News
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Tourists dodge Phuket jet-ski scam shakedown
PHUKET: Negotiations and a police complaint have mostly thwarted an attempted shakedown by a Bang Tao jet-ski rental operator, who initially asked two Chinese tourists to pay 200,000 baht for repairs to two uninsured jet-skis. Six Chinese tourists hired four jet-skis at Bang Tao Beach on Saturday afternoon, explained Anusorn Salae, the former president of the Bang Tao Jet-ski Club.…
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Finance: If I could be 30 again
PHUKET: In my last column, I wrote about what advice I would give my 20-year-old self, if I could turn back the clock and do it all again. Today, I will focus on a much more recent time frame in my life and discuss what kind of advice I would give to someone who has just turned 30. What are…
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Australian arrested in insurance fraud scam
PHUKET: An Australian teen failed in an attempted insurance fraud scam after Phuket police investigated his claim of being robbed at knifepoint on Karon Beach yesterday. Alex Gorgees, 19, from New South Wales, told Karon Police that he was robbed of cash and personal belongings valued at about 389,500 baht. “He said that three unknown men held him at knifepoint…
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Phuket gears up for the ‘Year of the Goat’
PHUKET: Chinese New Year, ringing in the “Year of the Goat”, will be celebrated in style at Sanam Chai Park in Phuket Town on February 19. The highlights of this year’s event, kicking off at 5pm, will be a performance by a troupe of acrobats hailing from Beijing, as well as a concert by Getsunova, a famous Thai pop-rock band.…
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Patong bar raided for baraku, hookahs
PHUKET: Kathu District officials raided a bar in Patong early Saturday morning for selling hookah tobacco and providing water pipes – a smoking style called baraku in Thailand – to customers, mainly tourists. Barkeeper and Myanmar national Tan Ser U was arrested in the raid of the Red Sky Bar on Sirirat Road at the southern end of Patong at…
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New police station near airport, more officers slated for Phuket
PHUKET: National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang has backed a new police station to be set up near Phuket International Airport, Region 8 Police Commander Decha Budnampeth told the Phuket Gazette today. Maj Gen Decha yesterday personally escorted Gen Somyot, who arrived in Phuket on Friday, to inspect several potential sites near the airport for the new police station. “I proposed…
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French expat survives savage hatchet attack
PHUKET: A French businessman was savagely attacked with a hatchet last night after arriving at his home in Cherng Talay yesterday. Eric Seigneurin, 53, who had just arrived home with his wife from their restaurant business, was attacked as he got out of his car at about 12:15am. “After Mr Seigneurin got out of his car, a man wearing a…
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Bruised Australian PM Abbott survives leadership challenge
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bruised Australian PM Abbott survives leadership challenge Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived a challenge to his leadership on Monday after his ruling Liberal Party voted down a motion to unseat him after weeks of infighting, but the attempted revolt appears…
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Phuket Valentine’s Day event to offer new homes to hermit crabs
PHUKET: In an effort to inspire a love of nature, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) is organizing a Valentine’s Day event aimed at donating new shells for the humble hermit crab. Hermit crabs have soft, spiral-shaped abdomens which are vulnerable to predators. They protect themselves by salvaging the empty shells of other crustaceans and other objects, sadly sometimes…
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Phuket to host NCPO Valentine’s Day concert
PHUKET: Joining the roster of Valentine’s Day events in Phuket will be the “Thailand toward reformation” concert and festival, to be held in Saphan Hin from 10am on February 14. “According to an order handed down from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), 24 concerts are to be held in different provinces throughout Thailand to support the government’s…
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Russian tourist caught in Phuket cocaine bust
PHUKET: Police have arrested a Russian tourist for selling cocaine at a shopping center car park in southern Phuket after he tried to sell the drugs to an undercover police officer. Officers arrested Anton Rybak, 25, on Friday after a sting operation at the car park of the Makro store in Rawai, said Lt Col Kritsana Yardkham, senior inspector of…
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Village CC win over Patong CC lifts them off the bottom
PHUKET: Village CC secured their first win of the season last Sunday with a win over Patong CC to to move off the bottom of the senior league table. Village were looking for their first win of the season, whilst Patong in second place were looking to go top of the league. Patong won the toss and elected to bat.…
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Power pole transformer suspected of setting house on fire
PHUKET: Police are investigating whether a power transformer sparked a blaze in Thung Thong late last night in which the front of a house was set afire, with a car and a motorbike damaged, and another motorbike completely destroyed. Firefighters were called to the scene, in the Irawadee housing estate, at about 11:50pm. They took about 30 minutes to douse…
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Guns seized, staff test positive for drugs in Phuket beach mafia thug raid
PHUKET: Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkhaosutthirak and several high-ranking officials visited Nui Beach in Karon yesterday to investigate complaints by locals that mafia thugs were charging people a fee to use the beach. “We received a complaint filed through the Damrongtham Center that some people had taken control of the area and were claiming it as their own private beach,” said…
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Phuket FC season opens in Trat
PHUKET: The island’s premier football club, Phuket FC, will open their 2015 campaign in the Yahama Division 1 national football league against Trat on Valentine’s Day, with the modest goal of surviving the hotly contested division. “It is challenging to have new players join the squad and getting the whole team playing well,” a realistic Songyod “Coach Daeng” Klinseesuk told…
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BIS youth soccer camp open to all
