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  • Hong Kong teams dominate top classes at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta

    Hong Kong teams dominate top classes at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta

    PHUKET; The final day’s racing of the 28th King’s Cup Regatta was set up beautifully to host some epic, close-quarters King’s Cup clashes. Winds were good, crews were psyched, and the final day didn’t disappoint. Saturday saw all classes come to a close with a total of 123 keelboat races taking place during the week, in addition to 27 dinghy…

  • Surrender and fight for justice, police tell Nopporn

    Surrender and fight for justice, police tell Nopporn

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrender and fight for justice, police tell Nopporn The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri has called on fugitive billionaire Nopporn Suppipat to turn himself in, and fight what the businessman claims are unfair allegations and distortions of the facts…

  • Six Guantanamo prisoners fly to Uruguay for resettlement

    Six Guantanamo prisoners fly to Uruguay for resettlement

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six Guantanamo prisoners fly to Uruguay for resettlement Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET:Six men held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were flown to Uruguay for resettlement on Sunday, the latest step in a slow-moving push by President…

  • NFL Week 14: Cowboys crush Bears, 41-28

    NFL Week 14: Cowboys crush Bears, 41-28

    PHUKET: Quarterback Tony Romo and his Dallas Cowboys blew out a hapless Chicago Bears team 41-28 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday Night Football, the first game of Week 14 of the NFL season. The win raised the Cowboys’ record to 9-4, guaranteeing them their first winning season in five years following a string of three mediocre 8-8 seasons.…

  • Just 3 days to deadline for Phuket’s yellow pages

    Just 3 days to deadline for Phuket’s yellow pages

    /PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2015 Gazette Guide Business Directory, Phuket’s “yellow pages”, have until noon on Wednesday, December 10, to enter (or update) their listings. Businesses not listed by that date will not appear in the directory until 2016. The book for 2015, with details of about 2,500 businesses serving the international community on Phuket, will be…

  • Fire breaks out on Phuket’s Soi Bangla

    Fire breaks out on Phuket’s Soi Bangla

    PHUKET: Firefighters have put out a fire that erupted at a tailor shop in Phuket’s famous nightlife district – Soi Bangla – this morning. No injuries or fatalities have been reported. Police were notified of the blaze by a tuk-tuk driver who saw smoke pouring out of the shop at about 10:30am. “The driver and a friend attempted to quell…

  • Phuket Gazette bumper issue packed with holiday gifts

    Phuket Gazette bumper issue packed with holiday gifts

    PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette begins the annual festive-season early this week with a record-breaking feast of 124 pages of reading for your enjoyment. We’ve been busy with major foreign media leaders to bring you news supplements from the countries and the markets that matter most – now and in the future – to Phuket. Inside this week’s Gazette, on newsstands…

  • Cobra caught by Phuket villagers during cleanup

    Cobra caught by Phuket villagers during cleanup

    PHUKET: A group of Phuket locals trapped a large cobra that they discovered while cleaning up their village in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday yesterday. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived at the scene in Rassada to find the more than 2-meter-long female cobra trapped inside a large basket. “We had to be careful when we caught her, because…

  • Crowds mass at Siriraj for The King

    Crowds mass at Siriraj for The King

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Crowds mass at Siriraj for The King Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Despite the cancellation of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s public appearance yesterday at his doctors’ request, his loyal subjects gathered at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital – as well as other locations around the country – to wish the…

  • Phuket driver survives brutal truck crash after falling asleep

    Phuket driver survives brutal truck crash after falling asleep

    PHUKET: A man had a lucky escape after he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into a streetlamp on Phuket’s bypass road this morning. The metal streetlamp was sheered at the base from the impact of the crash. However, 29-year-old Samart Noonpakdee sustained only minor injuries in the collision. “He was heading home after leaving his job in Patong,…

  • Phuket police foil armed man’s revenge plot

    Phuket police foil armed man’s revenge plot

    PHUKET: Police foiled an armed man’s plan for revenge by arresting him after he sped through a checkpoint in Phuket yesterday morning. Police chased down Vatcharin Chaisen, 26, at about 3am after he charged through the checkpoint in Karon to avoid being pulled over by officers. “After we stopped him, we found two homemade handguns, two rounds of ammunition and…

  • Back to business amid good conditions at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Day 4

    Back to business amid good conditions at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Day 4

    PHUKET: Consistent winds made a very welcome return for Day Four of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta yesterday. All classes sailed, with exceptionally tight action and some big winning margins. The King’s Cup this year has played host to an offering of IRC class racing, especially at the high-tech “Grand Prix” end of the classes such as in IRC0, where…

  • Phuket blood center calls for donations in honor of HM The King

    Phuket blood center calls for donations in honor of HM The King

    PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) has invited all qualified island residents to make a blood donation in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday today. Those wishing to honor HM The King in this way will have a chance to sign a get-well message for His Majesty, explained PRBC Acting Chief Pornthip Rattajak. “We currently have 700…

  • Phuket joins nation to honor HM The King’s birthday

    Phuket joins nation to honor HM The King’s birthday

    PHUKET: Although Phuket residents will not be able to welcome the Royal Family at Amarin Vinitchai Hall in the Grand Palace in Bangkok, they will no doubt be glued to their television screens as HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej appears for an audience this morning to mark His Majesty’s 87th birthday. Since yesterday evening, members of the public began gathering along…

  • Phuket Police turn down bribe, arrest Aussies

    Phuket Police turn down bribe, arrest Aussies

    PHUKET: Two Australian tourists were given a stern lecture and a second chance by Phuket police after the two allegedly tried to bribe police officers to drop theft charges against them. The Aussies, named by police only as 21-year-old Maurice and 25-year-old John Jo Han, were arrested early this morning for shoplifting 10 sport jerseys from a shop on Bangla…

