, who was…

  • Thai LifePhuket Gardening: Sol o sombra? A seat in the sun

    Phuket Gardening: Sol o sombra? A seat in the sun

    PHUKET: If you go to the huge, intimidating amphitheater that is a Spanish bullring to witness a series of corridas, you may be asked at the ticket office if you want “sol” or “sombra?” And the reason? The seats in the shade (sombra) are more expensive, because there you are shielded from the fierce rays of the Iberian sun. “Sol…

  • Thai LifeOn the menu: Phuket’s Le Versace takes it to the next level

    On the menu: Phuket’s Le Versace takes it to the next level

    PHUKET: It is hot in Phuket at the moment, hot and dry, and the only relief comes when that scorching orb sinks below the horizon allowing for a slight drop in temperature. If you are fortunate, you may be able to enjoy that moment from a good vantage point. If you are very fortunate you will be watching the sunset…

  • Business NewsUK’s residency law changes may affect Phuket’s expats

    UK’s residency law changes may affect Phuket’s expats

    PHUKET: With the Finance Act 2013, the UK is making changes to the statutory residency laws, which may affect some expats living in Phuket. It is well worth taking the time to review the changes if you are one of those who have just left the UK or who, and although you reside in Phuket, you maintain significant ties to…

  • Business NewsHow Phuket expats can cut their investment costs

    How Phuket expats can cut their investment costs

    PHUKET: If you are like many expatriates in Phuket, or indeed across Thailand, you have probably failed to realize the impact trading or investment fees can have on your portfolio’s return, as such costs are often hidden and can quickly add up over time. In a rising market, these costs may not be so noticeable; but in a stagnant or…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Thailand News: Korea evacuation plan at the ready; Soldier abducted in South; Charter debate rages on

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Korea evacuation plan at the ready; Soldier abducted in South; Charter debate rages on

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea on Friday issued a new threat to attack the US, reacting to a show of force by two US B-2 stealth bombers that dropped inert munitions on to a South Korean training ground not far from the North’s border. Pyongyang said its targets were…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket doctors unaffected by health care pay reform

    Phuket doctors unaffected by health care pay reform

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) today confirmed that the introduction of the new P4P “Pay for performance” system of calculating rural doctors’ remuneration will not affect any public health care services in Phuket.The news follows at least 146 doctors – among them 11 specialists –announcing they will resign their positions at public hospitals across the country in protest…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Police stage riot control drills

    Phuket Police stage riot control drills

    PHUKET: More than 300 officers from every police station in Phuket have been rehearsing their riot control skills at the field behind Phuket City Police Station yesterday and today in preparation for a contest that will pit them against fellow police from throughout Upper Southern Thailand.“The objective is to maintain our preparedness for situations of civil unrest and to prepare…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Gazette Sports: Baseball opening day – a celebration of hope and renewal

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Baseball opening day – a celebration of hope and renewal

    Baseball opening day – a celebration of hope and renewal Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The crack of the bat, packed crowds and the smell of hot dogs on the grill signaled Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, a celebration of hope and renewal giving teams and their fans a fresh start to a new season. It is a rite of spring…

  • PropertyPhuket Property: Sansiri housing project targets hi-end segment

    Phuket Property: Sansiri housing project targets hi-end segment

    PHUKET: Relieving anticipation in the single-house property market to the north of Phuket Town, Sansiri Pcl finally lifted the curtain on ‘Burasiri Koh Kaew’, the developer’s first up-market resort-style, detached housing development in Phuket. Valued at about one billion baht, the new development is superbly located in the Koh Kaew sub district, just opposite the British International School. The project…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket British school issues statement over Russian motorbike crash victims

    Phuket British school issues statement over Russian motorbike crash victims

    PHUKET: The British International School – Phuket (BIS), this morning issued a statement concerning the two teenage Russian students who are in hospital after a serious motorbike crash on the bypass road on Saturday (story here). Neil Richards MBE, headmaster at the school, wrote in the statement today: “On Saturday 30 March 2013, two students of Russian nationality, from the…

  • Phuket NewsLuckless fisherman lands crocodile in Phuket heartland

    Luckless fisherman lands crocodile in Phuket heartland

    PHUKET: Decades since a freshwater crocodile was last spotted in the wild on Phuket, a local fisherman on Sunday accidentally landed a baby specimen while fishing in Srisoonthorn, in central Phuket.Khamchit Sangsuwan, 32, a resident in the neighboring district of Kathu, went fishing at Baan Bang Jo canal. After two hours of luckless angling, the end of his line suddenly…

  • Thai LifePhuket Tech: How to change your address – Live Wire

    Phuket Tech: How to change your address – Live Wire

    PHUKET: Many of my friends here in Phuket are in the process of changing their email addresses from blahblah@phuket.ksc.co.th to blahblah@phuketemail.com. Some of them have written to me, asking why a disruptive change like that is necessary, and looking for recommendations. Can’t say I blame them: changing an email address is considerably more difficult, in this day and age, than…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Thailand News: Leaning tower condemned; Thaksin tweets; Natural Fruit human rights under fire

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Leaning tower condemned; Thaksin tweets; Natural Fruit human rights under fire

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tilting building near Bangkok urged demolished The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A seven-storey apartment building under construction at the back of Zeer department store north of Bangkok has been declared off limits, after it tilted and was inspected by local administrators.Public works officials with Khu Khot Municipality…

  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: 13 dead in Myanmar Muslim school fire; US-Korea tensions rise; Sex attacks hurt India tourism; Death penalty sought for Dark Knight shooter

    Phuket Gazette World News: 13 dead in Myanmar Muslim school fire; US-Korea tensions rise; Sex attacks hurt India tourism; Death penalty sought for Dark Knight shooter

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 13 children die in fire at Muslim school in Myanmar Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An electrical fire at an Islamic school in Myanmar’s biggest city killed 13 children early on Tuesday, authorities said. The children, all boys, died of suffocation in the fire at a…

  • Phuket NewsTrash fires cause evacuations on Koh Lanta

    Trash fires cause evacuations on Koh Lanta

    PHUKET: Villagers on Koh Lanta, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, have evacuated their homes because of respiratory problems caused by garbage fires at a landfill. Local authorities say they are unable to control the fires. The villagers sought to publicize the trash burning problem about three weeks ago by appealing to the Krabi Press Club, saying that local authorities…