PHUKET: Time is running out to register for the 3rd BISP Football Camp, to be held on February 16-18. The deadline for entries is February 10. The camp offers boys and girls aged 10 to 18 specialized football training by BISP Cruzeiro Football Academy Head Coach Jonathas Candido and Strength & Conditioning Head Coach Christopher Gaffney. “Our focus is to…
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Phuket beachfront estate faces court probe, trial
PHUKET: An inspection team yesterday investigated the site of an upscale estate by the Eva Group in Rawai ahead of a trial to be held “as soon as possible”. The inspection was led by Tawatchai Sontiwanit, chief judge of the recently formed environmental division of the regional Administrative Court responsible for Phuket. Nitisak Chobdamrongtham of the Architect Council of Thailand…
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Red shirt’s rights to be protected over fake palace statement probe, says Army
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Suspect’s rights ‘to be protected’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Kris Buddeechin, the man suspected of disseminating a fake palace statement on a social networking site, is being held without charge under martial law but junta spokesperson Colonel Winthai Suvari has said Kris’ rights would…
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Islamic State says US hostage killed in air strike in Syria
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Islamic State says US hostage killed in air strike in Syria Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Islamic State said on Friday that an American woman hostage it was holding in Syria was killed when Jordanian fighter jets bombed a building where she was being held, but…
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England get revenge with 21-16 victory in Cardiff
PHUKET: England extinguished early Welsh fire with clinical finishing, a brutal display of forward power and a dominant second half show to secure a 21-16 victory in an absorbing Six Nations Championship opener on Friday. Striking the first blow in World Cup year, England held the hosts scoreless in the second half to quieten a noisy Millennium Stadium crowd and…
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Rugby Six Nations: England to face Welsh dragon’s fire
PHUKET: England must “smash everything in red”, maintain cool heads and silence a raucous Millennium Stadium crowd when they meet Wales in their Six Nations championship opener in Cardiff on Friday (kickoff 3:05am Saturday, Phuket time), England World Cup winner Neil Back said. Stuart Lancaster’s side suffered a humiliating 30-3 defeat on their last visit to the Welsh capital in…
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Hunt on for Bangkok bomber ‘Dragon’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hunt on for Bangkok bomber ‘Dragon’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: One of the two men suspected of planting and detonating two pipe bombs near Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok last Sunday has been identified by his alias “Dragon” and he is reportedly based…
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Jordan military jets pound IS as king comforts pilot’s family
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Jordan military jets pound IS as king comforts pilot’s family Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Jordanian fighter jets pounded Islamic State targets in Syria on Thursday, before roaring over the hometown of the pilot killed by the militants while King Abdullah consoled the victim’s family. A…
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Phuket Police nab serial burglars in Thalang
PHUKET: Two Phuket burglars thought to have been involved in a series of recent robberies of homes in Thalang have been arrested, police announced today. The master thief, 26-year-old Saroj Seubsot, and his accomplice Prasert Thothip, 20, were detained after police discovered a large number of items at Mr Saroj’s house that were linked to the robberies. “Mr Saroj confessed…
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Opinion: Taking surf safety seriously
PHUKET: Kudos to Phuket Tourist Police volunteer Simon Luttrell for providing lifeguards with multi-language warning cards to help keep foreign tourists out of the surf in dangerous conditions. His generous action, though, raises the question of why local authorities and tourism agencies did not take similar action years ago. The cards (story here) address one of the key reasons why…
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Opinion: Phuket Tourist Police should be your first call
Maj Urumporn Koondejsumrit has been chief of the Tourist Police since 2012. He earned a master’s degree in science in criminal justice for leadership from Sam Houston State University in Texas before graduating from the Royal Police Cadet Academy. Here, Maj Urumporn advises tourists to be alert in order to avoid becoming victims of a crime, and promises that Tourist…
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Migrant worker found dead in empty elevator shaft
PHUKET: The body of a migrant worker was found at the bottom of an empty elevator shaft at a construction site in Cherng Talay last night. Police arrived at the scene, a Castlewood Group construction site on Soi Khok Tanot 12, at about 7pm to find the body of Myanmar national San Hla @ Nai, 34, floating face down in…
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Phuket laborer slashes girlfriend’s neck in jealous rage
PHUKET: A laborer was apprehended by fellow workers at an on-site construction camp in Rawai yesterday, after he slashed his girlfriend’s neck with a kitchen knife in a fit of jealous rage. The woman, a Myanmar national named by police only as Ms Yorla, 25, is still recovering at Vachira Phuket Hospital, said Capt Patiwat Yodkwan of the Chalong Police.…
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Phuket Old Town plays host to Sketchwalk 2015
PHUKET: Some of Phuket’s most beautiful and historical locales will play host to the second annual Phuket Old Town Sketchwalk event this year from February 20 to 23. The Phuket Old Town Sketchwalk – organized by the Phuket Sketchwalk Club, Phuket City Municipality and The Attitude Club Co Ltd – will feature many special events, including sketchwalks in Phuket Old…
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Phuket teacher answers prayers of mum with deaf son
PHUKET: The deaf man who disappeared from his family home last week has been found alive and well, and may soon undertake schooling thanks to a teacher at Phuket Punyanukul School for special children. Therdsak Sankaeo, 22, disappeared from his home in Phuket Town on January 27, prompting his mother, Ms Saithong, to make a public plea to find him…
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