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MICE: Thailand, Myanmar forge ‘landmark’ cooperation agreement
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community MICE: Thailand, Myanmar forge ‘landmark’ cooperation agreement Phuket Gazette PHUKET: THE THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) is teaming up with Myanmar’s largest business association to hold trade shows and related events in both countries, as Myanmar continues its rapid opening up to international business. The…
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Obec to cut school hours
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obec to cut school hours The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) will start implementing a policy to reduce classroom hours from this second semester, Obec secretary-general Kamol Rodklai said yesterday. The agency would at first reduce study hours in…
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Japanese surrogacy dad Shigeta faces police summons
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Japanese dad Shigeta faces police summons The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police will summons Mitsutoki Shigeta for questioning after a DNA test initially confirmed the 24-year-old Japanese man’s claim that he had fathered the nine surrogate babies recently discovered in a Bangkok condominium. Meanwhile, Boonreung…
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NCPO appoints new national police chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Somyot gets national police chief job in unanimous vote The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung was yesterday chosen in a unanimous 6:0 vote by a junta-installed selection committee as the new Royal Thai Police chief. He will replace Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit,…
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Liberia police fire on protesters as Ebola toll hits 1,350
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Liberia police fire on protesters as Ebola toll hits 1,350 Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police in the Liberian capital fired live rounds and tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a stone-throwing crowd trying to break an Ebola quarantine imposed on their neighbourhood, as the death…
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Phelps confident of getting back to his best
PHUKET: Michael Phelps’ comeback to competitive swimming has been anything but smooth sailing. A series of rare defeats have illuminated the enormous challenge he faces getting back to the top. For a man who re-wrote the Olympic record books, those losses could have been enough to persuade him to pack up his goggles and quit for good, but if anything,…
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B32mn set aside for Phase 3 of Phuket Town’s cable clean-up
PHUKET: A budget of 32 million baht has been set aside for Phase 3 of the project to hide unsightly cables underground in picturesque Old Phuket Town. This stage of the project is expected to focus on Yaowarat, Rassada, Phang Nga, and Montri roads. “Right now we are moving into the third phase. Phuket City Municipality will work closely with…
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Pretty Phuket and gorgeous George Town become bosom buddies
PHUKET: Phuket and Penang’s George Town yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of sister city status. The Royal Thai Consul-General to Penang Srirat Vathesatogkit met with Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut to discuss signing an MoU with George Town. The Phuket Town mayor, the director of the Phuket Passport Office and the Peranakan Association chairman joined the…
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NACC launches new anti-corruption campaign in Phuket schools
PHUKET: Officials launched a new anti-corruption campaign on Monday aimed at raising awareness among Phuket students about the negative effects of corruption. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Phuket office signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with 15 well-known schools in Phuket, including Phuket Wittayalai, Satree Phuket and Phuket Technical College. “We are sending [NACC] representatives to the schools twice a…
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Kidnapper on the run arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Patong Police on Monday arrested a man wanted for a kidnapping in 2008 and his role in a murder in 2006. Somkiet Rawungwong, 27, was taken into custody by officers while he was standing next to the Patong beachfront road near the Absolute Sea Pearl Resort & Spa. “Both crimes took place in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The girl he…
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Missing Phuket girl “Nong Guy’, 13, found alive and well
PHUKET: Sirinut “Nong Guy” Chaowalert, the 13-year-old girl reported missing by her parents on Saturday, has been found alive and well. The alarm was raised earlier today when Nong Guy’s father, Somsak Luesarntiwilai, made a public appeal for anyone who had seen his daughter to contact him urgently (story here). “Friends of Nong Guy called to tell us that she…
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Rubber growers bounce back with with tyre factory
PHUKET: The Rubber Growers Cooperative Federation of Thailand has proposed establishing its own car tyre factory in a bid to deal with the plunging price of natural rubber. The federation chairman, Perk Lertwangpong, said after his meeting with representatives of rubber planters from the 14 provinces that comprise all of Southern Thailand that the strategy was necessary for their survival,…
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Fight begins for billion-baht Phuket land at Freedom Beach
PHUKET: The Land Department has set up a task force to specifically establish whether two land titles covering 65 rai at Freedom Beach – with an estimated value of at least 1 billion baht – were legally issued. The task force was officially formed last Friday and has 60 days to submit its findings, Land Department Deputy Director-General Thammasak Chana…
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Helmetless motorcyclist dead after hitting pick-up truck
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed after colliding with the back of pick-up truck in rush-hour traffic on Thepkrasattri Road yesterday afternoon. “I was on the way home after having picked up my child. We were about to make a u-turn when I heard something slam into the back of the truck,” said Hathairat Songyot, 39. Ms Hathairat called police, who…
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Russia rejects FIFA plea to cut World Cup venues
PHUKT: Russia has rejected a FIFA recommendation to cut the number of host cities for the 2018 World Cup from 11 to nine and stadiums from 12 to 10, according to Russia sports minister Vitaly Mutko. “The plan that we will have 12 stadiums in 11 cities, which will host matches at the World Cup is not changing,” Mutko told…
