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    5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)

    Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...

  • Phuket’s well water drillers threaten blockade

    Phuket’s well water drillers threaten blockade

    PHUKET: Local groundwater well-drilling operators have threatened to blockade the Phuket office of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) if the office’s chief, Chaipadung Promsawadi, doesn’t start recognizing power of attorneys as an acceptable form of representation. Before approving permits for new wells to be dug, Mr Chaipadung wants to meet the owners of the companies that have…

  • Phuket Media Watch – Nigeria passes anti-gay bill

    Phuket Media Watch – Nigeria passes anti-gay bill

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nigerian senate passes anti-gay bill Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Nigerian senate has passed a bill which prohibits same-sex marriages and introduces extreme prison sentences for people involved in homosexuality, local media reported on Wednesday. Under the new bill, anybody convicted of homosexuality risks a jail term…

  • Phuket Reminder: US Embassy consular outreach today | Thaiger

    Phuket Reminder: US Embassy consular outreach today

    PHUKET: The American Citizen Services section of the United States Embassy in Bangkok is at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort and Spa in Karon this morning. Consular staff will be available to provide following services until noon: • Passport renewal applications • Notarial services • Embassy registration and/or address change for on-line information• Absentee ballot application and voting abroad information…

  • Phuket Tourism Update: TAT mounts global push

    Phuket Tourism Update: TAT mounts global push

    PHUKET: The Thai Hotels Association (THA) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will kick off a global campaign in December to woo back tourists to Phuket and other destinations in the aftermath of the flood disaster.The campaign is set to run from December 15 until January 15, 2012, with THA members across the country, mostly three and four star…

  • Phuket officials aim to lift landslide ‘disaster warning’

    Phuket officials aim to lift landslide ‘disaster warning’

    PHUKET: In a sign that the worst of the 2011 monsoon season may be behind us, Phuket authorities are preparing paperwork to revoke a landslide disaster warning for a section of the bypass road in Rassada. The warning was put in place for a section of the bypass road northbound following torrential rains in early October that caused a landslip.…

  • Phuket “drug, rob and run’ woman arrested – again

    Phuket “drug, rob and run’ woman arrested – again

    PHUKET: Phuket police have arrested yet again one of six women charged in October with luring foreign tourists to hotel rooms, where they were drugged and subsequently robbed. Suspect Suchada Yusuk, 29, was arrested on Soi Bangla at 3:30am today. “We had an investigation team tailing her. When she started acting suspiciously while walking along Soi Bangla, the officers stopped…

  • Phuket police warn junk shops over stolen water meters

    Phuket police warn junk shops over stolen water meters

    PHUKET: Police in Phuket’s northern district of Thalang have warned owners of junk shops they will be charged with receiving stolen property if they are found in possession of any stolen water meters. The warning comes after police have arrested people in connection with six separate thefts of steel items in the past month, says Lt Col Weerayut Sittirattanakul. “We…

  • IronKids want Thai kids for Phuket race this weekend

    IronKids want Thai kids for Phuket race this weekend

    PHUKET: Triathlon events on Phuket are growing substantially every year both in numbers and in global reputation. The sport also has a positive impact on the lifestyle of those children and adults who become involved with this athletic pursuit. This year saw the very first IronKids junior triathlon event which was held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) with…

  • Villagers wallop hairy Lizards in Phuket’s cricket league

    Villagers wallop hairy Lizards in Phuket’s cricket league

    PHUKET: The third match of Phuket’s Island Furniture League 2011-2012 season saw The Village take on the Liquid Lounge Lizards (LLL) at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG). Both team squads included several new players which have bolstered their sides for this season. LLL, which mainly comprises British International School (BIS) teachers, included a number of players sporting large mustaches in…

  • Phuket Media Watch – Deep South flower pot bomb injures monks

    Phuket Media Watch – Deep South flower pot bomb injures monks

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Flower pot bomb injures monks The Nation Nine people, including three monks, were injured in a bomb attack by suspected insurgents in the Deep South province of Pattani recently. The monks were collecting alms on Sai Charoen Pradit Road in Pattani City when a 3-kilogram bomb…

