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Malaysian biker dies in crash on last day of Phuket Bike Week
PHUKET: A second Malaysian biker participating in the Phuket Bike Week died on Sunday morning after losing control of his motorbike on the infamous Baan Kor En curve and crashing into the median strip in Thalang. Zhi Wei Loh, 29, was starting the return journey to Malaysia with a group of friends when he approached Baan Kor En curve on…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: London does it; EPL nail-biters; Vettel wins
Big crowds, black ribbons for Boston at London Marathon Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Undaunted by the Boston Marathon bombings, big crowds lined the route of London’s mass road race to cheer on around 36,000 runners, many of whom wore black ribbons to remember the dead and wounded. Hundreds of extra police were deployed to secure the first race in…
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Tennis Update: Chang-SAT ITF Pro Circuit 2013
PHUKET: Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) is currently hosting a round of the prestigious International Tennis Federation (ITF) pro tennis circuit. Scroll down for today’s schedule and yesterday’s results. The 2013 ITF round consists of two consecutive women’s tournaments from April 20 to April 27 and April 27 to May 4. The highlight of the Chang-SAT ITF Pro Circuit…
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Thai Football: Phuket FC buries Khon Kaen’s ‘T-Rex’ in injury time
PHUKET: A late winner by Brazilian striker Luiz “Dudu” Purcino secured all three points for Phuket FC in their home match against Yamaha League One rivals, Khon Kaen FC, last night. Phuket wasted a number of chances throughout the game and the match looked destined to end 0-0, until Dudu scored his last gasp winner with one of the last…
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Raw sewage leaves Phuket residents retching
PHUKET: Polluted water with a stench so overpowering it is making people physically ill has become the bane of residents along the banks of the Bang Yai Canal in Phuket Town. “People vomit and get serious headaches,” said Samkong resident Lek Bumrung. “Dirty water is released into the canal at odd intervals, day or night,” she said. “But each time…
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Dead dugong discovered east of Phuket prompts local resident action
PHUKET: A dead dugong was found floating just off the coast of Koh Pu in Krabi by a local crab fisherman yesterday morning, prompting villagers to take action.The young marine mammal was discovered with a long gash across its snout in front of the Baan Koh Pu village port and was dragged to shore by villagers before it was reported…
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Earth Day celebrated with Phuket beach cleanup
PHUKET: Earth Day, underway in Phuket and around the world Monday, will see local residents, tourists and island visitors take to Kata Beach in an effort to preserve the island’s environment with Go Eco Phuket’s beach cleanup. Those wanting to take part in the Earth Day activity on Kata Beach are encouraged to meet at 8:30am at the north end…
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Phuket Oilfield Classic drives new record
PHUKET: THE 5th annual Phuket Oilfield Classic (POC) charity golf tournament attracted more than 130 oil and gas executives from around the world, who gathered on the island earlier this month for four days of golf and entertainment (click here for final results table). After the welcome cocktail party on April 4, teams of four enjoyed a great first day…
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Fake “yogi’ nabbed by cops
PHUKET: A 35-year-old Indian Sikh is in police custody after allegedly tricking villagers in Surin Province into believing he was a yogi with magic powers. Balvinder Singh extracted thousands of baht from at least five believers to “cleanse” them of their bad karma, police say. Mr Singh was arrested while he performed a “magical” ceremony for “Mr Ek”, a 31-year-old…
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Phuket Laguna Golf Club cuts green fees
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket Golf Club is offering Thai and expat golfers cut-price green fees of 1,800 baht for 18 holes during the current low season – less than half the usual 4,200 baht visitor rate. This offer is available until October 2013, but the green fees exclude caddy fee. Meanwhile, Laguna Phuket Golf Club recently hosted the second match of…
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Phuket policeman charged with attempted murder still on active duty
PHUKET: A Phuket policeman charged with attempted murder after a violent attack on Valentine’s Day remains on active duty in Thalang, while police prepare their case for the prosecutor. Sen Sgt Maj Wichit Dada of the Thalang Police was charged with attempted murder after he was accused of restraining a teenager while his son threatened the teen with his father’s…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Second suspect in Boston bombings captured
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Second suspect in Boston bombings captured after huge manhunt Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Police captured a 19-year-old man suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings with his older brother after a day-long manhunt on Friday that closed down the city and turned a working-class suburb into…
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TPL teams struggle against champions
PHUKET: Thailand’s two representatives in the AFC Champions League, Muang Thong United and Buriram United, are struggling to make it out of the competition’s group stages. Muang Thong’s form in the Champions League is the polar opposite of their five-game unbeaten start to the 2013 Thai Premier League (TPL) season. The current TPL champions are rooted to the bottom of…
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Chonburi top AFC qualifiers
PHUKET: Thailand’s Futsal Premier League (TFPL) champions, Chonburi Bluewave finished top of the AFC Futsal Club Championship 2013 Zone 2 Qualifiers. The Zone 2 qualifying groups comprised of ASEAN and East Asian teams, while Zone 1 has West, South and Central Asian teams. Zone 2 featured two groups, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the semifinals.…
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Phuket Police pursuit nets drug suspect from fish pond
PHUKET: Phuket City Police in hot pursuit of a drug suspect yesterday finally arrested their man after hauling him out of a fish pond in Rassada.Police were alerted to the suspect when officers at a checkpoint on Palian Road in Phuket Town saw a new Toyota Vios, still bearing red license plates, pull over just short of the checkpoint at…
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Laguna Phuket to host record-breaking Nu Skin incentives meeting
