Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Five-car smash in Koh Kaew, Phuket
PHUKET: An Alfa Romeo was among five vehicles damaged in a road accident near the entrance to the Boat Lagoon marina in Phuket this afternoon. The accident, on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in Koh Kaew, appears to have been caused when one vehicle braked suddenly. The driver of a pickup that was the first of the five vehicles damaged told the…
- Phuket News
More mangrove encroachment in Phuket
PHUKET: Swift action by a Phuket village headman saved several rai of mangrove forest from destruction by encroachers, but not before three rai had already been cut down. Sinchai Limsakul, headman of Palai Village in Chalong, alerted police to the destruction at 4pm yesterday. Some of the uprooted trees were planted by Chalong Tambon Administration, government officers and villagers in…
- Phuket News
Phuket tourism firms win TAT awards
PHUKET: Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced the names of nine local tourism businesses and associations awarded prizes in the 8th Annual Thailand Tourism Awards. The biennial awards are designed to instill awareness and promote responsible management in tourism among tourism entrepreneurs, ultimately leading to sustainable tourism. Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, director of the TAT South Region 4 Office in Phuket…
- Phuket News
Laundry larceny: the gig’s up for Phuket garment grabber
PHUKET: Kathu Police raided a house in Patong early Wednesday morning and arrested a Thai woman who stole clothes from laundry shops and sold them as secondhand garments. Officers led by Lt Col Sakon Bunditsak arrested Ruengrin Sukbunjong, 30, from Phang Nga, at her house in Patong. Seized as evidence during the raid were about 300 items of clothing, ranging…
- Phuket News
FC Phuket out of Toyota League Cup after 3-1 loss in Saraburi
PHUKET: FC Phuket are out of the Toyota League Cup after losing to Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi 3-1 last night. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg defeat at the Surakul Stadium last Sunday, FC Phuket faced the daunting task of defeating Osotspa Saraburi on the road if they were to progress to the second round of the cup.…
- Phuket News
Australian tourist dies in Phuket swimming pool
PHUKET: An Australian tourist died while swimming in a pool at a well-known Phuket hotel late yesterday afternoon. Kathu Police duty officer Jongserm Preecha identified the deceased as 58-year-old James Bourke. Staff and customers at the Banthai Beach Resort and Spa in Patong told police they saw Mr Bourke go for a swim after eating a meal at about 5pm.…
- Phuket News
Ron Fanelli still at Phuket Prison
PHUKET: Ronald Fanelli, confessed killer of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, today blamed local media coverage for being partly responsible for his decision not to surrender himself to authorities before his arrest. Mr Fanelli spoke to the Gazette briefly today from Phuket Prison, where he is being held for the stabbing murder of Ms Wanphen, a 33-year-old bar hostess at the…
- Phuket News
More sewage treatment for Phuket
PHUKET: Karon Municipality will levy charges on hotels, restaurants and other small businesses in the area for the wastewater they produce. The scheme, to start in October, will affect hotels and businesses in Karon, Kata and Kata Noi. Restaurants will be charged a flat rate of 5.25 baht per operating square meter, and hotels will be billed at 84 baht…
- Phuket News
Identity of Russian car crash fatality in Phuket revealed
PHUKET: The Russian diplomatic mission in Phuket has identified the foreign woman who died in a car crash near Tesco-Lotus on Thursday as 33-year-old Vera Lovtsova, a Russian citizen who was employed by a tour company in Phuket. For the Gazette‘s initial report of the tragedy click here. The confirmation was made by Santi Udomkiratak, Deputy Honorary Consul of the…
- Phuket News
50 largest landholders control 14.3% of Phuket
PHUKET: Land ownership in Phuket is highly concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of wealthy landowners, according to a prominent Thammasat University economics professor. Prof Duangmani Laowakul, a member of the watch-dog committee Policy Watch, said the top 50 largest landholders in Phuket control 14.3% of the island’s total area. A report published in Krungthep Turakij, the…
- Phuket News
More Dragons for Phuket; Siam Makro expanding
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. More Dragons for Phuket PHUKET: Dragon Air intends to increase services on its Hong Kong-Phuket route. Cathay Pacific Airways, parent company of Dragon Air, says traffic to Phuket is robust with an average load factor of 90…
- Phuket News
High-tech drug detectors too expensive for Phuket
PHUKET: Top provincial officers have balked at a plan to install a drug-detecting “X-ray machine” at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint after learning the cost would run well over 250 million baht. The drug problem was the main topic at the monthly meeting of the Phuket Provincial Peacekeeping Committee chaired by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday.…
- Phuket News
Two-headed turtle turns one month old in Phang Nga
PHUKET: A two-headed turtle born in late July is thriving under the care of staff at the Royal Thai Navy base in Phang Nga as it celebrates its one-month birthday. The green sea turtle, born in a Thai Navy conservation area in the Similan Islands, was initially earmarked as one of scores of turtles to be set free in Phuket…
- Phuket News
Phuket attempted murder suspect arrested
PHUKET: A man suspected of an attempted murder in Phuket last year was arrested by Lampang police on Saturday after more than a year on the run. But it wasn’t all woe for the suspect, 41-year-old Bangkok resident Prasop Homhuan. Prasop told officers escorting him to Phuket from Chiang Mai that despite his arrest he was very excited – at…
- Phuket News
Blackout in Rawai, Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: Residents of Rawai be warned: the Provincial Electricity Authority has announced a scheduled blackout in parts of the municipality from 9am to 4pm tomorrow to work on high-voltage power lines. The affected area includes Saiyuan Road, from Wiset Rd to Nai Harn Beach, including Soi Khok Yang, Soi Hua Pru, Soi Khok Makham and Soi Naya. Much of Saiyaun…
- Phuket News
Arson considered in Phuket pawnshop blaze
PHUKET: Police have not ruled out arson for a pre-dawn blaze that gutted a Phuket pawnshop warehouse today. No one was reported as injured in the fire, although it took five firetrucks 30 minutes to extinguish the inferno on Sri Sena Road in Rassada. An initial investigation suggests that an electrical short circuit might have started the fire, but the…
- Phuket News
Osotspa Saraburi down Phuket FC, 2-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket were unlucky to be beaten 2-1 at home by Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi in the opening round of the Toyota League Cup. The first leg of the pairing, which took place at Surakul Stadium yesterday, was a big step up in opposition for FC Phuket, currently two divisions below their opponents. It was Osotspa Saraburi…
- Phuket News
Chuan Leekpai defends democracy at Phuket seminar
PHUKET: Former prime minister Chuan Leekpai said in a speech in Phuket on Saturday that Thailand’s political crisis stems not from flaws in the democratic system, but from the self-serving actions of some individuals. Mr Chuan, a senior advisor to the Democrat Party, was speaking at Royal Phuket City Hotel at a seminar entitled “Reforming the Country at a Time…
- Opinion
OPINION: Should Phuket be more of a colony?
