- Phuket News
Poll: Who are the real victims of corruption in Phuket?
PHUKET: The recent allegation that at least 60 million baht in corruption payments was fleeced each and every month from businesses and individuals in Patong finally put a figure on just a part of the corruption rampant in Phuket (story here). Every person who has been forced to face the ugly reality of corruption knows what it feels like to…
- Phuket News
Phuket FC come to stalemate with Ayuthaya’s ‘Ancient Warriors’
PHUKET: More than 3,000 Phuket FC fans endured yet another disappointing draw last Saturday evening at Surakul Stadium, watching their side come from behind a two-goal deficit to Ayuthaya FC to seize a single point in league play. The match was both sides’ 26th of 34 scheduled matches in the Yamaha League One (YL1) 2013 season. Ranked 7th in the…
- Entertainment
Yet more dark despair – Phuket Books
PHUKET: After aspiring journalist Howard W French graduated college in 1980 he joined his parents, American medical doctors, in Ivory Coast. His romance with Africa begins with a girl from Mali whom he meets in a nightclub. Intrigued by her tales of Mali’s history, he sets off on an epic overland trip to Mali to see for himself. This journey…
- Business News
Phuket tourism pioneer to speak at next AMCHAM meeting
PHUKET: One of the island’s leading hotel figures, Wichit Na-Ranong will speak about Phuket’s changing tourism landscape this Friday, September 6, at the Indigo Pearl hotel. Mr Wichit will share his extensive experience on Phuket’s journey to become a leading global resort destination, and provide background on how he has strategically repositioned his flagship hotel in Nai Yang to cater…
- Koh Samui News
Samui’s tender trap – Phuket Property Watch
PHUKET: Everywhere you turn these days, tourism talk inevitably winds up on the subject of the mass market. It’s not unlike barreling down a dead-end street on a supercharged, high-speed bulldozer. There is no such thing as a damage control button to push. Yes, there will be collateral damage. Meanwhile back on the broader Thailand train of thought, and particularly…
- Phuket News
Phuket party thieves arrested with B1mn of stolen goods
PHUKET: Two hedonistic thieves who robbed a liquor store and drove off with their loot in the back of the store’s truck have been apprehended with over a million baht of loot from an extended stealing spree around Phuket. Undercover officers first located Ekkachai “Ek” Sae Kang, 33, on a soi off Sakdidet Road, and he led them to his…
- Phuket News
Baby’s body found at Phuket garbage depot
PHUKET: The body of a dead baby girl was found yesterday at the Karon trash-separating facility.Capt Channarong Prakongkua of the Karon Police told the Phuket Gazette, “One of the trash collectors said he was separating trash at the garbage depot at around 5:30pm, when he opened a plastic bag and found the tiny corpse.“It was a baby girl with the…
- Phuket News
Phuket braces for more underpass traffic jams at Tesco junction
PHUKET: Motorists who have seen the road blocks placed on the median strip in front of Tesco-Lotus on the bypass road (map here) need not fear about long traffic jams at that intersection just yet, the Phuket Gazette has been told. Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Luedwonghad confirmed to the Gazette that there are no plans to block the road…
- Phuket News
Campaign launched to preserve Phuket sea gypsy culture
PHUKET: Plans are afoot at a local-government level to improve living conditions and enhance opportunities for the Phuket sea-gypsy community.“We will start working on Phuket sea gypsy communities at Baan Hin Luk Diao and Baan Laem Lah in Thalang on September 5. These are the first areas we will address,” Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut said on Friday.He was speaking after…
- Phuket News
Phuket cobra gunned down in village standoff
PHUKET: Rescue workers in Thalang, in the north of Phuket, last night were forced to shoot dead a meters-long cobra after frantic attempts to remove it from a tree within a workers camp failed. Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers were called to the camp, located in Baan Lipon, Srisoonthorn, at 10:30pm by Somneuk Jaturapushkul, the village headman’s assistant. “Villagers were afraid…
- Phuket News
Chinese tourist comatose after jet-ski, speedboat collision in Phuket
PHUKET: A Chinese tourist remains comatose after being seriously injured in a collision between the rented jet-ski he was riding and a paragliding speedboat at Patong Beach today. Rescue workers and police were called to the beach at about 11am. “We arrived to find Shen Baocheng, a 27-year-old Chinese tourist, already pulled from the water by lifeguards,” said Lt Thawatchai…
- Phuket News
Human Rights Commission Rohingya-shooting report due “this month’
PHUKET: The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) yesterday confirmed that the report on the case of the Royal Thai Navy opening fire on Rohingya refugees off the coast of Ranong in February, will be concluded this month. During the shooting, naval personnel allegedly killed at least two refugees fleeing arrest. The report will be handed over to Prime…
- Thai Life
Skeletons from Phuket’s past
PHUKET: In 1992, a peculiar discovery was made in a village on Phuket Island. Baan Khok-Tanod, situated in Chalong sub-district in the south of Phuket, was the site of the strange discovery when a local company that owned a piece of land in the village decided to dig up the area in order to build a wall around the land.…
- Phuket News
Phuket Cricket: ICC on a roll, youth team crushes Laguna
PHUKET: In round 8 of Phuket’s Outrigger T20 cricket league, ICC took on Patong in the morning session, while the Youth side faced Laguna in the afternoon session. In the morning match, Patong’s total of 136-5 was comfortably chased down by ICC who reached 139-3 in the 17th over. In the afternoon encounter, the Youth side amassed the league’s highest…
- Phuket News
New goal for Phuket FC – Survival
PHUKET: If there was any hope left for Phuket FC to still get promoted after their home-draw last Wednesday (August 21) to 2nd placed Air Force, then it was all but relinquished with an away-loss the following Sunday night (August 25) to 3rd placed Singhtarua FC. Played in front of an energetic “Klong Toei Army” crowd at the PAT Stadium…
- Phuket News
Rise in Phuket metered taxi fares to thwart cab cheats