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket is playing a major role in a record-breaking annual incentive program being staged over six days, from Sunday April 21, for 4,000 delegates and staff of anti-aging products company NU SKIN Greater China. The delegation is expected to generate a business boom for Phuket and Thailand.NU SKIN delegates from seven cities in mainland China, as well as…
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Temperatures, tyres and tactics – F1
PHUKET: Before Shanghai, I predicted correctly that Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso would be on the podium, but who would be the third driver to join them? In the event it was Lewis Hamilton, but in truth it could have been any driver in the first half of the field (click here for article). If only Felipe Massa’s car had…
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Malaysian biker dies en route to Phuket Bike Week
PHUKET: A Malaysian biker died in a road accident in Phattalung yesterday afternoon while riding to Phuket to join Phuket Bike Week. Lt Boonthip Wunfai of the Khao Chaison Police told the Phuket Gazette this morning that the accident occurred on Petchkasem Road, the main highway from the southern Thai border to Bangkok, at about 2:30pm. Officers and rescue workers…
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Thailand News: Preah Vihear land dispute update
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Romanian expert becomes star at the ICJ Supalak Ganjanakhundee / Budsarakham Sinlapalavan / The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Alina Miron, co-counsel on the Thai legal team that is presenting the country’s case in the Preah Vihear land dispute before the world court, smiled in surprise…
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Phuket Justice: Hope fades for finding Jintana’s executioners
PHUKET: Police officers’ hopes are dissipating as they once again turn to the public for help in finding the executioners of Jintana Mahattanapak, who was shot in the head on her way home from work in January. With leads running out earlier this year, police were banking on CCTV footage captured in the area to help identify the killers or…
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Phuket Opinion: Paradise found
PHUKET: I lived on Racha Yai Island for five years, teaching English to the staff at the luxury resort there, and I support the local conservation group that wants to ensure that restaurants and hotels deal properly with their wastewater and garbage, and allow streams to flow freely to the sea.I love nature, but I’m no enviro-activist. I don’t have…
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Phuket Opinion: Taking responsibility for Phuket’s garbage
Environmental specialist Nutthakrit Polpetch, 45, is the director of the Phuket office of Natural Resources and Environment. He has a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Kasetsart University. A native of Phattalung, he has lived in Phuket for 20 years. Here he talks about how managing organic garbage in Phuket can reduce garbage and also create useful products. PHUKET: I am…
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Phuket Opinion: Seeing through the muck
PHUKET: Pollution levels in the Bang Yai Canal strong enough to make residents of Phuket Town’s Samkong area physically ill should spur authorities in all relevant jurisdictions to work together to pinpoint the source of the contaminants and punish any violators. Unfortunately, the official response on all sides has been the opposite. Some local officials are firing off knee-jerk denials,…
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Phuket’s first underpass to open early next year
PHUKET: To alleviate the ongoing traffic tailbacks at the construction site of Phuket’s first underpass (story here), the project managers will open all three lanes of the underpass at the beginning of next year. “So far, the underpass is 11 per cent complete. At the beginning of next year, it will be opened for road users,” Department of Highways’ Bureau…
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Phuket Songkran 2013 road death toll to remain at zero – forever
PHUKET: The nationwide Seven Days of Danger road safety campaign ended at midnight last night, with the official tally of no deaths in Phuket to remain as the formal record forever, the chief of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket) has confirmed. Officers at the DDPM-Phuket, when contacted by the Phuket Gazette today, said they had…
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Russian teen student still in coma after horrific motorbike crash
PHUKET: Vlad Abrashko, the Russian student who was driving the motorbike involved in the high-speed accident on the bypass road two weeks ago (story here), has been discharged from hospital with a broken leg. His passenger Sevastian Lukashov, however, remains comatose at Phuket International Hospital, a source close to the teens has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. With Mr Abrashko…
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Phuket chef charged with setting alight motorbikes
PHUKET: A chef at a seafood restaurant in Karon has confessed to setting alight three motorbikes after he was shown CCTV footage of himself throwing a live cigarette butt at one of the vehicles.Karon Police arrested Ek Musika, 39, at 5:30pm yesterday after officers tracked him down through the CCTV footage of the incident and by questioning local residents.The incident…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Gold sales soar as price falls; Teachers charged for toddler’s death; Police corruption probe continues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gold sales soar as price dips below Bt20,000 per baht weight The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Local gold has been sold below Bt20,000 per baht weight for the first time since 2011, following a sharp fall in global prices over the past few days.Bullion for immediate delivery…
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Boston bombing prompts Phuket Airport security boost
PHUKET: Security at Phuket International Airport has been boosted in the wake of the tragic bombing of the Boston Marathon on Monday, which killed three people and injured at least 180 more. The move follows Pongsak Semsant, caretaker president of Airports of Thailand (AOT), announcing the security boost for all major AOT airports in Thailand, including Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang…
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Tourists offer high praise for rescue efforts after storm sinks dive boat north of Phuket
PHUKET: Tourists have heaped high praise on all those involved in the rescue of 30 people from a sinking dive boat and the safe recovery of 425 others after a severe storm left a flotilla of tour boats returning from the Similan Islands stranded at Koh Ta Chai, north of Phuket. The 24-meter dive boat Little Princess, with 30 people…
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