PHUKET: Consider the humble ant. Ever industrious and capable of astonishing engineering feats, she comfortably air conditions her entire polity, maintains traffic control so no one ever experiences a fatal collision, and supports avidly the concepts of sufficiency economy and Gross Domestic Happiness.She lives in a crime-free, environmentally friendly colony, without recourse to burning hydrocarbons.On Phuket, we too are highly…
- Phuket News
Phuket respects hungry ghosts
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality hosted the annual Por Tor festival this week (August 26-27) to appease spirits said to be visiting families and roaming the streets of the island throughout their month-long reprieve from the spirit world. The festival – chaired by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, his wife Taisika, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana and Phuket MP Raywat Areerob –…
- Phuket News
Media menaced in Thailand
PHUKET: Press freedom in Thailand, especially for broadcast media such as community radio stations and Web boards, has “palpably deteriorated” over the past six years, says Roby Alampay, outgoing executive director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa). “The Internet over the past six years has played a crucial role in allowing people to debate and air their views,” Alampay…
- Phuket News
Phuket newborn dead in a dump truck
PHUKET: A garbage truck driver came across the dead body of a newborn baby while separating trash in the back of his truck in Pa Khlok this morning. Thalang police were notified of the grim discovery by a Pa Khlok Tambon Administration Organization (TAO) officer around 8:30am. “The baby was wrapped in a T-shirt and pieces of newspaper and put…
- Phuket News
Phuket maid murder re-enactment sparks outrage
PHUKET: Emotions ran high in Thalang yesterday afternoon as local villagers and relatives of Sunee Premprasert, the maid whose throat was slashed by an intruder on July 22, reacted angrily to the re-enactment of her murder. Mrs Sunee, 43, was stabbed some 80 times before her throat was slit and she was left to die bleeding on the floor at…
- Phuket News
Snake removed from Norwegian’s Phuket bungalow
PHUKET: Rescue workers from the Phuket Ruamjai Kupai Foundation yesterday removed a large snake from the home of an elderly Norwegian tourist. Chalong Police received a report at 11:30am that a large snake had entered the man’s bungalow on Soi Suki in Chalong Village 9. When workers from the foundation arrived, they found the 78-year-old Norwegian standing inside the dwelling.…
- Phuket News
US Ambassador’s daughter dead in fall
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. The 17-year-old daughter of Eric John, the US Ambassador to Thailand, accidentally fell to her death from the window of an apartment block near the Empire State Building in New York. The Daily Telegraph reports this morning…
- Phuket News
Girlfriend helped Aldhouse escape from Phuket, Thailand
PHUKET: The girlfriend of fugitive murder suspect Lee Aldhouse played a key role in helping the Englishman escape Thailand, Phuket Police said earlier today. Chalong Police Inspector Jaran Bangprasert said the girl, a native of the northeastern province of Udon Thani, disappeared with Aldhouse from their shared room on Soi Khok Makham in Rawai soon after the murder of 23-year-old…
- Phuket News
Phuket tourism: UK growth in 2nd Q augurs well for Phuket
PHUKET: Despite the current woes of the pound, new economic statistics and forecasts for the UK lend credence to the Thai Tourism Authority’s recently stepped up efforts to market Phuket in that country. With growth hitting a nine-year high, The Mail Online reports this evening that Britain’s economy expanded at a faster pace than first thought in the second quarter…
- Phuket News
Phuket roads claim another victim
PHUKET: A motorcyclist died early this morning after his motorbike collided head-on with a pickup truck on Chao Fa East Rd in Chalong. Police identified the deceased as Chaiya Choatang, 29, originally from Takua Tung District in Phang Nga. Mr Chaiya’s motorbike collided with the pick-up, truck driven by Chalong resident Kitti Lukchan, at about 3:30am. Driving southbound at the…
- Phuket News
Bullish on Phuket; Pedophilia suspects nabbed
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Bullish on Phuket Foreign investors find Phuket a lucrative spot in which to do business due to its international appeal as a beach destination, its eye-catching natural beauty and year-round tropical climate, says Allan Zeman, owner of…
- Phuket News
247kg woman rescued, may be bound for Phuket
PHUKET: Overjoyed that she got to leave her apartment for the first time in three years, 40-year-old Amnuayporn Thongprapai, who weighs 247 kilograms (544 pounds) said she was confident that doctors at Central General Hospital would help her to walk again. Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who was present while the woman was being helped out of her apartment yesterday, said…
