Legacy Phuket Gazette
- Phuket News
Phuket storms caused by killer typhoon
PHUKET CITY: The rain lashing down on Phuket this week is not normal monsoon rain but the outer rings of Typhoon Ketsana, which arrived in Thailand today, according to Phuket Meteorological Office. Phuket Meteorological Officer Sophon Sanggaew said the conditions would persist for another two or three days. Typhoon Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall in…
- Phuket News
Phuket autopsy for large dugong
PHUKET: A large female dugong measuring almost three meters long and weighing more than a third of a ton died off the coast of Trang and was brought to Phuket for examination yesterday.The crew of a squid fishing boat found the dugong dying in the sea between Koh Libong and Koh Laoliang in yesterday morning.By the time officials from the Office…
- Phuket News
Phuket Passport Office opens Thursday
PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s Thai citizens will be able to apply for new passports without leaving the island once the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs office opens at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday.Foreigners hoping for visa services, certificate translations and marriage certification services will have to wait, however.Acting chief of the ministry’s passport section, Jackrid Kanjanasoon, said the office will begin…
- Phuket News
Young man killed in Phuket gang fight
PATONG, PHUKET: A 20-year-old shop assistant was stabbed 10 times in the chest and died in front of Bangla Boxing Stadium last night. Tawatchai ‘Noom’ Pookanknam, who sold clothes in a nearby shopping center, died on the scene. Chief Investigator Sophon Borirak said fighting erupted between two gangs of teenagers at around 11pm. The cause of the fighting was probably…
- Phuket News
Phuket Vegetarian Festival drives need for blood
PHUKET CITY: Entranced participants at Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival can pierce their faces with sharp objects, sprint across hot coals and climb knife-blade ladders – without shedding blood, according to local belief. But that hasn’t stopped Phuket Regional Blood Center launching a fresh donation drive in time for the festival, which starts on October 18. Porntip Rattajak, the center’s acting chief,…
- Phuket News
Fun-filled sunset fundraiser on the beach
PHUKET: Catch an earful of live reggae and the latest dance grooves at Catch Beach Club for Patong Rotary Club’s Beach Fun Fest fundraiser on Saturday, October 17.Reggae band Job 2 Do and a handful of international DJs will be pumping out the tunes at the beach from sunset onwards.Tickets are 1,000 each and include a seafood barbecue and the…
- Phuket News
Aussies put Phuket in World Top 10
PHUKET: According to statistics released to the Phuket Gazette today by giant hotel booking website Wotif.com, Australians have changed their travel patterns and are visiting Asia more and more. And Phuket has ascended into the mega-site’s Top Ten world destinations over the past two years. Pointing to the website’s league tables below, Kristy Harrison, Wotif’s Marketing Director for Asia, notes…
- Phuket News
Beach volleyball bounces back to Phuket
PHUKET: The fourth Beach Volleyball Phuket Thailand Open, powered by PTT, is scheduled to take place at Karon Beach from November 3 through 8. Some of the best players from around the globe will be here for the tournament, including the world ranked Number One team of Larissa Franka and Juliana Silva from Brazil. The pair have amassed an impressive…
- Phuket News
Regional IT experts head for Phuket software forum
PHUKET: More than 300 software development experts from nine countries are expected to attend the The Asia Oceania Software Park Forum 2009 scheduled to take place in Phuket next month.The regional IT forum, which will also include the IT Architect Regional Conference 2009, is jointly organized by Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) and Phuket’s recently-opened Software Park.The three-day seminar will…
- Phuket News
New Gazette Poll: Prostitution in Phuket
PHUKET: The new Phuket Gazette opinion poll asks readers to give their views on prostitution in Phuket. When it comes to Phuket’s ‘issues’, prostitution is the elephant in the room. It is technically illegal and receives relatively little official acknowledgment – yet everyone knows it happens. A night out in Patong will confirm it. There are prostitutes in Phuket, and…
- Phuket News
