Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Property
Life’s a beach, even in Phuket
For those who live overseas or else don’t go near the water, the current ongoing transformation of Phuket’s beaches is nothing short of magic. Taxi stands removed, sun lounges nowhere in sight, and structures on public land being dismantled. Every day seems to take a new twist and turn in this reality show-like event. Who’s safe? Who will go? The…
- Phuket News
No typhoon, but heavy rain and big waves lead to Phuket boat warning
PHUKET: Heavy rain and wave heights that could reach four meters have led Phuket authorities to issue a small boat warning in effect through Thursday. “We are monitoring the waves, which are expected to be about 2-4 meters high,” said Santhad Panbanpeaw, director of the Thai Meteorological Department’s Phuket Office. “Small boat operators must be cautious and check the weather…
- Thailand News
Crackdown on Thai fishing fleet ‘slave labour’ underway
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Crackdown on ‘slave labour’ underway The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Gen Ake Angsananont, the deputy national police chief in charge of suppressing human trafficking, yesterday vowed to crack down on “slave labour” in the fisheries industry and among foreign beggar gangs. The registration of migrant…
- Phuket News
Turkish tourist ignores red flags, drowns
PHUKET: A Turkish man yesterday became the sixth person to drown in Phuket waters this year. Yalcin Dagdelen, 45, a guest at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, had been warned by hotel beach guards not to go swimming, but entered the water anyway, Kata-Karon lifeguard chief Uten Singsom told the Phuket Gazette. “The waves were very strong. Mr Dagdelen was…
- Phuket News
Dazzling Djokovic savours victory over Federer
AFTER almost four hours of mental torture, Novak Djokovic sank to his knees, crouched over the hallowed Wimbledon turf, plucked a blade of grass and put it in his mouth – never before had victory tasted so good. It was a victory that he should have been celebrating almost an hour earlier, it was a victory that almost slipped through…
- Thailand News
Volume of missing rice climbs to 290k tonnes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community More rice missing from storage The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Military officials yesterday continued to inspect state rice stockpiles stored in provincial granaries and again found evidence that large quantities were missing or in poor condition. The rice inspection follows the junta’s order two weeks…
- World News
Six Jewish suspects arrested over death of Palestinian teenager
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six Jewish suspects arrested over death of Palestinian teenager Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israel has arrested six Jewish suspects in the abduction and killing of a Palestinian teenager whose death sparked violent protests in Jerusalem and Israeli Arab towns, a security source said on Sunday.…
- World News
Australia says 41 asylum seekers handed back to Sri Lanka at sea
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia says 41 asylum seekers handed back to Sri Lanka at sea Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Australia said on Monday 41 asylum seekers had been handed to Sri Lankan authorities at sea, another step that has galvanised opposition to the government’s hardline policy against illegal…
- Phuket News
DNA tests confirm Phuket sea gypsy village “of 100 years’
PHUKET: DNA tests on skeletal remains unearthed at the sea gypsy village in Rawai have confirmed that seafaring nomads have used Phuket’s southern beach to call home for more than 100 years. “The bones were buried deep in the ground at least 60 years ago,” said Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Director Chatchawal Suksomjit. The DNA from the bones matched…
- Phuket News
House robbed, car stolen while Phuket resident sleeps
PHUKET: Police are trying to track down a thief who robbed a house in Pa Khlok while the home owner was asleep, then stole his car and dumped it on a quiet street in Phuket Old Town early this morning. A resident on Bangkok Road notified Phuket City Police of an abandoned Toyota Fortuner parked in front of his house…
- Phuket News
Slithering World Cup spectator makes unwelcome appearance in Phuket
PHUKET: A three-meter long python’s attempt to crash a World Cup viewing party in Phuket early this morning was foiled when the owner of the house called rescue workers to relocate the reptile. “I was watching the Brazil-Columbia match at about 4:30am when I heard a sound in front of my house,” said Boonrit Jitkeaw, owner of the house in…
- Phuket News
Counterfeit goods worth B495mn destroyed in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Nearly half a billion baht of counterfeit goods that were seized last year in Phuket and other provinces in Southern Thailand were torched at the incinerator in Phuket Town yesterday. The 86,803 destroyed items, valued at 495 million baht, included bootlegged copies of DVDs, CDs, brand-name watches, bags, clothing, wallets and shoes. “This is the standard, final step in…
- Phuket News
Seven arrested for stabbing theft attacks on Phuket tourists
PHUKET: Seven suspects have been arrested and charged with theft and attempted murder for the stabbing of two tourists, one in Kata and one in Karon, early Thursday morning. Police arrested Ekkawat Ninpoo, 20, at his house on Koh Sireh yesterday. He confessed to the stabbings and accepted charges of theft and attempted murder. Police withheld the names of the…
- World News
Weaker Hurricane Arthur takes aim at Nantucket, Cape Cod
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Weaker Hurricane Arthur takes aim at Nantucket, Cape Cod Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A weakened but fast-moving Hurricane Arthur swept into southern New England on Friday night, wielding tropical storm-force winds, after an earlier landfall in North Carolina that caused only slight damage. The Massachusetts…
- Pattaya News
Making Phuket conservation profitable
PHUKET: Most boaters and divers are sensitive about coral reef areas and try to do the right thing. However, now, with many corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects recognizing the importance of our coral reefs worldwide, a possible alliance between conservationists and businesses in Phuket could be forming to find a profit-oriented solution to the problem of boaters anchoring in coral…
