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Scores of alleged Phuket mafia taxi drivers shuffle into court
PHUKET: The first 70 of 108 Phuket taxi drivers facing charges for alleged involvement in the taxi mafia appeared in court for their preliminary hearing today. Those unable to fit in the court room were told that they would be seen by the court in early-September. The defendants, some of whom denied the charges, were arrested during a historic, island-wide…
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Phuket weather forecast prompts flood, landslide, tour boat warnings
PHUKET: Blue skies over Phuket this afternoon herald a welcome reprieve to the deluges that doused the island over the weekend and throughout today. By 1pm this afternoon, humidity had reached 98 per cent and more than 47mm of rainfall had been dumped on Phuket Town and the surrounding areas (see report in Thai here). The rainfall is set to…
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Phuket man stabs relative over a bottle of whiskey
PHUKET: A 19-year-old man wanted for stabbing a relative late last night over 500 baht to buy a bottle of whiskey is expected to surrender to police tomorrow, the Phuket Gazette was told today. When Thalang Police arrived at the house near the Heroines’ Monument about 30 minutes past midnight, the stabbing suspect had fled the scene. His relative, however,…
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Officers inspect Phuket waterfall area for encroachment
PHUKET: An investigation squad yesterday inspected developed areas allegedly encroaching on the protected forest area surrounding the Wang Kee Aon Waterfall in the hills of Patong, one of the places HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej visited on a trip to Phuket in 1959. The team, composing Royal Forest Department (RFD) officers and Navy personnel, were following up on complaints from Patong…
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Numbers for Phuket’s popular visa run to Ranong nose dive
PHUKET: Bookings for Phuket’s renowned “Ranong visa run” have plunged by as much as half, a fall that is threatening the once-daily service that has become a hallmark experience for many expats on the island. The number of people attempting to re-enter Thailand at Ranong has dropped by about 50 per cent, popular Phuket visa run companies and Ranong immigration…
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Phuket lottery winners to spend B26mn prize on children’s education
PHUKET: A Phuket couple who won 26 million baht from the national lottery this weekend have set their children’s education as their top priority in spending the windfall prize. Sutin Nuanjan, 46, and his wife, Puangkaew 39, discovered on Saturday that they had won millions of baht. “On Wednesday [August 13], we went to the market in Rawai and asked…
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Phuket’s Club Med giving green to Kata
PHUKET: The five rai of Phuket public land returned to the Kata-Karon community when Club Med was given a new lease on life on August 11 will be developed into a public park. “Representatives of the public and Club Med decided that the best way to use the land will be to develop a green space where everyone can exercise…
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UK police say migrants found in shipping container are Afghan Sikhs
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UK police say migrants found in shipping container are Afghan Sikhs Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police said on Sunday that 35 people discovered in a shipping container at a British port were Afghan Sikhs and that survivors would be questioned about how they came to…
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Federer downs Ferrer to capture sixth Cincinnati title
PHUKET: Roger Federer’s hopes of adding to his record grand slam haul got a boost as he beat Spain’s David Ferrer 6-3 1-6 6-2 to win the Western and Southern Open title in Cincinnati on Sunday in the last key U.S. Open tune-up event. It marked the sixth Cincinnati title for the Swiss second seed and, coming off last week’s…
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22 injured in boiler explosion
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 22 injured after boiler explosion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A five-meter-high boiler exploded at a dyeing plant in Samut Prakan’s Muang district early yesterday, injuring some 22 workers and residents. Several nearby homes were also damaged. Most of the victims – 17 in total…
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Missouri under curfew to stave off more riots after black teen shot by police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Curfew in Missouri staves off more riots where black teen shot by police Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Authorities on Sunday imposed a midnight curfew for the second night a row in the tense St. Louis suburb where an unarmed black teen was shot to death…
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Heavy rain brings Phuket morning traffic at Tesco junction to a crawl
PHUKET: Heavy rain caused flooding and slowed traffic to a crawl at Tesco-Lotus intersection early this morning. The intersection was deluged with knee-deep flood water causing long tailbacks along the by pass road. The underpass construction site at the intersection, where excavation is already well underway, was also flooded. However, Chalermpol Wongkiattikun, head of construction at the Tesco junction site,…
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Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Australian Government has asked Thailand to adopt international standards when it passes a surrogacy law this year. Acting permanent secretary for Justice Charnchao Chaiyanukit said yesterday that Australian Ambassador to Thailand James…
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Phuket, it’s going to be a wet one
PHUKET: Keep your brolly handy this weekend, because the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued a heavy rain and flood warning for Phuket and several southern provinces. The TMD’s warning comes as the Patong Police Station and nearby roads flooded for a second time in two days (story here and here). Additionally, the TMD issued a landslide warning today, following…
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Patong Police Station hit by Phuket flooding, again
PHUKET: Patong Police are scrambling to move everything from the first floor to the second floor as their station is swamped for a second time in two days by Phuket flash floods. “The water is about up to our knees in the station,” said Lt Col Suttichai Tianpho of the Patong Police. “The computers and case files are still on…
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Iconic Match of the Day celebrates 50th anniversary
