Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Tourist fights for life after near-drowning in Phuket
PHUKET: A foreign tourist who was swimming in an area marked by red warning flags was pulled from the water off Nai Harn Beach yesterday afternoon and rushed unconscious to Vachira Phuket Hospital. Jula Nontree, chief lifeguard for Kata, Karon, Nai Harn and Patong Beaches, told the Phuket Gazette that the incident occurred in front of the Phuket Yacht Club…
- Phuket News
Trailer overturns on Phuket Town bypass road
PHUKET: A tractor trailer overturned on the bypass road skirting Phuket Town late this afternoon, leaving the road surface covered in energy drink and creating a tailback. No injuries were reported.Rawin Hangnark, the 42-year-old driver of the cab and flatbed rig, told the Phuket Gazette he was travelling in the left southbound lane en route to Chalong with two other…
- Phuket News
Pickup slams Heroines’ Monument in Phuket, one dead
PHUKET: Police believe that the driver of a pickup who died after slamming his vehicle into the Phuket Heroines’ Monument before dawn yesterday fell asleep at the wheel. Thalang Police were notified of the accident at Phuket’s most iconic roundabout just before 4am yesterday. Arriving at the scene, they found the wreckage of a black Mitsubishi pickup against a roadside…
- Phuket News
Scrappy Phuket FC beat Bangkok FC, 2-1
PHUKET: Phuket FC recorded their first home win of the season last night with a scrappy 2-1 win over mid-table side Bangkok FC. Despite gorgeous weather, only 1,200 paying fans turned up for the 6:30pm kickoff at Surakul Stadium, which got a number of improvements thanks to its recent hosting of the 28th National Youth Games. The most notable of…
- Phuket News
Phuket annual Prison Fair underway
PHUKET: The ninth annual Prison Products Fair is underway at Saphan Hin. On display and for sale is a wide range of hand-made products crafted by prison inmates from 14 provincial prisons across the southern region as part of their vocational skills training. “The fair is held to show prisoner’s works to the public. It is made possible by cooperation…
- Phuket News
Phuket Light Rail: All stop at feasibility studies
PHUKET: The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) will ignore all feasibility studies conducted by companies that have expressed interest in developing a light-rail system in Phuket. Thenews was delivered by Kobkul Motana, the assistant director of the Bureau of Regional Transport and Traffic Promotion under of the Ministry of Transport’s OTP department, on Friday. Ata meeting…
- Phuket News
Phuket Poll: How can we effectively warn tourists of drowning dangers?
PHUKET: The disappearance of an American student Joshua Shane, who went swimming with friends at Patong Beach on Tuesday night, once again raises the issue of how best to warn tourists about the dangers of swimming along Phuket’s west coast beaches during the monsoon season. Reliable sources told the Phuket Gazette that the group of students who entered the surf…
- Opinion
Phuket Opinion: Corruption and the duality of man
PHUKET: Every now and then, local officials do things that either stun the Phuket Gazette’s readers or slide right past them. The news stories this week about the push to establish a “Chalong Hospital” and the projected opening of the Patong Tunnel both highlight a phenomenon often overlooked – that sometimes officials do have the public interest at heart. Local…
- Phuket News
Canadian sisters found dead in Phi Phi hotel room, poisoning suspected
PHUKET: Police are investigating the cause of death of two Canadian sisters found dead in their hotel room on Phi Phi Island yesterday afternoon. Lt Siwa Saneha of Phi Phi Island Police Station told the Phuket Gazette, “We received a report at about 9pm yesterday, that two tourists’ bodies were found in the same hotel room at the Phi Phi…
- Phuket News
Phuket marks World Blood Donor Day
PHUKET: The Phuket Red Cross this weekend is continuing its donation drive as part of its role in the World Health Organization (WHO) “World Blood Donor Day” campaign. Hundreds of donors turned out at the Phuket Regional Blood Center (RBC), operated by the Phuket Red Cross, on Thursday to mark the WHO international day, observed around the world on June…
- Phuket News
Officials push for new Phuket hospital
PHUKET: Officials are pushing for the public health clinic in Chalong to be upgraded to a fully equipped hospital in order to reduce the number of people dying en route to emergency wards at major hospitals in Phuket Town. Clinic Director Ruedee Suriya told the Phuket Gazette that on average two people every month die while on their way to…
- Phuket News
Phuket City top cop transferred
PHUKET: Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai has been transferred to Takua Thung Police Station in Phang Nga province, just north of Phuket.The transfer comes after Col Chote was temporarily suspended from duty on May 5 following allegations of underage staff working in Phuket Town clubs and entertainment venues.Acting Superintendent of Phuket City Police Sakchai Limcharoen also confirmed to the…
- Phuket News
Phuket City Police issue reminder: election alcohol ban in Phuket Town tonight
PHUKET: Phuket City Police Superintendent Sakchai Limcharoen this afternoon reminded operators of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other entertainment venues in Phuket Town that a ban on the sale of alcohol will come into effect within Phuket City limits from 6pm today. “Due to the Phuket City Municipality election tomorrow, alcohol sales will be banned from 6pm tonight until midnight tomorrow…
- Phuket News
Aussie woman jailed for false rape report in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Court today sentenced a 21-year-old Australian woman to 15 days in jail for falsely reporting that she was raped in Patong on Sunday. In her report to Patong Police, 21-year-old Stevie Rochelle Bamford claimed she was attacked by three men while taking a tuk-tuk back to her hotel at about 2am. However, CCTV footage taken at the…
- Phuket News
Phuket needs to clean up its act: V/Gov Chamroen
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada has given local officials until June 30 to at least draw up action plans to redress key problems affecting the island.Speaking at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday, V/Gov Chamroen listed several key issues, including trash, roadside billboards, flower vendors at traffic lights and the long tailbacks at Koh Kaew.Trash“Main roads are surrounded…
- Phuket News
Phuket parents appeal for help in finding missing daughter
