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  • Phuket PIMEX gets down to business | Thaiger

    Phuket PIMEX gets down to business

    PHUKET: The 2011 Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) is off to a flying start, with Jaguar selling one of their all-new cars and Derani Yachts selling a Monterey 298SS Super Sport on the show’s opening day. Other deals inked include Phuket boat broker Lee Marine selling a 57-foot Jeanneau and a 33ft Fountain powerboat changing hands through a private sale.…

  • Children’s day on Phuket | Thaiger

    Children’s day on Phuket

    PHUKET: Children’s Day activities kicked off in Phuket today with addresses to the island’s next generation by the Phuket Governor and head of the provincial council. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) president Paiboon Ubatising both addressed a crowd of youths and civil servants at Phuket Provincial Hall, one of the many places staging special events…

  • Investors target Phuket as tuna-industry hub | Thaiger

    Investors target Phuket as tuna-industry hub

    PHUKET: In a move that would more than double Phuket’s tuna-fishing fleet – already the third largest in Asia – a delegation of Taiwanese investors are looking to set up an operations center in Phuket to take advantage of increased tuna stocks in the Andaman Sea. The delegation of executives from Singapore-based Seaspire International floated the idea yesterday at a…

  • New Phuket school library opens | Thaiger

    New Phuket school library opens

    PHUKET: Baan Tungkha School in Rassada has opened a library on its grounds for students and locals alike. Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen presided over the opening ceremony of the 600,000-baht facility, one of the few of its kind on the island. School director Wilas Parinyaniyom explained, “Our school committee wanted to gather secondhand books and computers and make them available…

  • Phuket braces for Children’s Day | Thaiger

    Phuket braces for Children’s Day

    PHUKET: Phuket will be abuzz with activity tomorrow as kids celebrate Children’s Day across the island. Free activities for children will be available at the following times and locations: Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukhaban will open events at Loma Park at 8:30am. Activities involve games and performances, a bicycle giveaway and a scholarship handover ceremony for about 5,000 lucky recipients.…

  • Worn out woman opts for penal retreat | Thaiger

    Worn out woman opts for penal retreat

    KHON KAEN: A woman caught shoplifting from a 7-Eleven told police she committed the crime because she was bored with her life and wanted to go to jail. Wipha Chanachuen, 53, said she was tired of working for a living and wanted to rest in an old people’s home – but jail was the next best option. Khon Kaen City…

  • Gruesome offering for pig-headed spirits | Thaiger

    Gruesome offering for pig-headed spirits

    PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: Villagers tried an usual rain-making method last week after two years of drought ruined their coconut harvests. Instead of appealing for the cloud-seeding techniques famous across the land, they instead decided what was needed was an offering of 249 severed pig heads to the spirits of the land. Despite parts of the country experiencing the worst floods…

  • Burmese man murdered in Phuket | Thaiger

    Burmese man murdered in Phuket

    PHUKET: Police are investigating the murder of a Burmese man found lying dead in shallow water off Kata Beach in Phuket yesterday. Chalong Police were informed by local residents that a body was discovered in the water at the south end of Kata Beach at about 8am yesterday. Arriving at the scene, they found the body of an Asian man…

  • “Phuket proud to host PIMEX’: V/Gov | Thaiger

    “Phuket proud to host PIMEX’: V/Gov

    PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak today officially opened PIMEX 2011 with resounding praise. “Phuket is very proud to host such an international event. It is the only event of its kind in Thailand,” he told the crowd gathered at Royal Phuket Marina. “Phuket is becoming Southeast Asia’s focal point for international-standard tourism and the marine industry. International investment in…

  • Chinese tourist airlifted to Phuket | Thaiger

    Chinese tourist airlifted to Phuket

    PHUKET: A Chinese woman is fighting for her life at Vachira Phuket Hospital after a dramatic airlift rescue from Surin Island National Park this afternoon. Lt Cdr Somsak Boonkam of the Naval Air Section, Third Area Command (NASTAC), told the Phuket Gazette that he was among the five rescuers dispatched on the mission. “At about noon we received radio orders…

