Legacy Phuket Gazette

Archiving articles from the Phuket Gazette circa 1998 - 2017. View the Phuket Gazette online archive and Digital Gazette PDF Prints.
  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: Thanks giving for 4th of July celebrations at Phuket Airpark

    Phuket Opinion: Thanks giving for 4th of July celebrations at Phuket Airpark

    PHUKET: We would like to extend a most heartfelt thanks to every one of the many volunteer groups who worked together so well to make last weekend’s inaugural Phuket Airshow and Family Picnic such a successful charity event. The splendid festivities, timed to celebrate the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence 237 years ago, had so much going…

  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: It doesn’t hurt to give

    Phuket Opinion: It doesn’t hurt to give

    PHUKET: On this lovely island renowned for its wonderful spas, the place I’ve felt most pampered is not one. It’s the sleek and modern Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) next to the employment office, staffed by professionals delivering five-star service to those of us who give about 45 minutes of our time and about 10 per cent of our blood.…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket top province for Dengue Fever outbreak

    Phuket top province for Dengue Fever outbreak

    PHUKET: Phuket is now listed as the highest ranking province in Thailand for Dengue Fever outbreaks, Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) Deputy Chief Dr Krit Sakulpat confirmed to the Phuket Gazete today. Despite the ranking, there is no reason to panic, said Dr Krit. “For the statistic, the number of patients is divided by the registered population, which in Phuket…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Poll: Chalong underpass: six routes diverge in chaos and I choose”¦ eh, um, err….

    Phuket Poll: Chalong underpass: six routes diverge in chaos and I choose”¦ eh, um, err….

    PHUKET: Underpasses are the new mega-project craze on Phuket as officials scramble to find long-term solutions to the island’s mounting traffic congestion. Work is already well underway for Phuket’s first underpass at the Darasamuth Intersection in front of the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall, which was started on November 23 last year (story here). The newest addition to several underpass…

  • Phuket NewsMan caught on CCTV nicking clean Phuket knickers

    Man caught on CCTV nicking clean Phuket knickers

    PHUKET: Police are now sniffing out the trail of a chronic underwear thief who was caught on CCTV stealing over twenty pairs of drying panties from an apartment complex in Phuket Town.After receiving multiple complaints from residents of Chaloemlarp Apartment about their underwear being stolen, the owner of the complex set up a CCTV camera system.“On July 2 at about…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Thailand News: Army will not meddle in politics; Ramadan peace push; Monk to return with “bigger greatness”

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Army will not meddle in politics; Ramadan peace push; Monk to return with “bigger greatness”

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Army will have nothing to do with Thaksin return: Thanasak The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Supreme Commander General Thanasak Pratimapakorn said yesterday that the issue of whether former PM Thaksin Shinawatra will be allowed to return as a free man was not up to the…

  • Phuket NewsJunior Phuket Raceweek set to ‘come of age’

    Junior Phuket Raceweek set to ‘come of age’

    PHUKET: Junior Phuket Raceweek is set to take place Saturday, July 20 off Phuket’s Southeast coast. Sister event to its bigger brother Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek, which celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year, Junior Phuket Raceweek gives budding young sailors an opportunity to race in an international-standard regatta. “There are limited competitive sailing opportunities for youngsters on Phuket, and…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Twenty20 season opener sees old rivalries resumed

    Phuket Sports: Twenty20 season opener sees old rivalries resumed

    PHUKET: THE Outrigger T20 league kicked off at the ACG cricket ground last Sunday with an action-packed double header. In the first match, The Village took on last season’s finalists Island Cricket Club (ICC) while the second match saw defending champions Laguna take on arch rivals Patong. After a disappointing showing in the recently completed senior league season, the Village…

  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: Northern Ireland troubles flare-up; al Qaeda attack means war; French train crash – 6 dead

    Phuket Gazette World News: Northern Ireland troubles flare-up; al Qaeda attack means war; French train crash – 6 dead

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Violence flares around Northern Ireland marches Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Protestant marchers in Belfast threw objects at police, who responded with water cannon as Northern Ireland’s annual parade season descended into violence on yesterday. Pro-British Protestants march every summer in the British-ruled province, a regular…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Poll: blimp takes back seat to light-rail system

    Phuket Poll: blimp takes back seat to light-rail system

    PHUKET: In response to the 2.6 billion baht that remains unaccounted for after Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi last month confirmed that Phuket will not be bestowed an International Convention and Exhibition Center “unless they vote for Pheu Thai” (story here) – readers of the Phuket Gazette have opted to have a light-rail system built instead. The latest Phuket Gazette…

