Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Delayed again: Samkong Underpass completion pushed to August
PHUKET: The expected completion date of the Samkong Underpass has been postponed yet again, from July 31 to mid August, the Highways Department confirmed today. “At this stage, the project is about 83 percent complete,” said Patiwetwottisak Sookhii, the new director of the Phuket Highways Office. “However, due to the rainy weather, we have asked for more time to finish…
- Phuket News
Police capture mobile phone thief, alleged rapist
PHUKET: A suspected mobile phone thief was arrested last night after police tracked him down when he used the stolen phone. Wiwat Wiroondok, 20, was arrested at his rented accommodation in Kamala at about 10pm. He had a Samsung phone, a watch and several other items believed to have been stolen. “A woman named ‘Kan’ reported to police that about…
- Phuket News
Emergency response crews drill for CMEX 16
PHUKET: Rappelling from helicopters and swiftly moving across the deck of a tour boat captured by terrorists, Royal Thai Navy specialists were able to neutralize the gunmen and free their hostages. After all the hostages were accounted for, terrorists and soldiers alike lit up cigarettes and chatted casually. The hostage crisis was just one situation practiced by government responders and…
- Phuket News
Royal Phuket Marina goes on the market
PHUKET: Royal Phuket Marina (RPM), one of Phuket’s largest marina and lifestyle developments, is up for sale, the company announced this morning. Following serious interest from an international buyer, RPM Chairman Gulu Lalvani has decided to officially put the development on the market, the company announced. As exclusive adviser to the proposed sale, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group will handle…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid
PHUKET: Phuket’s Islamic astronomers will be looking for the moon tonight, as the holy month of Ramadan comes to a close. If the moon is spotted tonight, it will herald the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Eid al-Fitr, or ‘festival of the breaking of the fast’ will be celebrated tomorrow, as Muslims across the world and…
- Phuket News
Proposed light rail delayed yet again
PHUKET: Phuket’s multi-billion-baht light rail project is being given another month to revise its plans yet again. Planners are revising arrangements that would ensure the safety of motorists using roads running alongside the proposed track routes and the airport’s connecting train station. The Ministry of Transport has requested that the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTPP) modify…
- Phuket News
Crackdown on condo owners confirmed
PHUKET: Condominium owners in Phuket caught renting out their units on a daily basis face fines and jail time if they do not register their properties as hotels. Phuket Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat reaffirmed today a renewed crackdown on owners of condominium complexes and individual unit owners who are operating illegally as hotels, after the provincial land office issued a…
- Phuket News
Raging bull elephant tears apart owner
KRABI: An enraged bull elephant crushed his 64-year-old mahout to death while working at a rubber plantation in Krabi yesterday afternoon. The 26-year-old elephant, named Plai Khai, was in musth and had been chained to a tree for two days before the attack. He turned on his mahout, Sawai Lantee, when he went to check on the chains. “The elephant…
- Phuket News
Asleep at the wheel: driver rams into shophouses in Krabi
KRABI: Residents in Krabi Town had a lucky escape when the driver of a pick-up truck fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into a row of shophouses last night. The driver, Surin Sukkawit, 54, a Krabi native, caused extensive damage to the row of shops along Krabi-Kaothong Road when he lost control of his vehicle after nodding off around…
- Phuket News
Thailand to raise water transport safety standards in Andaman Sea
PHUKET: Transportation and Marine Department officials have agreed to adopt additional water transportation safety measures in Phuket. Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck, Marine Department Director-General Sorasak Saensombat and representatives from six tour agencies based in provinces along the Andaman Sea ratified the agreement last Monday. The agreement aims to establish a water transportation safety center and…
- Phuket News
Body of Korean found at sea 5 days after disappearance
PHUKET: The body of a man believed to be that of a Korean tourist who went missing after entering the sea to save his girlfriend at Patong beach last Wednesday was found by fishermen off the northwest coast of Phuket yesterday. Korean nationals Siwoo Park, 25, and his partner Garam Hong, 28, disappeared in the surf off Patong Beach around…
- Phuket News
‘Fish are scarce’ report Krabi fishermen
PHUKET: Fishermen from Krabi returned to shore yesterday disappointed with the meager quantities caught on the first day of fishing following a three-month hiatus. Yesterday was the first day that large fishing vessels were allowed to return to fish in the Andaman Sea after 4,696 square kilometers between Phuket and Trang were closed off so as not to deplete fish…
- Thai Life
Hair-raising experience at Hollow Mountain
PHUKET: Hollow Mountain Extreme Adventure Park in Krabi has a perfect score on Trip Advisor, with 54 five-star ratings out of 54 ratings. That’s no feat to scoff at – particularly not these days when everyone wants free wireless internet and zero mosquitoes wherever they go – and it’s especially impressive considering that they’ve only been open for one year.…
- Thai Life
Thai animal cruelty campaign wins top honors at Cannes
PHUKET: An awareness campaign by Bangkok-based advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather won five awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity held late last month. Their video shows ‘Leatherworks’, a typical pop-up shop of luxury goods located inside a large shopping center in Bangkok. Unsuspecting shoppers are filmed browsing through rows of snake-skin shoes and crocodile-skin handbags, but once…
- Thai Life
Diving: To splurge or not to splurge
