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.
  • Phuket NewsIslanders shot down by Airforce United

    Islanders shot down by Airforce United

    PHUKET: The Islanders, reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of defender Wuttipong Sittitanyakit, conceded two back-to-back goals in the final minutes of a 3-0 away loss on Saturday evening against Airforce United. The late afternoon match, both sides’ 26th fixture of the season, was played under clear blue skies at North Bangkok University’s Rangsit campus stadium in Rangsit, just…

  • Business NewsPhuket Business: Thailand – US trade reviving

    Phuket Business: Thailand – US trade reviving

    PHUKET: More than 700 American companies will have a combined investment of US$40 billion – approximately 1.25 trillion baht – in Thailand by the end of 2012, a business leader recently told the Thai government. The president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), Joe Mannix revealed the figure in a speech given at a thank-you function for the government,…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket’s first underpass to spur new traffic woes

    Phuket’s first underpass to spur new traffic woes

    PHUKET: Motorists have been warned to expect major delays when construction begins next month on a 599-million-baht underpass at the Darasamuth Junction, on the bypass road near the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall. Chavalert Lertchavanakul, Project Manager at the Department of Highways’ Bureau of Bridge Construction in Bangkok, broke the news at a meeting in Phuket to finalize areas of…

  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: Time to roll on traffic law enforcement

    Phuket Opinion: Time to roll on traffic law enforcement

    PHUKET: Any serious effort to improve road safety in Phuket will need a major shift away from the existing “police checkpoint” method of enforcing traffic law and instead move towards catching violators in the act. Results of a recent Phuket Gazette online poll revealed that three-quarters of those taking part had never been fined for a moving violation of traffic…

  • Phuket NewsChalong seeks B300mn for Phuket flood prevention

    Chalong seeks B300mn for Phuket flood prevention

    PHUKET: The Chalong Municipality has requested 300 million baht in funding from the Royal Irrigation Department for a permanent flood-prevention system after last month’s floods again highlighted the issue of flash flooding in Phuket. The project proposes the construction of retaining walls along all canals in the Chalong area to prevent debris and soil from clogging and disrupting the water…

  • Cannabis NewsPhuket hacks back drug “growers’ in Thalang

    Phuket hacks back drug “growers’ in Thalang

    PHUKET: Thalang police and district officers hacked open a path for progress in the war on drugs in Phuket by cutting down more than 60 kratom trees in Srisoonthorn yesterday. Despite the trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been designated a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943.…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports NFL kicks off

    Phuket Sports NFL kicks off

    PHUKET: Super Bowl Champs the NY Giants hosted the Cowboys on Wednesday night to kick off the 2012 NFL regular season. These two teams clashed last year during the final game of the 2011 regular season, which decided the winner of the NFC East. New York went on to win that game and gain a wild card birth, which paved…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Rory continues to roar; Golf tip

    Phuket Sports: Rory continues to roar; Golf tip

    PHUKET: This week marked the second of golf’s FedEx playoffs, with the PGA’s Deutsche Bank Open at the Tournament Players Club, Boston. The parkland golf course with narrow curving fairways requires more precision than power off the tees and tests players accuracy and short games more than their all out power games. Only 100 players from the FedEx points list…

  • Phuket NewsB100bn up for grabs: Krabi told to prepare for AEC 2015

    B100bn up for grabs: Krabi told to prepare for AEC 2015

    PHUKET: With 100 billion baht (US$ 3 billion) requested by government agencies for Thailand’s preparation for the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, private and government organizations in Krabi were called on yesterday by the Asean Secretary-General to step up their efforts in order to establish a “central role” in the Andaman. “Krabi will have an advantage over several other…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Park chief files complaint against “Encroacher No 5′

    Phuket Park chief files complaint against “Encroacher No 5′

    PHUKET: The new chief of Sirinath National Park, Cheewapap Cheewatham, has filed a police complaint against another landowner for allegedly encroaching on national park land. The complaint, against the fifth landowner of the 10 plots raided on August 15, accused two companies of encroaching on five rai of state forest land. The two companies are allegedly controlled by the same…

