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  • Ethnic rebels’ show of force highlights Suu Kyi’s peace challenge | Thaiger

    Ethnic rebels’ show of force highlights Suu Kyi’s peace challenge

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ethnic rebels’ show of force highlights Suu Kyi’s peace challenge Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Speaking to 1,000 of his soldiers at a mountain base on Myanmar’s border with Thailand, the leader of a powerful ethnic armed group called on other rebels to join government-led peace…

  • Bigger budget needed to boost Phuket image

    Bigger budget needed to boost Phuket image

    PHUKET: The central government needs to reassess how it determines Phuket’s budget due to the vast number of tourists for which the island’s infrastructure needs to cater, said Phuket Honorary Consul for Nepal Pranee Sakulpipatana at a seminar on the island’s image on Friday. “The central government calculates the budget for the island based on its registered residential population of…

  • German found dead in Rawai rental room | Thaiger

    German found dead in Rawai rental room

    PHUKET: Chalong Police are investigating the death of a German national found dead in his rented room in Phuket on Friday. The body of Sven Rzezaczka, 47, was discovered at 11am, after a reported drinking session with friends the night before. “Mr Rzezaczka’s body was found lying face down on the bed with his knees on the floor. There was…

  • Tourist dies scuba diving in Phi Phi national park

    Tourist dies scuba diving in Phi Phi national park

    PHUKET: A tour company, a boat operator and a British dive professional are all in hot water after a tourist died in their care while scuba diving in Phi Phi national marine park yesterday. Chinese national Minghua Jiang, 62, was recovered unconscious at about noon while scuba diving for the first time near Koh Poda (Koh Yawasam), which is part…

  • Apple to launch new iPhone, iPad in March | Thaiger

    Apple to launch new iPhone, iPad in March

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Apple to launch new iPhone, iPad in March Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is on target to introduce its next iPhone and iPad models on March 15, and aims to start selling the devices in the same week, technology blog 9to5Mac reported, citing…

  • More than five dozen helmet-less drivers arrested in Phuket

    More than five dozen helmet-less drivers arrested in Phuket

    PHUKET: Phuket traffic police made 64 arrests in the first week of the ‘One district, One road, with 100 per cent helmets’ campaign. The new campaign was launched on February 1 in an effort to improve Phuket’s road safety. Helmet-less drivers caught at checkpoints across the island had their bikes seized and were escorted to the police station to view…

  • BISP student takes title at Thai National Tennis Tournament

    BISP student takes title at Thai National Tennis Tournament

    PHUKET: British International School Phuket (BISP) RPT Tennis Academy player James Van Herzeele won the Thai National Tennis Tournament for Boys 14 and under on February 7 at the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand and was selected to represent Thailand. Held from February 3 to 7, the tournament included the top 16 tennis players in Thailand, boys 14 and under,…

  • Kamala Beach cleared of trash

    Kamala Beach cleared of trash

    PHUKET: Kamala Beach is looking cleaner after trash was cleared from its sands by local authorities acting on demands from nearby business operators. Kamala Administration Organization (OrBorTor) responded to reports sent to the Phuket Gazette about rubbish piling up at the beach by swinging into action with two brand new ‘green’ garbage trucks. Until recently, the municipality was barely getting…

  • Transport Minister demands underpass tunnel completion within two months

    Transport Minister demands underpass tunnel completion within two months

    PHUKET: The Transport Minister of Thailand has given the construction company in charge of the Samkong Underpass until April 10 to complete the project. Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith stopped by the site yesterday to check on progress and speak with representatives of the construction company, Wiwat Construction Co Ltd. “Engineers from the Department of Highways and the Engineering Institute of…

  • Phuket sea gypsies take land case to capital

    Phuket sea gypsies take land case to capital

    PHUKET: Sea gypsies in Rawai have taken their case to the capital to plead for intervention from the country’s top brass, after being threatened with eviction from beachfront land by developer Baron World Trade Co Ltd. Representatives from the sea gypsy community handed a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan on Wednesday, but did not get an immediate…

  • Beijing offers support for Hong Kong after New Year violence | Thaiger

    Beijing offers support for Hong Kong after New Year violence

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Beijing offers support for Hong Kong after New Year violence Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: China’s central government firmly supports Hong Kong authorities and police in safeguarding public order and punishing those who break the law, the foreign ministry has said in Beijing’s first reaction to…

  • S.Korea: North responsible for consequences from Kaesong shutdown | Thaiger

    S.Korea: North responsible for consequences from Kaesong shutdown

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community S.Korea: North responsible for consequences from Kaesong shutdown Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: South Korea said on Friday that North Korea would be held responsible for any consequences after the North kicked out South Korean workers and froze the assets of companies at the jointly run…

  • Einstein’s gravitational waves detected in landmark discovery | Thaiger

    Einstein’s gravitational waves detected in landmark discovery

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Einstein’s gravitational waves detected in landmark discovery Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Scientists for the first time have detected gravitational waves, ripples in space and time hypothesised by Albert Einstein a century ago, in a landmark discovery announced on Thursday that opens a new window for…

  • Hundreds of passengers skate through Krabi immigration during blackout

    Hundreds of passengers skate through Krabi immigration during blackout

    PHUKET: About 800 international arrivals breezed through Krabi Airport immigration on Wednesday due to a six-hour blackout that caused the computer systems to shut down. “Immigration officers had to manually take down passenger information, and later enter it in the system when it was back up and running,” confirmed Attaporn Nuangudom, director of Krabi International Airport. The loose security measures…

  • Historical Phuket park gets B42mn injection

    Historical Phuket park gets B42mn injection

    PHUKET: The Thalang Historical Park is set to receive a 42-million-baht makeover by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO). “With the budget, we will renovate 10 rai of land around the park. We had initially submitted the proposal to officials during then-PPAO President Paiboon’s visit last year, as he was intent on putting the land to productive use,” said Watcharin…