  • Locals fight to preserve Phuket mangroves | Thaiger

    Locals fight to preserve Phuket mangroves

    PHUKET: Out of fear of losing their community and way of life to “selfish people” allegedly encroaching on protected mangrove forests, Pa Khlok villagers submitted a formal complaint to the Phuket governor yesterday. About 20 villagers, led by chief Cha-euan Hemhong and community leader “Uncle” Jurun Ratchapol, handed the letter to Gov Tri Augkaradacha requesting immediate investigation into the matter.…

  • Phuket set for heavy rains | Thaiger

    Phuket set for heavy rains

    PHUKET: The Meteorological Department is warning of possible heavy rains and rough seas along the Andaman coast over the next 24 hours, as unusually strong monsoonal conditions prevail in what is normally Phuket’s driest month. In a report issued at 11am today, the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) read that a “rather strong” northeasterly monsoon prevails over the southern Thailand’s…

  • Phuket landmark Mom Tri’s Boathouse sold | Thaiger

    Phuket landmark Mom Tri’s Boathouse sold

    PHUKET: The owners of the Trisara resort have announced an agreement to buy Mom Tri’s Boathouse, the long-established resort and restaurant complex on the beach in Kata. The Boathouse issued a statement yesterday that Narong Pattamasaevi, Executive Chairman of the Three Dolphins group that owns and operates Trisara, has signed contracts to acquire 100% of shares in The Boathouse Inn…

  • Phuket foreign property sales to grow 25% this year | Thaiger

    Phuket foreign property sales to grow 25% this year

    PHUKET: Real estate sales to foreigners in Phuket are expected to grow 25 per cent this year to 5 billion baht, according to property development firm Seacon. Nevertheless, sales are likely to remain at least 50 per cent lower than during the boom years of 2006 and 2007, when foreign sales came in at 10 to 12bn baht each year.…

  • Phuket’s PIMEX on track for another record year | Thaiger

    Phuket’s PIMEX on track for another record year

    PHUKET: The Phuket International Boat Show, PIMEX 2011, is set for yet another record-breaking year, organizers say. The annual international event gets underway tomorrow at Royal Phuket Marina and runs through Sunday, January 9. “PIMEX 2011 is really shaping up to set a new benchmark this year,” said Andy Dowden, Show Director of Informa Yacht Group. “The event has attracted…

  • Phuket police warn over “royal souvenirs’ | Thaiger

    Phuket police warn over “royal souvenirs’

    PHUKET: Phuket police are warning residents to beware of men approaching their homes calling for donations, for which, in return, donors receive souvenir plaques bearing images of His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej and the Queen Mother. The warning comes after a group of about 10 men in a Nissan Navara arrived in a neighborhood near the Tha Reua Shrine late yesterday…

  • Tourists get more Phuket beachfront parking | Thaiger

    Tourists get more Phuket beachfront parking

    PHUKET: The new parking zones along Thaweewong Road (the beach road) in Patong have finally been unveiled, allowing more room for tourists to park along the beachfront. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha on Thursday officially opened the new zones, heralded as the first in a series of steps to solve the tourist town’s traffic and parking woes. The changes make about…

  • Phuket holiday death toll reaches four | Thaiger

    Phuket holiday death toll reaches four

    PHUKET: A young man killed in a hit-and-run accident is the fourth road fatality recorded in Phuket during the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign, now in its final day throughout Thailand. The victim, 21-year-old Chalong resident Anek Karnchonchai, died after his motorbike crashed near Baan Kata School on Patak Road in Karon at about 6am today. According to…

  • Skills shortage hampers Phuket MICE market | Thaiger

    Skills shortage hampers Phuket MICE market

    PHUKET: Human resources shortages may be stunting the growth of the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry in Phuket and elsewhere in Thailand. Universities and other educational institutions are being engaged to tackle the problem. Akapol Sorasuchart, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), says that MICE is a rapidly growing sector in the Thai tourism industry,…

  • Canadian tourists killed in Phuket New Year smash | Thaiger

    Canadian tourists killed in Phuket New Year smash

    PHUKET: A Canadian couple, killed in a pickup truck bus (songtaew) smash just fifteen minutes into the New Year, were the second and third road accident fatalities in Phuket in the new year. Cherngtalay Police duty officer Tatchagrit Ritnuang identified the victims as Aryporn Sunthorn, 50, and Kongseng Sunthorn, 61. Both were Canadian nationals of ethnic Chinese descent. Four others…

