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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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“We have listened and learnt’
“We have listened and learned.”Narayana Ramachandran, President of the World Squash Federation, is confident that the sport has adapted to become a modern-day game, fit for the 2020 Olympics.Having failed in previous attempts to push squash into the Olympic program, the sport has changed and eradicated any problems that existed. Narayana Ramachandran said: “We have had extensive discussions with the…
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No memorial service for victims of One-Two-Go flight crash
PHUKET: There will be no official memorial service this Sunday, September 16, to remember the 89 people who died in the crash landing of One-Two-Go Flight OG269 five years ago.“It is not a day to remember. It was a tragedy and we do not want to perpetuate horrible memories of the incident,” Phuket Airport Director Prathuang Sornkham told the Phuket…
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Weird World News: Small time heroes make headlines
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News Roundup is an epic run-down of all the small “heroes” that recently found their way into the world’s headlines: Volleyball Visionary, Sir Smoke Not and Peter Magic. Volleyball strike to head saves ‘victim’s’ life A 60-year-old man in Hawaii was watching his grandson play indoor volleyball when the ball struck him in the head…
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Phuket Sports: Islanders look to gulp bird nest soup
PHUKET: Following their 3-0 away loss to Airforce United last week, Phuket FC are facing the threat of relegation ahead of tonight’s high-stakes regional rivalry match against the Pattalung FC “Swiftlets”. With 30 points after 26 matches, the Islanders are 12th in the 18-team Yamaha 1 league. Their opponents, Pattalung, in 13th place, trail the Islanders by only one point…
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“He spoke well, looks fit and he wants to have one more hurrah.”
“He spoke well, looks fit and he wants to have one more hurrah.” General Secretary of BBBoCPHUKET: “No-one should be encouraging him to return and I just hope it doesn’t wind up being a big disappointment for him.” Hatton’s former promoter Frank Warren. Former light-welter weight and welter weight champion Ricky Hatton moved a step closer to making his return…
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Phuket National Park chief lays to rest death threat rumor
PHUKET: Sirinath National Park chief Cheewapap Cheewatham has denied claims that he or any other officers investigating alleged encroachment onto national park land have received death threats. “Since I started my work here, I have not received any death threats from anyone. I have not heard any reports of any other officers receiving death threats, either,” chief Cheewapap said. “However,…
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Phuket Business: PIMEX 2013 International Boat Show dates announced
PHUKET: THE 10th edition of the Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) will be held at the Royal Phuket Marina from March 21-24 next year, the event’s organizers have announced. As one of the region’s largest and most significant marine, boating and yachting exhibitions, the four-day event will showcase leading marine and lifestyle businesses, products and services with a large in-water…
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Phuket beach club manager killed, three Thais injured in head-on crash
UPDATE: Since this story was posted online, the Gazette has learned that car accident victim Christian Roth was the Operations Manager at the Xana Beach Club, operated by Angsana Laguna Phuket and Attica. Kampanat Mataramanee, Associate Relations Manager of Angsana Laguna Phuket, confirmed that the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok has been notified of the incident and that Mr Roth’s family…
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Bogus Phuket tour guides, gem rip-offs in firing line
PHUKET: Phuket jewelry shops that overcharge tourists and tour companies that hire illegal guides are to be targeted by the latest campaign by provincial authorities to preserve a “billion baht” business, officials were told this week.“I want tour companies to follow the law. Their main tour guides must be Thai. If they do not, they will be in trouble,” Phuket…
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PM Yingluck heads to Krabi over disaster preparedness
PHUKET: Officials in Krabi province, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, are ramping up security ahead of a lightning visit by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Saturday, when she will head a meeting of provincial governors from the five provinces of the “Andaman cluster” to discuss “disaster preparedness”. PM Yingluck will attend the foundation-stone laying ceremony for the new emergency…
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Sea turtle with fish net wounds saved on Phuket beach
PHUKET: Yet another female sea turtle was rescued on Phuket’s shores yesterday, after suffering lacerations to its flipper from fishing nets. The turtle, found on Patong Beach, is the 25th female Olive Ridely sea turtle found injured on the coastline of Phuket and Phang Nga within the past two months, confirmed Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, who heads the Phuket Marine Biological…
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Damrong to ramp up Phuket national park probe
PHUKET: The Director-General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Conservation, Damrong Phidet, has warned that come September 25 he will order 400 officers to start a full-scale investigation into land encroachment along the boundaries of Phuket’s Sirinath Marine National Park. In Phuket yesterday, Mr Damrong flamed some officials for their slow progress in the investigation of 12 resorts…
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Heavy rain prompts flood, landslide warning
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued its sixth official warning in 36 hours for flash flooding, forest run-off and landslides in Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang – but has yet to issue a warning for Phuket. Likewise, the Phuket Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that no flash flood or…
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Phuket Sports: Heroes, hunts and hype
PHUKET: The media has been inundated with stories of Lewis Hamilton leaving McLaren lately. Could it be true? He could go to Red Bull or Ferrari to get a good drive, but then he would be no 2 to Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso – that is not going to happen. He could go to Mercedes or Lotus (predicated on…
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World News: Man falls to his death from passenger jet
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Stowaway falls to death from Heathrow-bound plane Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: An African man who was found dead in southwest London on Sunday had fallen from a passenger plane that was preparing to land at Heathrow Airport, British police said yesterday. The stowaway has not yet…