  • Phuket Media Watch – Passing on Thaksin pardon

    Phuket Media Watch – Passing on Thaksin pardon

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Passing on Thaksin pardon The Nation The government appeared to bow to political pressure last week when it backtracked on a plan to grant former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra a pardon on the occasion of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 84th birthday. The People’s Alliance for Democracy…

  • Russia launches satellite as part of GPS rival

    Russia launches satellite as part of GPS rival

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russia launches last Glonass-M navigation satellite of the year Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Russian Space Forces, which is responsible for military space operations, on Monday announced that the year’s last Glonass-M navigation satellite has been launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket. The Glonass-M launch was carried…

  • Superyachts return for Phuket Rendezvous

    Superyachts return for Phuket Rendezvous

    PHUKET: The annual Asia Superyacht Rendezvous, the exclusive international event for both motor and sailing superyachts, returns to Phuket on December 16-18. The annual event, one of the largest gathering of superyachts in Asia, welcomes sail and motor yachts over 100-feet long to the festivities taking place over three days on and off the waters of the Phuket and the…

  • Phuket police launch manhunt, announce B50,000 reward for knife thief

    Phuket police launch manhunt, announce B50,000 reward for knife thief

    PHUKET: Phuket police today announced a 50,000-baht reward for information that leads to the arrest of the man who robbed a Siam Commercial Bank money exchange booth near Karon Circle on Saturday night. Chalong Police Superintendent Krittapad Dej-intorrasorn today also released a composite sketch of the wanted man, drawn from descriptions by witnesses, in hopes that it will assist in…

  • Pheu Thai Spokesman vows to take Phuket encroachment issue to Yingluck

    Pheu Thai Spokesman vows to take Phuket encroachment issue to Yingluck

    PHUKET: In Phuket to hear complaints about corrupt government officials here was Pheu Thai Party spokesman and party list MP Prompong Nopparit who on Saturday vowed to raise specific instances of alleged land encroachment with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Mr Prompong is currently vice president of the parliamentary anti-corruption committee, which includes Phuket Democrat MP Raywat Areerob. At a public…

  • Russians to hold presidential elections in March 2012

    Russians to hold presidential elections in March 2012

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russians to hold presidential elections in March 2012 Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Russian government has decided that presidential elections will take place on March 4 next year, the upper house of parliament announced on Friday. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to win the…

  • Phuket ‘brand’ up for discussion at Wednesday’s AMCHAM meet

    Phuket ‘brand’ up for discussion at Wednesday’s AMCHAM meet

    PHUKET: The Greater Phuket chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) will be holding its next meeting at the Anantara Resort in Mai Khao on Wednesday (November 30). “This meeting is a ‘must attend’ for those working in the hospitality, travel, property and hotel sectors,” says real estate guru Bill Barnett. “At a time when Phuket is making a…

  • Phuket Dinghy Series booms sailing success

    Phuket Dinghy Series booms sailing success

    PHUKET: Following on from two previous Phuket Dinghy Series race events, twenty-six Optimists and five Lasers competed in the series decider held on November 19 and 20. Overall positions in the event were all to sail for, given that plenty of points were available from the six races that were scheduled over the two days. Phuket Dinghy Series Event Manager…

  • Phuket Leopards tamed by Tigers

    Phuket Leopards tamed by Tigers

    PHUKET: The second match of the Island Furniture League 2011-2012 season saw the young guns of Phuket cricket, the Phuket Youth Development team (Leopards), take on newcomers the Thanyapura Tigers on Sunday, 20 November, 2011 at the Alan Cooke Ground. The ground was basking in sunshine with the pitch and outfield fast, so expectations were high of some big scores.…

  • Three Phuket athletes bring home gold

    Three Phuket athletes bring home gold

    PHUKET: Three athletes from Phuket earned gold medals at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia. Nitchaon Jindapol earned a gold medal with the Thailand women’s badminton team, who made hosts Indonesia settle for silver in the final bout. Maneepong Jongjitt also gave Phuket badminton a name, earning a bronze medal with Thailand’s mens’ team. Maneepong, with doubles partner…

  • FC Phuket draw with Saraburi in league restart

    FC Phuket draw with Saraburi in league restart

    PHUKET: After a month-long league lay-off FC Phuket drew with Saraburi FC Warlords in a heated match on Saturday evening with a final score of 2-2 in their Division One encounter. The match was played in front of a crowd of 2,500 at the Saraburi Provincial Administration Organization M150 Stadium. Phuket went ahead in the 16th minute from a strike…

