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Sponsored Thailand health insurance that covers chronic conditions: What expats need to know
The Thaiger key takeaways Managing chronic conditions in Thailand requires health insurance that covers specialist visits, medications, tests, and hospital stays. Cigna offers high-coverage plans with access to top hospitals, direct billing, and telemedicine support for convenient long-term care. Expats...
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Phuket police confirm DNA report “just a formality’ in Dokset murder case
PHUKET: Chalong Police today confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that investigators are still waiting for written confirmation that the DNA tests of the human remains found in the basement of Norwegian expat Stein Dokset’s luxury villa in Kata are those of his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong. “We were informed by a phone call a few days ago that the remains are…
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Phuket sports: Siraracha reel in Southern Sea Kirin
FC Phuket were taken for an unpleasant ride by the Sriracha Suzuki FC “Blue Marlin”, with the “Southern Sea Kirin” succumbing 4-2 in a grueling away match on last Sunday evening in Chonburi. The fixture was played in front of about 1,000 fans at Suzuki Stadium, situated some 20 kilometers north of Pattaya. Among spectators were a few loyal “Hulk”…
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Phuket property developer agrees to pay back buyers after tax protest
PHUKET: After staging a successful protest in front of the office of a local property development firm yesterday, residents of the Chao Fa Garden Home 3 housing estate in Phuket will get back taxes they claim they were duped into paying by the home builder. About 100 residents of the sprawling estate, located off Thepkrasattri Road in Koh Kaew, gathered…
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Phuket neighborly dispute ends in fatal stabbing
PHUKET: Thung Thong Police today held a re-enactment of the assault that resulted in the death of Kamonchai Suwanin, 38, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, on Sunday evening. The suspect, Arak Kraisap, 38, from Nonthaburi, confessed to police that following many arguments he stabbed Mr Kamonchai in the throat outside their apartments, opposite the 7-Eleven store on Wichit Songkhram Road near…
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Phuket currency exchange robbery key witness refutes prime suspect
PHUKET: A key witness in the investigation into the 48,000-baht robbery of a Phuket currency exchange kiosk on Saturday night today told police that their prime suspect was not the man who committed the robbery. Chalong Police had named Nathee Srisawang, 28, from Prachuap Khiri Khan, as their prime suspect. Mr Nathee was named in a complaint filed by a…
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A Phuket Star is born
PHUKET: Phuket-born Jaruwat “Dome” Cheawaram has won the eighth season of the nationally televised singing talent quest The Star. The 21-year-old law student at Thammasat University, Thailand’s premier law school, was a surprise win in the show’s season finale held at the Impact Muang Thong Thani stadium, better known simply as the “Impact Arena”, on the outskirts of Bangkok last…
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Phuket ‘lucky license plate’ auction raises over B30mn
PHUKET: The “Lucky License Plate Action” held by the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) at The Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town on April 28 to 29 raised more than 30 million baht. The money raised from the auction, close to 30.5 million baht, will go to the Road Safety Fund, which provides assistance to road-accident victims and conducts road-safety campaigns…
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Phuket Events: Large crowds expected for Sunday’s trail runs
The Columbia Trailmasters 2012 Phuket Edition will add yet another stunning sport event to the Phuket calendar when it gets underway this Sunday (May 6) at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club. The competitions, comprising a 21.5km Off Road Half Marathon; a 10km Trail Run; and a Fun Run for kids and adults less athletically inclined, look set to see…
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Race to repair Patong Hill road
PHUKET: The Highways Department hopes to begin shoring up one landslide-prone section of the road over Patong Hill in June, but work on another section of the same road will have to wait until at least next year.Sathaporn Sornchana, deputy director of the Highways Department office in Phuket, told the Phuket Gazette that the plan to reinforce a section of…
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Red light confuses alleged drunk driver into taking out Phuket power poles
PHUKET: An alleged drunk driver took down a power pole and damaged two Phuket homes and after mistaking a flashing light on the road for a police checkpoint over the weekend.Thung Thong Police were notified of the accident at 12:45am on Saturday.At the scene, a densely populated area along Wichit Songkram Road near the Kathu Chinese Shrine, police found a…
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Phuket moves to set up Andaman-wide integrated disaster-response IT system
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) is spearheading a project to set up an integrated information system to better coordinate emergency response efforts throughout the Andaman coast provinces in disaster situations. Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT), rescue personnel, communications experts, police and local administration organization officials met in Phuket Thursday last week to provide input into what the system…
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Phuket business: What does the UK budget mean for British expats?
