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Phuket poll: Vegetarian Festival 2010
PHUKET: Phuket is busy making final preparations for the annual Vegetarian Festival, which officially gets underway with the arrival of the new moon on Friday. A great number of Phuket Town residents dress in white and observe 10 days of physical and spiritual purification by abstaining from meat, alcohol and other things viewed as contaminants by devotees. Those who choose…
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Phuket poll: Price-fixing not the answer to hotel price war
PHUKET: Fewer than 20% of Phuket Gazette readers think setting minimum standard room prices at small hotels and guesthouse in Patong is the answer to the current price-cutting war going on there. In the last Phuket Gazette readers’ poll, participants were asked: Do you think setting minimum standard room prices is the answer to price-cutting wars among small hotel and…
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Phuket helmet crackdown to cover entire island from January 1
PHUKET: Police across Phuket are preparing to take the helmet crackdown campaign beyond Phuket City Police District to cover the entire island, effective January 1. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Pekad Tantipong told the Gazette the move to enforce the traffic law island-wide follows the success of the campaign launched in Phuket Town. “Since [the campaign was launched on]…
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Phuket nurse in stabbing murder
PHUKET: A nurse at Bangkok Hospital Phuket has confessed to stabbing her husband to death in Rassada last night. Phuket City Police received a call from the 40-year-old nurse, Mrs Rachada Rattanadilok na Phuket, at about 10:30pm yesterday. Phuket City Police Superintendent Col Wanchai Ekpornpit, Inspector Col Wijak Tarom and other investigators raced to the scene, a room in an…
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PHUKET OPINION: Opening the door to devastation
PHUKET: A special notification issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) in July to break the impasse over the proposed Klong Koh Pee Road project will no doubt be treated as great news by the vast majority of Phuket people who work, study or relax at Saphan Hin. (See Governor retires, front page, current issue of the…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010 marches on
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand office in Phuket has released the schedule of street processions by participating Chinese temples in the upcoming Vegetarian Festival. The festival will get underway with an opening ceremony near the Tin Mining Monument in Saphan Hin Park at 9am on October 7. The traditional raising of go teng poles to welcome the Chinese gods…
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Phuket launches oil-recycling drive
PHUKET: In a bid to stop boat owners from dumping used motor oil into Chalong Bay, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) has set up waste-oil collection drums at Chalong Pier. Speaking to a group of boat operators at a meeting at the Chalong Sunrise Restaurant at Chalong Pier on September 25, PPAO Chief Mechanic Wasana Rongphol implored boat owners…
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Phuket agency helps Burmese workers go legit
PHUKET: Many of the Burmese citizens working in the construction industry in Phuket are highly educated and “just as talented as Thai people,” according to the owner of a company specializing in legalizing the island’s foreign laborers. Thanadech Supasuwan, who runs the Noom Broker agency in Rassada, said that the younger generation of Burmese on Phuket aspire to work in…
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Trawler net kills giant Phuket turtle
PHUKET: A 250-kilogram male leatherback turtle was found dead at Phuket’s popular Bang Tao Beach in Cherng Talay yesterday afternoon. “The 2.5-meter-long turtle had died at least two weeks earlier. Its body was tangled up in a large section of trawler fishing net,” Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) biologist Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong told the Gazette. “People found the turtle floating…
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New Phuket Governor to focus on tourism development
PHUKET: Tri Augkaradacha, who today officially became Phuket’s 43rd governor, has announced tourism development as his top-priority in office. Having served as a vice-governor of Phuket since December 2006, Governor Tri is well aware of the many complex issues facing the island. The 58-year-old is a bachelor’s degree graduate in political science from Chiang Mai. He also holds a master’s…
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Phuket’s Patong claims another suicide victim
PHUKET: A half-Thai, half-Japanese teenager is the latest person to take his own life in Phuket’s popular beach resort of Patong. Kathu Police were informed at 8:30am today of the apparent suicide by hanging at a guesthouse on Soi Patong Resort, off the beach road. Capt Veerapong Sukito of the Kathu Police identified the victim as a 17-year-old whose name…
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Thailand plans Phuket bid for Asian Beach Games
PHUKET: Thailand looks likely to bid for Phuket to host the fourth-ever Asian Beach Games in November 2014, following a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Sports and Tourism.The 500-million-baht event would take place between November 15 to 24. Events would include handball, kabaddi, takraw, volleyball, sailing, paragliding, football, water skiing, bodybuilding, windsurfing, jet-skiing, triathlon, woodball, swim marathon, boat racing,…
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Phuket Blues Fest star tops blues download chart
PHUKET: Phuket International Blues Rock Festival star Rich Harper is now Number 1 on Airplaydirect.com worldwide blues radio downloads for September with his new “LIVE in Scandinavia” CD. “Downloads for Harper’s music last night passed even the mighty Charlie Musselwhite and his new CD ‘The Well‘, which was recorded on the world’s largest blues label, Alligator,” said organizer Andy Anderson.…
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New Phuket incinerator to burn off landfill waste
PHUKET: The days of the landfill behind the Phuket City Incinerator at Saphan Hin may be numbered, following confirmation that a new incinerator now under construction at the site will use any extra burning capacity to reduce the huge stockpiles of trash. Phuket City Deputy Mayor Thaworn Jeeraphat told Gazette that project contractor PJT is contracted to burn at least…
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Asian Hospitality & Travel Show starts tomorrow in Phuket
PHUKET: The three-day Asian Hospitality & Travel Show, the first Asian trade exhibition bringing together suppliers and exhibitors of every facet of the hospitality and travel industry from all over Asia, kicks of tomorrow at the Häfele Design Center Phuket on the bypass road southbound. The show, proudly sponsored by the Phuket Gazette, will bring together more than 100 exhibitors…
