- Phuket News
Update: Phuket Murder of Dr Somchai
PHUKET TOWN: Police are investigating possible connections between the murder of Dr Somchai Wongbunterng and an altercation between the victim and a group of teenagers earlier this week. Dr Somchai was gunned down outside his own clinic just after noon in Phuket Town on Thursday. Jack Mai, one of the doctor’s employees, told police that two men pulled up in…
- Phuket News
Phuket football on a roll
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Football officials in Phuket have high hopes that the island will become the next haven for the AFC’s Vision Asia program. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), headquartered in…
- Phuket News
Phuket flooding: Mayor Pian fights back
PATONG, PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has launched an ambitious program of public works in a bid to prevent a repeat of the flooding that deluged Phuket’s premier resort town during last year’s monsoon season. Mayor Pian said he guaranteed that the four projects underway would be complete before the rains start this year. “I’m not saying there will be…
- Phuket News
Young French boy in Phuket jellyfish attack
NAI HARN, PHUKET: A four-year-old French boy is expected to make a full recovery from a jellyfish sting on Nai Harn Beach this afternoon thanks to the quick thinking of two former Phuket lifeguards. The two men, who now work as beach vendors, rushed to help Aymeric Roussel after he was pulled from the surf screaming. “We poured vinegar over…
- Phuket News
Phuket tourism titans optimistic for 2010
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Somboon Chirayus, president of the Phuket Tourism Association, says the island should gain more visitors this year as many airlines plan to add more charter flights into Phuket…
- Phuket News
Buses the new solution to Phuket transport woes
PHUKET: Plans for a light rail system spanning Phuket have been scrapped in favor of the much cheaper option of scheduling new bus routes, it recently emerged. “We will no longer refer to this project as the light rail or monorail system project,” said Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop. “We will now refer to it as the Bus Rapid Transit system…
- Phuket News
Monk kills monk
PHUKET: A monk was stabbed to death after boasting that the talismans (amulets) hanging from his neck made his skin impenetrable to weapons. Phra Sunantha Phongsu-wan, 44, died in hospital earlier this month from a single stab wound to his chest. Witnesses reported that the previous evening Phra Sunantha and his friend Phra Sathien Khamphira, 55, had been at Samnak…
- Phuket News
Doctor gunned down in Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: A well known doctor was gunned down in a drive-by killing outside his own clinic in Phuket Town today. Police found the body of Dr Somchai Wongbunterng, 47, on the sidewalk outside Somchai International Clinic on Wichit Songkhram Road in Phuket Town around midday. He had been shot in the head. Phuket City Police Deputy Commander Komol Wattraporn…
- Phuket News
Phuket bemused as protests fizzle
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: The mass anti-government rally in Thailand appears to be losing steam. Tens of thousands have returned to their farms. They drew nowhere near the promised million protesters. But…
- Opinion
OPINION: Reports of My Death
PHUKET: One of history’s great lines, (which is often misquoted), is Samuel Clemens’ (Mark Twain’s) “Reports of my death have been exaggerated.” As it turned out, the quote itself was an exaggeration, as the true story was a case of transmogrified news about Clemens’ relative James Ross Clemens. In fact, the line is, “The report of my death was an…
- Phuket News
Dam fine: Phuket beauty spot gets overhaul
KATHU, PHUKET: Bang Wad Dam, one of Phuket’s most popular leisure spots, is getting a huge overhaul to turn it into a fully fledged recreational park. A project is underway to add a new drainage system, a new bike path, new landscaping and build what is being called “the most beautiful toilet in Phuket.” Overseeing the makeover is Phuket Irrigation…
- Phuket News
News Hound: Protests waning, Phuket remains quiet
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Protesters spilled what they say is their own blood at the gates of Thailand’s Government House late yesterday in what canada.com described as “a colourful act of political…
- Phuket News
Phuket vaccination drive for cats and dogs
PHUKET : More than 100 injection centers have been set up across the island in a drive to vaccinate Phuket’s dogs and cats against rabies. The livestock office-led campaign began on February 16 and will wrap up April 28. Centers are operating daily except for weekends and public holidays. “Instances of infection in dogs seem to be on the decline,”…
- Phuket News
Phuket about-turn: Patong one-way to be reversed
PATONG, PHUKET: There could be a turnaround in Patong’s traffic woes by the year’s end. Mayor Pian Keesin has announced plans to redirect the one-way system in Phuket’s tourist epicenter from clockwise to anticlockwise. Newly appointed Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao said earlier this month that the current system, which came into effect in 2007, “not only confuses people but…
- Phuket News
Norwegian’s nose broken in Phuket punch-up
KATA, PHUKET: A 69-year-old Norwegian tourist sustained a fractured nose and other facial injuries after he was reportedly attacked while enjoying his morning coffee in Phuket on March 12. Kristian Kristiansen claims he was sitting on the porch of his ground floor room at Moon Shine Apartments in Kata when he was approached by a leather-clad Thai man with long…
- Phuket News
