- Phuket News
No Phuket search for missing South African
PHUKET: Top island officers have yet to receive an official request to find a South African man who was last known to be in Phuket in June. Arayaphan Pukbuakao, a Phuket Provincial Police deputy commander, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that he had not received a report about Ezra Jansen, 31, who is being treated by the South African Embassy…
- Phuket News
Pregnant mum survives horror Phuket crash
PHUKET: A five-month pregnant woman and five other people are in hospital after the pick-up truck they were travelling in crashed into a power pole on Thepkrasattri Road early this morning. Jantree Harnhong, 30, was on her way to Phuket with her 33-year-old partner Noppol Karnjanaburi and four others when the accident occurred in front of Muang Thalang School at…
- Phuket News
Phuket King’s Cup Regatta: Light winds lead to tricky, tight racing
PHUKET: Following Day One’s extremely close racing, Day Two of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta served up a trickier challenge to crews in the form of very light wind conditions. All of the classes were fought in close-quarters positions, reflecting well on this year’s revised class structure, which was designed to encourage very tight and visually impressive racing action. Karl…
- Thailand News
Prosecutors claim case against Koh Tao Myanmar pair is solid: source
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prosecutors claim case against Koh Tao Myanmar pair is solid: source The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Public prosecutors expect the case against two Myanmar suspects accused of murdering two British tourists on Koh Tao to be treated seriously by a court in the South because…
- Thailand News
Charter panel brushes aside call for direct election of Cabinet, PM
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Charter panel brushes aside call for direct election of Cabinet, PM The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The suggestion for Thais to directly elect both the prime minister and members of Cabinet has been brushed aside by a subcommittee of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) working…
- Thailand News
Missing Karen activist ‘never released’ after arrest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Missing Karen activist ‘never released’ after arrest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A police probe into CCTV footage suggests that missing Karen activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen was never released following his arrest on a petty offence by Kaeng Krachan National Park officials, police investigators said…
- Thailand News
Police Corruption Scandal: Seized artifacts to be repatriated
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police Corruption Scandal: Seized artifacts to be repatriated The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Some of the 50 artifacts worth more than 50 million baht found in the treasure trove seized by officers raiding the homes of disgraced former crime-buster Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan will be…
- Thailand News
Royal family to hold much-awaited public audience
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Royal family to stage much-awaited public audience The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Their Majesties the King and Queen, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, will grant a much-awaited public audience at the Amarin Winitchai Throne Hall at 10.30am on Friday.…
- Thai Life
Phuket Paramotoring: Para-normal skies above
PHUKET: Picture this. You are trapped in rush-hour traffic near Central Festival Phuket. It’s late afternoon, the skies are clear and the temperature perfect. But you are hardly enjoying these conditions as you slowly descend into Phuket’s first Bangkok-style highway underpass. Just before you go subterranean, however, you catch a glimpse of something soaring not too high in the sky…
- Thai Life
Video Report: Phuket Superyacht Rendezvous making history
PHUKET: To say that the Asia Superyacht Rendezvous, at just 14 years old, is soaked in history would be an understatement. As spectators look out across the bay from the Kata Rocks, the event’s host sponsor, this December 16-18, one boat sure to catch the eye is SY Sunshine, built as the “third sister” of the original Sunshine, floated 114…
- Phuket News
Live grenades found in Phuket residential area
PHUKET: A Burmese trash-burner discovered two live M26 hand grenades at a dump near a Phuket residential area in Rawai this afternoon. The man, named by police only as Mr A, identified the dangerous weapons of war and immediately informed his employer, who promptly reported the find. Phuket’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit arrived shortly thereafter. “The two standard M26…
- Phuket News
Phuket beach vendors protest with national anthem
PHUKET: Dozens of Phuket beach vendors gathered at the Patong Police Station and sang Thailand’s national anthem yesterday, after they were forced off the beach by police and municipality officers. “The Navy told us that we were allowed – that only umbrella vendors were prohibited,” one vendor told the Phuket Gazette. “We are just trying to make a living. Why…
- Phuket News
Father, son arrested for Phuket bag-snatch
PHUKET: Police arrested a father-and-son bag-snatching duo for robbing a woman in Phuket Town yesterday, allegedly in order to make payments for the motorbike used in the crime. Officers arrested Narongchai Aroonmek, 39, and his 15-year-old son at a rented room in Rassada at about 7pm. “We tracked them down after reviewing CCTV footage in the Vanich Road area of…
- Phuket News
One dead, three injured in family trip to Phuket
PHUKET: One woman died and a father and daughter were rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital with critical injuries after their car crashed into a roadside canal yesterday in northern Phuket. Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene, on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, about 200 meters from the Hongyok Bumrung School in Baan Suan Maphrao, at about 5:15pm.…
- Phuket News
Victories down to seconds at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
PHUKET: Racing began in earnest in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta yesterday with a fleet of 93 keelboats and catamarans from 16 countries, jostling in close-quarters competition in honor of the birthday of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Neil Pryde’s HiFi team opened their account with a six-second win on corrected times over Team Beau Geste in light winds in Race…