  • Thailand NewsWives bet in deadly drunken takraw match

    Wives bet in deadly drunken takraw match

    PHUKET: A drunken takraw match, the renowned game of “foot volleyball” using a rattan ball, got out of hand in Rayong early last month after construction workers bet their own wives as collateral during the game. When a fight broke out and one member of the group pulled out a gun, the weapon went off, hitting a 27-year-old woman in…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket gets ready for tourism boom with “Big Cleaning Day’

    Phuket gets ready for tourism boom with “Big Cleaning Day’

    PHUKET: The three district offices covering the entire island staged cleanups at public areas across Phuket yesterday as part of the “Big Cleaning Day” initiative. More than 500 people, including government officers, staff from private businesses as well as local students and residents, gathered at Saphan Hin Park in Phuket Town, where the Muang District Office held its activity under…

  • Thai LifePhuket Gardening: A holy trinity of jasmines

    Phuket Gardening: A holy trinity of jasmines

    PHUKET: What do the following tropical plants have in common? Jasminum, buddleia paniculata, gardenia, murraya, plumeria, wrightia, fiddlewood, alstonia, michelia alba, cestrum nocturnum. Well, actually they have two points of similarity. One, they are all white flowering shrubs or trees; two, they are all sweet-smelling. I have placed the jasmine first in the above list because, along with the lotus,…

  • World NewsWorld News: US Jobless claims fall

    World News: US Jobless claims fall

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. businesses step up hiring as jobless claims fall Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Initial claims for unemployment insurance in the United States fell to 365,000 in the week ending September 1, a decrease of 12,000 compared to the previous week, according to figures released by the…

  • Phuket NewsThai Smile launches new Phuket routes

    Thai Smile launches new Phuket routes

    PHUKET: Thai Smile Air, the new regional sub-brand of Thai Airways International (THAI), will launch daily direct flight services from Phuket to Bangkok and Chiang Mai starting next month. Prasert Tanhansa, manager of the THAI district sales office in Phuket Town, announced the new flights yesterday.“We are going to start one daily round-trip from Phuket-Chiang Mai-Phuket and Phuket-Bangkok-Phuket on October…

  • Phuket NewsAsean in Phuket: Immigration to launch fast-track entry for tourists

    Asean in Phuket: Immigration to launch fast-track entry for tourists

    PHUKET: The Commissioner of the Thai Immigration Bureau has announced that a new automated entry system will be installed at all airports in the country, including Phuket. The system will allow passengers to enter the country without having to endure long immigration lines.The technology, called “Advance Passenger Processing” system, or “APP”, will be installed at all international airports in Thailand…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket baby elephant probe sparks raids

    Phuket baby elephant probe sparks raids

    PHUKET: The inspection of elephant camps in Southern Thailand, geared to ensure that all pachyderms on the premises are legal, started on Monday and will include searches of the locations in Phuket where elephants were seized earlier this year. “We received an order on Monday from National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department [DNP] Director-General Damrong Phidet to send Regional…

  • PropertyPhuket Property: The future expansion of Central

    Phuket Property: The future expansion of Central

    PHUKET: THE Central Group have engaged in dialogue about the prospects of expanding Central Festival Phuket to include the land situated on its south side across Wichit Songkram Road. The leasing rights to develop the 30-rai (48,000 square meters) plot, currently occupied by the iconic Thai Naan restaurant, were recently acquired by Central, the Phuket Gazette has learned. The dialogue…

  • Phuket NewsWeather warning issued for Phuket, Andaman

    Weather warning issued for Phuket, Andaman

    PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued its second weather warning in 24 hours for Phuket and other provinces along the Andaman coast, advising the public to beware heavy rain, rough seas and possible flooding. The latest advisory, issued by the Southern Meteorological Center at Phuket Airport at 11am today, repeated the TMD’s warning of “abundant rain to very…

  • Phuket News“It’s a huge challenge…”

    “It’s a huge challenge…”

    “It’s a huge challenge – probably the biggest I have ever undertaken, especially in such a short timeframe”. PHUKET: The 34-year-old former England cricketer, Andrew Flintoff, has been training with boxing legend Barry McGuigan and his son Shane McGuigan in preperation for his boxing debut on November 30. The popular 6’4 cricket legend is yet to announce his heavyweight opponent…

