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Work underway to fix B400k damage to Chalong road caused by water trucks
PHUKET: Work is underway to repair 400,000 baht worth of damage done by water delivery trucks to a road behind Chalong Temple. Chalong Municipality confirmed today that work began this week to resurface Luangporgluam Road, which runs alongside the reservoir, an old tin mine, after complaints from locals prompted Chalong Mayor Samran Jindapon to ban water delivery trucks from using…
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Body found in Kathu may be missing Indonesian man, say police
PHUKET: Fresh evidence in a missing person’s case has led Phuket police to order a DNA test to confirm whether an unidentified decomposing body found floating in a Kathu pond on May 9 is that of an Indonesian man reported missing since May 7. The missing man Haiki Muhammad, 28, lived near the Thairath Wittaya School, which is where the…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Going without toilet paper
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Opinion: Innovation is just half the battle [video]
PHUKET: In a world where the only constant is change, it is interesting to note that Thailand is now gaining a reputation for innovation. The Gazette‘s cover story this week highlights just one of the many Thai innovations that won prizes at the 44th International Exhibition of Inventions, held in Geneva last month. Among the other big Thai winners in…
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Krabi locals use bamboo leaves to boost income
KRABI: This year’s drought is forcing Krabi farmers to diversify their crops. Boonlap Maepeng, 61, was having trouble producing rubber due to a lack of water when she was approached by a Bangkok businessman looking for dried bamboo leaves, which are used as wrappings for Bak Jang (rice dumplings). Ms Boonlap now collects bamboo leaves from her entire village in…
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Paradise Beach venue threatened with demolition
PHUKET: Patong Municipality is to serve a demolition notice to Paradise Beach Phuket next week, giving the party venue in Patong 30 days to move off the land it allegedly occupies illegally. Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup said Paradise Beach Management Co Ltd, which operates the beach club near Tri Trang Beach, will be formally told to remove the buildings said…
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Truck company billed for road damage
PHUKET: Chalong Mayor Samran Jindapon has ordered trucks carrying water to stay off of Luangporglium-Luangporcham Road after they allegedly caused damage to the pavement. Mr Samran also said the municipality is billing the trucking company for repairs. Mr Samran, accompanied by other Chalong officials, inspected the road after villagers complained of potholes and standing water near an old mining site…
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Head-on collision kills motorcyclist at Koh Siray
PHUKET: A head-on collision with a pickup truck during light rain on May 10 killed a motorbike rider in Koh Siray, confirmed Phuket City Police. The victim was 32-year-old Kanokkarn Samartkij, said Lt Surachart Tongyai, adding that she was on the way to see her mother, who lived about 500 meters away from the crash site. “When we arrived at…
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Two Russians arrested for working as illegal tour guides
PHUKET: Two Russian nationals were arrested at Wat Chalong Temple this morning for allegedly working illegally as tour guides, confirmed officials from the Phuket Provincial Labor Office (PPLO). “They did not have their passports, but identified themselves as Irina Soboleva and Kolia, adding that they were employed by the Anex Tour Company,” PPLO chief Sutthipong Saisakaret told the Phuket Gazette.…
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Burmese man stabbed to death in street fight
PHUKET: Police arrested a murder suspect just a few hours after the body of a Myanmar national was found at Por Pichai fishing port in Rassada yesterday evening. “The body of Rang Gu Au, 29, was found lying in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed in the shoulder,” said Maj Nucharee Longkaew of Phuket City Police. Police named…
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Elderly woman killed in hit-and-run
PHUKET: An elderly woman was left lying dead in the road after a hit-and-run incident in Phuket Town just after midnight today, Phuket City Police confirmed. Ubon Nathip, 67, a resident of Phuket Town, was found dead on Anuphasphuketkarn Road in Talad Yai. Witnesses told police that Ms Ubon was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road. “At this…
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Milo the orangutan dies after stroke
PHUKET: Milo, the beloved orangutan saved from captivity at the Phuket Zoo, passed away last night, Warapong Kosarat, a veterinarian at the Pasupalun Livestock & Wildlife Hospital confirmed. The 13-year-old orangutan disappeared from the Phuket Zoo ahead of a raid on the facility in February (story here). Khao Phra Thaeo Non Hunting Zone officers then discovered her trapped in a…
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Thai actor laughs on land claims, for now
PHUKET: The standing committee presiding over a land ownership dispute of 24 rai on Naka Noi Island, just off Phuket’s east coast, has voted to revoke the land ownership of Six Mountains Co Ltd. Further actions are expected to be carried out by the Land Department, Phuket Land Office Chief Watcharin Jetanavanich confirmed yesterday. “The committee’s decision is only an…
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Thailand Yacht Show dates announced
PHUKET: The dates for the second edition of the Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) have now been confirmed for December 15-18, with the massive event to be held once again at Phuket’s prestigious Ao Por Grand Marina. In making the announcement, managing director Andy Treadwell of show organizers SYE Pte Ltd, noted that as a joint venture with the Government of…
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Canadian crash victim’s father appeals for more A-negative blood
PHUKET: Dennis Connelly, the father of Canadian crash victim David Lee Connelly, 40, has appealed for more donations of A-negative blood to help save his son. David Connelly is currently at Bangkok Hospital Phuket waiting for blood platelets to be flown in to Phuket from Bangkok so that doctors at Bangkok Hospital Phuket can perform an operation today. The blood…
