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Australian gunmen walk free after short Phuket Prison stint
PHUKET: Two Australian tattoo parlor owners are now out of prison after mistakenly shooting two German tourists while trying to gun down alleged Danish mafioso Dennis Mark Knudsen on January 22. John Cohen, 32, and Adam Shea, 26, were released on April 11 after having served about 40 days of prison time. “They were sentenced to a six-month, 15-day suspended…
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Phuket Gazette Queer News: Villagers hope to get lucky with “elepig’
PHUKET: Residents of a village in Nakhon Sri Thammarat are queuing up to visit a household where a pig has just given birth to an unusual piglet. The mother of the “elepig” gave birth to a litter of 15 piglets on March 27. Of the newborns, 14 were normal. But one, a white female, had some strange characteristics. It had…
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Phuket Opinion: For the Love of Bob
PHUKET: Many years ago, backpacking through Malaysia, I found myself at a hostel one night swapping stories and listening to a fellow traveller playing guitar and singing.When the dreadlocked musician asked if any of us had any requests I jumped in with “play some Bob Marley” assuming that he would have at least a dozen Marley songs in his repertoire.His…
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Phuket Opinion: Meth-ods for drug abuse prevention
PHUKET: Dr Ruangsit Netnuanyai, the psychiatric social worker who runs the drug treatment center at Vachira Phuket Hospital, is absolutely right that more needs to be done to prevent youths from falling into the potentially fatal trap of drug abuse (story here). As he notes, this effort should start with the most commonly abused substance among young Thais: methamphetamine, known…
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Phuket Opinion: Looking for privacy for Phuket’s addicts
Psychiatric Social Worker Dr Ruangsit Netnuanyai, 36, is a Phuket native who has been working at Vachira Phuket Hospital for 13 years. He is the head of the drug-treatment program at Vachira and also does research on drug treatment for young addicts. Here, he talks about drug addiction in Phuket and calls for a new drug-treatment center and drug education…
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Phuket Sports: England must improve to beat NZ
PHUKET: After the high drama of England’s final test match in New Zealand, which ended with Monty Panesar nervously blocking the final five balls to avoid defeat and the dreaded ignominy of a series loss, the first game before the return Test matches against the Lions (effectively England’s second eleven), ended in a drab draw. Rain, as usual, was the…
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Phuket Sports: EPL’s last day as Wigan take FA Cup and last relegation spot
PHUKET: Wigan Athletic became the first team to be relegated from England’s top flight in the same season as winning the FA Cup after they lost 4-1 at Arsenal, with Lukas Podolski scoring twice, in the English Premier League on Tuesday. The victory keeps Arsenal in pole position to claim fourth spot and a place in next year’s Champions League.…
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Phuket hospital offers free checkups in honor of HM Queen Sirikit
PHUKET: Phuket residents are invited to sign up for free medical checkups at the Phuket Provincial Hospital on May 31 in honor of HM Queen Sirikit’s 81st birthday later this year. The first 1,253 Phuket-registered residents to contact the Provincial Hospital (map here) before May 29 can take advantage of one of a number of checkups available. The hospital will…
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Education Ministry launches nationwide drug-free schools campaign in Phuket
PHUKET: Three schools in Phuket yesterday became the launch focus of a new Ministry of Education campaign to rid schools nationwide of drugs.Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanit, joined by Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut and 850 other participants, including education officials from throughout the Andaman provinces, announced the “White School” anti-drugs campaign at Satree Phuket School in Phuket Town.Mr Sermsak explained…
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Phuket’s Laguna win the JLL Hotels cricket league
PHUKET: It was a much anticipated match between Patong CC and Laguna last Sunday as they met to decide Phuket’s Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Cricket League champions 2013, at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG). In a thrilling game Laguna got off to a terrible start, but they dug deep to post a defendable total of 165 runs against a very…
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Phuket Gazette World News: US chides Russia; US train crash; Crucial evidence withheld from ex-Russian spy’s inquest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. chides Russia over missiles as peace plans suffer Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The United States chided Russia for sending missiles to the Syrian government as plans for a peace conference promoted by Washington and Moscow were hit by diplomatic rifts over its scope and purpose.Sectarian bloodshed…
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Phuket plants 24k mangrove seedlings to honor HM Queen Sirikit
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut this morning led more than 1,200 people in a mass planting of mangrove trees to honor HM Queen Sirikit’s 80th birthday.A total of 24,000 seedlings were planted over about 47 rai of land in the Klong Mudong area of Chalong.“Among the specimens planted were Rhizophora apiculata, Ceriops tagal and white bean,” explained Kasem Sukwaree, chief…
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Phuket FC need to tame the Wild Horses
PHUKET: The Islanders will face newly promoted Rayong FC at Surakul Stadium tomorrow and will look to return to winning ways. Phuket’s push for promotion has stalled recently due to the club failing to win any of their last three games, which included two draws and a loss. Phuket currently sit sixth in the league, five points behind top of…
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Police urge Phuket tourists to use Tourist Buddy app
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourist Police are urging visitors to the island to download and register the agency’s Tourist Buddy application, which is now available on Google Play for devices running the Android platform (click here). The Tourist Police launched its Tourist Buddy app on Apple’s iTunes store last month, making it instantly available for iPhone and iPad users (click here).…
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Monsoon weather brings trash to Phuket shore
PHUKET: Broken glass, plastic and wood with protruding nails washing ashore on Patong Beach have alarmed Phuket tourists, but local authorities say they our powerless to prevent the dangerous flotsam.Though officers from Patong Municipality’s Public Health Office collect trash strewn along the beach every morning, they are finding it difficult to keep the sand clear of debris.“It’s the same problem…