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Phuket businessman and companion die in car crash
PHUKET: Well-known Phuket businessman Pornchai Sawasri and a female companion died in a car accident in Thalang last night when Mr Pornchai lost control of his vehicle and hit a power pole after swerving to avoid a dog. Thalang Police were notified of the crash at 9:30pm. At the scene, on a curved section of Thepkrasattri Road northbound opposite the…
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Phuket police identify horror smash victim
PHUKET: Police have identified the victim of yesterday’s horror smash at Tesco-Lotus junction as Miss Orrasa Pethpattana, a 19-year-old native of Nakhon Thai District in Pitsanuloke. Case investigator Capt Kittiphum Tinthalang of the Phuket Provincial Police told the Gazette Miss Orrasa was riding riding pillion on the motorbike driven by her boyfriend, 27-year-old Yutthapong Deepakdee, when they were hit by…
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Thai police pounce on prolific panty perv
PHUKET: A motorbike taxi driver caught red-handed with a bag full of used bras and panties was later found in possession of thousands of women’s undergarments at his home. After arresting 46-year-old Phanu Phloisuwan on September 26, Samut Prakarn City police found a trove of more than 5,000 undergarments, mostly stolen from washing lines over a two-year period. Most of…
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One dead, two critical following Phuket horror smash
PHUKET: A young student is dead and two other people seriously injured after a 22-wheel tractor-trailer rig slammed into two motorcycles at the Tesco-Lotus junction at around noon today. Witnesses told the Gazette that the truck, traveling on the bypass road southbound, ran a red light as westbound traffic pulled out of Yaowarat Road in the direction of Kathu. One…
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Phuket governor and wife bid farewell
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop and his wife Thaisika left the Governor’s Mansion early this morning, his Mercedez-Benz trailed by a van full of Phuket government officers and members of the media who will travel with him all the way back to his home in Nakhon Pathom. Among the 300 people who got up early to send off Gov Wichai was…
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Phuket blackout: No power in Rawai tomorrow
PHUKET: Residents of Rawai should be reminded that there will be another scheduled power outage from 9am to 4pm tomorrow as the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) continues its work on power lines in the area. The blackout will affect Wiset Road, from Saiyaun Road south to Nai Harn Beach, including Soi Khok Yang, Soi Hua Pru, Soi Khok Makham and…
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Scuba Cat team rakes in marine debris off Phuket
PHUKET: Divers of all ages took the plunge Saturday and Sunday as part of dive tour operator Scuba Cat’s contribution to International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday. A total of 31 divers volunteered their time dragging trash from the depths of the Andaman at Koh Racha Yai over the weekend. The team included Scuba Cat staff, repeat customers and 14…
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Phuket Gov farewell wish: Make Saphan Hin road a reality
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop last night called for his successor to continue the fight to complete the Klong Koh Pee road project, which looks set to move forward following a new measure issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) specifically for Phuket. Governor Wichai made the comment during a speech at a farewell press party last night,…
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Phuket Town ‘Pink Bus’ project wins ‘innovation’ award
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization’s “Pink Bus” project providing reasonably-priced public transport for Phuket City residents has won a national award for “Local Innovation” from the Prime Minister’s Office. The award was one of 61 awarded to local administration offices by a new Prime Minister’s Office committee on decentralization of power to local administration organizations. A total of 1,003…
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Only 15 spots left in Phuket Pro-Am charity golf event
PHUKET: The island’s first-ever Pro-Am charity golf tournament is coming to Phuket with more than 30 big names from the PGA Asian Tour signed up to take part. But time is running out for Phuket amateur golfers to get involved in the exciting event, as there are only 15 places left, the organizers say. The 2010 Phuket Property Dot Com…
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‘India loves Phuket’, travel agents say
PHUKET: The Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI) expects at least a 100% increase in the number of Indian tourists coming to Phuket next year, TAAI President Rajinder Rai told the Gazette. Some 1,000 Indian travel agents attended a three-day TAAI conference organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The event, hosted by Phuket Fantasea in Kamala, ended yesterday. “Last…
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Phantom pickup: Lost soul lends lottery luck
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A homeowner in Thung Song District is thanking a “phantom” emergency rescue vehicle for her luck in winning over 500,000 baht in the underground lottery. The bizarre tale began shortly after midnight on September 3. Pracha Ruamjai Foundation coordinator Akhom Phumiwetphong said that as rescue workers were relaxing at the station that night, one of their Isuzu…
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Phuket murder suspect still in UK jail: British Embassy
PHUKET: British Ambassador to Thailand Quinton Quayle this morning confirmed that fugitive murder suspect Lee Aldhouse is still in custody somewhere in the UK. British officials will work closely with their Thai counterparts in their efforts to have the kickboxer extradited to Phuket to face charges for the stabbing murder of American Dashawn Longfellow in Rawai last month, he said.…
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Diving for debris: Phuket marks Coastal Cleanup Day
PHUKET: Fully-gloved and nets in hand, volunteer divers helped remove about 100 kilograms of rubbish from the sea as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 25. The event was supported by Sea Bees, Scuba Schools International, TDA Diving Association (Thailand) and Green Fins Thailand. Volunteers taking part met at Chalong Pier on Saturday morning for the voyage to…
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Phuket villagers ramp up tunnel protest
PHUKET: More than 100 villagers from Baan Mon community in Patong descended on Provincial Hall last week to hand a formal letter of complaint to the governor against the proposed Patong Tunnel project. The villagers vowed to fight any government effort to expropriate land needed for the project. Current scheduled rates for expropriation set by the Land Department would never…
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