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Phuket top province for Dengue Fever outbreak
PHUKET: Phuket is now listed as the highest ranking province in Thailand for Dengue Fever outbreaks, Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) Deputy Chief Dr Krit Sakulpat confirmed to the Phuket Gazete today. Despite the ranking, there is no reason to panic, said Dr Krit. “For the statistic, the number of patients is divided by the registered population, which in Phuket…
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Phuket Poll: Chalong underpass: six routes diverge in chaos and I choose”¦ eh, um, err….
PHUKET: Underpasses are the new mega-project craze on Phuket as officials scramble to find long-term solutions to the island’s mounting traffic congestion. Work is already well underway for Phuket’s first underpass at the Darasamuth Intersection in front of the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall, which was started on November 23 last year (story here). The newest addition to several underpass…
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DSI denounces con artists’ use of department name to squeeze criminals for “protection money’
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation denied providing “protection services” for illegal businesses in a notification released yesterday, which claimed that con artists in Phuket were using the department’s name to squeeze people for protection money. “We received reports that there are people using the DSI’s name to collect money from business owners who are involved in the illegal employment…
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Man caught on CCTV nicking clean Phuket knickers
PHUKET: Police are now sniffing out the trail of a chronic underwear thief who was caught on CCTV stealing over twenty pairs of drying panties from an apartment complex in Phuket Town.After receiving multiple complaints from residents of Chaloemlarp Apartment about their underwear being stolen, the owner of the complex set up a CCTV camera system.“On July 2 at about…
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Junior Phuket Raceweek set to ‘come of age’
PHUKET: Junior Phuket Raceweek is set to take place Saturday, July 20 off Phuket’s Southeast coast. Sister event to its bigger brother Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek, which celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year, Junior Phuket Raceweek gives budding young sailors an opportunity to race in an international-standard regatta. “There are limited competitive sailing opportunities for youngsters on Phuket, and…
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Phuket Sports: Twenty20 season opener sees old rivalries resumed
PHUKET: THE Outrigger T20 league kicked off at the ACG cricket ground last Sunday with an action-packed double header. In the first match, The Village took on last season’s finalists Island Cricket Club (ICC) while the second match saw defending champions Laguna take on arch rivals Patong. After a disappointing showing in the recently completed senior league season, the Village…
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Phuket Airport Express bus ready to roll on July 19
PHUKET: In what seems to be the last shuffle of dates for the launch of the long-awaited Phuket Airport Express bus service, wheels are now to be rolling by July 19, operator Prakob Panyawai confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. “The airport buses will be ready to run on July 19. We thought we could start on July 15, but we…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Northern Ireland troubles flare-up; al Qaeda attack means war; French train crash – 6 dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Violence flares around Northern Ireland marches Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Protestant marchers in Belfast threw objects at police, who responded with water cannon as Northern Ireland’s annual parade season descended into violence on yesterday. Pro-British Protestants march every summer in the British-ruled province, a regular…
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Swiss man breaks leg in fall from motorcycle
PHUKET: A Swiss man is recovering well following surgery after a motorcycle accident in Thalang yesterday afternoon. Carlo Somaini, 54, was about 300m north of the Heroine’s Monument riding north on Thepkrasattri Road when a motorbike emerged from a soi in front of him. “He was startled,” said Thalang Police officer Thani Petchswee. “He tried to avoid the motorbike, and…
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Phuket mother in debt sells daughter for sex
PHUKET: Phuket police yesterday arrested a mother for selling her daughter for sex. Upon learning that a karaoke bar on Kwang Road in Wichit (map here) was offering sexual services to its customers, police staged a sting operation. “An undercover policeman arranged to purchase sex from a 14-year-old girl in the bar for 3,000 baht,” said Wichit Police officer Passakorn…
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Thailand’s Human Rights Commission silent on Rohingya shootings
PHUKET: Thailand’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) yesterday told the Phuket Gazette they were “unable to report” on their own investigation into reports of Royal Thai Navy sailors opening fire on a boatload of Rohingya, allegedly killing at least two of the refugees, in February. The news comes four months after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised the international press the allegations…
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Phuket’s footy club turnover doubles
PHUKET: Ticketing and merchandising revenue for the island’s pro soccer club, Phuket FC, doubled year-on-year, while the club’s fan turnout has swelled by 93% during the same period. Now at the mid-season point, business seems to booming for the island’s pro soccer club, at least compared to this time last year when fan support for the club was dwindling. But…
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Phuket’s bulging market
PHUKET: In the latest drive to promote the island’s medical tourism industry, Bangkok Hospital Phuket (BHP) recently held an innovative “boob job” seminar. Entitled ” Breast Augmentation Using Contour Profile Gel Implant Live Surgery Workshop”, the seminar was attended by some 25 cosmetic surgeons from Asia Pacific countries, especially Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines Dr. Narongrit Havarungsi, BHP director,…
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Low Cost Carriers: Save us from safety savings
PHUKET: Dying in an airplane crash is not exactly my idea of heading off into the hereafter with a veritable big bang. Much less trying to escape from a burning plane about to explode in a widescreen Bruce Willis Die Hard epic. But perhaps let me wind this back a little to pre-Grantville. Last Thursday, a last minute business meeting…
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Trail cold but Phuket mother still hopes to meet daughter missing since 2011
PHUKET: A girl who seemed to have vanished into thin air after a Facebook session in Phuket Town in December 2011 remains missing, confirmed Chalong Police. The girl, Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya, was 12 years old at the time of her disappearance (story here). “I transferred the case to the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok before I was transferred to…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Microsoft implicated in NSA Prism scandal; Ireland passes limited abortion law; Russia alleges Syrian rebels used chemical weapons
