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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Phuket Media Watch – Indonesian protests; flash flooding
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dozens of Indonesians sew mouths shut in deforestation protest Phuket GazetteA group of Indonesian protesters have sewed their mouths shut in a protest against deforestation which took place in front of the parliament building in the capital this week, the Jakarta Globe reported today. Ten more…
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Phuket blitz on booze in New Year gift baskets
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) yesterday launched a series of raids on major retailers selling New Year gift baskets to ensure that they do not contain alcoholic beverages. “I have informed all major retailers that New Year gift baskets may not contain alcohol,” said PPHO chief Dr Sak Tanchaikul. “The PPHO have right to report to the…
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Tsunami no longer a factor in Khao Lak tourism: Survey
SPECIAL REPORTby Bill Barnett PHUKET: Phuket and other provinces along the Andaman Coast are currently making preparations to mark the seventh anniversary since the tsunami struck on December 26, 2004. However, a market survey just released by brand agency Quo Global has concluded that memories of the 2004 tsunami no longer negatively affect decisions to travel to the Thai resort…
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Business briefs – new airbus for Phuket; 3G; rubber trading
New Bangkok Airways Airbus to fly Phuket, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Bangledesh and IndiaPhuket GazetteBangkok Airways recently acquired a new Airbus 319, the airline’s 18th aircraft. With a total of 130 economy seats, the new craft will fly domestic and international routes serving at least five destinations including Phuket, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Bengarulu (Bangalore, India) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). The…
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Phuket’s labor shortage critical
PHUKET: Industry analysts describe the labor shortage in the Phuket tourism industry as “critical”, with as many as 4,000 vacant hotel positions as the island enters its annual high season for tourism. Bhuritt Maswongsa, a vice president of the Phuket Tourist Association, said, “The lack of hotel employees has now reached a crisis point with 3,000 to 4,000 unfilled positions.…
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FC Phuket unable to fend off Elephant Cavalry charge
PHUKET: FC PHUKET were defeated 1-0 by Suphanburi FC last night in front of a somewhat rowdy home crowd at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town. The game’s only goal came in the 30th minute by the visitor’s Cameroonian import, Ronald Kufoin Djam, who initially flicked the ball to the back post from a corner kick by Santi Chaiyaphauk. The ball…
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Border agreement reached by Thailand and Cambodia; Burma and Thailand economic co-operation
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Agreement reached to withdraw troops from border The Nation / Phuket Gazette Thailand and Cambodia agreed yesterday to comply with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to withdraw troops from the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear Temple following a meeting of the General…
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Phuket Media Watch – Earth-size planets found outside the Milky Way
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Scientists discover first Earth-size planets outside the Milky Way Phuket Gazette U.S. scientists have spotted the first Earth-size planets which are orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system, NASA announced on Tuesday. The planets are unlikely to support life. NASA said its Kepler mission, which…
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FC Phuket call for massive support tonight against Suphanburi FC
PHUKET: FC Phuket players and coaching staff are appealing for a flood of fan support for tonight’s league match against Suphanburi FC, also known as the “Elephant-back Warriors”. Assistant Coach Apichart “Mo” Mosika asked the Phuket Gazette to encourage FC Phuket fans to be at Surakul Stadium tonight for the team’s 31st game of the 2011 Division One schedule. “It…
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Phuket Media Watch – Russian oil rig sank; Helicopter crashes in Siberia
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community More bodies found after oil rig sinks in southeastern Russia Phuket Gazette Nearly a dozen more bodies were found on Monday after an oil rig sank in southeastern Russia on Sunday, local media reported on Tuesday. Dozens more remain missing and are feared to have been…
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Machine gun seized in Phuket meth raid
PHUKET: Police conducting drug raids on three houses in Mai Khao, at the northern tip of Phuket, today seized a slew of guns, including a .45 Thompson submachine gun. Armed with search warrants, officers from Tah Chat Chai Police Station first searched the home of 38-year-old Chaicharn Kao-ian, where they found 60 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills hidden in his washing…
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Phuket DMAT teams take on Japan, Korea in disaster rescue face-off
PHUKET: Disaster medical assistance teams (DMAT) from across Thailand yesterday began a four-day intensive training course at Phuket’s Boat Lagoon complex in preparation for the first-ever International Medical Rally to be held at Sirinath National Park, Nai Yang, on December 23. Taking part in the training are DMAT teams from Chiang Rai, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Nakorn Sri Thammarat, Krabi,…
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Phuket Business: Bad investments – a fiscal toy story
PHUKET: I often write about things which I think may or may not be worth considering as an investment. Today I would like to try and get my readers to understand some things which generally are considered as bad investments. Professionals in my industry usually will vary greatly on their opinions of what is a good investment at any one…
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Live Wire – Fourth 3G supplier to aid Phuket
PHUKET: May I present some good news, some not-so-good news, and some news that keeps crawling out of the mailbag, like a gift from Santa that can’t be returned. We’ve waited years for 3G wireless internet service in Thailand. Now, suddenly, over the course of the past six months, we’ve got 3G coming out of our ears, in a wide…
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Phuket Media Watch – Man confesses to setting elderly woman on fire
