- Opinion
Sunday Opinion: Nesting sustainable development
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to join the Phuket Governor in wishing all of our readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012. [Click here to read the governor’s column in the current issue of our newspaper.] The past 12 months have seen continued growth in the tourism sector, but Phuket’s ongoing transformation into a vibrant, international destination has not…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s ‘Persons of the Year’: A Sailor’s Salute
PHUKET: As with our Person of the Year Award in 2009, we have opted for the plural again this year and are delighted to announce that the honor goes to four of the driving forces behind the annual Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. Many forces are required to stage an event of this magnitude, but because of the length of their…
- Phuket News
A New Year’s message from the Phuket Governor
SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR OF PHUKET Tri Augkaradacha took up the position of Phuket Governor in October 2009 after serving almost four years as vice governor. Having already reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 years, he will finish his career in the civil service at the end of October this year. Since his appointment as Governor, he has…
- Phuket News
Wishing all a very happy New Year
PHUKET: One would guess that quite a few of Phuket’s residents were up well past their usual bed times last night as 2011 slipped into history and 2012 dawned. It’s probably likely that for an equal number it was business as usual, with 3am considered a respectable time for turning in. Regardless, what to do now that those long made…
- Phuket News
Gov Tri gets Red Cross Fair underway
PHUKET: Scores of people turned out last night the opening night of the Phuket Red Cross Fair in Phuket Town, with many people among the huge crowd hoping to win the top prize in the popular lucky draw: a brand-new Honda City car. The 11-day fair, being held at the Central Stage Area at Saphan Hin, was declared officially underway…
- Phuket News
Phuket New Year road toll battered as three die
PHUKET: The Phuket authorities’ goal to keep the road toll this year under the four deaths of last year suffered a severe setback when three men died in motorcycle accidents on Thursday night – the first night of this year’s ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign. Polish national Pawel Jack Gilman, 37, died after the limited edition Liverpool FC…
- Phuket News
Russian tourist dies in fall at Phuket home
PHUKET: A Russian tourist died in a fall from an interior balcony at a holiday rental home in Kathu, central Phuket, early yesterday morning. Thung Thong Police received a report at 2:45am that Russian tourist Anton Oleynikov, 32, had died in the fall at the private residence at Loch Palm. Police Duty Officer Chana Suttimard said that Mr Oleynikov and…
- World News
Phuket Media Watch: North Korea defiant; Fires rage in Los Angeles; Sailor rescued 5 days after ship sinks off Vietnam
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea warns South Korea on ‘hideous crimes’ Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The North Korean military on yesterday said the South “will pay for its hideous crimes” during the mourning period for Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il, and warned it may launch a retaliatory strike…
- Phuket News
Russians in hospital after tour van smash
PHUKET: Four Russian tourists on their way to a Phuket magic show got a painful dose of reality on Thursday night, when the passenger van they were riding in collided with a delivery truck south of Patong. The accident happened at about 7pm on Wiset Road in front of Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort on the first day of the…
- Thailand News
Weird World News: Time for change as Samoa ditches a day; book 123 years overdue found in Britain; and Chinese opt for year-end pillow fights
PHUKET: New Year is always a time of reflection. To cast out the old and usher in the new. This week’s Weird World News features a trio of time-related happenings from around the world. Samoa skips forward a day … so long Friday, December 30 THE South Pacific island nation of Samoa has scrapped its time-zone alliance with the United…
- Phuket News
‘Colorful Phuket Countdown 2012’ now underway
PHUKET: The clock is now ticking at Sanamchai in Phuket Town, where the “Colorful Phuket Countdown 2012” got underway at 8pm last night. The opening ceremony was chaired by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, who took a stroll though a 20-meter-long “under the sea” tunnel of lights and decorations. He was accompanied by Paiboon Upatising, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration…
- Phuket News
Phuket police nab sacrilegious burglar
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Wednesday arrested a serial thief caught with stolen religious objects, jewelry and other items. Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai said Wichit resident Eakkat Tipmart, 29, confessed to burglarizing the Phuket Town apartment of Saengduan Chaigma. It was just the latest burglary in a string of similar thefts, Col Chote said. Ms Saengduan, 39, reported to police…
- Phuket News
Phuket employers urged to hire disabled workers
PHUKET: With the Phuket labor shortage reaching critical levels, authorities are encouraging employers to hire more disabled workers and are advising large organizations that they are legally required to do so. Officials from Phuket Provincial Office, Phuket Provincial Employment Office and the Human Development and Security Office held a recent meeting to inform employers about the subject at the Phuket…
- Thailand News
Khon Kaen crazy nicking knickers
PHUKET: Police in Khon Kaen nabbed a thief with an unusual haul mid-December – more than 1,000 pairs of used women’s underwear. The kinky culprit, Pathanin Kawikul, 26, told officers he used the undergarments – which he stole over a period of more than five years – for sexual gratification. Police were alerted to Mr Pathanin’s bizarre activities when Phornphat…
- Thai Life
Painting a brighter future for Thai kids
PHUKET: Guests and visitors of Angsana Laguna Phuket have been summoned to paint their way into posterity on a mural designed by acclaimed Australian artist, Christopher Hogan, as money is raised for local Thai kids with artistic promise. In celebration of its recent opening, the 350 tile mural will take pride of place in the resort’s newly refurbished lobby. The…