  • Phuket bar owners called to honor Father’s Day booze ban

    Phuket bar owners called to honor Father’s Day booze ban

    PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak has signed a formal request to be issued to all bar owners, restaurateurs and other purveyors of alcohol throughout Phuket to refrain from selling booze tomorrow in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday. Vice Governor Somkiet told the Phuket Gazette that he understands there is no law to prohibit the sale of…

  • Police corruption fugitive a billionaire Thai in the business world

    Police corruption fugitive a billionaire Thai in the business world

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police corruption fugitive a billionaire Thai in the business world The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nopporn “Nick” Suppipat, president of Wind Energy Holding (WEH), is accused of being involved in a scandal linked to former Central Investigation Bureau chief Gen Pongpat Chayapan. It is alleged…

  • Preparations underway for Deep South peace talks | Thaiger

    Preparations underway for Deep South peace talks

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Preparations underway for Deep South peace talks The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: As moves to restore peace in the Deep South go into motion, the Army’s chief adviser Gen Aksara Kerdpol said yesterday that he will speak with facilitators in Malaysia in the middle of…

  • Police Corruption Scandal: Border patrols hunt for more Pongpat associates

    Police Corruption Scandal: Border patrols hunt for more Pongpat associates

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police Corruption Scandal: Border patrols hunt for more Pongpat associates The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Arrest warrants have been issued for two more suspects allegedly involved in a series of intimidation cases associated with former crime-buster Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan, Phra Khanong police said yesterday.…

  • BMA ready to order Aetas hotel demolition | Thaiger

    BMA ready to order Aetas hotel demolition

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community BMA ready to order Aetas hotel demolition The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Aetas hotel will be the largest building to face a demolition order from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration for breaking regulations, its BMA deputy permanent secretary Kritsada Kluntanont said yesterday. “We have ordered…

  • Critical Phuket underpass intersection to close for three months

    Critical Phuket underpass intersection to close for three months

    PHUKET: Phuket City Police have announced that the lanes of traffic flowing between Kathu and Samkong at the Samkong Intersection, the site of the Tesco underpass, will be closed from December 6 to March 1. During that time, motorists approaching the intersection from the east or the west will be forced to make a left turn, and then proceed to…

  • Cambodian monks disrobed in Phuket, await deportation

    Cambodian monks disrobed in Phuket, await deportation

    PHUKET: A group of 19 Cambodian monks are awaiting deportation after they were arrested and disrobed for violating several rules of the Buddhist monkhood as practiced in Thailand. The monks were escorted by Wichit Police and Muang District officers to Wat Mongkol Nimit in Phuket Town to be stripped of their monkhood by Phra Kru Mettaphirom yesterday. The monks failed…

  • No Phuket search for missing South African

    No Phuket search for missing South African

    PHUKET: Top island officers have yet to receive an official request to find a South African man who was last known to be in Phuket in June. Arayaphan Pukbuakao, a Phuket Provincial Police deputy commander, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that he had not received a report about Ezra Jansen, 31, who is being treated by the South African Embassy…

  • Pregnant mum survives horror Phuket crash

    Pregnant mum survives horror Phuket crash

    PHUKET: A five-month pregnant woman and five other people are in hospital after the pick-up truck they were travelling in crashed into a power pole on Thepkrasattri Road early this morning. Jantree Harnhong, 30, was on her way to Phuket with her 33-year-old partner Noppol Karnjanaburi and four others when the accident occurred in front of Muang Thalang School at…

  • Prosecutors claim case against Koh Tao Myanmar pair is solid: source | Thaiger

    Prosecutors claim case against Koh Tao Myanmar pair is solid: source

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prosecutors claim case against Koh Tao Myanmar pair is solid: source The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Public prosecutors expect the case against two Myanmar suspects accused of murdering two British tourists on Koh Tao to be treated seriously by a court in the South because…

  • Govt urged to defer increase in VAT

    Govt urged to defer increase in VAT

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt urged to defer increase in VAT The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand’s leading private organisations are urging the government to delay the planned increase in value-added tax next year, saying that Thais will not be ready to pay more during what is expected to…

  • Charter panel brushes aside call for direct election of Cabinet, PM

    Charter panel brushes aside call for direct election of Cabinet, PM

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Charter panel brushes aside call for direct election of Cabinet, PM The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The suggestion for Thais to directly elect both the prime minister and members of Cabinet has been brushed aside by a subcommittee of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) working…

  • Missing Karen activist ‘never released’ after arrest | Thaiger

    Missing Karen activist ‘never released’ after arrest

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Missing Karen activist ‘never released’ after arrest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A police probe into CCTV footage suggests that missing Karen activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen was never released following his arrest on a petty offence by Kaeng Krachan National Park officials, police investigators said…

  • Royal family to hold much-awaited public audience

    Royal family to hold much-awaited public audience

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Royal family to stage much-awaited public audience The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Their Majesties the King and Queen, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, will grant a much-awaited public audience at the Amarin Winitchai Throne Hall at 10.30am on Friday.…

  • Court orders demolition of luxury Bangkok hotel | Thaiger

    Court orders demolition of luxury Bangkok hotel

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Court orders demolition of luxury Bangkok hotel The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: AETAS, a luxury 24-storey hotel in Soi Ruamrudee, Bangkok, faces demolition within 60 days on the orders of the Supreme Administrative Court, which yesterday upheld an earlier ruling that the construction violated building…