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If you plan to stay longer in Thailand, having health insurance is now more important than ever. Thai immigration often asks for proof of medical coverage when you apply to extend your visa. This applies to many types of visas,...
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Phuket police celebrate at new HQ
PHUKET CITY: Police combined the official opening of the new Phuket Provincial Police headquarters with National Police Day celebrations yesterday.Police from every station in Phuket attended the ceremony, which started at 9.30am.Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop and Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong gave speeches to the assembled officers outside the new station on Yaowarat Road.As part of an annual tradition,…
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Officials tour Taj Exotica resort site in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: The developers of the Taj Exotica Resort and Spa planned for Koh Lone will consider abandoning their request to build a pier if the idea is rejected during the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval process, the Gazette has learned. Members of a provincial oversight committee on Monday afternoon toured the proposed 136-rai project site, located on the east…
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Fixtures announced for Phuket Kata Group Cup
PHUKET CITY: Organizers of the Phuket Kata Group Cup have announced the opening fixtures for the four-team tournament, which kicks off on October 27 at Surakul Stadium. In the semifinal matches, the Thailand XI, coached by new boss and former England star Bryan Robson, will face 2009 Myanmar National League Cup winners Yadanabon FC, while Thai Premier League champions Muang…
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Villagers protest Phuket Panason City Project
WICHIT, PHUKET: For the fifth time in three months, villagers living in Ketkaew Village near Phuket’s Panason City Project took to the streets in protest yesterday. This time they claimed the housing complex, off Chao Fa East Road, was causing flooding in their village and polluting their water supply. Using a large tent, the protesters blocked access to the 78-rai…
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Phuket power cuts announced
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced the following scheduled power cuts to carry out maintenance on high voltage wires, starting with parts of Chalong on Thursday.October 15 (9am to 4pm): ChalongAffected areas include parts of Patak Rd, left hand side, from Chalong Circle to the Phuket Shooting Range. Patak Villa is among the…
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Phuket man murdered over Bt10,000 debt
PHUKET CITY: Following an argument over a 10,000 baht debt, a man stabbed his friend to death as they were driving together in Phuket City. Nathee Pinyayo, a 30-year-old resident of Phang Nga’s Kuraburi District, confessed to slashing 34-year old Pornsil Makphol’s neck and stabbing him several times in the chest while Mr Pornsil was driving, just after midnight on October…
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Why did Phuket police officers cross the road?
BECAUSE: Phuket Provincial Police have now moved into their new HQ, just across the road from the 40-year-old former headquarters on Yaowarat Road in Phuket City.Although construction work on the new 21-million-baht police station was mostly completed in 2008, officers finally moved in over the weekend, after landscaping work was eventually finished.The new Phuket Provincial Police HQ will be officially opened with a…
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Hearing held for two Phuket road megaprojects
PHUKET CITY: If Friday’s public hearing is any indication, there appears to be little grassroots opposition to two major road projects being considered for Phuket.The event at Royal Phuket City Hotel combined two public hearings into one.By coincidence, the two hearings were scheduled to take place at the same time in the same hotel, causing a great deal of confusion…
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‘Exciting opportunities’ at Phuket AOCAP event
PHUKET: Phuket property and tourism professionals are taking advantage of networking opportunities and learning more about the boom in fractional ownership at the Alternative Ownership Conference–Asia Pacific, which got underway this morning at the Millenium Resort Patong. Key speakers in the property and tourism industries have flown into Phuket from around the world for the region’s first two-day AOCAP conference.…