- Phuket News
Disgraceful strategy
PHUKET: “We have been done in the past – like with Woodgate. We should have surrounded the referee to get him sent off.” Stephen Hunt, Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder, suggests his team mates need to follow the example of other sides by ganging up on officials to encourage correct or even harsher decisions. Hunt was referring to their recent match against…
- Phuket News
Snakes in a sack seized on Koh Lanta
PHUKET: A fruit seller has been caught smuggling protected snakes onto Koh Lanta in Krabi province, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket. Pin Sangduk, 43, was found with eight live snakes stuffed into fertilizer sacks in the back of his pickup truck, which was otherwise loaded with fruit. Mr Pin was caught when Sgt Maj Terdsak Rakdaeng of Koh Lanta…
- Phuket News
Soi Bangla Phuket’s number one attraction: Poll
PHUKET: Soi Bangla is the number one “must see” tourist attraction in Phuket, according to the results of a recent Phuket Gazette online survey. On December 6, the Gazette asked readers: Phuket has so many tourist attractions that most visitors to the island do not have enough time to see them all during their stays. Given this fact, which of…
- Phuket News
Let Phuket’s Countdown to the New Year begin
PHUKET: The holiday season kicks into high gear today with the opening of two important annual fairs in Phuket Town and the launch of police checkpoints all over the island as part of the nationwide “Seven Days of Danger” road safety campaign. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha is a busy man today, presiding over the openings of both the Phuket Red…
- World News
Phuket Media Watch: Asian regional round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Explosions at Myanmar warehouse kill at least 15 Phuket Gazette / News Wires At least 15 people were killed on early yesterday morning when a fire caused a series of explosions at a government-owned warehouse in the former Myanmar (Burma) capital of Yangon, officials said. Dozens…
- World News
Phuket Media Watch: Russian round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russia’s first hybrid vehicle to go on sale next year Phuket Gazette / News Wires Russian automobile manufacturer Yo-Auto on Tuesday announced that it will be offering the country’s first hybrid vehicle late next year. The company’s billionaire co-owner Mikhail Prokhorov spoke on national television on…
- Phuket News
No short-term solution for Phuket Airport Immigration bottleneck
PHUKET: Tourists waiting up to an hour and a half to clear immigration during peak periods at Phuket Airport are unlikely to receive any reprieve until a separate international terminal is completed. Pol Maj Wannee Songsanguan of Phuket Airport Immigration told the Gazette that her office was well aware of the situation, but could do nothing more to speed up…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s annual ‘Best of Phuket’ Awards to be unveiled tomorrow
PHUKET: The winners of the Phuket Gazette‘s ‘Best of Phuket’ awards for 2011 are announced in a special four-page supplement tucked into the newspaper’s December 31 issue, due out on the streets at noon tomorrow. The awards comprise 33 winners in five major categories: Person of the Year (4); Business (4); Service (6); Environment (2); and Restaurants (17). Our winners…
- Phuket News
Brazilian found dead in Phuket guesthouse
PHUKET: A Brazilian tourist was found dead in his Phuket hotel room on Tuesday after he and a male friend brought two Patong bar hostesses back to their room. The body of the deceased, 30-year-old Daniel Rocha Jordan Brasileiro, is under examination at Patong Hospital. A member of the staff at the guest house where the pair were staying said…
- Thai Life
Phuket Lifestyle: Google’s top 10 searches of 2011
PHUKET: It is that time of year again when people look back at the year that’s been and compile lists. Google have been doing this for the past 11 years and call their compilation of year’s most popular searches the Year-End Zeitgeist which means “the spirit of the times”. To compile the 2011 Year-End Zeitgeist, Google will use the aggregation…
- Property
Floods won’t harm Phuket construction sector: P-REA
PHUKET: Following a seminar held recently, Phuket real estate developers are less worried about the impacts of the flooding in central Thailand on the construction industry supply chain. Tanan Tanphaibul, President of the Phuket Real Estate Association, said members had worried that massive government-funded reconstruction of parts of Bangkok and the Central Plains region might have a negative impact on…
- Property
Istana Phuket design claims global award
PHUKET: Prism Estates have won the Best International Architecture Award (Multiple Residence) as developers of the Istana Phuket residential estate at Naithon Beach. The International Property Awards (IPA) ceremony was held on December 12 at the Savoy Hotel in London, England and produced in association with Bloomberg TV and Google . The award validates the architectural vision of Richard Shearer,…
- Business News
Phuket Business: a collective island soul
PHUKET: Life in the brick house is in full holiday swing. Gargantuan cement trucks ante for position alongside monster buses teeming with an endless array of travelers. Despite a rising urban swell that is pushing development heavenwards, there has to be more to Phuket’s economic success story than bricks, mortar and an endless amount of infinity swimming pools. I tend…
- Thai Life
Phuket Gardening: Rambutan – looks and tastes great
PHUKET: Of the glorious trees that grace our island gardens on Phuket, there are many small varieties that are considered ornamentals primarily on account of their decorative blossom. These include the flame bean (brownea or sok phuang), the erythrina (thong lang or coral tree), the abutilon or Chinese lantern, and the orchid tree (bauhinia or chong ko). Of course, a…
- Property
Phuket Indigo’s new pearl revealed
PHUKET: Phuket’s Indigo Pearl, in partnership with Bensley Design Studios, have unveiled their latest design creation. The hotel’s much anticipated new private pool villas are a key phase in the resort’s multi-million dollar transformation to position Indigo Pearl as an “all suite and villa” property. Each of the seven secluded private pool villas is set within a walled garden, offering…