Work restarts on fire-ravaged Phuket homes
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Work to rebuild 17 houses that were burned to the ground in a fire at a sea gypsy village in Phuket at the end of June restarted yesterday after a two-month hiatus. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop arrived at Ban Hin Look Diow village in the morning to set 150 builders off to work again. The rebuilding of…
- Phuket News
New bridge plan good news for Phuket yachties
PHUKET: Phuket yachties will be pleased to know that a 300-million baht deal to build a new Sarasin Bridge includes raising the old bridge to give up to 10-meters’ clearance beneath all three bridges.The old Sarasin Bridge will become a car-free tourist attraction once construction of the third bridge is complete.Italian-Thai Development Co, which built Sarasin Bridge and the newer…
- Phuket News
Phuket businesses face software inspection raids
PHUKET: Computers used in Phuket businesses will be targeted in raids by modern bounty hunters on the lookout for unlicensed copies of software from October 26 onwards.Under intellectual property rights legislation, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) will be sending inspectors acting on behalf of copyright holders to search offices, first in Bangkok and then in Phuket, which is a principal…
- Phuket News
Viagra goes to new lengths in Phuket
PHUKET: Viagra will soon be sold in Phuket pharmacies following a decision by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The drug was previously only available through hospitals or illegally on the black market.The drug, sildenafil citrate, most commonly known under the Pfizer company trade name ‘Viagra’, alleviates erectile dysfunction syndrome (EDS or male impotence).In a bid to stem the illegal sale…
- Phuket News
Phuket Gazette Poll Results: Prevent drownings with better safety campaign
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette readers favor a tourist information campaign as the most effective way to prevent drownings on Phuket’s beaches, according to the last Gazette Poll. Of 806 readers who voted, 34 percent thought a campaign warning of the dangers of swimming in the sea was the best way to prevent more deaths. Thai nationals were only 25 percent in favor…
- Phuket News
Doors open for Phuket Hospitality Show
PHUKET: Cooks, cakes, wines, spas and a plethora of products and services catering to the hospitality industry went on display today when the RPM International Exhibition & Conference Center opened its doors for Phuket’s first International Hospitality Show. The three-day event is attracting a wide variety of people and businesses involved in the region’s hospitality sector, giving participants and attendees the…
- Phuket News
Autism treatment success at Phuket hospital
PHUKET CITY: Vachira Phuket Hospital says it is successfully treating children with autism using a treatment known as ‘hyperbaric oxygen therapy’ (HBOT). HBOT patients spend periods inside a ‘hyperbaric chamber’ – the same sort of high-pressure oxygen chamber commonly used by divers for decompression and treatment of the bends. Parents of children who have completed a course of HBOT at…
- Phuket News
Crown Prince arrives in Phuket today
PHUKET: HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, together with Royal Consort HRH Princess Srirasmi and HRH Prince Teepangkorn Rasmichoti, arrives in Phuket today on an unofficial visit.The Crown Prince and his family will leave the island at 3pm on September 29 via Phuket International Airport, where he will grant an audience to the people.Anyone who wants to attend is advised to…
- Phuket News
Bids invited for Phuket jet-ski insurance contract
PHUKET CITY: Insurance companies have 15 days to submit bids for a contract to insure every jet-ski on Phuket, it was announced at the latest ‘jet-ski summit’ at Phuket Provincial Hall today. By November 8 – thirty days after the bid deadline – every operator in Phuket will have to apply for insurance or stop doing business. For our previous…
- Phuket News
Phuket corruption cases to be fought on home turf
PHUKET CITY: Phuket people seeking justice over incompetent, uncooperative or corrupt bureaucrats will be able to fight for their rights in Phuket when the Phuket Administrative Court opens in 2011. Thailand’s Administrative Courts handle disputes over the conduct of government officers. An event last week at the Metropole Hotel in Phuket City aimed to inform the public about the role of Administrative Courts…
