- Thailand News
Impeachment good for reconciliation, says anti-graft agency
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Impeachment good for reconciliation, says anti-graft agency The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday insisted that impeachment of politicians perceived as “enemies of the country” would promote, rather than undermine, national reconciliation. “Impeachment of wrongdoers who are the enemies of the…
- World News
Belgian police kill two in raid, foil imminent Islamist attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Belgian police kill two in raid, foil imminent Islamist attacks Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Belgian police killed two men who opened fire on them during one of about a dozen raids on Thursday against an Islamist group that federal prosecutors said was about to launch…
- Phuket News
Euro PGA player Shiv rates Laguna Phuket’s new course “exceptional’
PHUKET: European Tour and Asian Tour player Shiv Kapur last Sunday rated the re-designed course at Laguna Phuket Golf Club as “an exceptional golf course” that maintained traditions of the game. “You walk off with a smile on your face,” he said at the inaugural tournament held to officially open the course. Kapur began the 76-player Scramble tourney with an…
- Phuket News
Bread crumbs no problem for coral reef, says Phuket official
PHUKET: Despite specialists’ worries, the director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket office explained that feeding fish bread in small quantities is no cause for concern. “Officers from the Phuket Marine Biological Center [PMBC] say that feeding fish will change their natural habits. However, based on my experience, I do not think that it is wrong to…
- Thailand News
Queer News: Masturbator milks Doraemon dress for cover
PHUKET: Police in Pattaya have tracked down and arrested a man who donned a Doraemon dress and masturbated in public while parked outside stores in the bustling seaside resort town. Police were alerted to the man’s antics after a video posted on Facebook went viral. The video shows the man in his Doraemon dress, safety helmet and surgical mask, rolling…
- Food
Senzanome: No name, just flavor
PHUKET: Confidence is silent, insecurities are loud. In a world of bragging loudmouths, marketing talk and aggressive advertising, food at Phuket’s Senzanome restaurant speaks for itself. At the far end of Phuket Boat Lagoon, right on the edge of a yacht pier, is a quiet place. There are no crowds here and no motorbikes zooming back and forth, just an…
- Thai Life
Exciting new genre of art debuts in Phuket tomorrow night
PHUKET: Well known local artist Rose Maitland Smith will be on hand to open her new art exhibition tomorrow night, January 17. About 20 of her unique, striking and colorful paintings have arrived at the Boathouse by Montara on Kata Beach and will remain on show there until mid-March. Rose, who exudes in person the same energy and optimism that…
- Phuket News
Czech busker on Bangla reunited with his family
PHUKET: The Czech father who was busking on Soi Bangla for money while his 6-year-old daughter lay in hospital after being hit by a car has been reunited with his family. Phuket Tourist Police officers visited Lucas Matena and his family at Bangkok Hospital Phuket on Tuesday, where Mr Matena’s daughter Rebeka was recovering from a broken jaw. The officers…
- Phuket News
Sausage delivery truck rams logging trailer in high-speed crash
PHUKET: A delivery truck rear-ended a 10-wheeled trailer hauling felled rubber trees at high speed on Thepkrasattri Road yesterday, resulting in massive traffic tailbacks on one of the island’s busiest highways. Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene, in the southbound lane, at about 6:30am. The truck driver, 25-year-old Pongsak Inthong, admitted to having been speeding…
- Phuket News
Yosemite climbers reach top of El Capitan in historic ascent
PHUKET: Two climbers completed a historic 19-day ascent to the summit of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan in California on Wednesday after scaling the rock formation’s 3,000-foot (900-metre) sheer granite face without climbing tools, representatives said. Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, made it to the top of El Capitan at 3:30 p.m. (2330 GMT), spokeswoman Jess Clayton of…
- World News
US couple stand trial for grisly Bali suitcase murder
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community US couple stand trial for grisly Bali suitcase murder Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An American man and his pregnant girlfriend went on trial on Wednesday for the murder of the woman’s mother, whose battered body was found stuffed in a suitcase on Indonesia’s resort island…
- Thailand News
Police ‘played a role’ in South Koreans’ abduction
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police ‘played a role’ in South Koreans’ abduction The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Twelve senior police officers and one civilian were involved in the kidnapping of three South Korean men, a high-ranking police source said yesterday. Ten of the police officers are attached to Metropolitan…
- Phuket News
Grenade lighter sparks bomb scare at Phuket health center
PHUKET: A cigarette lighter shaped like a grenade sent patients and medical staff scurrying for cover at a local health center in Phuket today. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Chao Phomna called in the bomb squad at about 12:40pm after a patient reported seeing a grenade by the front door of the center, named as the Songserm Sukhapharp Hospital. “We…
- Phuket News
Vietnamese cargo ship rams, sinks Thai fishing boat off Phuket
PHUKET: Marine officials have detained a Vietnamese cargo ship in Phang Nga after the vessel struck and sank a Thai fishing boat off Phuket yesterday. “We were anchored about 10 nautical miles from Phuket Airport, when at about 8:40am a cargo ship named Phuong Nam 69 came from nowhere and rammed our bow hard,” Arom Sri-im, owner of the fishing…
- Phuket News
Police nail two drug dealers in Rassada
PHUKET: A team of Phuket City Police officers arrested two major drug dealers yesterday in possession of nearly 75 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and more than 200 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Santi Chai-niramai and an anti-narcotics team, acting under nationwide orders from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the Royal…
