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The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...
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Law suits fly in face of DSI Phuket “mafia’ list
PHUKET: Five of the men whose names or businesses appeared on the Department of Special Investigation’s (DSI) “mafia” list have struck back at the DSI’s allegations that they had links to illegal taxis and organized crime (story here). Three have already filed defamation suits. Thammawat Wongcharoenyut and Siwa Siangyom filed their complaints against the DSI in Phuket on Saturday. San…
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Phuket fighting fish gamblers netted in rubber plantation
PHUKET: A Phuket police raid on a gambling den known for fighting fish netted nine men Saturday morning.“I received a report of a place that was open every weekend for fish gambling,” Thalang Superintendent Sirisak Warasiri said. “So I sent my men to investigate.”“They found a well-established location with tables and chairs for the gamblers,” he said.Police raided the den,…
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18-wheeled truck crash blocks traffic from Kamala to Patong
PHUKET: An 18-wheeled truck slid back on a hill between Kamala and Patong, and is now blocking all lanes of traffic between the popular Phuket tourist destinations.No injuries were reported.“The accident was caused by the truck carrying construction supplies that were too heavy, leading it to slide down and cross the lanes,” said Kamala Superintendent Patanajak Jakkrapan.Police and Ruamjai rescue…
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Rohingya escape from Phuket Immigration
PHUKET: Police scoured mangrove forest around Saphan Hin after having rounded up only four out of 36* Rohingya who to escape from the Phuket Immigration detention center in the early hours of Saturday morning. “We are still searching for the remaining 32 Rohingya. We have contacted all police stations on Phuket and distributed photos of the Rohingya,” Phuket Provincial Police…
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Phuket top officials make merit in honor of HM Queen Sirikit’s 81st birthday
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut led top Phuket officials in a celebration of HM Queen Sirikit’s 81st birthday early this morning by donating alms to monks.The Governor, all three vice governors and Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavalviwat, along with 500 officers and local residents, made the dry food offering in front of Queen Sirikit Park.The government officers were all…
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Concern piqued by fetus hammerhead sharks on display at Phuket restaurant
PHUKET: Local concern peaked in Phuket after photos began to circulate of two baby scalloped hammerhead sharks on display in front of a restaurant in Kata last week.“The ones [scalloped hammerhead sharks] at that restaurant clearly show to everybody that they are fetuses – they are not fully grown sharks, so obviously fishermen caught a female shark somewhere, chopped her…
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Phuket teen fatally stabbed during gold snatch
PHUKET: A 17-year-old woman was fatally stabbed as she fought off a man trying to steal her necklace in the early hours of yesterday morning in Rassada. The woman, Wassana Lerdsongkram, had gone to a Lotus Express with her 2-year-old nephew after midnight yesterday morning. Witnesses told police that a man followed her into the store, where his image was…
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Phuket Airport gets multilingual makeover, bus to resume full service on Friday
PHUKET: The new Airport Express bus service, operating a “hop on, hop off” service between Phuket International Airport and the prime tourist beach destination Patong, will resume full service on Friday. “The bus service will return to the full schedule on August 16,” Prakob Panyawai, the owner of the bus company, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. Services were pared back…
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Phuket’s elite captains mark 24 years of dodging rocks
PHUKET: A gathering of Phuket’s elite captains and core sailors of the local yachting community last night marked 24 years of dodging rocks with the launch of the fourth edition of the essential cruising guide, Southeast Asia Pilot, that made it possible. The latest edition covers the area from the Andaman Islands in Indian territorial waters to Darwin, Australia. In…
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Trio of top cops gather to promote Phuket safety, again
PHUKET: The two highest-ranking police officers in Thailand joined Phuket’s top cop in Patong yesterday evening in the latest campaign to safeguard tourism revenue by convincing tourists that Phuket is a safe place to vacation. Over 400 police officers gleaned from every station in Phuket gathered in formation at one end of Soi Bangla to be reviewed by the Royal…