- Phuket News
Phuket people wish His Majesty a speedy recovery
PHUKET: Following His Majesty the King’s admission to Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok on Saturday, a book has been placed outside the Phuket Governor’s office at Phuket Provincial Hall for people to sign and wish His Majesty well. According to statements issued by the Royal Household Bureau, His Majesty was admitted to Siriraj Hospital with a high fever and has been…
- Opinion
OPINION: Let computers deal with Phuket’s jet-skis
PHUKET: Wouldn’t it be better if Phuket’s government were turned over to computers? Surely an application exists whereby, having keyed in the facts, viable results emerge. As it is, local government tends to tip-toe around decision-making until matters are manifestly out-of-hand. Let’s take as a case in point the current eruption involving jet-skis precipitated by a YouTube video-clip showing a…
- Phuket News
Wake for Bill Owen
RAWAI, PHUKET: A wake will be held at Nikitas on the Rawai beach road tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 22) for long term Phuket resident Bill Owen, who died on Tuesday last week. Mr Owen, a popular entrepreneur who made his home on Phuket for more than 20 years, died in a hospital in Swansea, South Wales after a battle with…
- Phuket News
Phuket Excise Office closes big bike loophole
PHUKET: The Phuket Excise Office says big bike owners have until September 25 to pay excise on motorcycles assembled from parts – or face hefty fines. Motorcycles subject to prohibitive tariffs have long been assembled from parts by ‘grey market’ operators in order to avoid paying the tax. Now excise officials insist the owners of such vehicles – not the…
- Phuket News
Pedal power proves popular in Phuket
PHUKET: Environmental awareness was given a boost in Phuket on Sunday when about 250 Phuket cyclists took a tour of the island in support of Phuket Car Free Day.The cyclists, all dressed in orange shirts provided by Phuket City Municipality, pushed off from Phuket Provincial Hall at 9am with a send-off from Phuket Provincial Energy Office director Jirasak Thommayet.The cyclists…
- Phuket News
Turtle found dead on Phuket’s Patong Beach
PATONG, PHUKET: A sea turtle was found dead on Patong Beach in front of Impiana Phuket Cabana Resort & Spa about 6am on Saturday. The olive ridley turtle, found by members of the hotel staff, measured about 50cm long by 43cm wide. Marine Biologist Phaothep Cherdsukjai from the Phuket Marine Biological Center at Cape Panwa said he expected “the turtle…
- Phuket News
Phuket gears up for the ‘ultimate beach party’
KARON, PHUKET: Phuket is about to witness the birth of its very own dance music festival – ‘Roy Fest’, which debuts on Karon Beach this weekend. In Southern Thai, ‘roy‘ means ‘fun’, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hoping the more than 50 international DJs and musicians it has booked for Roy Fest will help the party live…
- Phuket News
Industry experts warm up for Hospitality Show
PHUKET: The region’s hospitality industry is heating up for the first International Hospitality Show, to be held at the RPM International Exhibition & Conference Center in Phuket from September 24 to 26. The three-day event will include a trade exhibition featuring: suppliers from all areas of hospitality; a demonstration forum, the Phuket Culinary Fair; and various industry-specific seminars. Exhibits will…
- Phuket News
Phuket workshop prepares for disaster
PATONG, PHUKET: “How can communities best prepare themselves for disaster?” was the question posed to participants at an international workshop held earlier this week in Patong.The Sixth Practitioners’ Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia and the Pacific was held over three days, September 15-17, and brought together some 190 “influential people” from 26 countries – representing governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and…
- Phuket News
Phuket jet-skis: agreement reached on insurance scheme
PATONG, PHUKET: Phuket jet-ski operators will have to get accident insurance for their vehicles or cease doing business on Phuket’s beaches, it was agreed at the key ‘jet-ski summit’ in Patong today. Inside the packed meeting hall at Patong Municipality today were Vice Governor Smith Palawatvichai, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong, Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark, Deputy Mayor of…
