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Phuket Sports: Premier League Boxing Day delights
Spurs hail Bale after hat-trick makes Villa wail Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale is among the most special talents in world football, manager Andre Villas-Boas said after the left winger grabbed a hat-trick in yesterday’s 4-0 mauling of Aston Villa. Jermain Defoe put Spurs in front in the 58th minute at Villa Park before Bale blew…
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Thailand News: Govt warns scammers; ACMECS single visa today; optimism for tourism
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt warns scammers as Thailand is named top destination The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand has long been ranked as one of the world’s best tourist destinations, with so many awards under its belt. However, the Kingdom’s tourism industry is not untainted. Now that Thailand…
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Tsunami memorial morning service draws “handful of foreigners’
PHUKET: About 100 people joined the tsunami remembrance service at the Tsunami Memorial Wall in Mai Khao this morning to mark eight years passing since the devastating tsunami struck Phuket’s shores. Among the attendees, only five were foreigners. The service began with Buddhist monks conducting a mass prayer, followed by a Muslim service and then a Christian service. After the…
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Rape test results for Burmese teen handed over to Phuket Public Prosecutor
PHUKET: Police have confirmed that the Phuket Provincial Public Prosecutor is now in possession of the case notes needed to proceed with bringing to trial a 29-year-old man who raped an 18-year-old Burmese woman in Phuket in October. “Even if the attacker confesses to having raped a person, we still conduct a rape test so that the scientific results can…
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Phuket Live Wire: An Einsteinian speed anomaly
PHUKET: Last week I talked about the best-known internet speed measuring web sites – not the ones your Internet Service Provider (ISP) sets up and gooses to show impossible scores, but the sites that are internationally recognized as providing a reasonable indication of the speed your line actually delivers. Some of you wrote to me and said that you don’t…
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Thailand News: 3 monks killed in UK; Warning towers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three monks killed in tragic UK car crash The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Thai consul in London is visiting two Thais who survived a head-on car crash yesterday in Scotland in which three Thai monks were killed, the Foreign Ministry says.One of the victims was from…
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Phuket tourists run for their lives as Patong hotel fire breaks out
PHUKET: Tourists staying at a luxury hotel in Phuket ran for their lives after waking up to smoke and fire in the pre-dawn dark today. Seven fire trucks arrived at the well-known Royal Phawadee Village hotel in Sawatdirak Road, near the Patong beachfront, at about 5:30am. Firefighters took about an hour to bring the flames under control. Suchanart Khonkaew and…
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Man found hanged at Phuket park
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a man who was found hanged early yesterday morning near the entrance to the Bang Neaw Dum reservoir, a popular recreational park located in the heart of Phuket. Police believe the man’s body remained undiscovered for about five days before it was spotted by local villagers. “The man was hanged by a blue…
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Phuket tsunami memorial services to shine on
PHUKET: The Phuket community today will honor those who died in the devastating tsunami that struck the island eight years ago, with a ceremony at the Tsunami Memorial Wall in Mai Khao followed by the traditional “Light Up Phuket” candle-lighting ceremony on Patong Beach. Thai official figures state that the tsunami killed 5,398 people and that more than 3,700 disappeared…
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Sydictive Element New Year “mega-beach party’ is on in Patong
PHUKET: The Sydictive Element New Year’s Eve “mega beach party” will be held at the southern end of Patong Beach from December 30 through to daybreak on January 1. The news broke this afternoon after more than two hours of negotiations that followed hours of inconclusive negotiations last night. “Sydictive will have its own party zone within the general area…
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Phuket Governor calls for public transport to resolve traffic jams
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut has called for officials to ramp up efforts to develop Phuket’s pitiful public transport options as the top way of beating the island’s ever-increasing traffic congestion. Speaking at a public seminar at the Pearl Hotel in Phuket Town last Saturday, held by the Phuket Real Estate Association specifically to discuss Phuket’s growing traffic jams, Governor…
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Irish tourist “bottled’ within 24 hours on Phuket
PHUKET: Patong Police are trying to identify the culprit who split open an Irishman’s head with a bottle within 24 hours of the tourist landing in Phuket.Lt Col Jongserm Preecha told the Phuket Gazette that the incident occurred at about 1:30am yesterday.“By the time we arrived at the scene, in front of The Pizza Company restaurant on Soi Bangla, a…
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World News: Activists say more than 60 killed in Syrian airstrike
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Airstrike on bakery in central Syria kills more than 60, activists say Phuket Gazette PHUKET: More than 60 people are believed to have been killed yesterday when a government airstrike hit a bakery in Syria’s central Hamas province where a crowd was queuing for bread, activists…
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Phuket Annual Red Cross Fair 2012 sets prize at over half million baht of gold
PHUKET: The Phuket Annual Red Cross Fair 2012 is ready to rock Phuket from December 27 to January 5 as it offers more than 500,000 baht in gold as the top lucky draw prize this year, eligible to anyone who buys a ticket to support the Red Cross.For the entirety of the 11-day festival, hundreds of stalls at Saphan Hin…
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Phuket Opinion: Santa says a smile is the best Christmas gift of all
ON DECEMBER 25, Santa Claus will be attending a plethora of activities being held across Phuket, among them will be the annual Christmas celebrations at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. Here, the jolly “Hospital Santa” explains what Christmas in Phuket truly means to him.There are many foreigners living in and visiting Phuket, and I am sure that they are going to celebrate…
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International Sports: Queen goes 3D; Clarke to miss Boxing Day test; Messi gets another
