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Dtac brings 4G to Phuket
PHUKET: Total Access Communication Public Company Limited, commonly known as dtac, on Thursday announced the roll out of 4G services in Phuket. Phuket is the first southern province to receive 4G service, after dtac launched in Bangkok. “In 2014, internet usage in Phuket [grew] by 150% compared to the previous year. The top five favorite applications used in the area…
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Wanted Aussie Bandido Brett Pechey not on Phuket police watchlist
PHUKET: Local law enforcement chiefs today confirmed that wanted Australian biker Brett “Kaos” Pechey, who is currently living in exile, is not a wanted man in Phuket – but they are keeping a lookout for him. Mr Pechey is the former president of a Bandido chapter in Brisbane and wanted on extortion and riot charges in Queensland. He was featured…
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Phuket’s Grumpy Old Men to remember expat Little John
PHUKET: The island’s Grumpy Old Men Society (GOMS) will hold a memorial service in Rawai tomorrow in honor of a special request by Phuket expat John Devenport, who died last year (story here). The event at Gig’s Jam Club will start at about 8pm, with the Thai band Cold Chilli playing into the night. “John passed away in England and…
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Opinion: Privatized driving tests – driven by cash, or care?
PHUKET: The move by the Department of Land Transport (DLT) to privatize driver’s licence testing is a practical idea (story here), but one that is unlikely to have much impact on the dismal road-safety standards that keep Thai roads among the most dangerous on the planet. For years, going through the process of obtaining a car or motorbike driver’s licence…
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Thailand scores gold at Pencak Silat world titles in Phuket
PHUKET: Thailand has won three gold medals at the 16th Pencak Silat World Championships being contested at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Center in Phuket Town, with more up for grabs today. Pornthep Poonkaew won gold for Thailand in the men’s 60-65kg division and Napaporn Boonchuen won her gold medal in the women’s 45-50kg class. This morning, Surasak Dekli defeated…
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Phuket sailors ready for ACYC yacht race teaser this weekend (video)
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) will hold the first of three family fun day races on Sunday with a race around Koh Lone, off the east coast of Phuket. “All are welcome to join the ACYC Sunday sailing races. Breakfast is available at the club from 8am. Anybody wishing to sail but does not have a boat is…
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Phuket robbers rip ATM from wall
PHUKET: Police are searching for at least two suspects who ripped a Siam Commercial Bank ATM off a pharmacy wall at Baan Manik, in Thalang, before dawn this morning. However, the suspects fled without stealing any of the cash inside, as police believe they are startled by a passer-by who spotted the thieves attempting to cut open the ATM with…
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PM urged to drop tobacco control bill
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM urged to drop tobacco control bill The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Tobacco farmer associations have urged Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to put a brake on the tobacco control bill, which is now on its way to a Cabinet meeting. The bill, if legislated,…
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Belgian police kill two in raid, foil imminent Islamist attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Belgian police kill two in raid, foil imminent Islamist attacks Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Belgian police killed two men who opened fire on them during one of about a dozen raids on Thursday against an Islamist group that federal prosecutors said was about to launch…
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Euro PGA player Shiv rates Laguna Phuket’s new course “exceptional’
PHUKET: European Tour and Asian Tour player Shiv Kapur last Sunday rated the re-designed course at Laguna Phuket Golf Club as “an exceptional golf course” that maintained traditions of the game. “You walk off with a smile on your face,” he said at the inaugural tournament held to officially open the course. Kapur began the 76-player Scramble tourney with an…
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Bread crumbs no problem for coral reef, says Phuket official
PHUKET: Despite specialists’ worries, the director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket office explained that feeding fish bread in small quantities is no cause for concern. “Officers from the Phuket Marine Biological Center [PMBC] say that feeding fish will change their natural habits. However, based on my experience, I do not think that it is wrong to…
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Even tourists don’t want jet-skis on Phuket beaches, says poll
PHUKET: A staggering 75% of all respondents – including tourists – have voted that jet-skis have no place anywhere on any Phuket beach. The poll, run for four weeks on the Phuket Gazette website, received 6,362 votes, with nearly 3,000 tourists making their voices heard concerning the simple question: “Should jet-ski operators be allowed to operate on Phuket’s beaches?” Only…
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Czech busker on Bangla reunited with his family
PHUKET: The Czech father who was busking on Soi Bangla for money while his 6-year-old daughter lay in hospital after being hit by a car has been reunited with his family. Phuket Tourist Police officers visited Lucas Matena and his family at Bangkok Hospital Phuket on Tuesday, where Mr Matena’s daughter Rebeka was recovering from a broken jaw. The officers…
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Strategies for survival: Responding to the Russian tourist crunch
PHUKET: There was much talk last year of the protests in Bangkok and the ensuing coup striking at the heart of Phuket’s tourism and hospitality industries, with many key tourism figures on the island fearing the worst. Yet, it turns out, that while the island has survived the political turmoil in the country’s capital relatively unscathed, it is events unfolding…
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Sausage delivery truck rams logging trailer in high-speed crash
PHUKET: A delivery truck rear-ended a 10-wheeled trailer hauling felled rubber trees at high speed on Thepkrasattri Road yesterday, resulting in massive traffic tailbacks on one of the island’s busiest highways. Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene, in the southbound lane, at about 6:30am. The truck driver, 25-year-old Pongsak Inthong, admitted to having been speeding…
