News
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Dog rape not rape
PHUKET: Police in Nakhon Ratchasima, the gateway province to Isarn known as “Korat”, are investigating a report about a known sex addict who allegedly raped his neighbor’s dog, named Dodo. The incident was brought to light when Attapon Srisopha, the 36-year-old village headman in Tambon Nong Ya Khao, escorted Anuwat Saithong and his three-year-old female Golden Retriever to Sikhio Police…
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Thailand News: Park chief seeks transfer over Billy case; Acting PM insists on elections; Dump fire ablaze again
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Park chief seeks transfer over Billy case The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The head of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Chaiwat Limlikhitaksorn, has reportedly sought a transfer – for at least a month – amid pressure over the disappearance of prominent Karen activist Pholachi “Billy” Rakchongcharoen.…
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Boko Haram offers to swap kidnapped Nigerian girls for prisoners
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Boko Haram offers to swap kidnapped Nigerian girls for prisoners Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The leader of the Nigerian Islamist rebel group Boko Haram has offered to release more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by his fighters last month in exchange for prisoners, according to a…
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Inquiry initiated into death of Phuket mother and newborn
PHUKET: Doctors at Vachira Phuket Hospital began an inquiry today into the death of a woman during childbirth on May 2 and that of her newborn son just two days later. The investigation follows a protest on Saturday led by the distraught husband and father Numporn Intawong and 50 of his family members and friends. Mr Numporn, a 42-year-old Patong…
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Nationwide Visakha Bucha alcohol ban begins at midnight
PHUKET: Bars, restaurants and other retailers throughout Phuket must refrain from selling alcohol from midnight tonight to sunrise Wednesday morning as a nationwide ban comes into effect for the Buddhist holy day Visakha Bucha on Tuesday. “Visakha Bucha Day is one of the four annual religious days on which the sale of alcohol is banned,” Maj Sutthichai Thianpho of the…
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Phuket sailor Scott Duncanson wins his fourth Coronation Cup at Top of the Gulf Regatta
PHUKET: Local yachtsman Scott Duncanson has brought home his fourth prestigious Coronation Cup after securing victory in the Platu national championship finals at the Top of the Gulf Regatta in Jomtien last week. Duncanson, already a three-time winner in 2002, 2008 and 2010, and representing the Ao Chalong Yacht Club, was joined by fellow Phuket yachtsmen Alfie Rowson and Anthony…
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Business as usual for bars, despite bans
PHUKET: Despite a handful of unexpected alcohol bans due to elections brought about by the ongoing, nationwide political protests, business seems to be barreling forward as usual in Phuket’s premier party town. The Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Anoma Wongyai, told the Gazette, “I think because the alcohol bans were short-lived, only one or two days long, they…
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Monsoon rains end Phuket’s worst drought in 30 years
PHUKET: Phuket’s worst drought in the last 30 years appears to be at an end, after heavy showers soaked parts of the island over the weekend and more are forecast for the coming days. “The rainy season has officially begun; these rains are part of the southwest monsoon,” Suntad Panbanpeaw, director of the Meteorological Department’s Phuket office, told the Phuket…
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Patong police snare iguana touts on Soi Bangla
PHUKET: Police arrested two men on Phuket’s famed Soi Bangla last night for offering tourists photo opportunities with iguanas. Police named the two men as Natthapon Kanesing, 23, from Bueng Kan Province in Northeast Thailand, and Sulkeflee Jaetae, 28, from Yala. “The suspects were charged with inflicting harm to an animal and causing a public nuisance,” said Lt Col Sutthichai…
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Australian expat dies from heart failure in Phuket bathroom
PHUKET: Australian expat Ronald Douglas Litherland, 67, from Brisbane, Australia, was found dead at his rented home in Cherng Talay yesterday afternoon. “Doctors have confirmed the cause of death as heart failure,” said Maj Kitthiphum Thinthalang of the Thalang Police. “There were no signs of a struggle on his body, except for a small wound above his right eye.” Mr…
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Thailand News: PDRC heads to bridge; Can’t choose PM, says senior judge; Pattaya to extend beach
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PDRC shuts Lumpini rally site, heads for final battle The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) will today end its rally at Lumpini Park and move all rally sites to Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge. PDRC secretary general Suthep Thaugsuban last night made…
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Rebels declare victory in east Ukraine vote on self-rule
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rebels declare victory in east Ukraine vote on self-rule Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pro-Moscow rebels declared a resounding victory in a referendum on self-rule for eastern Ukraine, with some saying that meant independence and others eventual union with Russia as fighting flared in a conflict…
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Ousted Deputy PM Pracha denies Phuket stroke rumors
PHUKET: Former Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok has shot down rumors that he had a stroke after Phuket locals saw him rushed into the emergency room of Bangkok Hospital Phuket last night. Gen Pracha was taken to the hospital at about 7:30pm after he passed out on his yacht near Naka Island, off the east coast of Phuket. “I had…
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Ukraine consul frets over tourist safety in Phuket
PHUKET: Ukrainian Honorary Consul to Thailand Alexander Zub yesterday formally expressed his concern about the increasing number of road accidents in Phuket, and to discuss the safety of Ukrainian tourists who visit the island. “Ukrainian tourists in Phuket tend to rent motorbikes or cars rather than opting [sic] for public transport, which could increase the risk of them being involved…
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Election massacres of Muslims darken India immigration debate
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Election massacres of Muslims darken India immigration debate Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: From his hiding place in a cowshed, Sefaqul Islam watched as masked gunmen moved through his village, shot women and children dead with automatic rifles and tossed wounded survivors into the blazing remains…
