Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Heroin overdose suspected in American expat’s death in Phuket
PHUKET: Police suspect that a 29-year-old American expat found dead on the side of the road in Kamala early last Sunday morning died of a heroin overdose. Not far from where the body of Texan Benjamin Nesher Jones was found on Soi 8, police arrested another man with 18grams of heroin. “We believe that Mr Jones died because of a…
- Opinion
Opinion: Bilking billions from Phuket’s beaches
PHUKET: The arrest of Karon Mayor Tawee Tongcham and subsequent revelations about the nature and scale of the “beach rental” concession rackets along Phuket’s west coast is just the latest in a stunning series of graft-busting power punches made by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) since it took power on May 22. One of the most remarkable…
- Phuket News
Video Report: Phuket dive boat operators join forces for cleaner reefs
PHUKET: Dive boat operators of all creeds, and all certification affiliations, banded together last weekend to clean popular Phuket dive sites ahead of the high season. Nine boats, including one sport-fishing vessel, piled on about 200 participants and spent the day at various dive sites including Anemone Reef, Shark Point, Koh Mai Thon and many others. About 2,000kg of trash,…
- Phuket News
PWA announces Phuket Town water shutoff
PHUKET: The Phuket Water Authority (PWA) has announced that water supply in some areas of Phuket Town will be shut off from 9pm tomorrow to 3am on Sunday. Water is being shut off to allow for new pipes to be laid in Suan Luang Park* – part of the PWA’s plan to improve Phuket Town’s water-treatment process. Those affected include:…
- Phuket News
Phuket Police officer charged for fatal pub shooting
PHUKET: A Phuket Provincial Police officer has been charged with gunning down a waitress in cold blood after forensic evidence showed that the bullet came from his gun. Nuchiska Klasuek, a 35-year-old waitress, was shot in the head by an unidentified assailant in a pick-up truck on May 16, after leaving the popular Saraphan Pleng Pub live-music bar in Chalong…
- Opinion
Show the Russians some Phuket love
PHUKET: Is Phuket on the brink of losing its Russian comrades? According to a recent report published by the Kasikorn Research Center, Russian arrivals to Thailand are expected to drop 5.5% by the end of this year. When you consider that Russian visitors to Thailand (1.73 million) were almost double the number of visitors from the whole of Europe last…
- Opinion
Opinion: Hope for Phuket metered-taxi drivers
Chomsorn “Patty” Chaowai, 57, from Prachuap Khiri Khan, has been working as a taxi driver on the island for more than 20 years. The long-time Phuket resident and mother of two was the first female taxi driver in Phuket and became one of the first metered-taxi drivers in 2004. Here, she talks about the rapidly changing world of taxis on…
- Thailand News
Myanmar workers’ DNA matches semen found on Koh Tao murder, rape victim, say police
PHUKET: A police source has confirmed that DNA samples from two of three detained Myanmar workers matches the DNA extracted from semen found on the body of British tourist Hannah Witheridge. Ms Witheridge and fellow national David Miller were brutally murdered on the popular island on September 14. — The Nation
- Phuket News
Phuket’s new top cop determined to protect island’s bottom line: tourists
PHUKET: Phuket’s new top cop took up his position yesterday, full of strategies to make the island a safer and happier place. Maj Gen Patchara Boonyasit, previously the commander of the Nakhon Sri Thammarat Provincial Police, paid his respects to Phuket’s illustrious history and cultural heritage by visiting the Baan Muang Mai stone and the Heroines’ Monument, before checking in…
- Phuket News
Woken by prayers, Phuket man kills brother
PHUKET: A man has confessed to killing his brother for “praying too loudly” at their home in Phuket’s Wichit subdistrict yesterday morning. A local resident called police after discovering the body of Chaiyadol Nawee, 43, amid undergrowth by the side of a street across from the Villa California housing estate on Chao Fa East Road. “CCTV footage taken from the…
- Business News
Don’t let emotions cloud financial judgment
PHUKET: There are two emotions that tend to cloud our collective judgments and cause major swings in the financial markets: fear and greed. They lead to the ever-repeating cycle of boom and bust and are not likely to disappear anytime soon, so gaining a good understanding of them – as well as how they can affect an investor’s financial decision…
- Thailand News
Myanmar migrant worker confesses to Koh Tao murders, say police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Migrant ‘confesses to Koh Tao murders’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A migrant worker has confessed to the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani province, deputy national police chief General Jakthip Chaijinda said yesterday. He is among three Myanmar men…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s Nepalese community celebrates Dashain
PHUKET: Phuket’s 3,000-strong Nepalese community celebrates Bijaya Dashami tomorrow, the final and most important day of the 15-day-long national festival of Nepal. Celebrations in Phuket center around the Nepali Hindu Temple located in Soi Kuan Yang on Patong Hill. Most of the island’s Nepalese are expected to show up at the temple at least once during Dashain, with the largest…
- Phuket News
Video Report: Phuket’s new governor arrives, Maitri says farewell
PHUKET: A welcoming committee and hundreds of joyous people greeted Phuket’s new governor, Nisit Jansomwong, at Phuket International Airport yesterday. “Phuket is home to many nationalities, not just Thais. I would like to encourage these people to learn to love Phuket as their real home, so that it becomes a place of real value to them – not just a…
- Thailand News
Koh Tao killer confesses
PHUKET: A Myanmar national has confessed to killing two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani, acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jakthip Chaijinda said today. David Miller and Hannah Witheridge were brutally murdered on the island on September 14. Both suffered serious head wounds. Police said Ms Witheridge was also sexually assaulted. The migrant worker was identified only as “Win”,…
- Phuket News
Boat operators ordered to move away from Phuket Navy base, or face jail time