PHUKET: Like most people new to freediving, as well as many experienced divers, I have a desire to go deeper to set new personal bests. Also, like many divers, my head is so full of inaccurate and misleading information that a faulty premise on how to do this is floating in my mind: “I need to buy stiff, carbon fiber…
- Business News
Tai Ping comes to town
PHUKET: Bangkok based fabric designer and manufacturer Thailand Carpet Manufacturing Plc opened its first satellite store in Phuket on June 25 to cater to growing demand in the province for high-quality custom- design flooring. Targeting Phuket’s hospitality industry, the company, under the brand name Tai Ping, expects to earn about 20 million baht in revenue in their first year. Located…
- Phuket News
Krabi police snare drug dealers with 52,000 pills worth B10mn
KRABI: A sting operation in Krabi yielded more than 10-million-baht worth of hard drugs and led to the arrest of two suspected drug dealers on Wednesday. The two suspects were named as Amnat-ittirit Lueanloy, 34 and Yuthana Sangkachoti, 39. Both are from Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The operation was led by Region 8 Police Headquarters Commander Lt Gen Tesa Siriwato and…
- Phuket News
Police clear Chalong traffic for baby who wouldn’t wait
PHUKET: A heavily pregnant teenage mother almost gave birth while stuck in traffic at Chalong Circle this morning. Ms Bee, the 18-year-old mother-to-be, called a relative to take her to the hospital when she felt labor pains. “By the time we reached Chalong Circle, the baby’s head was already out,” said Royah Kiewsot, the relative who accompanied her to the…
- Opinion
Opinion: Improving communication to prevent accidents
PHUKET: Wang Huijuan is the Chinese vice consul general and head of the Chinese Consular Office in Phuket. Originally from Beijing, she has been working in this position since 2014. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Nankai University in China. Here, she talks about her suggestions to solve the problem of unexpected incidents and accidents involving…
- Thai Life
Profile: Adisak Pitakrojananont – working his away atop the hospitality ladder
PHUKET: PHUKET: Adisak Pitakrojananont hails from Ratchaburi and is currently the general manager of Mom Tri’s Villa Royale at Kata Noi Beach, Phuket. He graduated from Ramkhamhaeng University with a Bachelor’s degree in hotel management and has more than 10 years of experience in the hospitality business, eight of which have been in management. “I was not born to be…
- Phuket News
Russian tourist dies in red flag zone at Nai Harn
PHUKET: A Russian tourist died at Nai Harn Beach yesterday evening after he ignored the red warning flags and went swimming. “We found the body of Leonid Petrov, 28, lying face up on the sand. He was shirtless, with no signs of struggle on his body,” said Capt Wuthiwat Leangboonjinda of the Chalong Police. “We questioned his friend, Vladimir Avdeev,…
- Phuket News
Construction worker killed in scaffold fall
PHUKET: A Thai laborer fell to his death at a construction site in Phuket Town this morning. Kraisorn Kongngam, 49, died after falling from scaffolding while working on a three-storey building in Talad Yai about 9am. According to witnesses, Mr Kraisorn lost his balance and fell while climbing up the scaffolding carrying tools to a platform about two meters off…
- Phuket News
Burmese migrants ‘better off’, says employment chief
PHUKET: Nothing much will change for the 100,000 migrant Myanmar nationals currently living and working on the island, Phuket Employment Office director Pitoon Damsakorn told the Phuket Gazette, shortly after the visit to Thailand by the State Counselor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi last week. Ms Suu Kyi’s arrival in Thailand last week for a three-day visit to meet…
- Phuket News
‘Friend’ admits to fatal stabbing of teenager
PHUKET: The self-confessed killer of the 18 year-old who was stabbed 18 times in Koh Kaew surrendered to Phuket City Police on Tuesday. Manasanan Bunga was stabbed to death just outside his house on Soi Han Farang late Sunday night (story here). Police named the suspect, who is not yet 18, only as ‘Min’. “After checking CCTV footage and interviewing…
- Opinion
Opinion: Implications of TAT’s ‘Month for Women Travellers’
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has a rich and diverse history when it comes to churning out tourism promotion campaigns, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that the agency’s recent designation of August as its ‘Month for Women Travellers’ has managed to raise a few eyebrows. The TAT clearly recognizes that the gender ratio of…
- Thai Life
Law, Life and Society: Adopting a child in Thailand
PHUKET: An American recently contacted us to assist him with the adoption of his Thai wife’s nephew. The child has been living with the couple since he was a few months old. The mother (sister of the Thai spouse) was financially incapable of caring for the child. After two years, they decided that it was time to formalize the arrangement.…
- Phuket News
Phuket to benefit from Phang Nga airport
PHUKET: A new airport in the works at Phang Nga will help ease air traffic issues in Phuket, Phang Nga Governor Pakkapong Tawiphat told the Phuket Gazette last week. “The airport is set to be located in Taimuang District. The project is backed by a private company that has asked to remain nameless for the time being,” the governor says.…
- Opinion
Ministry of Farang Affairs: Worship Thai basil pork
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
- Property
Properly maintaining granite counter tops
PHUKET: If you buy new or upgrade, most likely you will choose granite counter tops. First remember that not all granite is equal. Granite is a lot harder than marble and easier to maintain, but experience shows, liquids can soak in to polished granite. If you notice a spill, clean it up right away and you may not be left…
- Thai Life
Ready, steady, get Footloos
PHUKET: The multi-billion-baht Phuket tourism industry caters to adventurers and wellness seekers from across the globe, with a seemingly endless stream of tour companies offering a multitude of services. Now imagine if you could get all these services in a few clicks on a single platform. That, in short, is the idea behind Footloos, an online marketplace dedicated to an…
