News
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The Thaiger key takeaways Peak season brings higher prices, but smart planning and local know-how can help you experience Northern Thailand affordably. Chiang Mai, Pai, and Chiang Rai offer plenty of free or low-cost attractions, from temples and canyons to...
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Puppy pity powers Phuket pair up Mt Kinabalu
PHUKET: In a bid to raise money for charity, two Phuket sisters made it 3,560 meters up Borneo’s Mount Kinabalu in the early hours of Thursday morning. Kasia Sambrook, 9, and her sister Alicia, 6, were the only children in a group of 174 climbers attempting the two-day climb to the 4,095-meter summit, the fourth highest peak in the Malay…
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Phuket Architect & Engineering Exhibition starts July 29
PHUKET: Royal Phuket City Hotel will host the 10th annual Architect & Engineering Exhibition 2010 from July 29 to August 1. Open daily from 11am to 8am, the expo will feature exhibits of the latest breakthroughs in construction, interior design and building maintenance technology. A wide variety of construction materials from more than 100 manufacturers will be on display, including…
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Phuket to get first “Health Promoting Hospital’ in Thailand
PHUKET: The Kamala Public Health Center will be home to the country’s first “Health Promotion Hospital”, incorporating traditional Chinese medicines into its array of medical services. The center, part of a post-tsunami project which begun in 2005, is co-funded by the Chinese government. Deputy Public Health Minister Pansiri Kulanartsiri said during an inspection of the site last week that the…
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Food poisoning outbreak hits Phuket school
PHUKET: Some 120 students from Prachanukroh 36 School in Kamala were treated for food poisoning at the local public health clinic on Sunday. Instructors and school officials rushed the students to the nearby Kamala Public Health Clinic, but overwhelmed staff there transferred the group to the better equipped Patong Hospital. Twenty-five of the ill-at-ease group were admitted for immediate treatment…
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Briton, 29, dies in Phuket suicide plunge
PHUKET: A British man fell to his death from a Patong hotel yesterday in what Phuket Police believe was an act of suicide. Case officer Nitikorn Rawang of the Kathu Police identified the deceased as 29-year-old Mark Edward Stevens of the United Kingdom. Police were notified by hotel staff that a man fell to his death from atop a hotel…
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Yala FC shock FC Phuket, 2-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket lost 2-0 at home to Yala yesterday in a surprise result that is a setback to their otherwise impressive bid to win the Football Association of Thailand’s Division Two South title. FC Phuket went into the game at the top of the table having taken maximum points from every home match so far this season. Yala, by…
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‘It was an accident’: Wanphen’s killer tells Phuket press
PHUKET: Retired US Navy serviceman Ronald Fanelli, who confessed to stabbing to death bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai last month, described the killing as a “terrible accident”, saying he never intended to harm her. Clean-shaven and appearing somewhat disoriented, Ronald Fanelli, 37, was presented in handcuffs to the media at a press conference chaired by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong…
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American confesses to murder of Phuket bar hostess
PHUKET: The American man arrested for the murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pianjai has confessed to charges, police say. Ronald Fanelli, 36, was arrested by a team of officers led by Police Region 8 Commander Weerasak Meenawanich early yesterday evening at his newly-rented home in Karon. The successful manhunt was one of the most intense in Phuket in recent years,…
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‘Close Quarters’ wins Phuket Raceweek Photo Contest
PHUKET: With this year’s Six Senses Phuket Raceweek getting underway Wednesday, the Phuket Gazette is proud to announce the winner of this year’s Phuket Raceweek Amateur Photo Contest.Simon Andrews won with his photo “Close Quarters” showing two yachts in very close proximity as they prepare to round a mark mid-race, capturing in an instant just how competitive yacht racing can…
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Phuket gov warns businesses over trading in stolen goods
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop on Wednesday took time out from his regular schedule to focus his attention on stolen goods being traded in Phuket. Addressing about 300 business operators at a special seminar held to brief shop owners on their legal obligations under the Auction Sale and Antique Sale Control Act BE 2474, Governor Wichai said, “If the [business] operators…
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Phuket tsunami buoy found, recovery underway
PHUKET: After being adrift nearly a month and a half, Thailand’s tsunami direct detection buoy was discovered by Royal Thai Navy warship Bang Pakong 456 at about 6:30 this morning. Commodore Suchart Thammapitakwaech, Director of the Naval Civil Affairs Department at the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Area Command at Cape Panwa, confirmed the buoy was located 194 nautical miles…
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Phuket tsunami buoy: recovery mission launched today
PHUKET: Thailand’s early warning system for tsunamis has taken a big step backward with the revelation that its only tsunami direct detection buoy is not only inoperable, but adrift on the high seas. Royal Thai Navy warship Bang Pakong 456 was due to leave its port at Phang Nga Naval Base late this afternoon in a bid to locate the…
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Saphan Hin short cut: Phuket road project approved
PHUKET: Following a successful public hearing process, Phuket City Municipality will move forward with a project to build a new road connecting Chao Fa East Road to Saphan Hin. The final public hearing, organized jointly by the Department of Rural Roads and Phuket City Municipality, was held at the project site on the afternoon of July 8. About 100 people…
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Kusoldharm Phuket protest update
PHUKET: The Kusoldharm Foundation’s board met on Wednesday to address the recent protest by some of its volunteer rescue workers, but have yet to release any information about the meeting’s conclusions. Embattled Kusoldharm Foundation President Benjawan Tamphanuwat told the Gazette by telephone yesterday that she did not want to comment on the dispute at the time, but that the board…
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Phuket Police take down another drug dealing ring
