News
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Paris church attack foiled as heavily armed man shoots self
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Paris church attack foiled as heavily armed man shoots self Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An Algerian man suspected of planning an imminent attack on a church has been arrested in Paris, with police discovering Kalashnikovs, hand guns and ammunition in his possession, top officials said…
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Foreign crewmen rescued in Bangkok
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Foreign crewmen rescued in Bangkok The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Twelve Chinese and Myanmar crewmen aboard a cargo ship stranded on the Chao Phraya River were rescued yesterday. Rachen Rangmarerng, head of the Port Authority of Thailand’s labor union, said the crewmen, seven of who…
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Net spreads wider over UFUN
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Net spreads wider over UFUN The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Investigation into allegedly fraudulent schemes linked to UFUN Co Ltd’s purported branch UFUN Thailand will expand to cover another three or four related firms, as well as focus on 30 key suspects, the Department of…
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Governor revokes land deeds for Bonanza speedway
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Governor revokes land deeds for Bonanza speedway The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Thongchai Lue-adule has already approved the revocation of land right documents held by Bonanza International Speedway, which is now mired in an encroachment scandal. Solid evidence suggests the firm illegitimately…
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Italian prosecutors blame captain for collision in migrant shipwreck
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Italian prosecutors blame captain for collision in migrant shipwreck Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Italian prosecutors blamed the captain of a grossly overloaded fishing boat for a collision which capsized and sank his vessel off Libya, drowning hundreds of migrants including many women and children locked…
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Suthep provides clips of ‘men in black’ in 2010
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Suthep provides clips of ‘men in black’ in 2010 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday gave the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) video clips and pictures of the “men in black” while testifying in the case in which he is…
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Phuket career car robber flunks again
PHUKET: Police have arrested a man who has confessed to breaking into and stealing items from five cars in Phuket Town on Friday and Saturday night. Pongphol Boondetpiti, 25, was arrested at a house in Rassada yesterday. “Officers searched his house and found several items reported stolen from the robbed cars,” Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Somsak Thongklieng said this…
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Top official in heat-stroke coma after hot spring plunge
PHUKET: A senior official at the Attorney-General’s Office in Bangkok is on 24-hour watch in the intensive-care unit (ICU) at Vachira Phuket Hospital, in Phuket Town, after jumping into a hot spring in Krabi last week. Somkiat Phatkhun, the deputy director of the Training and Development Institute at the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok, is fighting for his…
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Lucky sidecar escape in Phuket underpass prompts fines, safety warning
PHUKET: A garbage collector driving a motorbike with a sidecar escaped serious injury in the first road accident in Phuket’s new underpass, prompting fines, improved safety measures and a warning from island officials. At about 2pm yesterday, the motorbike driver entered the new Darasamut Underpass heading southbound toward Chalong, Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Lueduanghad explained to the Phuket Gazette…
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Fears raised over new wells fouling Phuket groundwater
PHUKET: The Governor’s Office is taking quick action to prevent a slew of new wells excavated in the Kata-Karon area from threatening the local groundwater supply. Phuket Vice Governor Suthee Thongyam led a meeting yesterday at Provincial Hall, where he heard complaints from residents throughout the entire Kata-Karon area. “Local residents use water from shallow wells for their daily necessities,…
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Video Report: Indonesian caught smuggling 5.2kg of cocaine into Phuket
PHUKET: An Indonesian man was arrested at Phuket International Airport yesterday in possession of 5.2 kilograms of cocaine, which he was transporting from Columbia to Khao Lak. Jemani Ikhsan, 63, had departed Bogota, Columbia, on April 18 and connected in Panama City, Panama; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Qatar; and Singapore before landing in Phuket at about 7:20pm yesterday. The cocaine, valued…
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Phuket health officials to crack open alcohol promotion laws, case by case
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has confirmed that it will not take action against restaurant and bar owners for showing images promoting alcohol – unless a specific complaint is made against the venue. The news follows a report of a restaurant owner in Bangkok being sentenced to pay 460,000 baht for breaking the Alcohol Control Act of 2014.…
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New law seeks better control over beggars, and buskers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New law seeks better control over beggars, and buskers The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Cabinet Monday gave the green light to a draft bill on street beggars, which empowers the Social Development and Human Security Ministry to send migrant beggars back to their home…
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DSI provides info for probe into UFUN
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community DSI provides info for probe into UFUN The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) passed information about the case against UFUN Thailand’s alleged pyramid scheme to police yesterday for further investigation, as three more people – one a military officer –…
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Man denies role in Samui car bomb
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Man denies role in Samui car bomb The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Phattalung man who resembled a suspect in a police sketch wanted over the Central Festival bomb attack on Koh Samui two weeks ago met yesterday with police. Nukul Yongnoo, the manager of…