- Phuket News
Australian terrorism warning for Phuket unfounded, say officials
PHUKET: Island officials yesterday denounced the Australian government’s warning of possible civil unrest and threat of a terrorist attack in Phuket. “We continue to advise Australians to exercise a high degree of caution in Thailand overall due to the possibility of civil unrest and the threat of terrorist attack, including Bangkok and Phuket,” said the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs…
- Thailand News
VAT hike will give more room for budget deficit: Sommai
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community VAT hike will give more room for budget deficit: Sommai The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Finance Ministry is likely to increase the value-added tax (VAT) by at least 1 per cent at the end of next year, giving it room to widen the budget…
- Thailand News
Plan to tear down palace wall opposed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Plan to tear down palace wall opposed The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: THE Fine Arts Department has registered the whole compound of King Taksin’s palace, including its wall, as a historical site since 1929, ruling out any moves to have it dismantled. The Royal Thai…
- Thailand News
Bank auditor jailed 20 years in billion-baht fraud case
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bank auditor jailed 20 years in billion-baht fraud case The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A key suspect in the Bangkok Bank of Commerce (BBC) fraud scandal was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in prison, commuted originally from a total term of 155 years resulting from…
- Thailand News
Anti-mine protest leader shot dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-mine protest leader shot dead The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The leader of protests against a barite mining operation was shot dead in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Nopphitam district on Sunday night, police said. Pithan Thongpanang, 45, was shot two times – once in the body…
- Thailand News
Police corruption scandal: B1mn reward for ‘Sia Jo’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police corruption scandal: B1mn reward for ‘Sia Jo’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A bounty of 1 million baht has been offered for information leading to the arrest of a much-wanted Pattani-based businessman accused of trading in contraband petrol and bribing police. Royal Thai Police…
- Property
Evictions not imminent at Phuket luxury property, says developer
PHUKET: A report in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) claiming that more than 40 owners of luxury homes at a residential resort property in Phuket face eviction* has been refuted by the developer as a distortion of the facts. In a statement to Bangok-based Property Report, Andy Street of Tawan Properties, the developer behind the luxury homes in Chom Tawan,…
- Phuket News
Phuket officials demand Uber vow against illegal taxi revival
PHUKET: Fears of technology company Uber, which provides an alternative way to catch a cab, thereby potentially allowing a resurgence in illegal taxi drivers operating in Bangkok and Phuket, led to the Department of Land Transportation (DLT) deeming the services illegal prior to a full investigation. The Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO) has suggested that Uber clarify its current role…
- Phuket News
Video Report: Swiss Olympian Reudi Wild wins Challenge Laguna Phuket
PHUKET: Swiss Olympian Ruedi Wild yesterday produced a clockwork performance once again at Laguna Phuket to secure his first half-distance win at 2014 Challenge Laguna Phuket (CLP) in 4:02:43. The win follows his debut title win at the 2012 Laguna Phuket Triathlon, which he successfully defended the next year. World champion Melissa Hauschildt of Australia defended her title in the…
- Thai Life
Para-normal Phuket skies: Part II
PHUKET: Picking up from where we left off last with “Up in the Air” (story here), let’s jump into the effect the southwesterly monsoon-season weather has on paramotoring… “The weather isn’t perfect every day, but when the skies clear the visibility is amazing,” explained Sky Club Asia co-owner Paul Derstoff, adding that safety was of paramount importance and that weather…
- Phuket News
Father’s Day festivities kick off in Phuket
PHUKET: The first of a five-day Father’s Day celebration kicks off for Phuket residents and tourists tonight in Saphan Hin. Every year on December 5, Thai people nationwide celebrate the birthday of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. As HM The King is deeply respected and much loved as the father of Thailand, Thai people also use the day to celebrate their…
- Phuket News
Facebook posts snare Phuket road rage thug
PHUKET: A man who appeared in photos and video clips on Facebook threatening two people with a gun in Phuket on Saturday has been arrested on drug charges. Prasopchok Somboon, 29, from Phang Nga, was caught on camera by people in passing cars intimidating a man and a woman with the gun near the Chinese shrine at the top of…
- Phuket News
Police suspect sex drug in death of Phuket man
PHUKET: Police believe a 72-year-old man who was found dead in a drive-in hotel yesterday morning may have died after taking a generic version of Viagra, an erectile dysfunction drug. Police were called to the scene on Komaraphat Road in Phuket Town and found the man, from Rawai, on the bed, and a shocked 44-year-old woman who said she had…
- Phuket News
Phuket King’s Cup Regatta shows appreciation to sponsors with grand opening ceremony
PHUKET: The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organizing Committee, led by its president, Kevin Whitcraft, hosted the official opening ceremony of the 28th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta yesterday. The event was held at Kata Beach Resort & Spa, the spiritual home of Asia’s classic race, and was attended by VIPs, media guests and hundreds of sailors from around the world. Joining…
- Phuket News
Thai veteran wins King’s Cup golf tourney for record 18th title
PHUKET: Thaworn Wiratchant crafted his way to the best birdie putt of the year to beat India’s Anirban Lahiri for his long-awaited King’s Cup title and a record 18th Asian Tour victory at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Course yesterday. A stroke ahead of the current No 2 on the Asian Tour Order of Merit ranking, the 47-year-old Thai…