- Phuket News
Police silent on fatal Phuket tour bus crash probe
PHUKET: Police have closed the books on a fatal crash in Kamala that left nine Russian tourists injured after their tour bus collided with a Ford Fiesta (story here). The 37-year-old driver of the car, Tantima Thaworn, later succumbed to her injuries (story here). “The case was closed shortly after the death of Ms Tantima,” said Lt Col Nanon Pitakkultorn…
- Opinion
Opinion: Phuket prejudice against the law
PHUKET: The fatal shot fired by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, was not heard around the world, but the repercussions of slaying an unarmed black man, Michael Brown, were. The shooting, trial and subsequent similar situation in New York, focused all major American and international media on issues that economically depressed black communities face in the US. The war of…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s top police get shake-up: eight transferred
PHUKET: A sweeping transfer of eight of the island’s 10 police superintendents comes with short notice as the Phuket high season charges into 2015. Public Affairs Division of the Royal Thai Police announced the orders this morning, though the transferees were officially confirmed by Region 8 Police Commissioner Decha Budnampeth on January 9. “I am surprised that so many of…
- Phuket News
Teen shooters arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: The drive-by shooting that left a 19-year-old dead on the streets of Phuket Town on December 29 was a mistaken hit, the shooters have confessed to police. Police arrested two teens, given the pseudonyms “Joey”, 15, and “James”, 16, in a house near Kathu Temple yesterday for the shooting death of Chalong Netphetdang, 19, originally named by police as…
- Phuket News
Legal Phuket jet-ski operators threaten to join illegal cowboys
PHUKET: Fed up with illegal jet-ski operators serving tourists at Bang Tao Beach, the local legal jet-ski brigade yesterday threatened to abandon all legalities and join the jet-ski cowboys. Unregistered and uninsured jet-skis and parasail boats returned to the beach in November, said Surachai Yomdee, head of the Bang Tao Jet-Ski Club. “The illegal jet-skis and parasail boats do not…
- Phuket News
Russian hitchhikers spared dangerous nighttime jungle trek
PHUKET: Two Russian women were spared the ordeal of becoming lost in the Phang Nga jungle after a police officer realized that they were heading for potential trouble last night. Named by police only as Ms Susan, 21, and Ms Vilka, 23, the women were spotted heading into the jungle at Khao Nang Hong, a 400-meter-high mountain eco-tourist site. The…
- Property
Expats target market for Thalang residential housing project
PHUKET: Following the completion of phase one of 59 European-style tropical townhomes in Thalang under the banner “Baan Tak r Kard”, local developer Living Vis has launched the second phase of its residential development under the brand “r homes”, in a bid to attract more expat buyers. “More than 80 per cent of the two- and three-bedroom homes in phase…
- Phuket News
Molly’s fatal road in Phuket fixed
PHUKET: Officials have fixed the rural road that claimed the life of 7-year-old Molly Anne Bailey after the truck she was travelling in plunged into a massive sinkhole. The sinkhole did not have any lights or obvious signs warning drivers of the hole. There was only a dark green plastic net with a sign that read “Road Cut Off”. The…
- Thailand News
Police probed for opening fire on suspected human-trafficking boat off Ranong
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police probed for opening fire on suspected human-trafficking boat off Ranong The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday confirmed they were investigating an incident last Wednesday in which a Ranong police boat opened fire on a fishing boat in the Andaman Sea. National police spokesman…
- Thailand News
Police accused of kidnap, Bt2m ransom from Korean gambling ring
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police accused of kidnap, Bt2m ransom from Korean gambling ring The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Seven police officers will be summoned to explain their role over allegations that they demanded Bt2 million from South Koreans who have illegally operated online gambling services. Investigators are also…
- World News
Divers retrieve AirAsia ‘black box’, explosion theory questioned
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Divers retrieve AirAsia ‘black box’, explosion theory questioned Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Indonesian navy divers retrieved the black box flight data recorder from the wreck of an AirAsia passenger jet on Monday, a major step towards unravelling the cause of the crash that killed all…
- Phuket News
Video Report: World Pencak Silat Championship biggest – ever, say officials
PHUKET: At the the opening ceremony on Saturday, officials marked the 16th World Pencak Silat Championship 2015 as the largest such event for the Indonesian martial art. “Under the campaign ‘Uniting Silat, Uniting the People’, we hope to raise the world’s awareness of this sport. We hope that all pencak silat member countries will be united and grow strong,” said…
- Hua Hin News
Rohingya woman dead, dozens of children among 98 trafficking victims
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rohingya woman dead, dozens of children among 98 trafficking victims Reuters / The Nation PHUKET: One woman was found dead in the back of one of five vehicles being used to traffick 98 Rohingya through Phang Nga, north of Phuket, and were intercepted by police in…
- Phuket News
Siblings drown off Krabi on Children’s Day
PHUKET: A pair of siblings drowned after they were swept out to sea off Nopparat Thara Beach in Krabi on Children’s Day. Vimvipa Keawyai, 14, and her 12-year-old brother, Vongvut, were swimming with friends in the Son Canal, about 20 meters from their parents, when the accident occurred. “My wife and I stayed on the beach while the children went…
- Phuket News
Phuket cyclist arrested for robbing store with lighter gun
PHUKET: Police tracked down and arrested a known cyclist early this morning after he robbed his local Family Mart convenience store with a lighter gun to buy some beer a few hours earlier. Key to finding the suspect, Narin Gamegaeman, 26, was that he made his getaway on his bicycle, said Maj Col Thitirat Arsakij of the Thung Thong Police.…
