News
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Video Report: Cyclists roll up for Southern Criterium
PHUKET: The first-ever Southern Criterium attracted more than 300 cyclists to the shores of Phuket and finished without a hitch on May 30, with competitors and organizers already amped up for next year’s edition. Spectators and racers from all around the nation were watching the event results closely at Saphan Hin, as members of the Thailand National Team and professional…
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Human remains found in Patong Hills
PHUKET: The decaying remains of a human body were found by a field worker in the hills above Patong yesterday afternoon. “The bones were found by a man who was hired to clear grass in a local orchard about one kilometer from Soi Prabaramee 3,” explained Patong Police Superintendent Chaiwat Auikam. No identifying evidence was found at the site. “At…
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Opinion: Stop national park plunder
PHUKET: The recent request by the Sirinath Marine National Park chief to invoke Article 44 of the interim Charter in order to speed up the investigation and prosecution of long-standing land encroachment cases raises important questions and concerns. Use of Article 44 would speed up the judicial process in encroachment cases already in the court system and hasten the Land…
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South African tourist caught in Phuket insurance scam
PHUKET: A South African tourist was arrested after he was caught trying to scam his insurance company on Saturday. “On Saturday afternoon, Laurie Viljoen Botha, 33, filed a police complaint claiming that items in his hotel room at Sino Imperial Hotel in Phuket Town had been stolen. Additionally, he claimed that he had been robbed while walking on the street…
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Video Report: Police arrest Korean gambling racketeers in Phuket
PHUKET: Police are searching for the head of an online gambling operation after eight Koreans were caught on Wednesday running a gambling site out of an apartment in Phuket. The arrests follow a report in March from police in Bangkok about the gambling racket. Phuket Police have been on the trail ever since, said Phuket Provincial Police Commander Patchara Boonyasit.…
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Rotary Club of Patong Beach wins top award for service
PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach (RcoPB) has won Rotary Thailand’s highest service award, the HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn Trophy, for its involvement in three projects to help the children of Burmese migrant workers and sea gypsies. Youthlinc, the main project undertaken by RCoPB for which it received the award, focused on improving facilities at the Burmese Learning…
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NACC names names in corruption investigations
PHUKET: The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) named names as it started gunning for local officials tangled up in millions of baht worth of infrastructure and illegal land issuance scandals in Phuket. At the top of the list of 17 cases cited at a meeting led by Wicha Mahakun, spokesman for the NACC, on Saturday was that of former Phuket Governor…
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Cake-box drug runner busted in Phuket
PHUKET: A Trang drug runner was arrested at a Phuket bus stop in possession of about 1 million baht worth of methamphetamine stuffed into a cake box last week. Aorrathai Iadwong, 20, confessed to police that she had been paid to bring the drugs to Phuket by a drug dealer in Trang, whose name she has claimed not to know.…
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Lottery ticket prices to drop to 80 baht in Phuket
PHUKET: Lottery tickets on the island will no longer legally be allowed to be sold for more than 80 baht starting on June 3, Governor Nisit Jansomwong said at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Friday. The meeting with local officials follows Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s decision to replace the Government Lottery Office’s board on May 1 by…
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Ghost riding motorist killed by pick-up in Phuket
PHUKET: A ghost-rider making a u-turn on Phuket’s busy Thepkrasattri Road was killed after being hit by a pick-up truck in Koh Kaew last night. Rescue workers arrived at the scent to find the body of Ittawa Promrang, 42, laying in the road, against the curb. The 34-year-old driver of the pick-up truck, Nuntawat Suwansang, was still at the scene,…
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Man killed in Phuket Town over “bad’ dance moves
PHUKET: Five men were arrested yesterday evening for the stabbing death of a man in Phuket Town earlier that morning. The fatal argument that led to the death of Sayompoo Kuomsup, 21, and his friend Sompong Boonrak, 21, being seriously injured, stemmed from an issue with their dance moves at the ‘At Time’ pub. Police named the men arrested for…
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Patong stabbing leaves ‘drinking mate’ dead
PHUKET: A man was stabbed to death in Patong after getting into a drunken row with a fellow drinker early this morning. When police arrived at the scene at about 3:45am, they found a heavily tattooed man dead on the ground at a house on Soi Paradise. “We checked the body of Somkit Jandawong, 27, and found that he had…
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No gap-guarantee as Phuket lifeguard contract policy remains unchanged
PHUKET: No change in policies in the Phuket lifeguard contract means there are no guarantees that lifeguards won’t walk from the sands again as their contract expires and the dangerous southwest monsoon season begins anew in 2016. “We want the public to be confident about their safety. However, we cannot change the laws or system for the bidding process. We…
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Article 44 tabled to return ‘stolen’ Phuket park land
PHUKET: Officials have requested the use of Article 44 of the interim Charter to reclaim national park land that was illegally commandeered by investors, the Sirinath National Park chief told the Phuket Gazette. The news follows a meeting on Thursday at the Sirinath National Park Office, during which both Phuket and national officials discussed the progress of an ongoing investigation…
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Opinion: Think, then click
PHUKET: If you live on Phuket long enough, or pay attention to the news coverage while you are here, it becomes quite apparent how fascinated islanders – both Thai and foreign – are by horrific road accidents. The sheer number of road deaths that occur on Phuket put into sharp focus how dangerous the roads are and exactly how fragile…
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Business Buzz: Successfully harness social media power