  • Phuket NewsSwiss man breaks leg in fall from motorcycle

    Swiss man breaks leg in fall from motorcycle

    PHUKET: A Swiss man is recovering well following surgery after a motorcycle accident in Thalang yesterday afternoon. Carlo Somaini, 54, was about 300m north of the Heroine’s Monument riding north on Thepkrasattri Road when a motorbike emerged from a soi in front of him. “He was startled,” said Thalang Police officer Thani Petchswee. “He tried to avoid the motorbike, and…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket mother in debt sells daughter for sex

    Phuket mother in debt sells daughter for sex

    PHUKET: Phuket police yesterday arrested a mother for selling her daughter for sex. Upon learning that a karaoke bar on Kwang Road in Wichit (map here) was offering sexual services to its customers, police staged a sting operation. “An undercover policeman arranged to purchase sex from a 14-year-old girl in the bar for 3,000 baht,” said Wichit Police officer Passakorn…

  • Thai LifePhuket Food: A sporty Sunday brunch

    Phuket Food: A sporty Sunday brunch

    PHUKET: Not too many Sunday brunches offer a side order of Zumba, Muay Thai, or Pilates, but Phuket’s Thanyapura brunch comes with a chance to work off the calories using a day pass to their world class sporting facilities and group fitness classes.But before that comes the food.Some of it comes direct from Thanyapura’s own organic farm in Surat Thani…

  • Phuket NewsThailand’s Human Rights Commission silent on Rohingya shootings

    Thailand’s Human Rights Commission silent on Rohingya shootings

    PHUKET: Thailand’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) yesterday told the Phuket Gazette they were “unable to report” on their own investigation into reports of Royal Thai Navy sailors opening fire on a boatload of Rohingya, allegedly killing at least two of the refugees, in February. The news comes four months after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised the international press the allegations…

  • Business NewsPhuket’s footy club turnover doubles

    Phuket’s footy club turnover doubles

    PHUKET: Ticketing and merchandising revenue for the island’s pro soccer club, Phuket FC, doubled year-on-year, while the club’s fan turnout has swelled by 93% during the same period. Now at the mid-season point, business seems to booming for the island’s pro soccer club, at least compared to this time last year when fan support for the club was dwindling. But…

  • Phuket NewsWoman rescued two hours after fall from Phuket bridge

    Woman rescued two hours after fall from Phuket bridge

    PHUKET: A 43-year-old woman was rescued from the fast-flowing water in the channel separating Phuket from the mainland two hours after she was seen standing at the railing of Thao Thepkrasattri Bridge. Rescue workers and Tah Chat Chai Police rushed to the scene soon after 10pm, when villagers reported seeing a woman stop her car halfway across Thao Thepkrasattri Bridge…

  • Business NewsLow Cost Carriers: Save us from safety savings

    Low Cost Carriers: Save us from safety savings

    PHUKET: Dying in an airplane crash is not exactly my idea of heading off into the hereafter with a veritable big bang. Much less trying to escape from a burning plane about to explode in a widescreen Bruce Willis Die Hard epic. But perhaps let me wind this back a little to pre-Grantville. Last Thursday, a last minute business meeting…

  • PropertyBoom in budget hotels

    Boom in budget hotels

    PHUKET: The changing regional and domestic tourism landscape is creating a lot of business opportunities. More budget hotels are opening, with investors out to cash in on the rising number of middle-class and solo travellers, thanks to the tourism boom and economic prosperity.Most operators agree that this hotel segment has good prospects. Thailand is a key tourism destination in the…

  • Phuket NewsTrail cold but Phuket mother still hopes to meet daughter missing since 2011

    Trail cold but Phuket mother still hopes to meet daughter missing since 2011

    PHUKET: A girl who seemed to have vanished into thin air after a Facebook session in Phuket Town in December 2011 remains missing, confirmed Chalong Police. The girl, Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya, was 12 years old at the time of her disappearance (story here). “I transferred the case to the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok before I was transferred to…

  • PropertyPreserving Phuket’s old streets

    Preserving Phuket’s old streets

    PHUKET: As sprawl and congestion take full-hold of our island, Phuket city municipality planners and engineers strive, yet struggle, to preserve the last remnants of urban historical heritage, yet continue to face a number of obstacles obstructing the way ahead. Indeed, the narrow streets in Phuket’s Old Town district are currently undergoing a drastic makeover. The electrical wires that currently…

