Legacy Phuket Gazette

Legacy Phuket Gazette

Archiving articles from the Phuket Gazette circa 1998 - 2017. View the Phuket Gazette online archive and Digital Gazette PDF Prints.
  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: Curing the festering sores of “public’ transport | Thaiger

    Phuket Opinion: Curing the festering sores of “public’ transport

    PHUKET: Efforts by the international diplomatic community to pressure authorities in Bangkok to tackle the festering crime in the Phuket public transport sector and improve Phuket’s reputation as a tourist destination are laudable and have the full support of the Phuket Gazette. No subject has been the topic of more futile editorializing in this space than Phuket’s bizarre patchwork of…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket woman executed was beloved mother, wife, friend

    Phuket woman executed was beloved mother, wife, friend

    PHUKET: The life of a beloved mother, wife and friend was taken away by a killer on Chao Fa West Road, south of Phuket Town, last night. Police have identified Mrs Jintana ‘Nong’ Mahattanapak, 42, a resident of Yaowarat Road in Phuket Town, as the victim of the execution-style slaying (story here). Mrs Jintana was director of Human Resources at…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Island View: No taxi experience impossible

    Phuket Island View: No taxi experience impossible

    PHUKET: Imagine this headline: “Taxi driver returns money to customer; says she overpaid.” Impossible? It happened to me. All the taxi news seems negative recently, what with high fares, delays in getting illegal drivers to register as legal, and metered cabs being pushed out of some markets (story here). The problem is apparently so bad that even the British Ambassador…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Expecting the unexpected – NFL

    Phuket Sports: Expecting the unexpected – NFL

    PHUKET: After a regular season filled with the unforeseen, I decided to expect the unexpected while watching the Division Playoffs – and that’s exactly what I got. Predicting exactly how it would play out was not part of the equation, foreseeing that I would continue to bare witness to the amazement of the NFL’s 2012 season was a guarantee. Baltimore…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Laguna continue to dominate island cricket

    Phuket Sports: Laguna continue to dominate island cricket

    PHUKET: In a hotly contested fifth match of Phuket’s Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels League on January 13, reigning champions Laguna Cricket Club faced early league contenders Patong Cricket Club (PCC). Dominance seesawed throughout both innings and it was only fitting for the winner to be decided in the last over of the second innings. Despite a determined effort by PCC,…

  • Thai LifePhuket Lifestyle: The boat that rocks! | Thaiger

    Phuket Lifestyle: The boat that rocks!

    PHUKET: PGTV, in association with party organizers Fistpump Phuket, has a very special offer for all our local readers and fans. The Fistpump Sunset Boat Party will set sail again next Sunday, January 27. Built specifically for party cruises, the boat is as much a floating dance floor as a motorized fun palace and features a unique “Jacuzzi net” that…

  • Phuket NewsPHUKET BREAKING NEWS: Woman executed with single gunshot to head

    PHUKET BREAKING NEWS: Woman executed with single gunshot to head

    UPDATE: Police are now searching for a black Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck without license plates, which pulled alongside the victim’s vehicle when the shooting occurred. Police have yet to obtain descriptions of the gunman or the driver. PHUKET: A woman driving alone south of Phuket Town was killed by a single gunshot into her head this evening. Police arrived at…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Police release sketch of resort safe box heist robber

    Phuket Police release sketch of resort safe box heist robber

    PHUKET: Police today released a composite image of one of the two men wanted for the robbery of the guests’ safe boxes at the Karon Place Hotel, on Phuket’s west coast, in the early hours of Monday morning (story here). An arrest warrant has been issued for the man, Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Col Arun Kleawwatee told a press…

  • Phuket NewsSwede nabbed in Phuket over B100mn tax evasion

    Swede nabbed in Phuket over B100mn tax evasion

    PHUKET: Swedish Police ended a two-year hunt for a tax exile on Monday when they arrested Bernt Olov Inge Eriksson at Phuket’s tourist-popular Patong Beach.Mr Eriksson was wanted in Sweden on a 100-million-baht tax evasion charge.A task force of Swedish officers began their hunt in Thailand after learning Mr Eriksson, 67, was in the country through a tip-off.After scouring Pattaya…

  • Phuket NewsNew-look Phuket FC to take on Trang in pre-season friendly

    New-look Phuket FC to take on Trang in pre-season friendly

    PHUKET: Football fans will get a chance to see the new-look Phuket FC in action for the first time this year, with the Islanders set to take on Division 2 Southern regional champions Trang FC later today. The pre-season friendly match will be played at Surukal Stadium with a 4pm kickoff. Admission is free for all. Operating with an estimated…

