- Phuket News
Phuket Tourist Police murder case on hold
PHUKET: The investigation into a Phuket Tourist Officer involved in a gunfight with neighbors that left two men dead and two, including the officer, injured on March 20 (story here) has come to a standstill. Police are still waiting for results from the Office of Forensic Science Police to determine whether the bullets that killed the two men were fired…
- Thai Life
Airborne Virus spreads science across the globe
While many visitors arrived at Phuket International Airport in the run-up to last month’s Songkran Festival, a French couple, whose microlight aircraft landed there on April 11 for safety reasons, raised more than a few eyebrows at the busy facility. Stephen Fein reports:PHUKET: The couple, 31-year-old Adrien Normier and his fiancée Clementine Bacri, 28, are on an around-the-world journey of…
- Phuket News
Visakha Bucha Day underway in Phuket, alcohol sales halted
PHUKET: People gathered across Phuket and Thailand today to offer alms to Buddhist monks at merit-making ceremonies to mark Visakha Bucha Day.The public holiday commemorates three important events in the life of the Buddha: his birth, enlightenment and passing away. These events occur on the same day of the year in the Buddhist calendar: always on the full moon during…
- Thai Life
A meal among Phuket’s mangroves
PHUKET: THE location of Chaiyo Seafood Riverside Restaurant is simply breathtaking. Situated in Bor Rae district of Phuket, beside Mudong Canal at the point where it meets the sea of Ao Yon Bay, Chaiyo is where diners come to enjoy local dishes and fresh seafood while watching the water ebb and flow. On the other side of the canal, the…
- Thai Life
Phuket Gardening: Alpha shrubs start with ‘A’
PHUKET: Last week we considered annuals, but today it is the turn of their big brothers – the shrubs and ornamental trees that form the backbone of any tropical garden (click here for last week’s article). Acalypha hispida, also known as the chenille plant or red cat’s tail, is alphabetically the first to come under scrutiny. Unlike its cousin, A.…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Critic’s Facebook page suspended; Amnesty International raises concerns; Hidden agenda to privatise GPO
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Critic’s Facebook page suspended; cartoonist ‘ignores’ summonses The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thammasat University academic Somsak Jeamteerasakul’s Facebook account has been suspended for 30 days, leading to widespread criticism on social media. Facebook user Phakjira Slk, claiming to have been asked by Somsak, posted a…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Obama shifts U.S. policy; Religious Oklahoma uses prayer to bring solace
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama shifts U.S. from ‘perpetual war-footing,’ limits drone strikes Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: President Barack Obama yesterday shifted the United States away from a “boundless global war on terror,” restricting deadly drone strikes abroad and signalling that America’s long struggle against al Qaeda will one…
- Phuket News
Dredging clears path for cleaner Phuket Bang Tao Canal water
PHUKET: Bang Tao Canal water, which was blamed for a rash of health problems for Phuket tourists and boatmen, is now flowing more freely with 80 per cent of the canal-dredging process complete. Akkarawat Hirunphun, director of the Phuket-based Regional Environmental Office 15, said tests conducted by his officers in April confirmed that the water in the canal at multiple…
- Thai Life
Phuket Cinema: Funny ghost love story breaks Thai box office records
PHUKET: Thailand’s top grossing movie of all time, ‘Pee Mak Phrakanong’, stars five war buddies with black teeth and silly hairstyles. One still wears a toddler’s topknot of the Rattanakosin period, explaining, “I got sick when I was a kid and mom vowed that if I recovered I’d keep this hairstyle forever.”They face a fierce enemy together, suffer terribly, and…
- Phuket News
Phuket illegal taxi driver charged with sexual assault
PHUKET: The illegal taxi driver accused of holding a 19-year-old Chinese tourist captive in his vehicle for five hours has been charged with sexual assault, the Phuket City Police chief confirmed. Paitoon Kruain, 32, who operated an illegal taxi picking up tourists at Phuket International Airport, presented himself to police for questioning last Saturday (story here). After intensive questioning by…
- Phuket News
Phuket house construction worker dies in fall
PHUKET: A Phuket construction worker died yesterday after falling from scaffolding at a house being built in Thalang. Thalang Police were called to the site, in Soi Lak Maung in Baan Muang Mai, at about 10:30am. At the scene they found Manit Mongkhon, 42, from Nan Province in Northern Thailand, dead from a fatal head injury. Coworkers Sataphon Phaojumroon, 49,…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: British soldier beheaded in London attack
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community British soldier beheaded in suspected Islamist attack Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street on Wednesday, in what the government said appeared to be a terrorist attack.A dramatic clip filmed by an…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Businesses rail against blackout; Minister blames lightning; Academics say no excuse
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Businesses demand action as officials downplay power cut The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Tourism officials downplayed the impact of Tuesday night’s power outage in the South, but tourism operators and the country’s biggest private-sector association expressed fears for their business and demanded the government take steps to…
- Phuket News
Chinese arrested for illegally selling souvenirs at Phuket temple
PHUKET: Nine Chinese were arrested on Tuesday for illegally selling amulets and souvenirs at Wat Kathu, one of the oldest temples on the island. Phuket Immigration Office Superintendent Pol Col Sanchai Chokhayaikij led officers to the revered site at about 4:30pm, where they found the Chinese nationals actively selling amulets and souvenirs to visitors at the temple (map here). “We…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Stockholm rocked by riots; US admits drone killings; Boston bomb suspect shot dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Stockholm rocked by riots Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Violence spread from the North to the South of the city on Wednesday as groups of youth pushed through Stockholm’s suburbs casting stones, breaking windows and setting cars alight. Police in the southern Swedish city of Malmo said two…
