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Phuket-Norway co-operation to promote local use of Electrical Vehicles (EVs)
A meeting was held yesterday (May 7) at the Phuket Provincial Hall hosted by the Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong and the Thai Ambassador to Norway, Prasittiporn Wetprasit. Joining them were Phuket’s Vice Governor Thawornwat Kongkaew along with a representative from Oslo, Sture Portuik and a representative from private sector, Snorre Sletvold. Mr Prasittiporn says, ”The government are supporting Electric Vehicles…
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OPINION: Travelling north – The PM woos his past political foes
Despite his protestations to the contrary, the Thai PM is leveraging himself exactly where he needs to be 9 months out from the scheduled national election. A day in the north-east, courting his former red shirt foes, shows that there’s little integrity in politics, no matter who or where you are. Still, completely straight faced, the PM was marching around…
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A mid June summit in Singapore – The Trump/Kim meeting
Mid June. Singapore. That’s the latest betting for the proposed meeting between North Korea’s Dear Leader Kim Jong Un and the US Dear Leader President Donald Trump. Many Asian nations have put up their hands to host the historic summit with Thailand being a favourite a few weeks ago, citing it’s long term relationship with the US, neutrality over the ongoing North…
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Fire destroys wooden house in Rassada
Officers from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) stationed at Rassada Municipality were notified of a fire in Soi Tha Jeen in Rassada, Phuket at 5:40pm yesterday (May 6). Fire fighters with three fire trucks along with the Phuket City Police arrived at the scene to find the wooden house well ablaze. It took about an hour to…
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Phuket’s private sector donates money to help Chalong Hospital
This morning (May 7), 9:30am thank-you certificates were handed out to people who have been donating money to assist in the completion of the Chalong Hospital, currently still under construction (the Accident and Emergency Section is already in operation). Certificates were given out by the Director of Vachira Phuket Hospital Doctor Chalermpong Sukontapon along with Director of Chalong Hospital Doctor…
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70 kilogram marbled whipray found in Krabi
A marbled whipray was found in Klongtom by a local fisherman 67 year old Mardya Tamsuan. Mr Mardya caught the whipray while he was fishing this early morning (May 7). The red big whipray is 1.5 metres diameter and two metre from head to tail. The whipray weighs about 70 kilograms. Mr Mardya says, “I took off from the shore…
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Phnom Penh Post sold to Malaysian media investor
The Phnom Penh Post has been sold to Sivakumar Ganapathy, a Malaysian investor and executive at a public relations firm that has previously done work for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government. Sivakumar, who is the executive director of Malaysia-based Asia PR, said in a press release distributed to staff on Saturday that he intends to maintain the newspaper’s editorial independence.…
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Two arrested with drugs and guns
Over the past few days a team of Sakoo Police led by Lt Col Urampohn Kundetsamrit have arrested 17 year old ‘Oat’ and 18 year old Permsak Somsakfrom, both from Phuket. Oat was found with 80 millilitres of liquid kratom inside a pot, one bottle of ‘Datissin’ cough syrup, a can of Pepsi, 50grams of kratom leaf and 400 millilitres of…
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Activists challenge the Thai PM with three demands
Pro-election activists threatened to march to Government House on the fourth anniversary of the 2014 coup if the ruling junta fails to respond to their call for an election in November. The NCPO seized power on May 22, 2014 in a bloodless coup on the premise that it needed to stop Thai’s protesting violently in the streets of Bangkok. The…
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Thai Kane Shepherd heads to F3 Asian Championship 2018
Kane Shepherd, Thailand’s young motorsports star, is racing in the inaugural Formula 3 Asian Championships, certified by the governing body Fédération International de l’Automobile (FIA). Asian motorsports hit another milestone this year with the introduction of the Formula 3 Asian Championships, certified by the governing body Fédération International de l’Automobile (FIA). The championship, which adopts the federation’s new single chassis,…
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Phuket Harmony World Puppet Festival 2018 – Sponsorship available now
Puppeteers from around the world are expected to descend on Phuket in early November for the Phuket Harmony World Puppet Festival 2018. Launched in 2013 by the Semathai Marionette Arts for Social Foundation, the Harmony World Puppet Festival is aimed at promoting puppeteering and helping people to express themselves while preserving their culture through marionette art. The five-day festival regularly…
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Malaysian PM in a fight for his political life
Just south of Thailand there is a looming political showdown that is likely to reshape Malaysian politics, no matter what happens at Wednesday’s polls. It’s the country’s 14 election since independence. On one side a politically-stained, long-sitting incumbent trying to cling onto power. On the other side an opposition led my the incumbent’s former mentor – the 92 year old Mahathir…
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Thailand’s drowning in a sea of plastic
By Piyaporn Wongruang In February last year, a patch of plastic trash almost 10 kilometres long was seen floating off the coast of the Gulf of Thailand in Chumpon province, prompting a wake-up call about the plastic pollution problem which has become increasingly serious in recent years. Tara Buakamsri, Thailand country director for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, which campaigns against pollution,…
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Kanchanaburi seeks recognition of the Death Railway as a World Heritage Site
Kanchanaburi is pushing for its historically significant Death Railway to become a World Heritage Site. A public hearing was held yesterday at the River Kwai Hotel in the western border province to hear the views of local residents. The event was presided over by Kanchanaburi Governor Jirakiat Poomsawat. Almost 52 per cent of local residents backed a proposal by a…
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Two arrested with drugs bought from social media sent via parcel post
The Phuket Provincial Police led by Lt Col Pongpan Siripattaranukul have arrested two suspects this week, buying their drugs through social media. On Friday (May 3) at 8:30pm police arrested 33 year old Jennarong ‘A’ Nareewan at D Condo Kathu condominium. He was found with 50.87grams of crystal meth (ya ice), 15 of methamphatamine (ya bah) and nine bullets. He…
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National parks drawing up plans for clean, cheaper energy
An action plan to develop cheaper and environmentally friendly power supply for national parks nationwide is being drafted in a joint venture involving the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. Officers from all national parks in the southern region attended a three-day workshop in Krabi arranged by the KMUTT and the…
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One night in Bangkok – 45 arrested for drugs and 91 for street racing
It’s been a busy night in Bangkok with nearly 140 people detained or arrested over street racing and others testing positive for illicit drugs at just one late night venue. Ninety-one motorcyclists and pillion riders were arrested las night (Friday) in an ongoing crackdown on street racing in the capital. Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal, the deputy commissioner of the Tourist…
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Had any problems registering your drone in Thailand?