  • Phuket “death bend’ gets ‘band aid’ safety, for now

    Phuket “death bend’ gets ‘band aid’ safety, for now

    PHUKET: The Phuket Highways Office has closed one southbound lane at the Kor En ‘death bend’ as a temporary measure to stop more accidents at the notorious black spot in Thalang. Also installed as temporary measures are signs warning motorists to slow down and small concrete blocks separating the vehicles exiting Baan Kor En from the traffic speeding past heading…

  • Southern Thai football is charging ahead with Krabi and Pattalung

    Southern Thai football is charging ahead with Krabi and Pattalung

    PHUKET: Southern Thai football is charging ahead with Krabi FC and Pattalung FC each prevailing at the top of their respective groups in the Thai Premier League (TPL) 2011 Division Two AIS League promotion playoffs. The playoffs, which began in October and are set to conclude in December, divide 12 fine finalists into two groups of six. Upon conclusion, only…

  • AMCHAM meeting to focus on “Phuket’ brand

    AMCHAM meeting to focus on “Phuket’ brand

    PHUKET: The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket chapter will be holding its next meeting at the luxury Anantara Resort in Mai Khao on Wednesday. “This meeting is a ‘must attend’ for those working in the hospitality, travel, property and hotel sectors,” said Real estate guru Bill Barnett. “At a time when Phuket makes a transition into a mass…

  • Russian tourist dies after Phuket beach rescue effort

    Russian tourist dies after Phuket beach rescue effort

    PHUKET: A 57-year-old Russian tourist has died after being pulled from the water at Phuket’s Kata Beach this morning. Lt Tianchai Duangsuwan of Chalong Police named the victim as Uriu Varnakov. “He was on holiday in Phuket with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s parents,” he said. Uten Singsom, head of the Phuket Lifeguard Club stationed at Kata Beach, told the…

  • One dead, one injured in Phuket high-speed crash

    One dead, one injured in Phuket high-speed crash

    PHUKET: One man died and another was seriously injured in a high-speed accident in the north of Phuket early this morning.Lt Kraisorn Misang of Thalang Police told the Phuket Gazette that at about 4am he received a report that a car had hit a power pole in front of the Caltex Gas Station near Wat Srisoonthorn on Thepkrasattri Road, north…

  • Phuket Opinion: Mob behavior not always necessary

    Phuket Opinion: Mob behavior not always necessary

    PHUKET: The hundreds of Baan Kho En villagers who formed a mob and commandeered the southbound lanes of Thepkrasattri Road in Phuket last week all knew one thing: they had been down this road before. The tragic, avoidable deaths of Anupong Sae-Yu and his aunt Malai Kaewkluan were only the latest deaths on the notorious stretch of road, known locally…

  • Knife-wielding robber makes off with B2mn from Phuket currency exchange

    Knife-wielding robber makes off with B2mn from Phuket currency exchange

    PHUKET: Two staffers at a currency exchange kiosk in the popular Phuket tourist area of Karon Beach were bound and gagged and robbed at knife point of mixed currencies with a total value of about 2 million baht last night. Amnard Ponpramun, 27, told the Phuket Gazette that he and his colleague Wilaiwan Khao-ong, 22, were closing up the Siam…

  • Phuket King’s Cup Regatta offering “Parties for Smarties’

    Phuket King’s Cup Regatta offering “Parties for Smarties’

    PHUKET: The organizers of the King’s Cup Regatta are calling for volunteers to help officials on the water on race days. “We’re looking for Phuket-based volunteers to help on the water. They must be available for the entire Regatta week, and yachting experience is required,” says Duncan Worthington, one of the organizers of the regatta. Volunteers are needed primarily to…

  • Phuket urged to prepare for “Korean wave’ | Thaiger

    Phuket urged to prepare for “Korean wave’

    PHUKET: As the Andaman Travel Trade 2011 expo continues today at Phuket Rajabhat University, Korean honorary consul Tossaporn Thepabutr has warned local officials to prepare for a huge influx of Korean tourism operators coming to set up shop in Phuket. “More Korean company owners are looking at moving their operations to Phuket because of the floods in Bangkok. Phuket is…