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Atletico’s Garcia earns Super Cup draw at Real Madrid
PHUKET: Atletico Madrid’s Raul Garcia netted a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup first leg on Tuesday after substitute James Rodriguez had opened the scoring with 10 minutes left. Colombian Rodriguez, who came on for the injured Cristiano Ronaldo at halftime, thought he had won the game when he slotted the…
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THAI steps up fight against Ebola
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community THAI steps up fight against Ebola The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Private and public organisations are putting more precautionary actions in place here against the Ebola outbreak in Africa to ensure safety. Thai Airways International (THAI) yesterday demonstrated aircraft cleaning and vaccination at Suvarnabhumi Airport…
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Gaza truce collapses, fighting erupts, Israel orders negotiators home
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gaza truce collapses, fighting erupts, Israel orders negotiators home Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip collapsed on Tuesday, with Palestinian militants firing rockets into Israel, prompting Israeli air strikes that health officials said killed a woman and a young girl. Accusing…
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NCPO chief Prayuth invited to take the Ice Bucket Challenge
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO chief Prayuth invited to take the Ice Bucket Challenge The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The “Ice Bucket Challenge” fund-raising activity has gone viral in social media, to the extent that even junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has been challenged to take the plunge. Surabot…
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Islamic State says beheads U.S. journalist, holds another
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Islamic State says beheads U.S. journalist, holds another Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Islamic State insurgents released a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley, who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago, and images of another U.S. journalist…
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Champion Nadal out of U.S. Open with wrist injury
PHUKET: Champion Rafa Nadal has pulled out of the U.S. Open, which began on Monday, after failing to recover from a right wrist injury. The 28-year-old Spaniard sustained the injury in practice last month and had been training with a cast on his right wrist, forcing him to miss the Rogers Cup in Toronto and last week’s Cincinnati Open. “I…
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Officials confident 700 rai of Phuket park land to be returned
PHUKET: More than 700 rai of public land inside Sirinath National Park could be returned to the public by September 16 if a dozen land documents under investigation by the Land Department are found to have been illegally issued. “I am quite confident that most of the [12] documents [under investigation] were illegally issued. We are just waiting for officers…
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Phuket’s first underpass opens as construction continues
PHUKET: The 600-million-baht underpass located beside the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall is now open to northbound vehicles, Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Luedwonghad confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. The underpass was opened on Saturday from 10am to noon and then opened to traffic again today after it was determined that the road surface for northbound traffic at ground…
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Phuket official assures Patong kingpin not above the law
PHUKET: Kathu District Chief Sayan Chanachaiwong has vowed that the sandbags in front of the Patong Bay Garden Resort will be removed from the beach, or resort owner and Patong kingpin Preechavude “Prab” Keesin, son of former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, will have to answer to the military. Mr Sayan, accompanied by Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, Patong Mayor Chalermluck…
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Ukraine, rebels accuse each other of attacking refugee bus convoy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine, rebels accuse each other of attacking refugee bus convoy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed as they fled fighting in eastern Ukraine on Monday when their convoy of buses was hit by rocket fire, military spokesmen said.…
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Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The two-year-old girl killed by a short-circuit at an ATM in Trang province was buried yesterday, though police say they have yet to charge anybody. The burial ceremony was held at Wat…
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Ancient human remains unearthed in Krabi, WWII shipwreck found off Chumphon
PHUKET: Ancient human bones have been unearthed along with clay pots believed to be up to 5,000 years old in Khao Na Wang Mi in Krabi, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket. Following the discovery of the bones in a cliff area in Thap Prik, north of Krabi Town, the Phuket-based 15th Archaeology Office director Riam Phumpongphaet said the office…
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Hotel association believes junta’s beach crackdown will lure tourists back
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is encouraged to continue improving the public image of attractions across the country in a bid to draw more tourists in the coming high season. “More major tourist destinations such as Pattaya and Bang Saen in Chon Buri, the city of Chiang Mai, Koh Samui in Surat Thani, Koh Chang in…
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Nationwide wheel-locking campaign kicks off
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Wheel-locking campaign kicks off The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday launched a nationwide operation to lock the wheels of cars found violating the law yesterday in a bid to ease traffic congestion. Pol Lt-General Wuthi Liptapallop, an adviser to the Royal Thai Police in…
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Prayuth vows 2015 budget won’t burden country, will boost economy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO aims to avoid budget debt The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told the National Legislative Assembly yesterday the proposed budget would not leave problems or debt for the country in the long run – as he would only be in power…
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