Over the past few years the sight, and sound, of Chinese-made drones flying overhead has become commonplace, if not sometime annoying. Several times I’ve been struggling to hear the wedding vows, or even the celebrant, at marriage ceremonies with the high-pitched buzz of the wedding videographer’s drone whizzing overhead. They do provide astonishing shots for a cheap price. But I…
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Phuket street art group calls for justice over Premchai black panther case
Graffiti in Thailand has so far been an instrument to denounce social injustice following the murder of the protected black panther, and Phuket is another location where this street art is being expressed. A local Phuket group has painted their thoughts on the walls in the heart of old Phuket Town. On February 4, a black panther was killed in…
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Co-ordinated attacks across the South today
Suspected ethnic Malay insurgents bombed power poles and burned tyres on the roads of five districts of Narathiwat early on Friday, police said. This follows a similar attack this morning in Yala where mobile phone towers were torched along with the same burning of tyres on main roads. The perpetrators also hung cloth banners criticising the Thai government. Police say…
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Similan National Park to close for five months
The Department of National Parks (DNP) has announced that the Similan Islands in Phang Nga will be temporary closed from May 16 for five months. Today (May 4) there are still many tourists, both Thai and foreigners especially Chinese, at the Similan Islands. Most tourists want to enjoy the beach before the island will be closed in a few weeks.…
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Six metre python released back to the Krabi forest
Officials of a local foundation in Krabi have released a 6 metre long python back into a forest this morning (Friday) after they captured it at a house in the Muang district the previous evening. The snake, which weighs about 50 kilograms, was captured from a pile of wooden planks near the duck pen of a house in Tambon Tapprik.…
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Five people in custody after bomb-making equipment and chemicals discovered
Five people have been handed over to the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) this morning (Friday) linked to the discovery of 1800 bars of ‘Powergel’ in Pathum Thani last month. Powergel is routinely used as a mining explosive and comes in the form of bars. Two of the suspects are 46 year old Yutthana Chidchol, a police officer from Sakoo station in Phuket,…
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Phuket Court denies bail in alleged property fraud case
PHOTO: Emerald Development Group Facebook page Bail has been denied at a hearing in the Phuket Provincial Court earlier today in the case of Sawit ‘Mai’ Ketroj who was arrested at Phuket International Airport on May 1 over a case involving alleged fraud related to the Emerald Development Group. Khun Mai’s lawyers say they will appeal the decision of the Court…
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Couple arrested over Facebook luxury goods scam
A couple has been arrested for allegedly stealing an ID card which they used to set up a fake retail business selling luxury goods through a Facebook page without delivering the goods. The arrest of 34 year old Napat Jun-anporn and 24 year old Suthiwat Mansathit was announced yesterday (Thursday) after they were apprehended at their home in Pathum Thani’s…
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Only one Patong bar staff failed the ‘purple pee test’
Only one out of 47 bar staff tested in Patong was found with purple urine (when added to a reagent) in drugs tests conducted in a raid of the party zone last night (Thursday). Officials from Kathu District Office led by Kathu District Chief Somprach Prabsongkram along with Patong Police and medical staff from Patong Hospital were randomly selecting Patong…
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Journalists urge NCPO to revoke orders that curb press freedom
The Thai Journalists Association (TJA) is calling on the ruling NCPO to revoke at least three of their absolute orders which have hindered freedom of the press and people’s liberties for almost four years since it came to power. The TJA demand came as it commemorated World Press Freedom Day, which is celebrated worldwide on May 3, to reiterate the…
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Ten illegal hotels found in Krabi
Yesterday (May 3) more than 50 officers led by the Krabi Vice governor Apinan Pueakpong, along with soldiers from the Royal Thai Army Region 4, inspected the popular Ao Nang tourism area. Officers found 10 illegal hotels. Some of illegal hotels had never sought permission to renovate the buildings or permission to conduct and host tour guide businesses. Some of them…
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AKSARA Collection appoints new Director of Hotels and Resorts
The Pattaravornee Family of Phuket are very proud to announce that Mr. Matthew C Hindmarch, who joined the company as General Manager for Kata Sea Breeze Resort and part of the development team of The SIS Kata Phuket four years ago, has been promoted to position of Director of Hotels and Resorts. In this role, Khun Matthew who has been…
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French man killed trying to stop a fight in Bangkok
PHOTO: Thai Visa Sanook website is reporting today (May 3) that police were notified that a foreign man had been stabbed to death at a bar in a guesthouse in Phra Nakhon, Bangkok. See story here Sanook Witness at the scene told police that a Thai man named only as ‘Pae’ was drinking alcohol with his girlfriend last evening until…
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