  • Phuket NewsWorld Sports: Venus trapped as Sharapova flies

    World Sports: Venus trapped as Sharapova flies

    Merciless Sharapova eclipses Venus to reach fourth round Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Maria Sharapova missed out on a third successive ‘double-bagel’ but humbled Venus Williams 6-1 6-3 to charge into the fourth round of the Australian Open today.The center court crowd was left stunned as the second-seeded Russian scorched to a 4-0 lead in the first set to rattle her…

  • Cannabis NewsPhuket safety police blitz nets 8 drug, 3 gun arrests in first week | Thaiger

    Phuket safety police blitz nets 8 drug, 3 gun arrests in first week

    PHUKET: The first seven days of the month-long police safety boost (story here) in Phuket has yielded eight arrests on gun and drug charges in road checkpoint stops alone. Maj Gen Kittisan Detsunthonwat, Deputy Commander of Provincial Police Region 8, announced yesterday that so far his officers had seized over 300 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine), 2,031 pills of…

  • Thai LifePhuket Gardening: Pottering with giant plants

    Phuket Gardening: Pottering with giant plants

    PHUKET: I was recently asked about suitable terrestrial plants for large, even giant-sized pots. These glazed pots are hand-crafted by traditional methods, and are objets d’art in their own right. Not to be upstaged by mere plants. So what principles apply? First, preserve the integrity of the container by ensuring it is not camouflaged, or covered up by untidy festoons…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket blood bank grateful for urgent donations, calls for more in case

    Phuket blood bank grateful for urgent donations, calls for more in case

    PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) received two units of Rh-negative blood and two single-platelet donations yesterday, in response to urgent requests on behalf of a foreigner due to undergo heart surgery (story here). “We do not know what condition the patient is in. However, I think the patient will be okay… “The hospital itself has seven units of…

  • World NewsWorld News: Many dead as desert siege ends; Dreams back to earth; WADA gives UCI a bitter pill

    World News: Many dead as desert siege ends; Dreams back to earth; WADA gives UCI a bitter pill

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Algeria ends desert siege, but dozens killed Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Algerian forces stormed a desert gas complex to free hundreds of hostages but 30, including several Westerners, were killed in the assault along with at least 11 of their Islamist captors, an Algerian security source told…

  • Phuket NewsTwo Phuket motorcyclists die in separate accidents

    Two Phuket motorcyclists die in separate accidents

    PHUKET: The deadly stretch of Thepkrasattri Road that runs through the northern Phuket village of Kor En claimed another life before dawn today after months of no serious accidents. An unidentified man was riding in the northbound lane at about 3am when he lost control of his motorbike and hit a pole, breaking his neck. When Tah Chat Chai Police…

  • Phuket News171 Rohingya refugees arrested north of Phuket

    171 Rohingya refugees arrested north of Phuket

    PHUKET: The flow of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar continues unabated with Border Patrol Police in Phang Nga, the province immediately north of Phuket, today taking into custody two boats carrying 171 Rohingya men, women and children. Today’s apprehension follows 73 Rohingya being arrested off the southern coast of Phuket on January 1. Those refugees were subsequently deported back to Myanmar (story…

  • Phuket NewsThailand Futsal League: Phuket United edge Si Saket

    Thailand Futsal League: Phuket United edge Si Saket

    PHUKET: The island’s pro indoor soccer club Phuket United came from behind to beat Sripatum Sunrise Si Saket Futsal Club 4-3 in a fantastic and exciting match in Phuket Town last night. Played in front of an energetic crowd of about 1,000 fans at Phuket’s 4,000-seat Indoor Sport Complex in Saphan Hin, the match was Phuket’s seventh home match of…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Police suspect Arabs in B3mn locker heist

    Phuket Police suspect Arabs in B3mn locker heist

    PHUKET: Phuket Police are on the lookout for three men, all thought to be from the Middle East, who are suspected of doping a front desk officer at a resort near Karon Beach and robbing the resort’s guest safe boxes of about 3 million baht in valuables.The front desk officer at Karon Place Hotel who was allegedly drugged by the…