Queen Elizabeth goes 3D for Olympics tribute Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Queen Elizabeth will use her traditional Christmas Day message, filmed in 3D for the first time, to pay tribute to the world’s athletes for delivering a “splendid summer of sport” at the London Olympics.In her personal address to the nation, the monarch will pay tribute to the competitors’ “skill,…
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EPL: Chelsea give Villa a blue Christmas
Chelsea hit Villa for eight, leaders United held Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Chelsea, playing with a swagger missing for much of the season, routed Aston Villa 8-0 yesterday as Premier League leaders Manchester United wasted the chance to move six points clear after a 1-1 draw at Swansea City.Chelsea striker Fernando Torres began the goal glut after three minutes at…
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Phuket villager speaks out on Sydictive New Year beach party
PHUKET: While the debate rages on over whether or not the Sydictive Element New Year Phuket beach party will move to Patong – despite already being granted permission to be held at Surin Beach – one local resident has spoken out about how the party would affect the beachfront community, for better and for worse. Somchai Prasongphon, 42, was born…
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Phuket child-exploitation gangs put in the spotlight
PHUKET: A 12-year-old girl fleeing her captors to the safety of officials on Soi Bangla last week, has raised the ugly specter of Phuket becoming a prime human-trafficking and child-exploitation destination, according an international children’s rights agency. The girl, nicknamed “Aoi” to protect her identity, ran up to Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban and about 10 other officers on night…
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Phuket Opinion: Family, the best defense against technology risks
PHUKET: With the holiday season upon us, we would like to encourage all of our readers to take a few moments to pause and reflect on how lucky we are to live in this incredible age of technology. Technology is perhaps the most notorious of double-edged swords. Shakespeare wrote famously in Hamlet that “…there is nothing either good or bad,…
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No Phuket tsunami alert after Sumatra earthquake
PHUKET: No tsunami alert has been issued for Phuket or other provinces along the Andaman Coast following a 5.2 earthquake off the northern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia, at 10:50am today, the head of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office has confirmed. “The National Disaster Warning Center has not issued a tsunami warning alert. We expect that the…
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Bad vibes over Phuket Sydictive party shift to Patong
PHUKET: Leading Phuket tourism figure Sarayuth Mallam has voiced grave concerns about the Sydictive Element New Year’s Eve beach party being moved from Surin Beach to Patong, citing strong resistance from local businesses and Patong Mayor Pian Keesin. “As far as I know, the party organizer wants to change the party venue from Surin Beach to Patong Beach since they…
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Tsunami Memorial Wall ready for remembrance
PHUKET: The Phuket chapter of the US Navy League has announced that the Tsunami Memorial Wall, which in years past has fallen into a deplorable state, has been readied for this year’s tsunami remembrance service on December 26. The Navy League volunteered for the role of caretaker for the remembrance site last year, and the volunteers organized a community project…
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Phuket Sports: Man Utd get Real in last 16 of Champions League
Ronaldo returns to Man United in Champions League Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Cristiano Ronaldo will return with nine-time winners Real Madrid to Manchester United, where he developed into one of the world’s greatest forwards, and Lionel Messi’s Barcelona take on AC Milan in the Champions League last 16.Bayern Munich, last season’s beaten finalists, play Arsenal and Juventus take on surprise…
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Phuket Sports: Fergie scoffs at talk of retirement for trio
Ferguson scoffs at talk of Scholes retirement Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has dismissed media reports that his long-serving trio of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand will leave the Premier League leaders at the end of the season.After newspaper headlines had declared the end of an era, with reports that 38-year-old Scholes had told…
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Aldhouse trial pending UK documents
PHUKET: The trial of British national Lee Aldhouse, charged with the murder of former US Marine Dashawn Longfellow in Phuket in 2010, has yet to be put in motion as the Phuket Prosecutor’s Office is awaiting the arrival of further documentation from the UK, the Phuket Gazette has been told. Aldhouse confessed to police to stabbing Mr Longfellow, but denied…
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Ladyboy survivor sole link to lethal Phuket motorbike crash mystery
PHUKET: Police have released the name of the man who died in a motorbike accident near Chalong Circle just after midnight on Wednesday as 51-year-old American tourist Theodore Paul Roe. Chalong Police Capt Thada Sodarak told the Phuket Gazette that he was notified of the accident, near the base of the hill near Friendship Beach, at 12:30am. “Mr Roe was…
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Stranded Air Berlin travellers airlifted from Phuket
PHUKET: All 249 Air Berlin passengers stranded in Phuket after their plane was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff last night have been airlifted off the island and are currently en route to their original destination: Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Prathuang Sornkham, Director at Phuket International Airport, told the Phuket Gazette that Air Berlin…
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Phuket yachties to honor Stafford Steer tonight
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) will honor the memory of well-known Phuket expat Stafford Steer, who died of cancer on December 8, with a memorial this evening. “He was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer about four weeks ago in Brisbane hospital [in Queensland, Australia]. Tonight at the ACYC we will have a memorial get-together to honor him,” said…
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Phuket Airport closure leaves more than 1,000 stranded
PHUKET: More than 1,000 passengers were stranded at Phuket International Airport last night after an emergency landing by an Air Berlin flight forced authorities to cancel all inbound and outbound flights. Air Berlin flight AB-7425 from Phuket to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, took off from Phuket at its scheduled time of 9:26pm, but was forced to make…
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