It’s that time again when George Osborne tries to tighten the purse strings for the UK economy and cut down the huge debt levels the youth of today have inherited from poor decision making and fiscal policies of the past. Inconsequential it may well be to certain socio-economic brackets with Mr Osborne’s large outstretched arm unable to ruffle their financial…
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Phuket gets the “Doomsday Saturday’ party started
PHUKET: A high-power delegation of officials this morning met villagers in Srisoonthorn to reinforce the message that Phuket was not about to sink – and to get the day’s scheduled fun activities underway. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Government spokesman Prompong Nopparit and Phuket MP Raywat Areerob along with other government officials, including from Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon…
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PHUKET OPINION: Where property speculation meets superstition
PHUKET: There never seems to be a dull moment covering the news in Phuket, and the rumor-mongering that followed the recent seismic activity has been particularly captivating. A basic review of facts: an 8.6-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on April 11 prompted the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) to issue an evacuation of tsunami-risk areas. A total breakdown…
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FC Phuket hoping for a big catch in Sri Racha
PHUKET: FC Phuket are in Chonburi province set to play Sriracha Suzuki FC this evening for the Thai Yamaha 1 (TD1) 2012 season’s seventh fixture. Kickoff for the match, to played at Suzuki Stadium, located about 20 kilometers north of Pattaya, will be at 6:30pm. Now in 11th place of the 18-team TD1, with a win, four draws and two…
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Phuket rolls on into ‘Doomsday Saturday’
PHUKET: The mass exodus from Phuket predicated by some failed to materialize today as police at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint reported normal Saturday morning traffic on Srisoonthorn Bridge, which links outbound traffic to the mainland.Meanwhile, as part of the Provincial government’s efforts to boost confidence that today will not be a one of calamity, as rumors have predicted, a…
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High-speed pile-up brings Phuket traffic to standstill
PHUKET: A pickup truck slid out of control on Chao Fa West Road in Wichit this morning, slamming head-on into another pickup truck and causing a multi-car pile-up on one of Phuket’s busy main roads to the south of the island. Eye-witness Teerachai Waiyakarn told the Phuket Gazette that at about 9:30am a white Isuzu D-Max pickup truck with Songkhla…
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Phuket Governor eyes interest in beach town beautification project
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday confirmed that he would follow up on proposals made by an international consortium of urban architects on how to improve the aesthetics of the tourist-popular Kata-Karon beachfront areas. The news came at a meeting of urban planning academics from Technische Universitat (TU) Kaiserslautern in Germany, headed by Professor Dr Wolfgang Bohm. His research team…
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Phuket sports: All change again in Bahrain
PHUKET: This season seems to be a battle of the pit-lanes, with McLaren leading the pit-boo-boo stakes, but several other teams are trying hard for this inglorious title. However, McLaren kept ahead in Bahrain. The wear on tyres was anticipated, though some teams, and in particular Mercedes, did better than expected. That is something to watch during the rest of…
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Chinese tourists injured in Phuket bus crash
PHUKET: More than 10 Chinese tourists were injured as a tour bus ran off the road on Patong Hill yesterday evening. Tung Tong Police were notified of the crash, at the bottom of the hill near the Kathu Shooting Range, at about 7pm. Police arrived at the scene to find a tour bus lying on its side beside the road.…
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Phuket hosts international conference on disaster nursing
PHUKET: More than 100 registered nurses from around the world are in Phuket for a three-day seminar on emergency nursing, including how to respond to disaster situations. The conference, organized by the Faculty of Nursing, Prince of Songkhla University, is focused on “Trends in Emergency, Trauma and Disaster Nursing: Using Evidence to Guide Decision-Making and Improve Nursing Care” and being…
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Paiboon launches new Phuket CCTV control center
PHUKET: With the Thailand National Youth Games in Phuket just around the corner, local authorities yesterday checked the readiness of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) closed-circuit television (CCTV) control room. Paiboon Upatising, as one of his first official acts since being re-elected OrBorJor president in the election on April 8, led authorities on an inspection of the control center,…
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Phuket Rush Hour: Car flips over on bypass road
PHUKET: A car ended up on its roof in the central ditch on Phuket’s bypass road this morning when the possibly drunk driver of a saleng (motorcycle with side car) cut in front of the vehicle. The motorbike driver and the driver of the car both escaped injury, but the car’s only passenger, the driver’s 20-year-old son, sustained minor injuries.…
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Aussie tourist dies of heatstroke in Phuket
PHUKET: An Australian tourist found unconscious by the side of the road near Surin Beach has died from heatstroke, Phuket rescue workers have reported. A Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization rescue worker’s unit based at Layan Beach received a report at 2:39pm on Wednesday that a man had fainted by the road about 200 meters from Surin Beach. When the…
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PHUKET BUSINESS: Artificial reefs key to mass tourism dive industry
PHUKET: In the tourism game creating memories is everything, explains the Head of Development at Reef Worlds, Dave Taylor. “If you can create a tourism memory then you have won your game. You have won everything, because that’s a memory that never leaves a potential client, and they always come back to it,” Taylor told the Phuket Gazette in an…
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“Phuket Lovers’ to rally on Doomsday Saturday
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Office will hold several special events this Saturday, April 28, to restore confidence among residents and tourists alike and to quash rumors that the island will sink into the sea. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha admitted that recent seismic activity following the initial 4.3 Richter earthquake on April 16 had stirred a sense of apprehension among tourists and…
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Officials to light up notorious Phuket road
PHUKET: Following the high-speed crash on April 13 that killed two local residents on the main road through Pa Khlok, officials are now looking to add street lights along the notorious stretch of dark road, and to add “reflective road studs” to help drivers stay on the road. Theera Prugsanan, chief of the Thalang Electricity Authority Office, told a meeting…
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Phuket residents panic over fish fright
PHUKET: Reports of Phuket Town residents panicking yesterday, fearing that the dead fish found in canal were an omen of an impending tsunami strike, prompted officials to investigate. The brackish water of the mostly dry Klong Saensuk canal, which runs past the Seahorse Circle at the east end of Ong Sim Phai Road, had about 10 kilograms of dead freshwater…
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Phuket Sports: Buriram Utd cling on for AFC title
PHUKET: Thai Premiere League champions Buriram United still have a fighting chance to advance from the group stages of the 2012 AFC Champions League, despite back-to-back losses this month to Korean league champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Now level with the Koreans on six points in Group H – the pot of death, Buriram’s good start in March was highlighted by…
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Weird World News: Pushing buttons for strip searches, sharks and instant drama
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News Round-up hits the “press” as button pushers get dramatic outcomes. Pushed too far, one man initiates his own airport strip search, a “shark-whisper” taps great whites sharks on the nose, and a “drama button” in the middle of your average Flemish square all made headlines this week. ‘Harassed’ man strips down to protest airport…
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