- Phuket News
Thai Army helicopter makes safe emergency landing in Phuket
PHUKET: A rapid loss in oil pressure forced the pilots of a Royal Thai Army helicopter to make an emergency landing in a field in central Phuket yesterday.No injuries were reported in the incident.Thalang Police were alerted to the emergency landing by villagers in Baan Pru Champa.“The helicopter belongs to the 2nd Air Mobile Company in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. There…
- Phuket News
Rogue wheel in Phuket leaves Russian in ICU
PHUKET: A Russian biker remains unconscious in Bangkok Hospital Phuket’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after being knocked from his motorbike by a rogue wheel that flew off a 10-wheeled truck on Thepakasatrri Road yesterday. The Russian, named by police as Alexey Balabko, 26, was a riding a “big bike” when he was struck by one of two wheels that came…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Gambling talk hits tourism tables; B2trn transport plans; No visas for Gulf medical tourists
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kingdom must consider legalised gaming soon, tourism forum hears The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The nation’s pre-eminent gathering of tourism and travel-industry experts has concluded that while Thailand looks headed for its best year ever for tourist numbers and revenues, action to legalise gaming, improve infrastructure and…
- Phuket News
Phuket jet-ski operator nabbed, denies anchor attack
PHUKET: Police have apprehended the Phuket jet-ski operator who reportedly swung an anchor angrily at the head of a German tourist at Kata Beach on Monday (story here). Named only as “Mr Buntoon”, age 33, the operator was brought in for questioning by Karon Police yesterday. “He confessed that he run over the German man’s belongings with the jet-ski trailer…
- Phuket News
One dead, one injured in Phuket construction landslide
PHUKET: One man is dead and another injured after a landslide buried them while they were building a retaining wall high in the hills of Patong late yesterday afternoon.The two men were working in a trench about two meters deep when the land beside them gave way, burying them alive, explained Lt Thawatchai Srimai of the Patong Police.Rescue workers called…
- Phuket News
Phuket full-scale tsunami drill not to be announced in Russian
PHUKET: Phuket will hold its annual full-scale tsunami evacuation and marine rescue drill at Karon Beach on February 21, but the tsunami warning messages will not be played in Russian, the Phuket Gazette was told today. “The Ministry of Interior requires the six Andaman provinces in the tsunami hazard zone to hold a tsunami evacuation and marine rescue drill at…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Solomon tsunami kills 5, more deaths likely
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tsunami kills at least five in Solomons after big Pacific quake Phuket GazettePHUKET: The powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake that triggered a tsunami today killed at least five people, including a 10-year-old boy, in a remote part of the Solomon Islands.The quake struck 340 km east of Kira…
- Phuket News
Party monk defrocked over drugs, sex romp in Phuket
PHUKET: A monk and two female friends having a sex party in a Patong hotel room were busted by police for drug use yesterday, and the monk was subsequently defrocked. After receiving a tip from local residents, police raided a hotel room at the southern end of Patong Beach. “We went to the location provided and found a monk and…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Small Tsunami Hits Solomons After Major Quake
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Small Tsunami Hits Solomons After Major Quake Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A small tsunami hit the Solomon Islands this morning after a major 8.0 magnitude undersea earthquake sparked a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations and placed many more nations including Australia and Indonesia on…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Pacific Islands tsunami alert; Syrian talks, Vatican abuse; Obama in Israel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Solomon Islands 8.0 quake triggers Pacific tsunami warning Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An earthquake measuring 8.0 magnitude struck southeast of the Solomon Islands on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The shallow quake was only 5.8 km deep and the epicentre was 81 kilometers west…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Andaman erosion; avian flu alert; Poh pardon; polls to please
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Officials eye Andaman coastal erosion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Marine and Coastal Resources Department is formulating plans to tackle coastal erosion in six Andaman Sea provinces. The most severe erosion was found in Tambon Saladan on Krabi’s Koh Lanta, where five meters of…
- Phuket News
Phuket parents join “fight club’
PHUKET: Two parents tired of having their boy picked on by a gang of students at school took matters into their own hands today by turning up at the school and “slapping” the five bullies. They have since been charged with assault. Sgt Paritat Duangkamol of the Thalang Police was called to Muang Thalang School at 8:10am. Outside the principal’s…
- Phuket News
Racha residents call for Phuket officials to fulfill old promises
PHUKET: The ongoing struggle to protect the beauty and environmental health of the tourist-popular Racha Yai Island, about 25 kilometers south of Phuket, continued yesterday in a meeting with Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa. Santi Chandi, representative of Racha Yai residents, asked the vice governor to solve the problems she had promised to solve at a meeting in May 2012. At…
- Thailand News
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: YouTube sex spoof withdrawn; Saudi case twist; Bangkok polls turn black; Hotels ride high
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Spoof on Thailand removed from YouTube The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Apinand Poshaya-nond, the deputy permanent secretary for culture, has confirmed the removal yesterday of a controversial video posted on YouTube satrizing a computer language-learning program that taught potential toutrists how to negotiate with Thai prostitutes in…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Alabama hostage standoff ends with child freed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Alabama hostage standoff ends with child safe, gunman dead Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The FBI stormed an underground bunker in rural Alabama on Monday, safely rescuing a 5-year-old boy held hostage for nearly a week and leaving his kidnapper, who had also killed a school bus driver,…