  • Cannabis NewsPhuket Police bust heroin dealers in Cherng Talay

    Phuket Police bust heroin dealers in Cherng Talay

    PHUKET: Police in Phuket yesterday arrested a heroin dealer from Narathiwat, in Thailand’s troubled Deep South, seizing more than 80 grams of the drug as well as a stash of dried marijuana from one of his agents.The arrest was announced at a press conference led by Cherng Talay Police Superintendent Jirasak Siangsak yesterday morning. Col Jirasak presented to the press…

  • Thailand NewsViagra facing stiff competition in Thailand

    Viagra facing stiff competition in Thailand

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai version of ‘Viagra’ to be launched next month Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) will launch its erectile dysfunction drug “Sidagra” on October 15 at a fraction of the price of Viagra.The treatment for the men’s disorder has already been registered with…

  • World NewsWorld News: Separatist Parti Quebecois victory sparks shooting – 1 dead

    World News: Separatist Parti Quebecois victory sparks shooting – 1 dead

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gunman kills 1 during victory speech of Quebec’s first female premiere Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: A gunman opened fire outside a building where Canadian politician Pauline Marois was addressing her supporters after being elected the new premiere of Quebec, police said. One person was…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: US Open – Federer out, Murray through

    Phuket Sports: US Open – Federer out, Murray through

    PHUKET: The US Open is about to get into the business part of the tournament and some of the world’s best tennis players are still in with a shout of the title. Roger Federer, who was gifted entry to the quarterfinals as his fourth round opponent Mardy Fish retired before the match due to health reasons, has been knocked out…

  • Business NewsPhuket Business: Interfering with the navigation systems

    Phuket Business: Interfering with the navigation systems

    PHUKET: Your aircraft has just landed at Phuket International Airport and out comes the ubiquitous mobile phone, despite the flight crew asking you to keep it switched off until the plane arrives at the gate, because of concerns it may interfere with the aircraft’s avionics, thus endangering all on board. A familiar scene to everyone arriving on Phuket and particularly…

  • Thai LifePhuket Lifestyle: Secret dinners keep guests guessing

    Phuket Lifestyle: Secret dinners keep guests guessing

    PHUKET: Picture Phuket in 1785 (called Thalang then) when most of the island was still covered in virgin rain forest. Local people lived off the bounty of the nearby forests – roots, vines, leaves, barks, fruits, and seeds – and fresh seafood from the Andaman sea. At the time, when synthetic medicine was unheard off, people believed in the healing…

  • Business NewsPhuket Business: The tree that bears fruit

    Phuket Business: The tree that bears fruit

    PHUKET: At the helm of Anuphas Vividhkarn Co Ltd’s CSR program is Montavee “Tommy” Hongsyok. The 35-year-old Assistant Managing Director of Phuket’s exclusive Honda dealership follows in the footsteps of his father, Montri Hongsyok, an accomplished executive and respected community figure in Phuket. Following is a Q&A session that the Phuket Gazette recently had with Tommy about the Honda dealer’s…

  • Thai LifePhuket Lifestyle: A place for old bones

    Phuket Lifestyle: A place for old bones

    PHUKET: Dinosaurs are taking a holiday in Phuket, along with all the other old bones on the island, in a travelling museum exhibition which opened on August 28. The free-entry exhibition, about paleontological and geological discoveries in Thailand, will be open daily at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) between 8:30am and 4:30pm until September 16. “Our aim is to…

  • Thai LifePhuket Lifestyle: On the road to Mandalay

    Phuket Lifestyle: On the road to Mandalay

    PHUKET: Thailand’s western neighbor, Myanmar (Burma), is now one of the hottest destination for a holiday. After decades of international boycotts and sanctions, the April elections in Myanmar brought not just hopes of democracy and investment, but also a surge in travellers once reluctant to journey to this amazing land. If you want to see Myanmar at its best, don’t…

  • Phuket NewsVachira Phuket Hospital staff scrub up

    Vachira Phuket Hospital staff scrub up

    PHUKET: Staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday staged a hand-washing contest and other fun activities to highlight the importance of basic hygiene in combating the transmission of infectious diseases.Hospital Director Dr Jessada Chungpaibulpatana presided over the event, dubbed “Clean Hand Project II”.The project was held to remind all staff of the hospital, the largest on the island, about the importance…