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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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FC Phuket beat Pattani FC, 3-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket came three points closer to their dream of promotion with a strong 3-1 win on the road at Pattani yesterday. The road win, the Southern Sea Kirin’s first this year, came as the second-place Satun United “Witch Doctors” were unable to work their magic against Surat Thani FC, going down 3-1 on the road. Surat Thani FC…
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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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IP crackdown underway in Phuket
PHUKET: A Crime Suppression Division (CSD) intellectual property rights unit from Bangkok is leading local police in crackdowns on intellectual property (IP) violators in Phuket this weekend. Officers at Phuket City Police Station last night were busy counting up a large haul of counterfeit CDs, DVDs and music videos seized in a raid on four stalls at the Phuket Variety…
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Phuket Raceweek Photo Contest: Deadline looms
PHUKET: As the island gears up for Six Senses Phuket Raceweek, to be held in and around Chalong Bay from July 21-25, the Phuket Gazette‘s Phuket Raceweek Amateur Photo Contest is offering budding photographers the chance to win a five-night stay at an exclusive Phuket resort – free of charge. But hurry; the deadline for entries is Thursday, July 15.…
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World Cup: Phuket likes Spain over Holland
PHUKET: There was a lot of activity at the Phuket post offices this morning as people from all walks of life dropped off batches of postcards bearing their picks on who will win the World Cup 2010 final that kicks off in South Africa at 1:30am on Monday. A clear majority think Spain will win the match. The punters are…
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Honda Phuket Bt50m renovation complete
PHUKET: Anticipating continued strength in local auto sales, Honda of Phuket has invested some 50 million baht to renovate its dealership on Phang Nga Rd in Phuket Town. The new facility’s service bays enable maintenance of up to 40 vehicles per day. Montri Hongyok, managing director of Anuphas Wiwitgarn Co Ltd, said: “Renovation of the showroom and service center are…
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Plant Fair underway in Phuket
PHUKET: The 18th annual Phuket Ornamental Plants & Flowers Fair got underway with an opening ceremony at 5pm today.Held at Saphan Hin, the event will run through July 18.Organized by the Phuket Provincial Agricultural Office, Phuket City Municipality and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, this year’s fair will feature Phuket Pineapple exhibitions, pineapple peeling and processing competitions, and flower decoration contests.Various…
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New Phuket Gazette launched today
PHUKET: Following months of intensive work with content and design editors, we are happy to launch today a whole new style for your Phuket Gazette. But the new format, type of paper and layout style are only a beginning. In the weeks ahead, you will find a ‘tighter’ newspaper with more news, more features, more photos, more letters and more…
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Phuket to host Andaman Motor Expo
PHUKET: HomeWorks will host the first annual Andaman Motor Expo 2010 from August 6 to 12. Krishapanat Patwarasith, managing director of event organizers ND Productions, told a press conference yesterday that the car show will be the largest and most impressive ever held on the island, with automakers BMW, Volvo, Isuzu, Chevrolet and many others taking part. The goal is…
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Phuket family seeks runaway boy
PHUKET: The family of a 13-year-old boy who disappeared from his home in Wichit almost three weeks ago are offering a 5,000-baht reward for clues leading to his safe return. Anuchit “Erk” Tan-a-pirom went missing on the morning of June 19. His aunt, 33-year-old Warangkana Tan-a-pirom, appeared at the Phuket Reporter’s Club office at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday afternoon to…
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Islamic meetings underway in Phuket
PHUKET: Thailand’s top Muslim leaders assembled at the Royal Paradise Hotel in Phuket Town yesterday for the opening of three days of ‘Provincial Islamic Committee 2010’ meetings. Chaired by Deputy Interior Minister Thavorn Senniam, the opening ceremony was attended by Sheikhul Islam Aziz Phitakkhumphol, advisor to HM The King on Islamic affairs, as well as two representatives from Central Islamic…
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Phuket woman arrested for ‘karaoke’ slot machines
PHUKET: Police on Tuesday night arrested a Phuket woman for possession of three karaoke jukeboxes allegedly modified to function as ‘slot machines’. Following complaints about slot machine gambling lodged by local residents, Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Chaiwat Auykham and Crime Suppression Division (CSD) Area 5 Inspector Sitthikiat Srichan led the raid on a shop on Soi Rungrawee, just north…
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Phuket City Police crash helmet campaign gets high-level backing
PHUKET: Deputy Interior Minister Thavorn Senniam was so impressed with the effort of Phuket City Police Station to get all motorbike riders and passengers to don safety helmets that he has asked the Governor’s Office to extend the initiative across the entire province. Mr Thavorn, who arrived at Phuket International Airport this morning on a one-day inspection tour, was greeted…
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Phuket surf claims two, endangers 170
PHUKET: The rough surf that arrived with the monsoon season has claimed two lives and resulted in at least 117 swimmers being dragged to safety ashore between April 26 and June 25, according to statistics recently released by the Phuket Lifeguard Club. The club, which patrols Phuket’s main beaches, took on the work on April 26 after signing a contract…
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Phuket butterfly release on Saturday
PHUKET: The Phuket Butterfly Garden and Insect World will hold its annual butterfly release ceremony on Saturday morning at the Khao Phra Thaew Wildlife Conservation Area in Thalang. Phuket Butterfly Garden Managing Director Wasin Koysiripong said the event, now in its fourth year, came about from the Butterfly Garden’s ability to breed butterflies and the recognition that the number of…