PHUKET: There is no doubting the power of social media marketing as a business tool. The question is, are you using it, and if so, are you doing so effectively? Social media can be very overwhelming as there are so many options it can be difficult to know where to start. It can also be a case of ‘you don’t…
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Fatal Phuket bungy-jumping business ordered closed – temporarily
PHUKET: World Bungy Jump in Patong has been temporarily closed while officials investigate the death of a 25-year-old tourist who was fatally injured at the facility on Wednesday. “The business will be closed for at least a month while police determine if this was an accident or reckless endangerment on the part of the bungy-jump owner,” explained Patong Mayor Chalermluck…
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Busted at Phuket boarding gate for fake credit card shopping spree
PHUKET: Police arrested a confessed credit card scammer as she waited to board a plane back to Malaysia at Phuket International Airport on Wednesday. Koo Ping Sze, 20, was taken into custody after police received a report from Kasikornbank (KBank) that she had used a fake credit card to make a purchase in Patong. “Kbank identified that the cardholder was…
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Opinion: Ethics in today’s social media world
PHUKET: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LINE and an assortment of other social media platforms and blogs have transformed the way news is managed worldwide, enabling news outlets to be more in tune with their readership, while also allowing them to offload their ethics and other responsibilities toward their communities. Social media tip-offs have become a foundation for community news, ranging from…
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Phuket Airport possible base for US military support
PHUKET: Thailand may allow the United States to use either Phuket Airport or U-Tapao in Rayong as a base for planes assigned to monitor the movement of migrants stranded in surrounding seas. “The Foreign Ministry is reviewing the request,” Supreme Commander General Worapong Sa-nganet said on Tuesday. Thailand is setting up the Operations Centre for Patrol and Humanitarian Assistance to…
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Suit up for the SEA games
PHUKET: Thanyapura’s top swimming stars are hoping to bring home a bounty of medals when they dive into the pool and compete at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA) next week. Swimming sensations Peerapat ‘Garfield’ Loessathapornsuk, 18, Patarawadee ‘Ploy’ Kittiya, 21, Kornkanjana ‘Golf’ Sapianchai, 17, and Tanakrit ‘Nok’ Kittiya, 19, will come up against the best in the region at the…
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Video Report: Navy flotilla floats humanitarian mission for Rohingya
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy unveiled a patrolling navy fleet in the Andaman on Tuesday that was given the mission of ‘helping on’ Rohingya and Bengali migrants by providing medical services and translators, as well as food and water supplies. “More than 600 officers have been assigned to this mission, which will be running seven boats, two airplanes and two…
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Finance: One size does not fit all
PHUKET: When it comes to financial advice, my first words of caution to everyone are “never, ever, do anything yourself that you don’t understand 100%”. If the markets seem too complex, there is no reason you can’t handle your financial affairs without using this tool. Every asset class at the end of the day is just that: a tool. There…
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Phuket officials investigate tour companies with foreign shareholders
PHUKET: Officials launched an island-wide inspection of tour companies with foreign shareholders yesterday in an attempt to root out the practice of using Thai nominee shareholders to maintain control over a company. More than 3,700 ‘foreign-owned’ businesses are registered in Phuket, explained Department of Business Development Phuket Office Chief Nimit Kangkajit back in 2013 when a similar investigation was backed…
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Family of heat-stroke victim donates B200k to Vachira Phuket Hospital
PHUKET: The family of a senior Bangkok official who died from severe heat stroke after leaping into a Krabi hot spring in April has donated 200,000 baht to Vachira Phuket Hospital in honor of their loved one. Somkiat Phatkhun, the deputy director of the Training and Development Institute at the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok, was on vacation…
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Kuwaiti tourist dies in Phuket bungy-jump accident
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a Kuwaiti tourist who was fatally injured in a bungy-jumping incident last night in Phuket. Abdullah Adel Kadhmbadman, 25, was rushed to Patong Hospital by a World Bungy Jump Patong employee. He was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at the hospital. “The man who brought Mr Kadhmnbadman to the hospital first told…
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Pebbles at Phuket skate park cause a stir
PHUKET: The X-treme skate park in Phuket Town was sabotaged with pebbles, creating a dangerous situation for skaters last week. Phuket resident Phakhawat Jret Na Nakon made the discovery when he and his friends went there, according to his Facebook post. “There are pebbles all over the skate zone. We also found the plastic bag used to carry the pebbles.…
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Headless turtle found on Mai Khao Beach
PHUKET: Experts at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) in Cape Panwa are investigating the cause of death of a headless turtle that washed up on Mai Khao Beach this morning. Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers arrived at about 10:20am after receiving a call from a local villager who found the turtle and initially tried to bury it. “We believe the…
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Two men on motorbike killed in collision with Phuket tour bus
PHUKET: Two men on a motorbike were killed when they were hit and dragged by a tour bus on Thepkrasattri Road early this morning. The bodies of Thai national Somwang Chuaykamchu, 31, and Myanmar national Aung Myint, 32, were underneath the bus when police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived at the scene near the entrance of Thai Watsadu in…
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Police work to identify dead body found outside Phuket resort
PHUKET: Police are working to identify a man whose body was found near the Baan Krating Phuket Resort in Rawai on Saturday. “After we received the report at about 8:30pm, we went to the scene and found the body of an Arabic-looking man with a wound on his leg that resembled an animal bite,” said Lt Veerayut Thanyasiri Sukawarakul of…
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