- Phuket News
Phuket Governor faces taxi doubleheader at Phuket International airport
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut was met en masse late yesterday by the drivers of a second taxi company after having already been dragged to Phuket International Airport due to an all-night vigil held by the illegal taxi drivers of Mook Andaman co-operative outside his official residence Tuesday night (story here). After concluding his meeting with Mook Andaman, with no…
- Phuket News
Phuket drowning victim identified as British national
PHUKET: Police have identified the man whose body washed ashore on Patong Beach early yesterday morning (story here) as 37-year-old Jeremy Thomas O’Neill. Because Mr O’Neill’s body was found without any identifying documents, police circulated a photo of him to hotels in Patong hoping he would be recognized, Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Akanit Danpitaksat explained. His identity was confirmed when…
- Thai Life
Phuket Diving: Seahorse lovers asked to saddle up
PHUKET: Project Seahorse calls on all divers and marine enthusiasts to help with the recently launched three-year project aimed at studying the seahorses of Thailand. Seahorses were one of the first fish species to be added, in 2004, to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which demands that countries…
- Phuket News
Phuket illegal taxi drivers stalk Governor, demand resolution
PHUKET: A sortie of about 30 illegal taxi drivers from the Mook Andaman co-operative staged an all-night vigil in front of the Governor’s Residence last night, finally causing the governor to agree to meet with them today to seek a resolution to their demand to serve passengers at Phuket International Airport. Police were called in to ensure the drivers kept…
- Phuket News
Phuket monsoon weather hits tourism, seafood prices
PHUKET: The rough seas brought on by the onset of the annual southwest monsoon have taken their toll on the Phuket tourist day-trip trade, with companies reporting only half the usual number of passengers.Meanwhile, fishing boats have been unable to put to sea, with the resulting fall in supply causing an upsurge in seafood prices.“The monsoon weather has arrived in…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Oklahoma search and rescue lowers toll to 24; Rafsanjani barred from Iran poll; Russia angry over ‘stolen’ Eurovision votes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Oklahoma tornado survivor search continues, toll lowered to 24 Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Rescuers went building to building in search of victims and thousands of survivors were homeless on Tuesday, a day after a massive tornado tore through a suburb of Oklahoma City, wiping out whole blocks…
- Phuket News
Power returns to Phuket
PHUKET: Electricity supply was restored to the south of the island after 9:30pm tonight following what was reported as Thailand’s biggest blackout on record. Phuket, along with all 13 other provinces that comprise Southern Thailand, was plunged into darkness just before 7pm. Power was restored to key areas on the island after just one hour, but residents outside major built-up…
- Phuket News
Phuket hit by major blackout
PHUKET: A major power outage struck across Phuket just before 7pm tonight.Phuket Town, Chalong, Koh Kaew and Thalang are three heavily populated areas suffering from the outage, the Phuket Gazette confirmed.The local electricty authority has confirmed the entire south of the island is also affected.The Gazette has recived report of a major blackout in Trang, indicating the blackout may be…
- Phuket News
Convicts claim to steal gold for milk money north of Phuket
PHUKET: A pair of snatch-thief convicts were snapped up by police shortly after they ripped two gold necklaces from the neck of a woman taking her child to school in Phang Nga this morning.After her necklaces – worth about 30,000 baht – were stolen, Waroon Chaisang called the police, who notified officers at a checkpoint down the road in the…
- Thailand News
Thai students awarded for innovation
PHUKET: Thai students have demonstrated their capacity for innovation at the MEF Educational Institutions’ 22nd International Research Projects Competition held in Turkey recently. The students from Somtawin Witeadsuksa Huaymongkhon School near Hua Hin received a special jury award for their ‘Boe-bot in voice command and GPS program’. Students from Slovenia and Italy also received a special jury prize. MEF Educational…
- Property
The future of Phuket’s residential market
PHUKET: According to leading real estate consultant, CBRE Thailand, Phuket’s residential market is experiencing a significant change in direction, which started late last year. The change is likely to be the most significant since the Asian crisis in 1997 and is driven by a number of factors – the entry of Bangkok-based and Thai public listed developers; the move towards…
- Phuket News
Unidentified male foreigner found dead on Phuket beach
PHUKET: A bearded male foreigner was found dead on Phuket’s premier party beach of Patong early this morning. The body was found at about 6am across from Loma Park (map here), the site of multiple drownings last year, wearing only a red t-shirt. “We are examining the body, but have found no form of identification and have yet to be…
- Phuket News
Joyriding Phuket King Cobra nabbed in truck
PHUKET: A three-meter King Cobra was captured in Phuket’s Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Sanctuary last night after it went along for a ride in one of the park trucks. The driver of the truck, park employee Wad Promya, 59, had taken the truck to run an errand at a friend’s house. He felt something moving under his seat, but it…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thai News: Aunt sold teenager for sex work; Water fight possible – Yingluck; Democrats threaten DSI
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Aunt sold girl, 17, for sex work in Korea: police The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) yesterday applied for an arrest warrant for a Thai woman who allegedly lured her 17-year-old niece into prostitution with a well-paid job in South…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Obama calls for end to Myanmar Muslim violence; Oklahoma flattened by tornado; Libya war weapons killing elephants
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama urges Myanmar to stop violence against Muslims Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: President Barack Obama urged the president of Myanmar on Monday to take steps to halt violence against Muslims in his country and move ahead with economic and political reforms.Thein Sein became the first head of…