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Marine officials urge Phuket boat owners to be vigilant
PHUKET: In the wake of recent break-ins and thefts on yachts anchored around Phuket, the marine authorities are urging boat owners to ensure their boats are secure. “In order to protect yacht property from being stolen, I suggest yacht owners have round-the-clock security on their boats. They should protect their boats as they protect their houses,” said Lt Col Chatchai…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Texas tornado kills six; Nepal passenger plane crash – all survive; Mayan pyramid bulldozed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Monster Texas tornado kills six, seven people missing Reuters/ Phuket GazettePHUKET: Six people were dead and seven missing after a powerful tornado ripped through a neighbourhood that included housing for the poor in the north Texas town of Granbury, marking the deadliest severe storm outbreak in the…
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Phuket coral restoration begins as seawalking continues
PHUKET: Marine officers and volunteer divers who headed to Khai Nai island on Tuesday to help restore damaged coral – allegedly wrecked by a seawalking tour company (story here) – found the company back on site leading a tour when they arrived. “We saw a ship named Sea Lion in the area with a speedboat alongside. People were on the…
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Phuket high-speed pursuit ends in fight, heroin bust
PHUKET: Two policemen on motorbikes chased two men believed to be carrying drugs through the early morning streets of Thalang today, fought with the pair and eventually arrested one of them – a vegetable seller – with almost 50 grams of heroin.Alerted by a tip-off that Wig Nillawan, 52, and another man would be picking up drugs delivered on the…
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Phuket ice factory blazes hot
PHUKET: A storage facility at the Thung Thong Ice Factory on Phuket’s busy Chao Fa West Road burst into flames this afternoon. The one-storey wooden building, north of the Software Park Phuket (map here), housed two ice storage freezers and one orange ice tank. Thung Thong Ice Factory Distribution Director Punnatorn Suphonthawee estimated the fire caused about 30,000 baht in…
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Resorts north of Phuket lose beachfront to raging sea
PHUKET: Waves two meters high have caused damage along 13 kilometers of beachfront at Bang Niang Beach in Phang Nga.The coastal erosion has forced at least one hotel owner to set up sandbags to protect against the sea and prompted the local mayor to call for help from the Phang Nga Governor.“Hotels in the area were damaged and a wall…
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Krabi farmers threaten airport blockade
PHUKET: Krabi palm oil and rubber plantation workers have threatened to blockade Krabi Airport if the government does not increase the legal minimum prices for their produce by next Thursday.More than 500 plantation workers gathered in front of Krabi Provincial Hall on Tuesday morning to file a complaint to be handed to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.The complaint calls for the…
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Bangkok officers in Phuket to stamp out public butts
PHUKET: Flagrant disregard for non-smoking laws in Phuket has prompted officers from the Bureau of Tobacco Control in Bangkok to plaster Phuket International Airport, Phuket Bus Terminal 2 and a variety of private businesses across the island with no-smoking stickers.“Most public areas are smoke-free areas by law, yet we still have found many tourists and local business operators disobeying the…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Cyclone Mahasen crosses Bangladesh coast, two dead; one million evacuated
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cyclone Mahasen crosses Bangladesh coast, two dead; one million evacuated Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Cyclone Mahasen started crossing Bangladesh’s low-lying coast earlier today, bearing down on the ports of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, as tens of thousands of people huddled in shelters from a storm which the…
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New school year means busy Phuket pawnshops
PHUKET: As the new school year started in Phuket yesterday, parents turned to the Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop to cash in items to pay for their children’s school supplies. Trade was brisk at the government pawnshop, up 20 per cent on last year, said staff. The occasion brought Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut and local officials to the pawnshop on Komarapat…
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Phuket teens deny attacking Burmese man, motorbike arson
PHUKET: Three Phuket teenagers arrested last night have denied police charges of beating a Burmese man and setting his motorbike on fire.A fourth member of the gang is still being sought by police.The suspects, Vechayun Boonsit, 19, as well as a 16-year-old minor and a 18-year-old, whose names police asked to be withheld, allegedly attacked a Burmese man and threatened…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Syria savagery as soldier rips out, bites heart; Rohingya drown in Cyclone Mahasen; Saudi SARS; Japanese sex slave outrage
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rohingya Muslims drown off Myanmar trying to flee storm Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A boat carrying about 100 Rohingya Muslims capsized off western Myanmar and many were feared drowned at the beginning of a mass evacuation from low-lying regions ahead of a powerful storm, a United Nations…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Local Govt protests budgets; Asia-Pacific experts to join Bangkok Water Summit; Small schools now to ‘merge’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Local bodies demand Bt57 bn in total funding The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Leaders of the three key local administrative bodies have threatened to step up protests if their demands for the government to review the 2014 fiscal budget and provide them with 30 per cent of…
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Australians consider opening consulate on Phuket
PHUKET: A decision on whether or not to open an Australian consulate in Phuket is expected to be made within a month, Australian Honorary Consul Larry Cunningham told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “We have more deaths in Phuket than we have in Bali. We certainly need extra staffing,” he said. Mr Cunningham discussed the issue with Australian Ambassador James…
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After Phuket, Capt Tan makes record-breaking landing in Malaysia
PHUKET: Captain James Anthony Tan of Malaysia has completed the world’s youngest solo flight circumnavigation after departing Phuket at 11am today to land safely in Kuala Lumpur at 4:51pm local time. Capt Tan arrived in Phuket yesterday and attended a party in his honor at the Dewa Phuket Beach Resort in Nai Yang last night, hosted by Tourism Malaysia, which…
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