- Thailand News
Junta did right thing: Myanmar chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Junta did right thing: Myanmar chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief General Min Aung Hlaing yesterday praised Thailand’s ruling junta, saying it was right to seize power to protect national security and people’s safety. During a meeting in Bangkok with Supreme Commander General…
- Phuket News
DSI digs deep into land records to recover Sirinath National Park
PHUKET: The new Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today announced that his officers will order the Land Office to hand over records and copies of land titles for plots along the border of – or allegedly in – Phuket’s Sirinath National Park. The Land Office had repeatedly refused to hand over land register documents to Department of…
- Phuket News
Patong one-way streets not changing direction just yet
PHUKET: The plan to change the direction of one-way traffic in Patong is still on the books, but is on hold until other transportation issues are sorted out. “I intend to follow through with the direction-change initiated by the former mayor, but first I want to organize public parking and taxi stands,” said Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsab. The current traffic…
- Phuket News
Tiger Disco inferno trial to begin April 2015
PHUKET: The long-awaited manslaughter trial over the deaths of four people in Patong’s Tiger Disco inferno, in August 2012, will begin with its first witness testimony in April 2015, confirmed the case public prosecutor. Tiger Group CEO Piya Isaramalai and Sara Entertainment Co Ltd each face one charge of causing death through negligence under Section 291 of the Thai Criminal…
- Phuket News
Dodging the dengue fever bullet
Special Report Phuket consistently has among the highest number of dengue sufferers in the country, and the disease has killed one 24-year-old woman in Patong and hospitalized hundreds of others on the island already this year. Yet hope is on the horizon. French company Sanofi Pasteur has a vaccine in the works that may be ready for deployment by late…
- Opinion
Upgrade service to lure quality Phuket tourists
Anoma Wongyai, 44, a Phuket native, has been the Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket and Phang Nga Office since March. She has a master’s degree in Tourism from the James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, and has been working for the TAT since she was 21 years old. Here, she talks about how quality service must…
- Opinion
Changes in Phuket: Make them last
PHUKET: Even as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) continues to roll on with its unprecedented and long overdue law-enforcement campaign, pressure inevitably continues to rise – both within the country and internationally – over when new elections will be held and democracy restored. “Branding” a military coup is never an easy task, but images of a pristine…
- Phuket News
Man wanted for Phuket slasher attack surrenders to police
PHUKET: The man wanted for beating his female partner and hacking the back of her neck with a machete in central Phuket two weeks ago has surrendered to police. The suspect, Thikamporn Teerathiopartsawad, 24, now faces a charge of attempted murder. Mr Thikamporn’s girlfriend, Amporn Parawech, 23, dragged herself into a neighborhood store near her rented house in Thalang late…
- Phuket News
Driver escapes serious injury in Phuket pick-up truck flip
PHUKET: A man escaped serious injury yesterday when the pick-up truck he was driving flipped over on Thepkrasattri Road. Worawit Jawaort, 32, was crawling out of the vehicle when police arrived at the scene, a few hundred meters from the Baan Hongyok School in northern Thalang, at 9am. “Mr Worawit didn’t appear to have any serious injuries, just a few…
- Thailand News
Thai banks to report B500k transactions to counter money laundering
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai banks to report B500k transactions to counter money laundering The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Financial institutions are ready to cooperate with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in reporting cash transactions exceeding Bt500,000 per transaction and property transactions by politicians and government offices that exceed…
- Thailand News
Confiscated supercars auctioned in Klong Toei
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Confiscated supercars auctioned in Klong Toei The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Customs Department yesterday hosted an event at its head office in Bangkok’s Klong Toei district to auction off 357 confiscated cars, including a Lamborghini Aventador, two Ferraris, seven Audis, 15 Jaguars and 31…
- Thailand News
Fishing net may have caused whale’s death
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fishing net may have caused whale’s death The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Necropsy results have revealed that a rare Bryde’s whale might have died of shock from getting caught in a seine. We didn’t see any blood in its heart. Also, some of its skin…
- Thailand News
First sentence for anti-coup defiance
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community First sentence for anti-coup defiance The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Pathum wan sub-district court yesterday issued the first sentence on charges of violating martial law and ignoring an order of the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The court sentenced Weerayut Kongkanatan…
- World News
Overpass collapses in World Cup city, crushes vehicles
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Overpass collapses in World Cup city, crushes vehicles Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An unfinished overpass collapsed in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte on Thursday, leaving at least one person dead and casting a shadow over a tournament that has suffered repeated…
- World News
German parliament approves dual citizenship
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community German parliament approves dual citizenship Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Germany’s lower house of parliament passed new citizenship laws on Thursday, relaxing some of the strictest rules in Europe to allow young Germans of foreign origin to hold two passports – a move that benefits the…