PHUKET: Hours after the dust settled on the first skirmishes of a new Premier League season yesterday, fans across Britain flicked on the TV, grabbed a cup of tea and settled down to digest the day’s action from a comfy sofa. It is a time-honored ritual enjoyed by generations, young and old, since the BBC’s Match of the Day first…
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Phuket student injured after tree falls into morning traffic
PHUKET: A large tree crashed into Phuket Town traffic this morning, leaving a student with minor injuries. Phuket City Police officers arrived at the scene, Komarabhat Road intersection near Phuket Wittayalai School, at about 11:15am and found a crushed white pick-up truck under the tree. “I was waiting for traffic to move when I felt something slam my truck. I…
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Board game gamblers swept up by Phuket Police, Navy
PHUKET: Navy personnel and Phuket City Police officers netted 37 gamblers in two separate raids last night. The officers rushed a makeshift casino in a meeting room on the second floor of the Town Inn Hotel, and discovered 27 gamblers, gambling paraphernalia and 66,660 baht in cash. “We received a tip-off about the meeting room being used as a gambling…
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Phuket Hard Rock Cafe GM arrested for gruesome ‘cold case’ murder in Australia
PHUKET: Hard Rock Cafe Phuket General Manager Gerard Caleo, 42, was arrested in Australia for his alleged role in the gruesome murder of Rita Caleo, reported the South Sydney Morning Herald today (story here). Mr Caleo was arrested by Homicide Squad detectives after landing in Sydney on a flight from Kuala Lumpur at about 6am. He has been charged with…
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Don’t stick your head in the sand, start investing
PHUKET: Lately, a lot of the phone calls I’ve been getting are from nervous retirees. They’re nervous for two reasons: One, many of my clients have seen their accounts go up by quite a bit. After all, the US stock market is showing all-time highs. If clients just purchased the ETF of the S&P 500, they’re up 17% in the…
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The fire-powered business of barbecues
PHUKET: In Thailand you’re never far from a barbecue. A massive chunk of the ever-present street food is based on grilling different kinds of meat over an open fire. Still, Brad McElroy felt he wanted a barbecue of his own and decided to import one from his home country, the motherland of barbecue – Australia. That was 18 years ago…
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Drug-crazed Phuket man kills friend, wounds girlfriend with meat cleaver
PHUKET: One man died, while a woman lay seriously injured in hospital last night following an attack by a drug-crazed man thought to be high on ya ice (crystal methamphetamine). Phuket City Police were called to a dormitory on Santisuk Soi Mai Luan Road at 6:30pm, where they found the 25-year-old suspect, Niwat Sampoosri, locked in the room attempting to…
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Mercedes-Benz, tuk-tuk crushed in Phuket landslide
PHUKET: A Mercedes-Benz, a tuk-tuk and four other vehicles were crushed in a Phuket landslide after a deluge of rain saturated a Patong construction site early this morning. “There were six vehicles parked at the site, as it is close to the owners’ homes. When the land below a retaining wall gave way, part of the wall collapsed,” said Wisit…
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Ghost-rider killed in Phuket road accident
PHUKET: A man driving a motorbike on the wrong side of the road was killed after he was struck by a van near Makro in Kathu early this morning. Chanwit Pitiwat, 31, who was not wearing a helmet, was killed instantly at about 4:30 after a Hotelbeds minivan struck him, Capt Narong Muengduang of the Wichit Police told the Phuket…
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Patong Police Station goes for a swim during Phuket flash flood
PHUKET: The carpark and first floor of Patong Police Station were underwater early this morning as a heavy rainstorm blasted through Phuket. “The flash flooding started at about 5am and lasted a couple of hours,” Lt Col Suttichai Tianpho of the Patong Police told the Phuket Gazette. “Some of our computers were damaged during the flood, as we were not…
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Phuket says goodbye to more illegal beach structures
PHUKET: A massive military sweep of some of Phuket’s most popular beaches yesterday saw almost two dozen illegal structures forcefully removed and charges pressed against the business owners. An impressive crew of about 500 military personnel and local officials arrived at the beach towns to enforce a 30-day beach clear-out deadline that expired yesterday; a mammoth mission that started in…
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Thailand’s National football team to prepare in Phuket for Asian Games
PHUKET: Thailand’s National football team will arrive in Phuket tomorrow for a two-week training camp and at least two warm-up matches, against Myanmar and Qatar, in preparation for the Asian Games in South Korea next month. Thailand’s team recently suffered an early setback when Thai Premier League leaders Buriram United refused to release their two defenders for the Asian Games.…
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Evidence suggests Ebola toll vastly underestimated – WHO
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Evidence suggests Ebola toll vastly underestimated – WHO Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Staff with the World Health Organization battling an Ebola outbreak in West Africa see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimates the scale of the outbreak, the U.N. agency…
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Police deny rumor of order for strict enforcement of closing time for Phuket party town
PHUKET: Patong Police this afternoon denied rumors of an order demanding that they more strictly enforce the 2am closure of nightlife venues in Phuket’s premier party town. “I’m sorry, but I’ve not heard about this,” Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan told the Phuket Gazette when asked about the order. Col Chiraphat offered no further comments. However, both Patong deputy superintendents,…
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Russian tourist’s death ruled suicide by Phuket police
PHUKET: Police have concluded that a Russian tourist found dead in his Phuket hotel room died of self-inflicted wounds, after eliminating the possible involvement of a ladyboy seen in his company. Fedor Vasilev, 33, from the Sakha Republic, was found dead yesterday morning with seven stab wounds to his chest and a deep laceration running the length of his forearm…
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