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Suicide victim’s mum reveals letter calling for return of Phuket beaches to vendors
PHUKET: A letter presented at a ceremony commemorating a financially distressed Phuket beach vendor found dead last week implored Thailand’s leaders to return the beachfront to those who used it to make a living. At the memorial service on Patong Beach on Saturday, Jirasak Sae-Koo’s mother, Pranee Piromrit, revealed the letter, and explained that her son had written it before…
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Breaking News: Army to probe Phuket visa run “cash for clearance’ claims at Sadao
PHUKET: Reports of foreigners returning from visa runs to Malaysia being asked to pay 200 baht in cash to clear immigration at the Sadao checkpoint are to be directed to the regional Army chief for Southern Thailand, the Phuket Gazette confirmed yesterday. “I was doing a trip with a visa-run company to Penang, Malaysia,” said one British expat, who asked…
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Railway staffer child rapist-murderer sentenced to death
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Railway child rapist-murderer sentenced to death The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court today sentenced to death State Railway of Thailand employee Wanchai Saengkhao, 22, for raping and strangling a 13-year-old girl before dumping her body from a moving train in July. He was…
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Myanmar worker saved after Phuket retaining wall collapses
PHUKET: A Myanmar worker escaped serious injury last night when a retaining wall at a Phuket construction site collapsed, pinning him in a hole and covering him with earth. The accident occurred at a housing estate under construction in Baan Ao Por, near Ao Por pier, at about 9:30pm, Lt Suporn Muangkhai told the Phuket Gazette. “Mr Htat, 22, as…
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Judge kills his wife, himself
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Judge kills his wife, himself The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Phitsanulok Court judge Chalermpol Butrdee shot dead his wife before turning the gun on himself early yesterday morning at their home in Nakhon Sawan’s Muang district. Following the report of the incident at about 2am,…
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Koh Tao party zone plan amid security concerns
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Koh Tao party zone plan amid security concerns The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Designated entertainment and activity areas and a special management team will be implemented on Koh Tao, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said yesterday.The scheme, dubbed the “Koh Tao Model”, is a…
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Breaking News: Violent Phuket taxi drivers return to work
PHUKET: Expect to see taxi drivers who have been convicted for their role in Phuket’s taxi mafia back behind the wheel without delay, the Phuket Provincial Land Transportation Office (PLTO) confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. “Anybody who was sentenced for his or her role in the taxi mafia – even individuals who ripped people off, were violent or intimidated…
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Officials catch fishing trawler working in restricted zone east of Phuket
PHUKET: The crews of two fishing boats were arrested for trawling in a restricted fishing area near Koh Sriboya, east of Phuket, yesterday morning. The boats, Chaitakarn 17 and Chaitakarn 15, had already netted 200 kilograms of fish by the time officials arrived. “We received a report from local fisherman that the boats were fishing in waters where trawling is…
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Body of woman with hands bound washes onto Phuket beach
PHUKET: Police are trying to identify a woman whose naked body was found washed onto a Phuket beach with her hands bound behind her back this morning. Local resident Lumyong Kunpai made the gruesome discovery on Surin Beach and quickly called the police. “We believe that the woman was killed about a week ago and that her body was dumped…
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Phuket men wanted over street shooting
PHUKET: Police are scouring Phuket for two attackers who gunned down a man in Cherng Talay last night. Officers were called to a home in Pasak Soi 8, where rescue workers were tending to Rattikorn Weeraphruk, 25, from Roi Et, who was bleeding on the kitchen floor after being shot twice. Mr Rattikorn told police that he was riding his…
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Man denies rape of Phuket Russian tourist
PHUKET: A man* has confessed to tying up a Russian tourist before having sex with her, but has denied charges of rape and assault. Police arrested Somdet Srisai, 33, at his apartment on Patak Road on Saturday, hours after the 29-year-old woman lodged a complaint with the Karon Police. “The man was arrested and charged with sexual assault and rape.…
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Adrenaline takes the win at Sunday’s ACYC race
PHUKET: Light winds that built to around 10 knots over the course and a picture postcard sunny day yesterday saw sailors in the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) race series finish within seconds of each other on corrected times. In the multihull division, a 30º wind shift at the start favored Hurricane and Adrenaline, while disadvantaging back-runners Nina and Galeforce,…
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Australian tourist stabbed in Patong street fight with Thai teens
PHUKET: Police are looking to press charges against an Australian tourist and a Thai teenager after both used broken bottles as weapons in an early-morning fight on the Patong beach road yesterday. Capt Thawatchai Srimai of the Patong Police arrived at the scene at 2am with other officers to find Dwayne House, 23, on the ground in agony. He had…
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Drinking buddies save Phuket man from drowning
PHUKET: A man who went swimming off the east coast of Phuket late last night is in hospital after being saved from drowning by two friends he was drinking on the beach with. Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation were called to Tala Beach in Pa Khlok at about 11:15pm. “We arrived to see two teenagers trying to help their…
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Bulgarians busted for ATM skimming in Phuket
PHUKET: Three Bulgarian men were arrested in Phuket early this morning for skimming ATM cards and making withdrawals from hacked accounts totalling more than 170,000 baht. Tsvetozar Georgiev Slavchev, 44, was arrested while withdrawing money from an ATM in front of a Super Cheap convenience store at Karon Beach at 1am. “We have CCTV recordings of Mr Slavchev making seven…
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Hotels silent on helping out-of-work Patong beach staffers