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Anti-fracking protesters rally at US Embassy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-fracking protesters rally at US Embassy The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: About 20 members of the ‘Stop Fracking Thailand Network’ rallied outside the US Embassy in Bangkok yesterday to protest against chemical fracking in this country. Two network representatives, Rangsit University professor Dr Smith Tungkasmit…
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Pakistani tourist found dead in resort swimming pool
PHUKET: A Pakistani woman found in emotional distress by hotel staff early this morning was later pulled unconscious from a resort pool and pronounced dead at Thalang Hospital. Staff at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa in Mai Khao recovered Shumyla Mir, 26, from a pool at the resort at about 4:15am. “Her body was later taken to Thalang…
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Minister battles devastating illegal fishing practices
PHUKET: New fishing regulations are to hit Phuket as Thailand looks to close legal loop holes and enforcement issues being abused by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishers. Experts estimate that the global value of economic losses from IUU fishing range between $US10 billion and $US23.5bn annually, reported US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2011. “IUU fishing poses…
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Man slashed in break-and-enter, claims fleeing teen gang attack
PHUKET: Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a man who was found bleeding profusely in a stranger’s home in central Phuket early this morning. Officers arrived at the home, in the Permsak Villa estate in Baan Manik, Thalang, at about 2:30am. “When we arrived, we found Channarong Unong, 25, on the ground bleeding in front of the house,” said Lt…
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Teacher among two more suspects arrested over Samui car bomb
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Teacher among two more suspects arrested over Samui car bomb The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A teacher is among the two new suspects arrested for allegedly playing a role in the Central Festival Samui bomb blast. An informed source revealed yesterday that the 33-year-old teacher,…
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Epileptic crabber drowns on the hunt in Phuket
PHUKET: An epileptic man drowned while catching mole crabs at Mai Khao Beach yesterday afternoon. Uthai Wongpen, 45, was pulled from the water by Centara Grand Hotel lifeguards on patrol in the area. “We were told by eyewitnesses that Mr Uthai was catching mole crabs in knee-deep water, when he suddenly collapsed into the sea. He was floating in the…
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Mother, sister join Navy search for missing American tourist
PHUKET: The mother and sister of missing American tourist Joshua Devine today joined a search by air for their lost loved one, who disappeared from a dive boat off Phuket on April 11 (story here). Mr Devine’s mother, Marie Gallant Major, and his sister Jennifer Bakowski boarded a Royal Thai Navy helicopter after being briefed on the search efforts at…
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Phuket Poll: Thai police lose battle in gaining trust
PHUKET: A staggering 80% of all respondents to a Phuket Gazette poll have stated that they do not trust the Thai Police – either in part or at all. The message was sent loud and clear through the poll, which garnered more than 12,000 votes (click here). Thai nationals led the charge, with 49% saying that they did not trust…
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Phuket Police bust major dealer, seize more than B7m of drugs
PHUKET: A major Phuket drug dealer was arrested with more than 7 million baht of drugs in Phuket Town on Friday night after police were tipped off by one of her sellers. Thammarat ‘Ken’ Matte provided police with the nickname and clues to the location of his supplier after he was arrested with 400mg of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) earlier…
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Opinion: Lay down the Songkran law
PHUKET: Though I have a great deal of respect for many of the changes seen in Phuket following the National Council of Peace and Order taking over and the subsequent rule of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, I was disappointed to see the Songkran bans announced with such severity (story here) and then enforced with such lack of impunity (story…
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Ex-DSI chief Tarit Pengdith hit with assets freeze
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ex-DSI chief Tarit Pengdith hit with assets freeze The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday announced that it had temporarily frozen nearly 60 million baht in assets of former Department of Special Investigation director-general Tarit Pengdith and a former academic attached to…
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Taxi driver confesses to running down cop, shooting couple dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cabbie who ran over cop, shot dead couple ‘confesses’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Bangkok taxi driver, who ran over a traffic policeman, stole his gun and shot dead a middle-aged couple in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district on Friday, surrendered to police yesterday reportedly…
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Monk disrobed for theft of heads from four corpses
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Monk disrobed for theft of heads from four corpses The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Buddhist monk in Udon Thani province was disrobed in order to face criminal charges, along with two layman accomplices, for allegedly stealing and chopping off the heads of four corpses.…
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F1: The Bahrain challenge – tyres, team rivals and turns
PHUKET: Shanghai provided the exact result I forecasted: Lewis Hamilton followed by Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel, with Kimi Raikkonen well in contention. In fact, the safety car may have stopped any further attrition by the Iceman. It was nice to see Kimi back in form. I speculated before Shanghai about how close Williams could get to Ferrari. The answer…
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Alcohol ban pondered for Phuket passenger boats
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut is considering banning alcohol on all passenger boats operating out of Phuket. The potential ban will be raised at a meeting with tour boat operators on Thursday. The move follows Joshua Michael Devine, 36, a civilian IT operative working at a United States military base in Kuwait, disappearing from on a Similans-bound liveaboard…
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