  • Phuket melon mayhem takes hours to cleanup

    Phuket melon mayhem takes hours to cleanup

    PHUKET: An out-of-control pick-up truck carrying more than 50,000 baht worth of watermelons collided with a power pole in Thalang earlier this week. “There were smears of fruit everywhere on the road. It took rescue workers and police officers about an hour to clear it all up,” said Lt Kraisorn Boonprasop of the Thalang Police. The truck driver, 41-year-old Veera…

  • Asia Marine moves into motors

    Asia Marine moves into motors

    PHUKET: Asia Marine has been building, selling, chartering and managing yachts in Phuket for more than 25 years, and was voted ‘Best Asia based Yacht Charter Agent’ in the 2007 Asian Boating Awards. In December last year, Asia Marine CEO Vincent Tabuteau took the company in a new direction by joining forces with Frenchman Eric Noyel, founder of Asia Marine…

  • Galileo Maritime Academy sends ambassadors to TYS

    Galileo Maritime Academy sends ambassadors to TYS

    PHUKET: Thalang’s Galileo Maritime Academy is shining at the first-ever Thailand Yacht Show. Founded in 2012 by Brian Murray, a career chief engineer in the British Royal Navy and a superyacht captain for 30 years, Galileo offers courses that combine skill sets from the hospitality trade to the skills needed for working as superyacht crew. “The Thailand Yacht Show is…

  • Battling boat show inertia

    Battling boat show inertia

    PHUKET: In a region already swamped with boat shows, the development of a new show has not been an easy undertaking, admitted Andy Treadwell, managing director of 3L Events, organizers of the Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) 2016 as well as the Singapore Yacht Show. The biggest problem with launching such a show is convincing the industry that you know what…

  • Opinion: Directing ships of cash to Phuket

    Opinion: Directing ships of cash to Phuket

    PHUKET: After months of reporting one marine mishap after another, the inaugural Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) comes as a refreshing and long overdue reminder of just how important the marine leisure industry is to the island – and why all sides need to work harder to further develop the province into the true marine hub of the region. Phuket’s marine…

  • Australian cuts to climate change research may hit drive into Asia | Thaiger

    Australian cuts to climate change research may hit drive into Asia

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australian cuts to climate change research may hit drive into Asia Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Funding and job cuts at Australia’s climate change research body could undermine the country’s goal of dominating the Asian premium food market by placing farmers at a disadvantage to U.S.…

  • Massive granite slab kills one, critically injures another

    Massive granite slab kills one, critically injures another

    PHUKET: One Myanmar national was killed and another seriously injured last night after an enormous slab of granite that they were delivering fell on them. Mong Mia, 23, was part of a four-man crew unloading the slabs in a warehouse in Kathu, when they lost control of a piece they were carrying, estimated to weigh between 300 to 500 kilograms.…

  • World’s top scientists pledge to share all findings to fight Zika | Thaiger

    World’s top scientists pledge to share all findings to fight Zika

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community World’s top scientists pledge to share all findings to fight Zika Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Thirty of the world’s leading scientific research institutions, journals and funders have pledged to share for free all data and expertise on Zika to speed up the fight against an…

  • Google: U.S. guidance crucial to development of self-driving cars | Thaiger

    Google: U.S. guidance crucial to development of self-driving cars

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Google: U.S. guidance crucial to development of self-driving cars Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O) unit told U.S. auto safety regulators that the government’s interpretation of motor vehicle safety rules is “extremely important” to its further development of fully self-driving cars. In a…

  • CPR brings tourist back to life

    CPR brings tourist back to life

    KRABI: Rescue workers revived a Chinese tourist after she was pulled unconscious from Krabi waters by friends Tuesday afternoon. “Jian Jingpia, 28, was swimming with a large group of friends at a depth of about one meter, when she lost her footing and began floundering and choking,” said Jumpen Pompakdee, head of the Koh Hong National Park. Ms Jian lost…

  • Rescued three-year-old boy transferred to PICU

    Rescued three-year-old boy transferred to PICU

    PHUKET: The three-year-old boy who was found after going missing for six days, has been transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Vachira Phuket Hospital, confirmed hospital staff. Nong DJ was rescued yesterday from a shallow waterway about three kilometers away from his home (video report here). “Nong DJ is now in the PICU due to a stomach…

  • China confirms first case of Zika virus | Thaiger

    China confirms first case of Zika virus

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China confirms first case of Zika virus Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: China has confirmed its first case of the Zika virus in a man who had recently travelled to South America, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The virus, which is causing international alarm after…

  • Australia set to legalise cultivation of medical cannabis | Thaiger

    Australia set to legalise cultivation of medical cannabis

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia set to legalise cultivation of medical cannabis Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Australia is expected to legalize the cultivation of cannabis for medical or scientific purposes with a bill introduced to parliament on Wednesday – the first step towards doctors eventually prescribing it to patients…

  • Taiwan developer in custody after deadly quake fells building | Thaiger

    Taiwan developer in custody after deadly quake fells building

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Taiwan developer in custody after deadly quake fells building Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: A local court in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan ruled on Tuesday to take into custody the developer of a building which collapsed during an earthquake at the weekend that killed…

  • Krabi Police bust illegal gun ring

    Krabi Police bust illegal gun ring

    KRABI: Krabi Police captured one suspect and are searching for two others who were able to flee the scene of a raid on Monday in Ao Luek. Police were alerted to the location after neighbors complained of an illegal gun production ring. “We were able to capture Noppadon Surachawadee, 34. However, his younger brother, Prasit Surachawadee, 28, and their associate,…