  • Cooking oil rations hit Phuket | Thaiger

    Cooking oil rations hit Phuket

    PHUKET: Retailers throughout Thailand have begun rationing the sale of bottled palm oil in a move to curb seasonal shortages. Big C, on the bypass road, is limiting bottles of cooking oil to two per customer, while The Nation reports that Tesco Lotus is limiting sales to one bottle of palm oil per customer nationwide. Mr Pramarn Urawan, a researcher…

  • OPINION: Mentality change needed for safe water | Thaiger

    OPINION: Mentality change needed for safe water

    PHUKET: Water-related issues are a constant source of complaints received both at the Phuket Gazette editorial offices and at Provincial Hall. A recent online poll revealed a great deal of confusion among readers as to whether or not household tap water is safe to drink. Overall, less than 20 per cent of those taking part in the poll thought it…

  • First Phuket road fatality for the year | Thaiger

    First Phuket road fatality for the year

    PHUKET: A motorbike rider without a helmet has been reported as the first Phuket road fatality of the New Year. The body of Uthai Maikhong, 33, was found beside his bike in a three-meter-deep roadside drainage ditch in front of Wat Muang Mai in Thalang about 8am yesterday. Local residents heard an accident about 7pm the night before, but in…

  • Phuket ushers in 2011 | Thaiger

    Phuket ushers in 2011

    PHUKET: About 1,000 people from across Phuket joined an alms-giving ceremony in Phuket Town this morning to offer food to 229 Buddhist monks to welcome the new year of 2011. Leading the proceedings at Queen Sirikit Park was Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana together with Phuket’s three Vice Governors: Nivit Aroonrat, Weerawat Janpen and Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak. The three Vice Governors…

  • BREAKING NEWS: Phuket to pull new year all-nighter | Thaiger

    BREAKING NEWS: Phuket to pull new year all-nighter

    PHUKET: Revellers in Phuket’s party capital of Patong are allowed to party all night tonight to usher in the new year, Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukhaban confirmed today. Two areas on Patong Beach have been cordoned off for people who can party until sunrise, he told the Gazette. One area is at the beach road end of Bangla Road and the…

  • Phuket Red Cross Fair underway | Thaiger

    Phuket Red Cross Fair underway

    PHUKET: The renowned annual Phuket Red Cross Fair began yesterday in Saphan Hin. At the opening ceremony, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, with his wife Nalinee, who is President of the Phuket Red Cross, wished the fair to bring joy and happiness to one and all. One of the most popular activities at the 11 day-and-night event is the lucky draw.…

  • Deadly “Seven Days’ – Phuket toll: 17 accidents, no deaths | Thaiger

    Deadly “Seven Days’ – Phuket toll: 17 accidents, no deaths

    PHUKET: After two days of the annual ‘Seven Days of Danger’ national road safety campaign, the Phuket toll has climbed to 17 accidents, but still no deaths reported. The statistics, compiled by the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), list four accidents yesterday in Phuket Town, three in Kathu and two in Thalang. Eleven people…

  • Phuket taxi rolls out special holiday treat | Thaiger

    Phuket taxi rolls out special holiday treat

    PHUKET: As we close out a year in which widespread public complaints against Phuket taxi and tuk-tuk services have dominated local news and made headlines around the world, our editors have this afternoon received a letter which caught our attention. It comes from a long term foreign resident well and favorably known to the Phuket Gazette. We publish it below…

  • Phuket New Year celebrations take to the sky | Thaiger

    Phuket New Year celebrations take to the sky

    PHUKET: Residents in the south of the island have started their Phuket New Year celebrations a little early this year, with the opening of the Rawai Sky Night Festival 2010 at Nai Harn Beach. The festival continues tonight, with stage and live music performances from 6pm. In addition to the live performances and contests, local vendors are selling food, drink,…

  • Phuket Person of the Year Award to be announced today | Thaiger

    Phuket Person of the Year Award to be announced today

    PHUKET: Sixteen nominations from readers, four finalists, one winner. The Phuket Gazette‘s ‘Person of the Year’ Award goes to that person who in the opinion of Gazette editors stands out most for good deeds or excellence as a role model in activating people to work together toward a better Phuket. Who won the Award for 2010? What were the key…