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Showdown for Queen’s Cup
PHUKET: This Sunday Phuket will host a major Muay Thai tournament in Patong, in honor of HM Queen Sikirit’s 81st birthday. The tournament was announced by the President of the Amateur Muay Thai Association of Thailand (AMTAT) former Thai Army chief Gen Chetta Thanajaro last Saturday during a press conference at the Tiger Hotel in Patong. The competition on Sunday…
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Phuket FC’s new coach to play ‘Brazilian style’ against Nakhon Pathom
PHUKET: The Islanders’ newly appointed (click here for story) Brazilian head coach, Stefano Rodrigues, or “Coach Teco”, said he is confident in Phuket FC’s chances against Nakhon Pathom United in tomorrow’s match. The game, the Yamaha League One’s 2013 season’s 21st clash of the 34 match campaign, will be played at Surakul Stadium with a 6:30pm kickoff (click here for…
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Chinese woman, 22, found dead in Phuket resort swimming pool
PHUKET: A 22-year-old Chinese tourist was found dead yesterday morning floating in a resort swimming pool on Koh Lone, a small island about three kilometers east of Rawai.Peng Yu was staying at the Cruiser Island Resort with a Chinese tour group.“A hotel staffer found her floating face down in the swimming pool,” Thada Sodarak of the Chalong Police said.Ms Peng…
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Human trafficker shot, captured in Surat
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand arrests suspected leader of human trafficking gang Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Thai authorities have captured the suspected leader of a human trafficking gang, who confessed to selling Burmese migrants into slavery on Thai fishing boats and possibly murdering as many as seven, a Thai official said…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Blair, Annan to join reform effort; Trang Airport reopens; Floods hit north; Politics harms investor confidence
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Blair, Annan to contribute to reform effort The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Former British prime minister Tony Blair and ex-United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan have agreed to contribute to Thailand’s political-reform effort, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday.She said both Blair and Annan had unofficially accepted…
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Patong Mayor Pian Keesin targetted in DSI’s investigations list
PHUKET: Long-serving Mayor of Patong Pian Keesin, as well as ten other people and suspect locations, has been named on a Department of Special Investigations (DSI) blacklist regarding illegal taxis. The blacklist was presented yesterday as Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak and DSI Director-general Tarit Pengdith arrived on the island to open the ‘Phuket Organized Crime Center’ (story here).…
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Phuket Opinion: Italy’s Honorary Consul – respect and enforce laws
Dr Francesco Pensato, 53, became the Honorary Consul of Italy for Phuket and Southern Thailand in May. A director of the Thai-Italian Chamber of Commerce, Dr Francesco has degrees in Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Sound Engineering, and is the CEO of World Pharm, JK Drinks and King manufacturing company. Here, he talks about the most pressing problems facing Italian tourists…
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Special Report: Anatomy of a Phuket taxi driver
Special Report The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has opened an ‘Organized Crime Center’ [sic] at Phuket International Airport to crack down on illegal taxi drivers still operating there. The move follows widespread allegations of mafia operating on the island and illegal taxi drivers overcharging tourists. Here, the Phuket Gazette investigates what it takes to become a Phuket taxi driver.PHUKET:…
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Phuket Opinion: Keep hands steady for return to island time
PHUKET: There is a special relationship between time and islands, which Einstein might have narrowly missed quantifying in his examination of the Theory of Relativity. The theory points out, among many other things, that space travellers moving at nearly the speed of light might reach a distant galaxy and only age 26 years. However, here on Earth millions of years…
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Phuket Opinion: Island paradise – it’s the bomb
PHUKET: News of the the unprecedented bomb explosion outside of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) offices on August 1 (story here) came as just the latest blow to the reputation of Phuket as a safe tourist destination. Fortunately, nobody was physically harmed in the incident, though a number of vehicles were damaged. While the bombing itself was as completely…