Phuket NEWS Hound: Protest Updates
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. Thai Prime Minister won’t step down PHUKET: Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva appeared on national television yesterday to reject a demand from demonstrators that he resign by midday and call…
- Phuket News
FC Phuket top of the league
PHUKET: FC Phuket are top of Division Two (southern section) after an emphatic 2-0 victory over previous league leaders Satun Utd on Saturday. Even more encouraging for FC Phuket fans – who turned out in record numbers to support their team at Surakul Stadium – was the manner of the performance, with the Sea Kirin dominating the game from start…
- Phuket News
Phuket red shirts determined to succeed
PHUKET: Phuket’s red shirts are determined to stay in Bangkok until the movement succeeds in bringing down the government, according to one of their leaders. Soonthorn Tohmharn, a local leader of the red-shirted United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), said more than 10,000 southern red shirts had joined the demonstration since Friday, with more arriving today. “I told people…
- Opinion
OPINION: Lack of lifeguards intolerable
PHUKET: When it comes to showing visitors a good time, Phuket is hard to beat. But when it comes to keeping them safe, the verdict has to be: ‘Must try harder’. Much has been written recently about the ongoing carnage on the island’s roads, but during the high season now ending we’ve heard less about Phuket’s second most prolific killer,…
- Phuket News
Body identification easier after Phuket tsunami
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: The slow body identification process that occurred in Phuket after the 2004 tsunami has motivated researchers in Perth to build a database of skeletons to help identify bodies…
- Phuket News
Phuket caddies end protest
KATHU, PHUKET: Some 200 golf caddies at the Loch Palm golf course in Phuket have ended a two-day protest over the dismissal of their ‘caddy master’. Most are now back to work. The women, who began their sit-in protest at 4:30am on Thursday, originally insisted they would not return to work at the course in Kathu until the man was…
- Phuket News
Protests well underway in Bangkok
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Tens of thousands of soldiers and police officers have been deployed to maintain calm in Bangkok as red-shirted protesters prepare to convert their current “rally” into demonstrations against…
- Phuket News
Readers’ Poll: Majority drink and drive in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: A majority of Phuket Gazette readers have operated a motor vehicle in Phuket while under the influence of alcohol, according to the latest readers’ poll. A total of 844 readers cast votes in the survey. Overall, 36.7% of readers have driven under the influence “many times”, while just over 32% have done so “a few times”. Roughly the…
- Phuket News
March blood drive in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Chapter of the Thai Red Cross Society has announced the following dates and times for its mobile donation clinics for March: March 16 (1pm to 4pm): Banthai Beach Resort & Spa, Patong March 18 (1pm to 4pm): Andaman Cannacia Resort & Spa, Kata March 19 (1pm to 4pm): Diamond Cliff Resort & Spa, Patong March 25…
- Phuket News
Jazz dinner in Phuket: philanthropy in full swing
PHUKET: Making a special Phuket appearance, the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra hits town for two nights in the last two weeks of March. Performances are scheduled for March 20 at the Adamas Resort and Spa on Nai Yang Beach and March 27 at the Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town. The popular big band orchestra is led by founder and veteran trumpet…
- Phuket News
Phuket set for historical extravaganza
THALANG, PHUKET: The year’s first performance of ‘Thalang Light and Sound’, a grand re-enactment of the Battle of Thalang featuring a cast of 700, will take place in Phuket tomorrow night. The historical extravaganza has been organized by Phuket Provincial Administration Organization at a cost of six million baht. It will run from 8pm to 9:30pm at Thalang Victory Memorial…
- Phuket News
Phuket cop to end greasy traffic fines
PATONG, PHUKET: In a move sure to win the hearts of foreigners, Patong’s new top police officer says he’ll end the longstanding practice of levying higher traffic fines against tourists and other foreigners than are levied against Thais. Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao, who took over from Col Grissak Songmoonnark last month, said traffic fines in Patong were ‘very high’.…
- Phuket News
Tourists to be routed to Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Government sectors have teamed up to create the National Tourist Assistance Center (NTAC) to help tourists during the current mass rally against the government in Bangkok. Conducted by…
- Phuket News
Phuket Chinese cemetery ablaze again
PHUKET TOWN: Firefighters used almost 9,000 liters of water to put out flames that raged in the Chinese cemetery on Rang Hill in Phuket Town today. Ten firefighters in three trucks rushed to the scene after the fire started at about 1pm. It took them around half an hour to bring the inferno under control. Arthit Phromsiri, head of the…
- Phuket News
Phuket red shirts head to Bangkok
PHUKET: More than one thousand Phuket red shirts have reportedly left the island to take part in mass demonstrations in Bangkok. A local leader of the red-shirt United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) movement, Soonthorn Tohmharn, said there would be no demonstrations in Phuket. A huge UDD protest in Bangkok is set to take place tomorrow afternoon in a…