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Phuket Ghostbusters: illegal guide crackdown looms
PHUKET: Kathu Police are setting up a new center aimed at cracking down on unregistered ‘ghost guides’ operating in Patong, the local police chief says. Kathu Police Superintendent Arayaphan Pukbuakhao told the Gazette that the new center, to be based in the police box on the beach at the foot of Soi Bangla, is scheduled to open in about one…
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Full-Moon frazzled farang in BB rampage
SURAT THANI: Koh Phang Ngan police came under a hail of BB gunfire when they tried to subdue a middle-aged Swiss tourist on a rampage in a weaponry shop, Khao Sod has reported. Boom BB Guns shop owner Manop Wongtawan on the morning of July 4 called police to his store, which sells BB guns as well as knives and…
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Phuket City Police helmet crackdown hits the big screen
PHUKET: It was ‘standing room only’ at Phuket City Police Station this morning as hundreds of people caught on motorbikes without helmets crammed into the fourth-floor meeting room to watch a movie showing graphic images taken from road accident scenes. The viewings are all part of the Phuket City Police effort to enforce a long-ignored traffic law requiring all people…
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Phuket murder suspect turns self in, claims innocence
PHUKET: Police on Saturday announced the arrest of the third suspect wanted in connection with the June 26 shooting murder of 17-year-old Witarn Chuaykuea at a Phuket Town gas station. Watcharin “James” Limmanee, 21, handed himself in to Phuket City Police Station last Thursday to proclaim his innocence. Narongchai “Tan” Boonprom of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, arrested earlier, confessed to shooting…
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Readers’ Poll: Is Phuket tourism sustainable?
PHUKET: According to one definition, the term “sustainable tourism” is an industry committed to making a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. Given this definition, to what extent do you think Phuket’s tourism industry is sustainable? To vote in the latest Phuket Gazette Reader’s Poll, click here or on…
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Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll: Patong sign a waste of money
PHUKET: A wide majority of Phuket Gazette online readers think the project to build a welcome sign on Patong Hill is a waste of taxpayer money, the latest Readers’ Poll has revealed. Readers were asked on June 21 which of three statements most accurately matched their view of the 9.1-million-baht project, funded under the central government’s Thai Khem Khaeng (Strong…
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FAT Football: Phuket beat Trang, 2-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket strengthened their grip on the Football Association of Thailand’s Division Two (South section) title with a hard-fought 2-0 win over second-placed Trang at Surakul Stadium on Saturday. With a game in hand, FC Phuket were two points ahead of Trang going into their first home match since the mid-season break. FC Phuket dominated possession in the first…
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OPINION: IT could help to clean up Phuket
PHUKET: Most private firms in Phuket realize that keeping up with developments in information technology is a difficult and never-ending effort, but one vital to competitiveness. Talk of Phuket’s designation as an ‘IT hub’ has been a recurring theme in the news over the past decade. This IT optimism reached its zenith in during the first Thaksin administration, when we…
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New sketch of suspect in Phuket murder of Wanphen Pienjai
PHUKET: Police have released a sketch of what the prime suspect in the Wanphen Pienjai murder case may look like without a full beard. Ms Pienjai’s naked body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Phuket on June 24. For our previous report, click here. She was last seen leaving her workplace at the Sweetheart Bar in Kata with a…
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Man murders friend with homemade gun in Phuket
PHUKET: A construction site foreman has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting one of his laborers with a homemade pen-gun, police said. The shooting happened about 9pm last night in the Phanson Villa (Bor-Rae) housing project in Wichit. Arriving at the scene shortly after the incident, Phuket City Police officers found a single .38mm bullet casing and were told…
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Thai politics not ‘all in the family’
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: In stark contrast with the family of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who speak with one voice on seemingly all…
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Phuket ‘bypass-bypass’ construction stalled
PHUKET: Budget problems are holding up work to complete a road linking the bypass road to a section of Ekwahnit Road near the back entrance to Surakul Stadium. Work on the project, known jokingly as the bypass-bypass road, was stalled for months because the road was blocked by a home belonging to a family of squatters who settled the area…
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Parade kicks off Phuket helmet crackdown
PHUKET: Phuket City Police kicked off their helmet safety campaign yesterday with around 4,000 helmet-clad riders on some 2,000 motorbikes parading down the island’s roads. From now on, police are pledging to crack down heavily on both drivers and passengers without helmets. Thai traffic law states that both drivers and passengers without helmets can be fined up to 500 baht.…
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Phuket police offer 50,000 baht to catch killer
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police are offering a reward of 50,000 baht for information leading to the arrest of the killer of 33-year-old bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, whose naked body was discovered stuffed into a suitcase in Phuket last week. The offer follows the release of a sketch of the prime suspect in the investigation, a bearded Caucasian man who…
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