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Phuket drug users scramble free of police net – two women arrested
PHUKET: A police drug bust yesterday netted only two female meth dealers after several teenagers using drugs at a bungalow in Phuket managed to scramble to freedom.One of the two woman arrested, Supattra Kanam, 24, spotted the police arriving at the bungalow, about half a kilometer from the Heroines’ Monument. She was able to run into the house and warn…
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Guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: The guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins arrived in Phuket yesterday, anchoring at the Deep Sea Port at Cape Panwa.The Higgins, the US Navy’s 26th Arleigh Burke class destroyer, carries a crew of 276 sailors and a formidable armament of standard and vertical-launch missiles, long-range Tomahawk missiles, two triple-tube torpedo mounts and deck guns.“The crew were welcomed to Phuket with a…
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Last Call – Digging my way down to China
PHUKET: Growing up in California, one of my favorite pre-teen past times was digging holes. Not just holes but dark inviting spaces with a purpose. A fort, or looking for buried Aztec treasure, putting time capsules away to be dug up after people are weekending on Mars or the sadness of burying a demised goldfish or two. We never quite…
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Phuket warned human-trafficking record may result in European ban on seafood
PHUKET: Any deterioration in Thailand’s human-trafficking record may lead to a European ban on importing seafood from the Kingdom, Phuket Marine Police were warned yesterday.The message was delivered at a seminar intended to remind local Marine Police and those involved in Phuket’s fishing industry of the legal obligations to be upheld regarding human trafficking.The seminar, headed by visiting senior prosecutor…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: BRN threatens no more peace; Amnesty bill under review; Trang Airport still closed, Fugitive’s son weds star actress
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Insurgents threaten to quit peace talks in latest video message The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: In another YouTube video message released on Tuesday night, insurgents in the deep South threatened to quit the peace dialogue, using inflammatory statements to lambaste Thai authorities on unspecific issues.The clip shows…
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Rohingya refugees protest officials’ prevention of group prayer for Eid-al Fitr
PHUKET: Over 250 Rohingya refugees raged against Phang Nga Immigration officers when denied the right to leave their cells and gather for mass prayer to mark Eid-al Fitr today. Eid-al Fitr is one of the most important days for practicing Muslims, as it marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan (special report here). “The refugees broke out…
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Krabi murder defendants claim US Embassy translator unfair
PHUKET: The three Thai musicians charged with the murder of American tourist Bobby Ray Carter Jr in Krabi on July 31 (story here) have refused to have the translator provided by the US Embassy in Bangkok involved in the trial. The lawyer representing the three defendants explained the complaint to the judge at Krabi Provincial Court on Tuesday, when defendants…
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Body of executed pregnant woman found in Khao Sok National Park, north of Phuket
PHUKET: An unidentified pregnant woman was executed by gun and her body left in Khao Sok National Park, Phang Nga police said today.The body of the woman, believed to have been in her late 20s, was found by villagers in Phang Nga’s Kapong District yesterday.“She was wearing an orange-red maternity dress, and appeared to be pregnant,” Prajak Rodkantuk of the…
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Citizen rescue to bolster safety at Phuket beaches
PHUKET: Scores of everyday people are voluntarily undergoing lifeguard training in order to help Phuket’s strained contingent of lifeguards cope with the growing number of tourists, expats and local residents who need to be saved from dangerous surf.There are currently 38 beach guard stations at 13 beaches in Phuket, staffed by a total of 108 lifeguards, explained Phuket Lifeguard Club…
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Organized Crime Centers to open for business tomorrow
PHUKET: Phuket’s first Organized Crime Center for Tourism is set to open tomorrow, with one office at Phuket International Airport and one office at the Phuket City Police Station. The offices are being established to get a grip on tourist operators extorting money from island visitors, money launderers, illegal taxi drivers (story here) and persons involved in criminal associations (story…
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