PHUKET: Taxi fares are set to rise in Phuket in an attempt to thwart the illegal-taxi trade and to provide legitimate taxi drivers with a decent standard of living. “We will increase taxi fares as part of our campaign to solve the problem of taxi-driver cheats in Phuket,” said Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada. “If the standard fares rise, taxi…
- Phuket News
Ao Chalong Yacht Club Sailing School to host Open Day
PHUKET: On Sunday September 8 Phuket’s ACYC Sail School is holding an “open day” event, starting at 10am. Club members will be taking kids and adults sailing in the Open BIC dinghies and taking bookings for their “dinghy sailing program”. There will also be kayaks to use, mirror dinghy and tasar sailing and onshore games – including a bouncy castle!…
- Phuket News
Beach Volleyball World Tour hits Phuket’s sands in October
PHUKET: The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour will make its penultimate stop at Karon Beach, Phuket at the end of October. This will be the 8th successive year that Thailand has staged an Open series women’s event on the FIVB calendar. The US$110,000 Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT, which is organized by Pentangle Promotions Co., Ltd and the…
- Thai Life
Phuket Retirement: The ‘Use it or lose it’ hypothesis
PHUKET: New findings suggest that retiring later in life can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Studies by French public research institute INSERM, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference last month, suggested that for each year after 60 that a person is retired, the risk of subsequently developing the disease is lowered by 3.2%. The research included analysis…
- Thai Life
Pampering yourself – Phuket Lifestyle
PHUKET: Beauty and relaxation therapies such as massage, facial, and body wraps remain popular spa treatments for those who want to relax their mind and body, and melt away the stress of a busy work schedule.Spa treatments have a huge range of benefits, which include: increased relaxation, reduced stress, relief from headaches, relief from muscle tension (including facial muscles), improved…
- Opinion
Phuket Opinion: The Carnival of Corruption
PHUKET: Corruption has publicly reared its ugly head as a topic of much heated debate, with one and all tacitly accepting that the situation in Phuket is out of hand. However, few are offering any realistic strategies to combat the problem at its roots: the well-entrenched mind-set that “playing by the rules is for suckers”. The good news is that…
- Phuket News
Burmese Rambo stabbed in Phuket slap flap
PHUKET: A man humiliated by a slap on the head in front of a group of people stabbed his assailant four times, sending him to the hospital. The event transpired after an evening of drinking at a Burmese workers’ camp behind Phuket Simon Cabaret in Patong (map here). After work yesterday evening, a 30-year-old man known as “Rambo” got together…
- Thai Life
Logos Hope visits Phuket
PHUKET: Logos Hope which docked in Phuket recently, is operated by the German charity GBA Ships, and has made over 1,400 port visits in over 150 countries and territories. During these port calls, since 1970, it has welcomed over 42 million visitors on board – bringing knowledge, help and hope to people around the world. The book fair is on…
- Phuket News
Grimes brothers take on tough international field – Phuket Sports
PHUKET: The Grimes brothers have had a fairly busy summer with their racing schedules, having took part in the Rotax Invitational Thailand race, which was held in conjunction with the fourth round of the Thailand Rotax Max Challenge at Bira International Kart Circuit, just south of the Bangkok.The Rotax Invitation race was held for the first part of the weekend.…
- Phuket News
Phuket jet-ski operators urged to be fair, polite
PHUKET: Complaints about jet-ski operators filed by tourists holidaying in Phuket have prompted the island’s authorities to launch a two-day seminar aimed at educating the operators about charging fair prices and being polite. Tourist complaints about jet-skis reached such a level that Qin Jian, Vice Consul of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China, based in Haad Yai, lodged…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Britain says no to military intervention in Syria – Stunning parliamentary defeat
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Britain says no to Syrian intervention as U.S. considers actions Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Britain will not join any military action against Syria after a stunning parliamentary defeat yesterday of a government motion on the issue, dealing a setback to U.S.-led efforts to punish Damascus over the…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Cooking gas price hike; Ensure car locked; Land returned; To foster closer Thai-American ties
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Court petitioned to block LPG price hike The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The foundation for Consumers yesterday filed a petition with the Central Administrative Court, seeking an order blocking a Cabinet resolution to hike the retail price of household LPG. The hike of liquefied petroleum…
- Phuket News
Phuket Court orders media blackout on Swedish murder trial
PHUKET: Officials at Phuket Provincial Court today ordered a media blackout on the ongoing trial of Swedish nationals Tommy Soderland and Sebastian Ljung amid concerns that the media was influencing witness testimonies. The two men are on trial for the alleged murder of Maksim Schantz in Phuket in 2011(story here). “We have seen at least one story in the media…
- Phuket News
Phuket party thieves loot liquor store
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for the suspects who stole 12 kegs of beer, two cartons of cigarettes and 10 bottles of whisky from a liquor store in Baan Lipon, in Phuket’s northern district of Thalang.They even stole the store’s pickup truck to make off with the party essentials, reported police.So far, officers are stumped for clues.“We have checked…
- Phuket News
Human bones found in Phuket could bolster sea gypsy land claims
PHUKET: Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officers have found human bones in the sea gypsy settlement in Rawai that may help bolster the gypsies’ claim to have lived on the land for generations. Establishing long duration of residency is a key element in the gypsies’ fight against private investors who have already won court orders to evict some villagers from…