PHUKET: Distressed parents are appealing for any information that may help locate their missing teenage daughter, Mullika “Nong Fah” Suansan, who disappeared from her Phuket school last Friday morning. Security-camera footage at Muslim Wittaya Phuket School in Koh Kaew, north of Phuket Town, shows 15-year-old Mullika arriving at the school on the school bus, but she failed to show up…
- Phuket News
Phuket assault victim left for dead at garbage tip
PHUKET: Phuket Police have launched an investigation after a man with severe head injuries was found, apparently left for dead, at a garbage tip before dawn yesterday. The police were notified of the man’s condition by a passer-by who noticed him, unconscious and bleeding profusely from the head, next to a collection of garbage cans on a dark stretch of…
- Phuket News
Phuket Airport security on the agenda
PHUKET: The fence running along the perimeter of Phuket International Airport does not provide adequate security, Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada told a meeting of about 20 officials this morning.“The road should be closed to traffic, except for people living in the area, who must be issued special passes,” he said.Representatives from Airports of Thailand, the public organization that operates Phuket…
- Phuket News
Body of Phuket drowning victim Joshua Shane recovered, identified
PHUKET: The body of Phuket drowning victim Joshua Shane was recovered from the pounding surf at Patong Beach this afternoon and has been positively identified. The body was discovered at 2:40pm in the water off Loma Park, not far from where the 21-year-old American student went missing in heavy surf on Tuesday night. Rescue workers from the Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation…
- Cannabis News
Phuket police take chainsaws to drug problem
PHUKET: Chainsaw-wielding police took a cut out of the drug-supply in Phuket on yesterday, bringing down several enormous kratom trees on Luang Poh Road. Despite kratom trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been considered a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943. The law made planting the tree…
- Phuket News
“Bomb’ suitcase at Phuket bus terminal a false alarm
PHUKET: Phuket City Police responding to a report of an unattended suitcase at the new Phuket bus terminal last night considered the threat serious enough to call in the bomb squad. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Jamroon Plaiduang, and bomb-disposal officers from both Phuket and Thung Song District in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, arrived at the scene at about 9pm. After…
- Phuket News
Re-branded Phuket FC lose 2-0 at Navy
PHUKET: Playing their inaugural league match as the “Islanders”, the re-branded Phuket FC succumbed 2-0 against Royal Thai Navy FC last night in Chonburi. Held at the Royal Navy Stadium on the Satthahib Naval Base, the match was played in front of about 800 fans, including a handful of die-hard Phuket “Hulk” fans who endured the long journey to root…
- Phuket News
Election alcohol ban in Phuket Town this weekend
PHUKET: The Phuket Election Commission (PEC) has confirmed that the sale of alcohol will be banned in Phuket Town from 6 pm on Friday until midnight on Saturday as the elections for Phuket City Municipality mayor and the municipal council take place this weekend.The ban affects, among other businesses, all bars, restaurants, nightclubs and mom-and-pop-stores.The news follows Phuket Vice Governor…
- Phuket News
Body reported recovered in Phuket search for Joshua Shane
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Police have yet to officially confirm whether a human body reported washed ashore at Kalim Beach this morning is that of missing American student Joshua Shane, who disappeared while swimming in Patong on Tuesday night. Lt Jeerayuth Onthong of the Phuket Marine Police, who headed the search mission, told the Gazette he was notified of the discovery…
- Phuket News
Phuket rescue mission for US student abandoned
PHUKET: Marine Police this afternoon called off a search-and-rescue mission for US university student Joshua Shane, who is missing and presumed drowned after entering the surf with friends at Patong Beach last night. Pol Lt Jeerayuth Onthong told the Gazette that the search-and-rescue mission for the 21-year-old was called off at 1pm today. Lt Col Rittee Paopan of the Marine…
- Phuket News
Police search for American student missing in Phuket surf
PHUKET: A search party of 20 Phuket Marine Police officers are scouring Patong Bay this morning in search of an American student who disappeared in the surf while swimming late last night.The 21-year-old student, whose name police have yet to release, disappeared at about 10pm while swimming with three friends in front of the Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa, where…
- Phuket News
Phuket raid uncovers illegal beach resort
PHUKET: Marine Office officials yesterday arrested nine Burmese workers who were found building a small resort on Tri Trang Beach, on the headland south of Patong.Although the officers, led by Phuket Marine Office chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut, could not determine the “owner” of the buildings, the workers were ordered to demolish the structures within 30 days.The buildings under construction included a…
- Phuket News
Phuket Governor petitioned to ’empower’ Coconut Island
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha was yesterday called on by villagers and at least one resort owner to instigate action in getting mains power to Koh Maphrao, better known as “Coconut Island”. Families on the island have to pay at least 3,600 baht a month for diesel to power generators, claim village representatives, while The Village Coconut Island resort has…
- Phuket News
Police swoop on brother, sister for Phuket execution
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested a brother and sister who they believe orchestrated the execution of Sumittra Namfak, 55, in Phuket on Saturday. Ms Sumittra was shot at close range in the back of the head while watching television in her home in Thung Thong. Winaporn Rathakarn, 46, was arrested in Pa Khlok, Thalang, near the Heroines’ Monument. Her brother Sirawat…
- Phuket News
Phuket officials scramble to stop surf drownings
PHUKET: Current dangerous surf conditions and a spate of drownings at Phuket beaches in recent weeks have prompted officials to introduce new safety measures to guard against tourists from drowning. New signs warning tourists in seven languages of the danger of swimming in Phuket during the treacherous monsoon season have been posted along Phuket’s southern beaches. Meanwhile, the Phuket Governor…