  • Property“Business Landmark’ in the works on Bypass Rd

    “Business Landmark’ in the works on Bypass Rd

    PHUKET: Keep your eyes on the look-out – Bypass Biz Town, currently under construction right smack along the middle of one of the island’s most lucrative roads, is poised to be Phuket’s latest and greatest “Business Landmark”.Building on previous successes, reputable developer Boat Development Co Ltd, is fulfilling a much-needed real estate niche with its latest project, touted to be…

  • Phuket NewsCall for A- blood after Brit expat suffers motorbike crash head injury

    Call for A- blood after Brit expat suffers motorbike crash head injury

    PHUKET: The Phuket blood bank at Vachira Phuket Hospital is calling for donations of A- blood following an operation on British national Marc Harrington yesterday. Mr Harrington, 66, was admitted to hospital for a head injury sustained in a motorbike accident in Phuket on June 22. “He underwent an operation yesterday, in which we needed to use A- blood. He…

  • Phuket NewsSevere coral damage prompts DNP to limit dive tourists to Phi Phi Island

    Severe coral damage prompts DNP to limit dive tourists to Phi Phi Island

    PHUKET: Coral reefs at the popular marine national park that covers the famous Phi Phi Islands near Phuket have reached a severe level of degradation due to bleaching, a senior government official revealed yesterday.“Bleaching has affected up to 70 per cent of the coral reefs around Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. Of the affected corals, 47.52 per…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Thailand News: Ramadan peace blown; Credit Union chief got B3bn; PM Yingluck in show of solidarity; Vietnam cat smuggler nabbed

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Ramadan peace blown; Credit Union chief got B3bn; PM Yingluck in show of solidarity; Vietnam cat smuggler nabbed

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Blast in Yala injures eight soldiers The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Eight soldiers were slightly wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Yala’s Raman district yesterday and authorities believe an insurgent group led by Saifulloh Balor might be behind the attack.Even though it was agreed at the…

  • Thai LifePhuket Books – A slow death by flashbacks

    Phuket Books – A slow death by flashbacks

    PHUKET: Well-bred, highly educated and cosmopolitan, a new generation of African women writers – chief among them, the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – has recently claimed their right of place in the publishing world. The newest entrant to this elite club is Taiye Selasi. Half Ghanaian, half-Nigerian, born in London, raised in Boston, a graduate of Yale and Oxford,…

  • Phuket NewsLaguna Phuket Marathon to be still bigger and better next year

    Laguna Phuket Marathon to be still bigger and better next year

    PHUKET: Now in its ninth year, the Laguna Phuket International Marathon (LPIM) is going from strength to strength with numbers of participants expected to break 6,000 next year including runners from Asia, Europe and the Americas. LPIM is the largest destination marathon in Southeast Asia and sees participants push themselves to the limit in order to raise money for charity.…

  • Phuket NewsIslander’s Thai FA cup hopes crushed by Muang Thong

    Islander’s Thai FA cup hopes crushed by Muang Thong

    PHUKET: The Islanders Thai FA Cup dream came to an abrupt halt last night as they were knocked out 5-0 by current Thai Premier League champions Muang Thong United. The round 16 match was played north of Bangkok at Muang Thong’s 15,000 seat SCG Stadium. The first half finished scoreless, but Mario Djurovski put the home team 1-0 up straight…

  • Thai LifeC’est la Fete! – It’s party time!

    C’est la Fete! – It’s party time!

    PHUKET: As the French saying goes – Un repas sans vin est comme un jour sans soleil – a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine. And even though there might not be quite enough sunshine in Phuket these days, there shouldn’t be a lack of wine and great food during the Bastille Day celebrations in Patong on…

  • Business NewsPhuket Waste 101 – Dousing the burning issue

    Phuket Waste 101 – Dousing the burning issue

    PHUKET: As you begin to read this article, try to recall your consumer decisions and habits today. Did you go to the convenience store? What did you buy? Was it put in a plastic bag? When you were done consuming, how did you dispose of your waste? What about lunch – did you have takeaway scooped into one of those…

  • World NewsPhuket Gazette World News: Quebec grieves in wake of train crash; Asiana victims told not to evacuate; No Facebook, no CIA – says Venez minister; UN hits Vatican over child abuse; Mandela responding

    Phuket Gazette World News: Quebec grieves in wake of train crash; Asiana victims told not to evacuate; No Facebook, no CIA – says Venez minister; UN hits Vatican over child abuse; Mandela responding

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Quebec train set too few brakes, with deadly result Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The handbrake is the railroad industry’s ultimate fail-safe mechanism. It is supposed to help avert disasters like the one that engulfed a Canadian town on Saturday, when a runaway train loaded with oil hurtled…