  • Thai LifePhuket Lifestyle: Life in the extreme – David Martin

    Phuket Lifestyle: Life in the extreme – David Martin

    PHUKET: NO SMELL, no life, no sound – except the booming of ice cracking and the wind – the South Pole is one of the most hostile environments in the world, but even here in this frozen abyss dreams manage to materialize. Few search for answers in so bleak a landscape, a place where one meter of snow is no…

  • Thai LifePhuket Pets: Mommy, I want the cute puppy

    Phuket Pets: Mommy, I want the cute puppy

    PHUKET: By the time you bring your new puppy home, say at eight weeks of age, it should already be accustomed to an indoor domestic environment (especially one with noises) and well-socialized with people. Similarly, house training, chew toy training, and tutoring in basic manners should be well underway. If not, your prospective puppy’s social and mental development is already…

  • PropertyPhuket Property Legal: Collective Leasehold Structures – Overview

    Phuket Property Legal: Collective Leasehold Structures – Overview

    PHUKET: PHUKET and neighboring provinces contain some of the finest villa developments in Thailand. However, under Thai law, foreigners are generally prohibited from owning land. However, they are, as many are aware, allowed to own buildings. Therefore, a common method for foreigners to purchase a villa is to lease a land plot (or plots) from a Thai landowner, and purchase…

  • PropertyPhuket Property: Bold predictions for 2013

    Phuket Property: Bold predictions for 2013

    PHUKET: I believe Chinese zodiac signs went out sometime in the 1970s, though clearly citizens of Sedona and Byron Bay didn’t get the memo. We are about to enter the twelve year cycle of the Snake. From a quick look around the zodiac, the slimy reptile is still trumped by the Dragon, but nonetheless, words like mysterious, cattiness (love that…

  • Thailand NewsThailand to help Rohingya with UN assistance

    Thailand to help Rohingya with UN assistance

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UN, 20 nations join Thailand to help Rohingya Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Envoys of more than 20 countries yesterday joined a teleconference that was held to address the grievances of and get help for more than 850 Rohingya people. These illegal migrants were arrested…

  • World NewsWorld News: Mali war spills into Algeria; Many hostages taken

    World News: Mali war spills into Algeria; Many hostages taken

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sahara hostage siege turns Mali war global Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Islamist fighters have opened an international front in Mali’s civil war by taking dozens of Western hostages at a gas plant in the Algerian desert just as French troops launched an offensive against rebels…

  • Phuket NewsDutch tourist autopsy results from Bangkok expected next week: Phuket Police | Thaiger

    Dutch tourist autopsy results from Bangkok expected next week: Phuket Police

    PHUKET: Police yesterday morning confirmed that the body of 26-year-old Dutch tourist Stephan Buczynski had been sent to Bangkok for an autopsy. Mr Buczynski was last seen by his fellow Dutch travel companion on Saturday night. His body was found floating off the north end of Patong Beach early the next morning (story here). “The body was sent to the…

  • Phuket NewsLive Wire: Phuket’s Internet options

    Live Wire: Phuket’s Internet options

    PHUKET: As many of you know, I am in the process of moving. Sometime in the next month or so, I’ll be moving from a Patong townhouse – where I’ve lived for the past 12 years – to a modest housing development in Kathu, near Loch Palm Golf Course. For most of you, moving is a massive pain. For people…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Blood Bank: Urgent call for O-negative blood

    Phuket Blood Bank: Urgent call for O-negative blood

    PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) urgently needs O-negative blood to save the life of a foreign patient. Donors should call 076-251178 ext 2 or 081-9588854. If donors are available, staff will be on hand after the normal the usual closing time of 4:30pm to make the blood draw (map here). The patient in need is waiting for heart…

  • Business NewsPhuket Finance: UK bill reassures QROPS retirees

    Phuket Finance: UK bill reassures QROPS retirees

    PHUKET: With the recent release of the draft finance bill for 2013, the UK government has eased worries of the QROPS (Qualified Recognized Overseas Pension Schemes) industry that new legislation might close down the market. Last year, offshore pension providers were quite shocked when HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) removed overnight the ability of expat retirees to transfer their…

  • PropertyPhuket Property: Thailand’s first container mall

    Phuket Property: Thailand’s first container mall

    PHUKET: Thailand’s first ‘container mall’, the colorful new Boat Avenue Shopping Street, is taking shape as part of a Phuket’s cosmopolitan community in Cherng Talay, and is set to be finished by the end of the year. The mixed-use retail, commercial and residential development covering 25 rai is the latest community-style project by Phuket-based developer Boat Development. Director Mr Boon…