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have arrested a man and his pregnant girlfriend for drug dealing, seizing over 1,000 ya bah (methamphetamine pills) in the process. The arrests were announced at a press conference at Phuket City Police Station this morning. Presenting the suspects were Phuket Provincial Police Commandaer Pekad Tantipong and Phuket City Police Superintendant Wanchai Ekpornpit. The arrests resulted…
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Phuket Aquarium work on schedule
PHUKET: Phuket Aquarium’s 2.2-million-baht renovation project is on schedule to finish this month, officers at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) have confirmed. PMBC officer Surapong Banjongma-nee said Bangkok-based Aquatic Company began work repainting the facility walls on February 22. The work involved draining the large viewing tank with a glass walk-through viewing tunnel, as well as work on five…
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Phuket Gazette reader finds runaway boy in Patong
PHUKET: A runaway boy was safely reunited with his family yesterday after being spotted in Patong by a sharp-eyed Phuket Gazette reader. The reader, a Malaysian-born US citizen named Shain from San Diego, contacted the Gazette by email this morning. He spotted the boy, 13-year old Anuchit “Erk” Tan-a-pirom, selling fireworks by the side of the beach road in Patong.…
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Phuket Immigration launches on-line alien tracking project
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration will conduct a training session for hotel staff and apartment owners taking part in an Internet-based tracking system of foreigners living in Phuket. Phuket Immigration Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak said his office is already at work creating a database of accommodation establishments catering to foreigners. Owners of these establishments will then be able to more easily report the…
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Murdered Wanphen cremated in Phuket
PHUKET: The body of slain bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai was cremated at a small ceremony at Wat Kitti Sangkaram (Wat Kata) at noon today. The simple ceremony was attended by about 10 friends and relatives of the deceased, whose remains were discovered stuffed into a suitcase in a remote area off Chao Fa Thani Rd in Wichit on the morning…
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Kusoldharm Foundation Phuket in disarray
PHUKET: Kusoldharm Foundation top-level management are meeting this afternoon to negotiate a settlement to a nasty dispute over a number of issues facing the public-benefit foundation, the largest and most well-funded charity on the island. Relations between management and staff appear to have taken a turn for the worse three months ago following the re-installment of Benjawan Tamphanuwat as president.…
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Phuket pressure drop: No water in Patong tomorrow
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) has announced it will cut off water supply to customers in Patong from 9am to midnight tomorrow. The stoppage is required to allow workers to conduct maintenance work and install water meters on Phra Barami Road Soi 2 and the area around Suwankiriwong Temple junction. Affected areas will include virtually all of Patong,…
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Phuket packaged in smiles by Nok
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Nok Air has relaunched its Smile Packages to Phuket, but this time they are grouped into categories — ‘Free and Easy’, Adventure’, ‘Discovery’ and ‘Sightseeing’. The promotion is valid until September 30. According to TTR Weekly, the packages…
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Phuket Ironman scales Mont Blanc; then goes off to swim The Channel
PHUKET: Ironman athlete Les Bird made it safely to the 4,810 meter summit of Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, on Saturday. He spent the next two days getting back down. For our previous report click here: British-born Les and climbing partner Harry Taylor arrived back at their base camp in the Chamonix Valley on Monday. But before he could even…
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Phuket Gov to lead delegation to Nice, France
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop will lead a delegation of government officials and private sector representatives to Nice, France to discuss ways of improving links between the two locales, which have been “sister cities” for over two decades. The visit, scheduled to run from July 16 to 23, follows receipt on July 9 of an official letter of invitation issued by…
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Five murders in Phuket in June
PHUKET: June proved a murderous month for Phuket as a wave of violent crime swept across the island with five murders and 14 cases of manslaughter being reported, according to the latest crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police. Among the unsolved cases is that of the murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, 33, whose naked body was discovered…
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Phuket hotels urged to discount
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: The Thai Hotels Association (THA) will launch a Buy-One, Get-One-Free promotion this month to match the time frame of the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2010, TTR Weekly reports. Phuket hotels are being encouraged to participate in the promotion.…
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Family file assault charges against Phuket policeman
PHUKET: The parents of a teenage boy are considering legal action against a Phuket policeman they allege assaulted their son outside a municipal school in Phuket Town. Anchada Tabkrai visited the Phuket Reporters’ Club office at Phuket Provincial Hall at about 2.30pm on Thursday to announce that her son, 15-year-old Atthaporn Tubklai, was hit on the head repeatedly by the…
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Phuket Police nab thieving rapist
PHUKET: Phuket City Police held a press conference on Wednesday to announce the arrest of a Wichit man arrested for raping a young woman at gunpoint and then stealing her computer. The suspect was identified as Phuket resident Wuttikrai ‘Nueng’ Prasopsorn, aged 25. On the night of June 29, the victim reported that a man entered her rented room with…
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Phuket Amateur Golf Open on Sunday
PHUKET: Following an impressive debut by 12-year-old Newport Lapojkit, the second round of the Phuket Amateur Golf Open is set to tee off next Sunday, July 18 at Loch Palm Golf Club in Kathu. The tournament will be the second in a series of 11 to determine the best amateur golfer in Phuket. The first and second place winners in…
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PHUKET OPINION: Let’s kill the ignorance on the roads
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are to be commended for not giving up in their effort to get all motorbike riders in their district to wear safety helmets. Unfortunately, the entrenched carelessness that has persisted on Phuket roads for at least two decades means they face a long, uphill battle against a notoriously stubborn opponent: ignorance. Despite a two-month public relations…
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