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Funeral begins for revered abbot of Phuket’s Wat Chalong
PHUKET: A seven-day funeral service began yesterday for the revered Abbot of Phuket’s famed Wat Chaithararam, well known among foreigners simply as Wat Chalong (Chalong Temple). Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano, often called “Phra Ajarn Lim Wat Chalong” by his devotees, died on Tuesday, September 11, at 4:21pm at the Coronary Care Unit of Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He was 87 years…
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Phuket Labor welfare chief warns against minimum wage cheats
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Labor Protection and Welfare Office has warned employers that his office is inspecting businesses across the island and is prepared to take legal action against any firms found paying less than the 300 baht a day minimum wage. Phuket Labor Welfare chief Kittipong Laonipon explained to the Gazette that his concerns about minimum…
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World News: US Ambassador Stevens killed in attack by protestors
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Libyan officials: U.S. Ambassador Stevens killed in attack on consulate Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Protesters angry about an online video considered offensive to Islam attacked U.S. diplomatic compounds in Libya and Egypt, killing U.S. Ambassador John Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, Libyan officials said today.Libyan…
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“I believe my decision has the interests of British athletics…
“I believe my decision has the interests of British athletics at its heart in sustaining this culture.” PHUKET: Dutchman Charles van Commenee is to stand down as UK Athletics head coach, citing a poor medal haul during the Olympics as the reason. Before the games, he said he would step down if the team did not achieve his target of…
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Heavy rain warning as monsoon soaks Phuket, Andaman coast
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued a “heavy” to “very heavy” rain warning for all regions of Thailand, including Phuket, for the next five days. Thunderstorms and monsoonal winds are expected to intensify over Phuket and the Andaman Sea. The Andaman region will most likely see waves reaching two meters in height, but areas where thunderstorms are occurring…
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Rawai rides for Phuket road safety
PHUKET: Local government in Phuket is continuing its battle to reduce the number of motorbike accident fatalities and serious injuries that frequently occur to children of school age.Yesterday, it was the turn of Rawai Municipality to take up the fight at Muang Phuket School on Wisit Road in Rawai.Phuket Democrat MP Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr presided over the opening ceremony of…
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World News: Apple device IDs stolen – rumors of FBI involvement denied
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Apple device IDs stolen from Florida-based digital publishing firm Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Identification numbers for more than one million Apple products that were posted online by hackers last week had been stolen from a Florida-based digital publishing firm, not from the laptop of an FBI…
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Phuket blood bank calls for A-, O- donors
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) is calling for donations of Rhesus-negative (Rh-) blood types to bolster stocks that are now critically low. “We have only one unit of ‘A negative’ and one of ‘O negative’ blood,” PRBC Director Pornthip Rattajak told the Phuket Gazette. She explained that Rh-negative blood types are far more common among Caucasians than Asians.…
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Off-duty cop accused of Phuket shooting kicked off police force
PHUKET: The off-duty police officer accused of shooting a man dead in Phuket Town on May 5 has been kicked off the police force, but has yet to face charges for the killing. Rachaporn Semaksorn was discharged from the Royal Thai Police about a month ago after months of being relegated to desk duties, Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Kittipong Klaikaew…
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World News: Deputy al-Qaeda leader killed in Yemen, US drone suspected used
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yemeni forces kill deputy regional head of al-Qaeda Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Saudi national Said al-Shihri, who was previously released from Guantanamo Bay and later became the deputy commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been killed by Yemeni troops during a military…
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Road safety campaign to slash Phuket death toll to 50 per year
PHUKET: Officials are moving ahead with a campaign to reduce the number of deaths on Phuket’s roads to just 50 per year within the next three years. Last year, 116 died in road accidents in Phuket. The move is part of a nationwide campaign to reduce the road accident death toll in conjunction with the United Nations’ “Decade of Action…
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“I don’t know how I came through in the end…”
“I don’t know how I came through in the end, I just managed to get through.” PHUKET: Andy Murray has won his first Grand Slam final at the fifth time of asking. Murray defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in four hours 54 minutes to win the US Open and in doing so ended Britain’s 76-year wait…
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Phuket Governor to retire September 30, but replacement yet to be named
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha is set to retire from civil service on September 30, just 19 days away, but his replacement has yet to be named, the Phuket Gazette has learned.Governor Tri took up the position of Governor of Phuket on October 1, 2010, but had already served as a Phuket Vice Governor for four years following a posting…
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New B153mn indoor sports center opens in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Sports fans and spectators packed the 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex at Saphan Hin to the rafters on Saturday for the new venue’s official opening ceremony. Built on 207 rai at a cost of about 153 million baht, the center was first used for the 28th National Youth Games, dubbed the “Phuket Games”, held on the island earlier this year.…
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Central Festival Phuket set to expand to east, not south
PHUKET: The rumor that Central Festival Phuket is intending to expand onto 30 rai of land that is currently home to the Thainaan Restaurant on Wichit Songkhram Road has been dismissed by a company spokesman.Speaking to the Phuket Gazette, Lertwit Bhumipitak, the business development Deputy Managing Director for Central Retail Cooperation Co Ltd, said that the company had no plans…
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