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Four murder suspects rounded up in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: Kathu Police continue to investigate the June 21 shooting murder of 24-year-old Daruwat “Bank” Burintarakot, a nephew of murdered business tycoon Komkai Kositkun. A major break in the case came last Wednesday afternoon, when Kathu Police led by Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark and Duty Officer Jakkapong Luang-on arrested four suspects. Col Grissak identified the men as: Wuttichai Burintarakot from…
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Thepkrasattri Road in Phuket gets a facelift
KOH KAEW, PHUKET: Traffic jams on Thepkrasattri Road in Koh Kaew will be a familiar sight for up to four months while resurfacing work is carried out at the bypass road junction. Heavy traffic and other factors had caused the road to deteriorate on both sides of the 250-meter stretch now under reconstruction. Starting on the northbound side, all four…
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Phuket triathlon champs to defend titles in December
LAGUNA, PHUKET: Defending champions Richie Cunningham and Belinda Granger of Australia will return to Phuket in December to defend their Laguna crowns, following maiden victories in 2008.For both Cunningham and Granger, victory last year came as a great relief. Neither had ever managed to top the Laguna podium despite competing in the ‘Race of Legends’ five and six times respectively.This…
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Phuket braces for vegetable frenzy
PHUKET: Residents in downtown Phuket are busy gearing up for the annual Vegetarian Festival. Celebrated by the Chinese community on an island best known for its beaches, stylish resorts, and laid-back attitude, the annual Vegetarian Festival showcases Phuket’s more ‘mystical’ side. A combination of vegetarian food, peaceful chants, non-stop ear-splitting firecrackers and often macabre processions, the festival is primarily for…
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Phuket Poll Results: Legalize prostitution
PHUKET: Almost half of the Phuket Gazette‘s readers believe prostitution should be legalized and properly regulated, according to the newspaper’s latest poll. While a majority of expat respondents (51%) favor legalization, just 21% of the Thai respondents did. This is just one of many differences in opinion revealed by the poll, which provoked an avalanche of feedback from readers. The…
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Readers’ Poll: Does Phuket need Patong Tunnel?
PHUKET: The new Phuket Gazette Poll asks readers to give their views on proposals for a Patong Tunnel between tambons Kathu and Patong. Does Phuket really need this project? Would the money be better spent on improving the existing road? Click on the Gazette Poll icon at the top right corner of this page to register your vote. You can…
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Phuket culture center construction stalled
RASSADA, PHUKET: Development of a new cultural center in Phuket to educate visitors about Phuket’s sea gypsy traditions is on hold until more funding can be found to complete the project. Another two million baht is needed to complete the Urak Lawoi Culture Center, which is being built near the Laem Tukkae sea gypsy village on Koh Sireh in Phuket. Two million baht in government funding from…
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Morning Nai Harn jog turns into nightmare
RAWAI, PHUKET: An expat Phuket resident narrowly escaped an attempted rape in the Nai Harn area of Phuket when she was attacked by a Thai man wielding a screwdriver last Friday morning. The victim, 39, told the Gazette today that the attack came as she was out for a morning jog near Nai Harn Lake at about 8am. She was…
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Miss Poland does Phuket
PHUKET: Poland unveiled some of its most prized assets yesterday when 25 Miss Poland finalists stripped down to their bikinis for a photo shoot at James Bond Island off Phuket.The bevy of beauties were quite a sensational spectacle for tourists when they sailed to the island on a Chinese junk-style sailboat and chilled on the beach between photo shoots.Miss Poland…
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“Now I’m a believer’: Phuket cop-cum-medium
PHUKET: A Phuket City policemen who claims he was possessed by gods over 30 years ago will once again shower himself in boiling oil during the upcoming Vegetarian Festival.Police Senior Sergeant Major Pisit Kunsong, 54, is one of many mah song (literally, “entranced horses”) spirit mediums who plan to be possessed by the spirits of Chinese warrior gods over the…
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Phuket car bangers busted
PHUKET: When Phuket police eventually arrested four men in connection with a spate of car break ins in Phuket City, they found the suspects in possession of stolen laptops, a camera, mobile phones, a diamond ring, guns, marijuana and tools for breaking into cars.Three of the men are suspected of breaking into more than 30 cars parked along Thalang, Yaowarat and…