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Microsoft helped NSA, FBI access user info – Guardian Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Microsoft Corp worked closely with U.S. intelligence services to help them intercept users’ communications, including letting the National Security Agency circumvent email encryption, the Guardian reported on Thursday.Citing top-secret documents provided by former U.S.…
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Severe coral damage prompts DNP to limit dive tourists to Phi Phi Island
PHUKET: Coral reefs at the popular marine national park that covers the famous Phi Phi Islands near Phuket have reached a severe level of degradation due to bleaching, a senior government official revealed yesterday.“Bleaching has affected up to 70 per cent of the coral reefs around Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. Of the affected corals, 47.52 per…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Ramadan peace blown; Credit Union chief got B3bn; PM Yingluck in show of solidarity; Vietnam cat smuggler nabbed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Blast in Yala injures eight soldiers The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Eight soldiers were slightly wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Yala’s Raman district yesterday and authorities believe an insurgent group led by Saifulloh Balor might be behind the attack.Even though it was agreed at the…
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Phuket beauty salon owner overwhelmed by debt, found dead
PHUKET: The 28-year-old owner of a Phuket beauty salon is believed to have committed suicide due to the stress of overwhelming debt. Local residents spotted the body of Dussadee Ngoy-phutorn, from Sakon Nakhon, in a lagoon behind Phuket Rajabhat University (map here) at 7:20am today. Ms Dussadee, owner of the My Mint beauty salon in Samkong, Phuket Town, was last…
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Laguna Phuket Marathon to be still bigger and better next year
PHUKET: Now in its ninth year, the Laguna Phuket International Marathon (LPIM) is going from strength to strength with numbers of participants expected to break 6,000 next year including runners from Asia, Europe and the Americas. LPIM is the largest destination marathon in Southeast Asia and sees participants push themselves to the limit in order to raise money for charity.…
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Go Eco Phuket gets going
PHUKET: After hosting the world’s largest underwater cleanup last year, local marine conservation group Go Eco Phuket and the Thai Government are joining forces again this year to break last year’s record by garnering support from over 1,000 participants for the reef and beach cleanup in honor of HM Queen Sirikit’s 81st birthday on August 12. The day after Her…
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Phuket Waste 101 – Dousing the burning issue
PHUKET: As you begin to read this article, try to recall your consumer decisions and habits today. Did you go to the convenience store? What did you buy? Was it put in a plastic bag? When you were done consuming, how did you dispose of your waste? What about lunch – did you have takeaway scooped into one of those…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Quebec grieves in wake of train crash; Asiana victims told not to evacuate; No Facebook, no CIA – says Venez minister; UN hits Vatican over child abuse; Mandela responding
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Quebec train set too few brakes, with deadly result Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The handbrake is the railroad industry’s ultimate fail-safe mechanism. It is supposed to help avert disasters like the one that engulfed a Canadian town on Saturday, when a runaway train loaded with oil hurtled…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: B12bn credit union embezzlement charge; Monk’s B95mn cars; Ramadan soldiers turn civil; HK sex slaves saved; Thailand to honor 119yo man
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Credit Union execs accused of embezzling Bt12 billion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Mounting evidence that Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative Ltd embezzled nearly Bt12 billion has led the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Anti Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to launch an investigation into…
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Washing machine fire cleans out Chalong Temple SuperCheap staff room
PHUKET: Two fire trucks rushed to the SuperCheap convenience store located about 30 meters from Phuket’s renowned Wat Chalong temple on Saturday after being notified of a fire there at about 8:30am.“When we arrived at the scene we were confronted by flames coming from a staff room on the third floor of the building,” said Capt Kraisorn Boonprasop of the…
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Police: case of missing Phuket woman romantic, not criminal
PHUKET: Police confirmed today that they do not consider the disappearance of Bunyanee Sungparn, 29 (story here), to be a criminal case. “After her brother reported her missing on July 1, I checked her Facebook page,” said Capt Rattanatorn Bumrungthin of the Thung Thong Police. “I read a conversation between Ms Bunyanee and her brother, Weerawit Sungparn, that mentioned a…
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Phuket Hajj pilgrims line up for free vaccines
PHUKET: More than 200 Muslims planning to make the Hajj this year took advantage of free vaccinations at the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization Hospital on Saturday. “The Provincial Hospital has partnered with the Phuket Public Health Office to offer free meningococcal meningitis and influenza vaccines to people in Phuket and nearby provinces who plan to travel to Mecca for the…
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Foul play not suspected in death of Microsoft engineer at Phuket villa
PHUKET: Phuket Police see no reason to open a murder investigation in the case of a former Microsoft engineer found dead at his villa at Ao Makham last week (story here). The man, American-born Clifford Nelson Bamford, was found floating in his villa pool by his housekeeper on July 1. “There were no signs of a fight at the scene…
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MV Hope at Langkawi, four more bodies spotted at sea
PHUKET: The Bangladeshi cargo ship MV Hope, which capsized in heavy seas south of Phuket on Thursday night (story here), is expected to arrive at Langkawi, Malaysia, today after being under tow from its position south of Racha Noi Island overnight. The news came as local fishermen reported seeing four bodies in life jackets off Koh Rok, off the coast…
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Relatives cry murder, Phuket police disagree
PHUKET: Relatives of a woman found dead in her car in an old tin mining pond on Monday believe she was murdered, but police do not agree.Wattana Itthisan, the 27-year-old owner of Fasai Minimart in Chalong, was found in her submerged car in an old tin mining pond behind Chalong Temple on Monday morning.“The driver’s window was open and the…
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