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Office has issued an official order for boats to stay at least 500 meters away from the Royal Thai Navy’s Third Area Command base in Cape Panwa, or face jail time. The directive was handed down by the Marine Office on Tuesday, following an order from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to re-organize…
- Phuket News
Patong beachfront power cables to go underground: Mayor
PHUKET: The power cables along the Patong beach road will go underground, the party town’s Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup has confirmed. The Patong Municipality Council finally agreed at a meeting on Tuesday how to source the required funds, a sticking point that saw councilors deny approval for the project twice earlier this year. “We have informed the Provincial Electricity Authority [PEA]…
- Phuket News
Russian killed in crash after leaving Phuket reggae bar
PHUKET: A helmet-less Russian national was killed in Phuket after he lost control of his motorbike and crashed into the sidewalk early this morning. Chalong Police and Ruamjai Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene next to the canal near Nai Harn lagoon at about 1am. “We found the body of Pavel Dzembo, 23, on the sidewalk that circles…
- Phuket News
Phuket ladyboys arrested for drunken “hug and run’ thefts
PHUKET: A pair of pick-pocketing ladyboys were arrested in Phuket yesterday after two tourists reported having been robbed by the duo while receiving a hug. Pavel Abramov, 24, from Russia, and Moris Fosaati, 38, from Italy, both reported at separate times to Karon Police on Monday that they had been pick-pocketed by two ladyboys, said Karon Police Deputy Superintendent Sophon…
- Phuket News
Phuket truck driver held after woman crushed by 18-wheeler
PHUKET: A truck driver has been taken into custody after one woman was crushed under his 18-wheeler and another woman injured at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint yesterday morning. The driver of the truck and trailer, Niran Sawasdee, 37, told police that he was driving onto Phuket from Phang Nga when the accident occurred at about 11am. “I didn’t see…
- Thailand News
Koh Tao Murders: Taxi driver accuses police of intimidation, bribe for false testimony
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police promised cash reward to buy false testimony: taxi driver The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A taxi driver on Koh Tao, off the Surat Thani coast, yesterday went public with his accusation that police investigating the murders of two British tourists had tried to intimidate…
- Phuket News
Phuket freedive floats Wierenga to third in US rankings
PHUKET: American Katie Wierenga was ranked third among the USA female Dynamic No Fins (DNF) athletes after an outstanding performance at the We Freedive Suunto Series in Phuket on Sunday. Wierenga covered 105m underwater in what many believe is the most technically difficult of the eight Association Internationale pour le Développement de l’Apée (AIDA) freediving disciplines. “She had performed in…
- Phuket News
Phuket Navy base swaps top brass
PHUKET: After three years at the helm, Royal Thai Navy Vice Admiral Taratorn Kajitsuwan has been transferred from his post as the commanding officer at Phuket’s Third Area Command, the leading naval base for the entire Andaman coast. An assembly of sailors welcomed his replacement, Rear Admiral Sayan Prasongsamrej, at a handover parade at the base at Cape Panwa yesterday.…
- Phuket News
Australian seriously injured in Phuket balcony fall
PHUKET: An Australian tourist has suffered serious head trauma after falling from a second-floor balcony at the Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa in Patong last night. “Paul Hanson, Anthony Jones and Jean Cover, all 24 years old, were drinking on the balcony at about 9:10pm,” said Lt Col Pratuang Polmana of the Patong Police. “Then something happened, and they all…
- Phuket News
Krabi tourism officials accuse EGAT of being “dishonest’
PHUKET: The Koh Lanta Tourism Association has lashed out against a coal-fired power plant slated for Krabi province, east of Phuket, claiming that the authority initiating the project has been dishonest with locals. “The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) held a third public hearing at Ban Klong Ruo, Nua Klong district, on Sunday. We believe it was insincere, as…
- Thailand News
Car licence plate sells for record Bt25m
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Car licence plate sells for record Bt25m The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Car licence plate number 1 Kor Kor 1111 was yesterday passed to a 19-year-old student, who bid Bt25 million for it, making it the most expensive number sold at an auction organised by…
- Thailand News
Policeman gets 57 years for drunken gun rampage
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Policeman gets 57 years for drunken gun rampage The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court yesterday gave a former crowd control policeman a total of 57 years and 10 months in prison for six cases in which he reportedly shot at motorists in Bangkok.…
- Thailand News
Media, police forensic experts leave Koh Tao
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Media, police forensic experts leave Koh Tao The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Forensic police yesterday pulled out of Koh Tao after completing their task collecting DNA samples from a large number of men, both Thai and migrant workers, in their hunt for the killers of…
- Thailand News
Siriraj comes up with an antibody for Ebola
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Siriraj comes up with an antibody for Ebola The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Thai medical school has successfully produced an antibody for the treatment of the deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever. Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital is preparing to announce its success at…
- Phuket News
Phuket police chief says “no regrets’, names replacement
PHUKET: The outgoing commander of the Phuket Provincial Police told the Phuket Gazette today that he had no regrets about his time in Phuket and had complete faith in his replacement. “I did my best,” said Gen Krajang Suwannarat, who left Phuket yesterday to return to his post as one of the seven deputy commanders heading Region 8 Police. “The…