- Phuket News
Phuket Gazette Sports: Global soccer fixing scam exposed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Investigators expose global match-fixing network Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Hundreds of soccer matches have been fixed in a global betting scam run from Singapore, police said on Monday, in a blow to the image of the world’s most popular sport and a multi-billion dollar industry.…
- Phuket News
Phuket to crack down on businesses using nominee shareholders
PHUKET: An inspection team from Bangkok will be arriving in Phuket to help local officers investigate businesses with foreign owners that are suspected of using nominee shareholders, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut announced at a meeting this afternoon. About 3,700 “foreign-owned” business are registered in Phuket, explained Department of Business Development Phuket Office chief Nimit Kangkajit at the meeting. “Of course…
- Phuket News
Spiraling Phuket prices blamed on B300 min wage
PHUKET: A market vendor at the busy Kaset Market in Phuket Town yesterday told the Phuket Governor the 300-baht-a-day minimum wage was forcing vendors to pass on price hikes of fresh produce to consumers. Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday morning led officers to inspect food prices at Kaset fresh market, located behind the Robinson department store in Phuket Town (map here).…
- Property
Xenophobia strikes out in Phuket
PHUKET: Welcome to the brand new year of twenty thirteen. So far the twenties have been pretty disappointing. Music seems to have taken on an alter personality with televised ‘talent shows’ now taking us dangerously close to a purgatory known as ‘karaoke-land’. There are the movies, but sequels to mega-blockbusters seem to be rolling out faster than one of those…
- Phuket News
Breaking News: Phuket fugitive Dane “Denny’ Knudsen arrested
PHUKET: Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that wanted Danish national Dennis Mark Knudsen, 24, has been arrested by Phuket Police. Mr Knudsen was wanted for breaking bail conditions after he failed to appear at Phuket Provincial Court on January 22 to resolve a dispute with Australians John Cohen and Adam Shea about a “big…
- World News
Phuket Gazette World News: Mexico Pemex blast toll reaches 36
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Mexican rescue workers found three more bodies over the weekend amid the rubble of a deadly blast that tore through state oil firm Pemex’s main office complex, the government said, as search efforts appeared to near a close. The death toll from…
- Phuket News
Phuket FC silence the Surat Thani ‘Roosters’
PHUKET: The Southern Sea Warriors’ 4-1 preseason friendly win against the Surat Thani FC ‘Roosters’ last night gave a number of trialists the chance to impress the Phuket coaches and fans. Of the try-out players, Japanese midfielder Yone stood out the most. The tall midfielder was an imposing presence in the center of the pitch linking up play well and…
- Phuket News
Russian tourist found dead at Phuket resort, cause unclear
PHUKET: Police are hoping that assistance from forensics investigators will help unravel the cause of death of a Russian tourist whose body was found in his Phuket resort villa yesterday. Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Jumroon Plaiduang was called to a resort in Soi Na Tai in the southern Phuket beach area of Rawai (map here), at about 1:30pm. “We found…
- Phuket News
Teaching Russian-language skills the key to resolving Phuket discord
PHUKET: A solution to the anti-Russian sentiment spreading rapidly in Phuket is Russian-language classes, the Russian Federation’s Deputy Honorary Consul in Phuket, Santi Udomkiratak, has told the Phuket Gazette.“Lack of Russian-language skills is a big part of the Russian issue here, and it’s been a problem for a very long time,” Mr Santi said.“There are very few Thai people who…
- Phuket News
Phuket Red Cross calls for A, B, Rh- blood donations
PHUKET: The Phuket Red Cross is calling for people across the island to join its Valentine’s Day blood drive to help replenish dwindling stocks at the blood bank in Phuket Town. The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners in urgent need of medical help, is low on stocks of blood…
- Phuket News
Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day to inject B2bn into Phuket economy
PHUKET: More than 300,000 tourists are expected to visit Phuket this month for Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, altogether providing a boost of more than 2 billion baht to the Phuket economy. Chanchai Duangjit, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office, told the Phuket Gazette that tourists from China make up the majority of hotel bookings…
- Phuket News
Phuket Buddha image moved, not lost
PHUKET: A German-speaking resident of Phuket raised an alarm earlier this week when he noticed that a Buddha image had disappeared from the pavilion at Kata Viewpoint (view here). However, Rawai Municipality Chief Administrative Officer Rachen Phuntarakit confirmed to the Gazette that there was no need for concern, as the image had only been moved from the scenic view to…
- Phuket News
Phuket Police Deputy Commander: Gun Control Still Within our Grasp
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Arun Kaewvatee, 52, is originally from Ron Phibun District in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, a province well known throughout Thailand for gun use. Col Arun has been Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police for a year. Here, he talks about illegal guns and gun ownership in Phuket. I do not consider illegal guns to be…
- Thai Life
Phuket Lifestyle: Go with the flow… riding
PHUKET: Before a band of bronzed onlookers – clad in board shorts and tiny black dresses, sipping their drinks and dancing to Phuket House Mafia – professional indoor surfers from Singapore christened Phuket’s first wave pool at Surf House. That’s right. Never again do surfers have to stow their boards for the high season, now you can have it all.…
- Phuket News
Phuket Sports: New Laguna triathlon
PHUKET: Challenge Family recently announced a partnership with Asia’s longest running triathlon, Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT), and in so doing, revealed its commitment to developing a series of half and full distance events throughout the region. LPT has been attracting the sport’s legends to the stunning tropical island for two decades. In 2013 it will celebrate its 20th anniversary with…