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Indonesian opposition party wins election, eyes coalition for Jokowi
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indonesian opposition party wins election, eyes coalition for Jokowi Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Final results from Indonesia’s legislative election confirmed on Friday that the main opposition party had won, but failed to secure enough votes to put forward its presidential candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo without…
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ANC wins South Africa 2014 election with 62 percent
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ANC wins South Africa 2014 election with 62 percent Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Africa’s ruling African National Congress won the 2014 national election with 62.16 percent of the votes, the electoral commission said on Friday. The provisional result shows the ANC’s main rival, the…
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Phuket man found hanged
PHUKET: Police do not suspect foul play was involved in the death of a man found hanged in his company accommodation room yesterday morning. Fong Waikru, a packer at Faktong Transport Co Ltd, raised the alarm after he discovered the body of his workmate Sompol Buayai, 39, hanged. Mr Fong told police that he noticed the door to Mr Sompol’s…
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Phuket lands B20bn slice of Mall Group B80bn shopping center mega projects
PHUKET: The Mall Group is set to invest 20 billion baht in the development of a 150 rai mega-project in Phuket’s Kathu district as part of an 80bn baht venture to open six world-class shopping centers in expectation of Thailand’s market flooding when the gates of the Asian Economic Community (AEC) open next year. “The BluPearl project [in Phuket] will…
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Thailand News: TV stations occupied, fears of clashes rise; July 20 poll in doubt; Sacred oxen predict a good year
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Final fight’ to bring down govt The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Anti-government protesters yesterday began their “final fight” to topple the embattled government by occupying the country’s five major television stations and other key locations, amid mounting fears of street clashes between rival political groups.…
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When noise is good
PHUKET: I stopped at my local 7-Eleven on the way home from work the other night, tired out from a day of peering at my computer screen and mildly irritated for the umpteenth time at the inconvenience of having to buy something – drinking water – that I get out of the tap where I come from. As I entered…
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Phuket kids to save Karon
Yuphayao Alshammary, 50, has been Director of Suwan-keereekate School in Karon since May 2013. She has an MA in Education Management from Maha Sarakham University and is now pursuing a PhD. Before coming to Phuket, she was director of two rural Northeast schools for more than 15 years. Here, she talks about how supporting education can help solve Karon’s social…
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Legal enigmas: foreigners beware
PHUKET: The news stories that have spilled across the pages of the Phuket Gazette over the past few weeks have thrown into sharp relief what it takes for a foreigner to live on this paradise island. A Russian woman who had made her home here being refused re-entry to Thailand last month because officers from the Immigration Bureau suspected her…
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Russian denied entry at Phuket International Airport over “visa’ crackdown
PHUKET: A Russian national was denied entry into Thailand by Phuket International Airport Immigration officers on April 21 and detained until she could be deported the next morning. Officers denied entry to Mariia Sgibneva, 26, more than a week before the May 3 crackdown on the “three-visa-and-out rule” aimed at stymieing international crime. “They stopped me at immigration, and ask…
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Phuket PDRC supporters head to Bangkok
PHUKET: More than 1,000 Phuket supporters of the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) have left the island to join fellow protesters in Bangkok. The news follows a call by PDRC Secretary-General Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday, urging people from around the country to join the rallies in the capital. “Phuket supporters left yesterday,” protest coordinator Amnuay Kumban told the Phuket Gazette…
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High-wire monkey causes Phuket blackout
PHUKET: Rescue workers were called last night to save a bean-picking monkey that had escaped from the home of its owner and become stuck at the top of a power pole. “When we arrived, the owners were trying to undo the rope tied to the monkey’s neck, because it had become tangled on the pole,” said a Kusoldharm Foundation Rescue…
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Teen worker dies in five-storey fall at Phuket hotel construction site
PHUKET: Sarawut Kumwong, 17, died yesterday afternoon after falling from the fifth floor of a seven-storey hotel under construction in Phuket Town. Mr Sarawut’s employer, Ekkapong Jiasakul, told police that Mr Sarawuth was being handed pieces of timber by Komkrit Jantorarat, 15, when he fell. “We do not know what happened exactly. He might have slipped while reaching for the…
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Hong Kong property tycoons stand trial in city’s biggest graft case
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hong Kong property tycoons stand trial in city’s biggest graft case Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thomas and Raymond Kwok, the billionaire co-chairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, Asia’s largest developer, went on trial on Thursday in Hong Kong’s biggest corruption case since the city’s…
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Swedish PM warns of nationalist surge as EU elections loom
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Swedish PM warns of nationalist surge as EU elections loom Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Europe’s failure to deliver economic growth and jobs has frayed public trust in democracy and fostered a nationalist climate that could reward anti-immigration, Eurosceptical parties in May’s EU elections, Sweden’s prime…
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Families of South Korea ferry dead march on presidential palace
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Families of South Korea ferry dead march on presidential palace Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Parents of children killed when a passenger ferry sank last month led a sombre march on South Korea’s presidential palace in the early hours of Friday morning, where they demanded to…
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