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Wet week predicted for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Phuket residents will get little relief from heavy rains and dark skies over the next week, but the severity of storms should lessen, according to the Meteorological Department office in Phuket. Methawee Nuanla-or, an officer at the Meteorological Department’s South (West Coast) station near Phuket International Airport, said current rainy conditions are expected for the rest of the…
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Karma catches up with Phuket temple robbers
RAWAI, PHUKET: Karma has caught up with two thieves who yesterday confessed to committing a string of temple donation box robberies in Phuket.Monks at Nai Harn Temple called Phuket police yesterday after detaining a man they caught trying to steal money from a donation box on the temple grounds.Chalong Police led by Jarun Bangprasert arrived at the temple yesterday afternoon to find 36-year-old Phuket native Komon Khajornklin detained by…
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Public seminar on Phuket’s green issues
PHUKET: Green issues in city planning for Phuket will be addressed by government and public authorities at Phuket’s first free seminar on the subject, to be held at the Phuket Merlin Hotel this Friday.The seminar, titled PA+S FORUM – Issue Green Attention, will be attended by key speakers from the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planing, Phuket…
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Miss Poland contestants touch down in Phuket
PHUKET: Eyebrows and blood pressures were raised in Phuket this evening when 25 Miss Poland contestants touched down at Phuket international Airport.The Polish beauty pageant contestants are in Phuket courtesy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and they’ll be visiting various venues around the island over the next few days, taking part in a series of photo shoots.TAT’s Frankfurt Office director Suwalai Pinpradab accompanied…
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Phuket’s Sleeping Giant: Shared ownership of property
PHUKET: Shared ownership sales of Phuket properties reached US$ 61.2 million for 2008, validating the sector’s stability despite the economic downturn, according to a comprehensive research study into the industry. The ‘Phuket Shared Ownership Market Report’, compiled by leading Phuket-based hospitality consulting firm C9 Hotelworks, is seen as a natural development in Phuket’s tourism industry, which is well on its…
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Phuket tunnel options explored
PHUKET CITY: A 40-million-baht feasibility study into the possibility of constructing Phuket’s first road tunnel has come up with three options for planners to consider. According to researchers’ preliminary findings, the proposed tunnel between Kathu to Patong would cost between 1.16 and 2.48 billion baht. Main contractor Epsilon Company Ltd is working with experts from PlanPro Corp Ltd and Kasetsart University to carry out the…
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Bangla beggar’s raking it in: Phuket police
PATONG, PHUKET: On a night patrol in the early hours of Monday morning, Patong’s top cop showed a crowd of shocked tourists just how much money Phuket’s beggars can make. Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark stopped a known beggar in front of the Pizza Company restaurant on the famous Soi Bangla entertainment strip. When the contents of the old man’s…
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Phuket prepares for qwacky ‘Race Day’
PHUKET: A host of ‘wacky races’ will take place during the Phuket Community Foundation’s ‘Race Day’ at Canal Village in Laguna Phuket next month. The aim of Race Day is to raise funds for grant-making at the end of the year and to raise awareness of the PCF and its activities. The day will feature kayak races, dragon boat racing,…
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Dragons rounded up before Phuket’s veg fest
PHUKET CITY: Three members of the so-called ‘Dragon Gang’ wanted for a string of robberies in Phuket City were arrested yesterday as part of a pre-Vegetarian Festival crackdown.Thanachote ‘Liw’ Saekhor, 19, Kriangsak Sawasduang, 21, and Rachan Khumphum, 27, all had intricate dragons tattooed on their backs, earning the gang its police nickname.Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong and Phuket City…
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Phuket bungee jumper in near-fatal accident
KATHU, PHUKET: A British tourist was nearly killed in a bungee jumping accident at the Jungle Bungy Jump center in Phuket, it emerged today. Rishi Baveja hit the water below the 165-foot high platform at around 130km/h after the harness slipped from his legs during the jump. Luckily he took the full force of the impact on his chest, escaping head…
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