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Yosemite climbers reach top of El Capitan in historic ascent
PHUKET: Two climbers completed a historic 19-day ascent to the summit of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan in California on Wednesday after scaling the rock formation’s 3,000-foot (900-metre) sheer granite face without climbing tools, representatives said. Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, made it to the top of El Capitan at 3:30 p.m. (2330 GMT), spokeswoman Jess Clayton of…
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Police ‘played a role’ in South Koreans’ abduction
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police ‘played a role’ in South Koreans’ abduction The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Twelve senior police officers and one civilian were involved in the kidnapping of three South Korean men, a high-ranking police source said yesterday. Ten of the police officers are attached to Metropolitan…
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‘Third gender’ will be acknowledged in the new constitution
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Third gender’ will be acknowledged in the new constitution The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) agreed on Tuesday to note the “third gender” or people of different sexuality in the new Constitution, a move likely to empower transgender people so they…
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Grenade lighter sparks bomb scare at Phuket health center
PHUKET: A cigarette lighter shaped like a grenade sent patients and medical staff scurrying for cover at a local health center in Phuket today. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Chao Phomna called in the bomb squad at about 12:40pm after a patient reported seeing a grenade by the front door of the center, named as the Songserm Sukhapharp Hospital. “We…
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Vietnamese cargo ship rams, sinks Thai fishing boat off Phuket
PHUKET: Marine officials have detained a Vietnamese cargo ship in Phang Nga after the vessel struck and sank a Thai fishing boat off Phuket yesterday. “We were anchored about 10 nautical miles from Phuket Airport, when at about 8:40am a cargo ship named Phuong Nam 69 came from nowhere and rammed our bow hard,” Arom Sri-im, owner of the fishing…
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Police silent on fatal Phuket tour bus crash probe
PHUKET: Police have closed the books on a fatal crash in Kamala that left nine Russian tourists injured after their tour bus collided with a Ford Fiesta (story here). The 37-year-old driver of the car, Tantima Thaworn, later succumbed to her injuries (story here). “The case was closed shortly after the death of Ms Tantima,” said Lt Col Nanon Pitakkultorn…
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Challenge of importing the food Phuket loves
PHUKET: What is the first thing most expats start to miss from their home country? Family? Maybe for some, but for most it’s food. Luckily, the days when all you could eat in Thailand was the local cuisine are gone. Today, buying a piece of Dutch cheese, a few slices of Italian ham or some French paté is as easy…
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Opinion: Phuket prejudice against the law
PHUKET: The fatal shot fired by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, was not heard around the world, but the repercussions of slaying an unarmed black man, Michael Brown, were. The shooting, trial and subsequent similar situation in New York, focused all major American and international media on issues that economically depressed black communities face in the US. The war of…
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Phuket’s top police get shake-up: eight transferred
PHUKET: A sweeping transfer of eight of the island’s 10 police superintendents comes with short notice as the Phuket high season charges into 2015. Public Affairs Division of the Royal Thai Police announced the orders this morning, though the transferees were officially confirmed by Region 8 Police Commissioner Decha Budnampeth on January 9. “I am surprised that so many of…
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Legal Phuket jet-ski operators threaten to join illegal cowboys
PHUKET: Fed up with illegal jet-ski operators serving tourists at Bang Tao Beach, the local legal jet-ski brigade yesterday threatened to abandon all legalities and join the jet-ski cowboys. Unregistered and uninsured jet-skis and parasail boats returned to the beach in November, said Surachai Yomdee, head of the Bang Tao Jet-Ski Club. “The illegal jet-skis and parasail boats do not…
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Water tanker crushes pick-up truck in Kamala villa estate
PHUKET: A water tanker rolled backwards down a hill and crushed a pick-up truck outside a residence at Jomchang Villa in Kamala yesterday afternoon, only moments after the pick-up driver got out of her vehicle. Kamala Police officers called to the scene were told by witnesses that the pick-up driver, who declined to be named, had escaped almost certain death…
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Russian hitchhikers spared dangerous nighttime jungle trek
PHUKET: Two Russian women were spared the ordeal of becoming lost in the Phang Nga jungle after a police officer realized that they were heading for potential trouble last night. Named by police only as Ms Susan, 21, and Ms Vilka, 23, the women were spotted heading into the jungle at Khao Nang Hong, a 400-meter-high mountain eco-tourist site. The…
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Molly’s fatal road in Phuket fixed
PHUKET: Officials have fixed the rural road that claimed the life of 7-year-old Molly Anne Bailey after the truck she was travelling in plunged into a massive sinkhole. The sinkhole did not have any lights or obvious signs warning drivers of the hole. There was only a dark green plastic net with a sign that read “Road Cut Off”. The…
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Former Pheu Thai MP on B11mn fraud charge
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Former Pheu Thai MP on B11mn fraud charge The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former Pheu Thai Party MP Chaowarin Latthasaksiri was arrested yesterday for allegedly trying to cheat a Cambodian firm out of 11 million baht. Immigration Police arrested Chaowarin at Suvarnabhumi Airport at noon,…
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Police accused of kidnap, Bt2m ransom from Korean gambling ring
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police accused of kidnap, Bt2m ransom from Korean gambling ring The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Seven police officers will be summoned to explain their role over allegations that they demanded Bt2 million from South Koreans who have illegally operated online gambling services. Investigators are also…
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