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Canadian crash victim waiting for emergency supply of blood platelets
PHUKET: An emergency supply of blood platelets is being flown in to Phuket today to help save the life of a Canadian motorcycle crash victim. The single unit of platelets is scheduled to arrive at midday so that doctors at Bangkok Hospital Phuket can perform a second round of surgery on David Lee Connelly, 40, who was critically injured in…
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Video report: Removal of controversial Phuket Town mural begins
PHUKET: Less than a month after the unveiling of a mural painted on the wall of the historic Peranakan Nitat (Baba) Museum in Phuket Town, the artist Alex Face today began painting over his own work. The artist, whose real name is Patcharapol Tangruen, was commissioned by Phuket City Municipality to paint the mural, which was unveiled on April 10.…
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Decomposing body discovered in Kathu pond
PHUKET: Police are trying to identify the decomposing body of a man found floating in a pond near Kathu Wittaya School this afternoon. “A staff member from ‘Jungle Bungy Jump’ company discovered the body, saying it was causing a very bad smell in the area,” said Lt Sawanya Eiadtrong of the Thung Thong Police. Police said the man was naked…
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One dead, four injured in three-vehicle crash
PHUKET: One man died and four others were injured in a three-vehicle crash on the bypass road near the Samkong intersection yesterday afternoon. The three vehicles involved in the accident were a pick-up truck, a Honda Jazz and a Toyota Vios. “Narin Saenganan, 35, a passenger in the back of the pick-up truck, was pronounced dead on arrival at Vachira…
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Rawai sea wall shored up after collapse
PHUKET: Truckloads of rocks were dumped along a 30-meter stretch of Rawai beachfront on Sunday to temporarily shore up the sea wall, which gave way last week after it was damaged by strong waves. Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos ordered the quick fix after inspecting the site on Saturday. “The wall and sidewalk were damaged after being battered for three days…
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Diving: Safety regulations in the dive industry
PHUKET: As promised, let’s dig into two of the biggest questions professionals in the industry are faced with in Phuket: “can we bend the rules to take photos on a Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) course” and “what counts as a ‘confined water environment’ for DSD”. Even at the PADI seminar on March 8 (story here), which included some of the…
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A Decade Ago: Crowne Plaza, work permits and Chinese tourists
PHUKET: If you weren’t in Phuket ten years ago, you might not even know what the Crown Plaza was. Nonetheless, it stole page one of the Phuket Gazette in the May 6-11, 2006 issue when it was bought by Kingdom Hotel Investment, which was headed by Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud – the 8th…
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Opinion: A parent’s perspective on homeschooling in Phuket
Homeschooling mother Papatsorn Sompranon, 44, is a Trang native and the proud parent of daughters Nattaya, 14, and Phimphan, 10, whose invention of a ‘Smart Watering Controller’ for house plants won them a bronze medal at the Malaysian International Young Inventors Olympiad last month. Mrs Papatsorn graduated with a nursing degree from Prince of Songkla University and worked as a…
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Phuket police make B5mn drug haul
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police announced the seizure of street drugs valued at more than five million baht following the arrests of five drug pushers, May 4-5. Police seized more than 2.5 kilograms of crystal meth (ya ice) and 6,400 methamphetamine pills (ya bah) with a total value of about 5 million baht. “Narachai Chuatchuea, 33, was arrested at his rental…
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Starving fishermen blame government restrictions for loss of income
PHANG NGA: More than 300 anchovy fishermen, claiming loss of income following the introduction of new regulations established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, gathered in protest at Laem Mai pier at Koh Yao Noi on Thursday. Led by spokesperson Tiwakorn Thongkert, the fishermen demand changes to regulations which prevent vessels weighing 10 tons or more from fishing within…
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Alex Face unfazed by the controversy surrounding his painting
PHUKET: Alex Face, the artist who painted the controversial mural depicting a three-eyed child on a wall of one of the city’s most historic buildings, the Peranakan Nitat (Baba) Museum in Phuket Town, is set to remove the artwork today. The Thai artist, whose given name is Patcharapol Tangruen, has been commissioned to paint buildings all over the world, but…
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Finance: Analyzing key market indices for tech stocks
PHUKET: As of the end of March, US stock markets hit some overhead resistance on their technical charts and pulled back a bit, with the rally that started in February looking similar on the technical charts to the rally of September, which ultimately rolled over. There is a strong possibility that the market (or at least the S&P 500) has…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: You may not know you are a potential prey
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Opinion: Artistic controversy through the ages
PHUKET: The persecution of artists has been a popular pastime for people in power since the first paintings were commissioned by the courts and Counts of the Renaissance. Caravaggio was run out of Rome by angry clergymen who disagreed with the artist’s stylistic leap toward the visceral vulgarities of humanity, while many nobles and critics celebrated his work as groundbreaking.…
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Climbing bans blamed for killing tourism at Thailand climbing meccas
PHUKET: Local tourism business operators this week blamed the rock climbing bans in Koh Yao Noi, Koh Phi Phi and Koh Poda for the savage drop in hotel and resort occupancy rates at Thailand’s climbing meccas – Tonsai and Railay Beach. “Bungalow resort owners on Tonsai Beach saw occupancy rates drop by 50 per cent year on year in March,…
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