PHUKET: Patong hotels have failed to reply to government appeals to provide assistance to the beach business staffers who were made redundant through the Phuket clean-up campaign, say officials. “We have sent letters to many big hotels asking for their co-operation by providing space on their properties where unemployed vendors may work, but we have yet to receive any reply,”…
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Battle against Phuket land grabbers moves to the hills
PHUKET: The entire island should give its full support to the ongoing efforts by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to rid public beaches of encroachment in all its forms. The results, which so far have been nothing less than stunning, are sure to go a long way to restoring the island’s attractiveness to tourists, both foreign and…
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Koh Tao murders prompt Phuket security boost
PHUKET: Region 8 Police chief Panya Mamen has ordered all police stations under his command, including those in Phuket, to investigate their options for improving tourists’ safety following the brutal slaying of two British tourists on Koh Tao earlier this month. “I have ordered every police station in Region 8, especially those in tourist destinations, to establish if they can…
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Demolition efforts rock 21 buildings on Phuket’s west coast
PHUKET: Armed Navy officers blocked traffic on the Nai Yang beachfront road today as demolition started on two restaurants along the pristine Phuket west coast beach. The removal of the buildings was led by Cdr Pornprom Sakultem of the Royal Thai Navy, which has its eyes on seven buildings in the area. However, five are still going through the legal…
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Festival looters raid two Phuket restaurants on same day
PHUKET: Unidentified looters capitalized on the holiday closure of two Phuket restaurants yesterday, breaking in to steal electronics. Capt Wattana Bumrungthin of the Thung Thong Police received a call at about 3pm to investigate a robbery at the Fiesta Cafe in Kathu. “We closed the restaurant after all of the staff left to join the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket Town,”…
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Laguna Phuket beach fence ruled legal
PHUKET: The beachfront land at Bang Tao that was fenced off, before local government officers ordered the fence to be torn down, earlier this week has been ruled to be private property, the Thalang Land Office confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. Officers from the Thalang Land Office re-surveyed the area in question and confirmed that the fence had been…
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Chinese tourist attacked over tour guide rivalry, suspect police
PHUKET: Police are hunting four men who attacked a Chinese national on the streets of Phuket Town during the annual Vegetarian Festival (story here) last night. Police believe that the men beat Guo Xing, 26 – to the ground with metal bars – under the presumption that he was an illegal Chinese tour guide. The Vegetarian Festival is renown for…
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Thailand eyes more sepak takraw gold at Asian Games
PHUKET: His teammates call him the “left-footed killer”, an unlikely nickname for a veteran athlete who plays in the same cheap plimsolls worn by common people throughout his native Thailand. But with his prolific point-scoring record and deadly finishing, Pornchai Kaokaew carries Thailand’s hopes of delivering them yet another Asian Games gold medal in sepak takraw, an acrobatic hybrid of…
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Koh Tao Murders: Police pin hopes on DNA test results
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Koh Tao Murders: Police pin hopes on DNA test results The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nearly two weeks since the gruesome murders of two British backpackers on Koh Tao, the killers are still at large. Worse still, police have pinned all their hopes on the…
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Phuket’s billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme exposed
PHUKET: Police have turned their eye away from Phuket’s taxi mafia to the island’s billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme – starting with the role played by Kata-Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham. Summons were issued today for 15 people, including Mayor Tawee, who stand accused of illegally issuing permits for local beach vendors to use the public beach land, said Region 8…
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First 16 drivers sentenced in Phuket taxi mafia purge
PHUKET: A judge has handed down sentences to 16 drivers operating in Cherng Talay for their involvement in the Phuket taxi mafia, the Phuket Gazette was told today. The drivers each received a suspended one-year sentence and a 6,000-baht fine. “These drivers from Cherng Talay, who pleaded guilty, will be on a two-year probation to prevent them from intimidating or…
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Blood loss forces Phuket Vegetarian Festival spirit medium to hospital
PHUKET: An entranced Phuket Vegetarian Festival spirit medium, also known as a ma song, was rushed to hospital due to excessive blood loss today. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to Saphan Hin, the final destination of the first festival street procession (story here), to deliver first aid to the ailing ma song. When they arrived, the ma song, who…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival takes to the streets
PHUKET: Tourists and island motorists were treated to the first street procession of this year’s Phuket Vegetarian Festival when devotees from the Choor Su Gong Naka Shrine south of Phuket Town marched to Saphan Hin this morning. Scores of tourists and residents lined the streets, with many joining the procession along the way and motorists queuing up behind them waiting…
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Phuket beach wedding ban raises mixed feelings
PHUKET: Weddings have been banned from being performed on at least four of Phuket’s west coast beaches, confirmed one official, but many beach town mayors are hesitant to prohibit seaside nuptials. “No wedding ceremonies are allowed on Surin, Bang Tao, Laypang and Layan beaches,” Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) confirmed to the Phuket Gazette.…
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Tourism ministry calls for Phuket tour guide spies
PHUKET: The Ministry of Tourism and Sports is calling for foreigners to go undercover as “tour guide spies” and report any suspected illegal activities by tour operators in Phuket. Santi Pawai, director of the Tourism Ministry’s Phuket office, is looking to launch the project by October 6. “Volunteer teams of Thais and foreigners will join tours in Phuket and report…
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