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Man confesses to setting elderly woman on fire in NYC elevator Phuket GazetteA 47-year-old man has confessed to killing an elderly woman by setting her on fire in a New York City elevator during the weekend, local media reported on Monday. Jerome Issac turned himself in…
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Swede found dead on superyacht in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a Swedish woman whose body was discovered yesterday in the cabin of a superyacht where she worked as a crew member. Devina Marie Lindgren, 21, was found dead aboard a private yacht moored off Patong Beach yesterday. The 90-meter yacht Lauren L, taking part in the Asia Region…
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Expert panel to lead Phuket tsunami memorial activities
PHUKET: A panel of experts led by Dr Smith Dharmasaroj, former head of the National Disaster Warning Center, will stage a public discussion on disaster management as part of the tsunami memorial services on December 26 this year. Dr Smith, also a former head of the Thai Meteorological Department, is renowned as the man who warned the Thai government to…
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Phuket hotel reimburses robbed Aussie tourists
PHUKET: The management of a Phuket hotel agreed to pay some 150,000 baht in compensation to an Australian couple who claimed their room safe was robbed of 255,000 baht. Australian tourist Jim Nagi, 44, said he first noticed cash missing from the safe in his hotel room at the Andaman Beach Suites Hotel in Patong on December 8. “At first,…
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Phuket Media Watch – Death toll nears 1,000 in the Philippines
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death toll nears 1,000 after Tropical Storm Sendong hits the Philippines Phuket Gazette The death toll after Tropical Storm Sendong hit the southeastern Philippines over the weekend has surpassed 950, emergency officials said on Tuesday morning. Dozens more remain missing. Sendong made landfall over the northeastern…
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“Washi’ goes wishy-washy: no effect in Phuket
PHUKET: Tropical storm “Washi”, which killed nearly 1,000 people in the Philippines, will have virtually no effect on the weather here in Phuket, the Phuket Gazette has been told. However, residents of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Trang and Satun provinces could experience unseasonable rainfall over the next two days. A forecaster at the Southern Meteorological Center…
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Dispute between Phuket expats may lead to charges of extortion
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested a restaurant owner in Phuket’s busy tourist town of Patong, on Phuket’s west coast, after he visited another Patong restaurant owner and threatened him if he didn’t “repay” 7 million baht. Lt Col Tammasan Boonsong told the Phuket Gazette today that he arrived at Orient Restaurant at 7pm last night with a squad of police officers…
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Villagers mourn death of Plai Sang, 67
PHUKET: Villagers of Lam Tab District in Krabi, a 40-minute boat ride across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, are mourning the death of one of their most respected members – 67-year-old Plai Sang. The bull elephant was caught in 1956 and is believed to have been a sibling of Plai Pra Sawet, a highly respected elephant that was caught and…
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Chalong Marina ready in 2012
PHUKET: Work on the 70-million-baht Chalong Bay Marina project is now about 90% complete and should be finished early in the new year, officials say. Phuriphat Teerakulpisut, Chief of the Marine Department Region 5 office in Phuket Town, said opening of the 44-slip facility will improve the island’s ability to accommodate the growing number of yachts that port in Phuket…
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Update – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies of heart attack
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies of heart attack Phuket Gazette Kim Jong-il, the mysterious Communist leader who ruled North Korea for more than seventeen years, died of a massive heart attack on early Saturday morning, the government announced today. He was 69 or 70 years old.…
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Yvon Van Eyersen cremated in Phuket
PHUKET: A small group of friends and Red Cross officials gathered at Wat Saen Suk on Wednesday for the somber cremation ceremony of long-time Phuket resident Yvon Van Eyersen of Belgium. Mr Van Eyersen passed away early Tuesday morning, immediately after staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital turned off his life support apparatus. The Belgian suffered a stroke early some time…
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Phuket golfers getting ready for Youth Games
PHUKET: The Youth Golf Club of Phuket has sent one young player to compete in the United States before preparing for the Phuket Youth Games to be held from May 28 to June 5 with 10 other members of the club. Jinjuta Thongtan, a student at Satree School Phuket, was selected to represent Thailand at the World Junior Golf Series…
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Phuket Youth Sailing Club stars in King’s Cup dinghy events
PHUKET: A strong fleet of 34 Optimist and eight Lasers took part in the recent King’s Cup International Dinghy Regatta, with fifteen sailors from the Phuket Youth Sailing Club (PYSC) between the ages of seven and 15 who joined other sailors from Phuket, Phang Nga, Samui, Songkhla and Sattahip to take part in the three-day event. On day one, the…
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Phuket’s Flynn second on Asia Pro surf tour
PHUKET: Thirteen-year-old surfing star Annissa Flynn from Phuket closes her 2011 surfing season with top-ranking success. Phuket’s own super surfer has returned home after three weeks on the road to finish up the 2011 surfing season on a high. Having posted three wins and a second place at competitions held in Hong Kong and Malaysia, Annissa has finished second overall…
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Phuket’s ‘labor shortage’ more imagined than real
PHUKET: Government assistance to help solve the chronic “labor shortage” in the island’s tourism industry is unlikely to have much impact this high season, given Phuket’s reputation as an expensive place to live. (See page 11, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full issue.) A scan of the comments in popular online forums…
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FC Phuket draw, Krabi clinches Div 1 berth
PHUKET: Krabi FC will join FC Phuket in Thai Premier League Division 1 next season thanks to a last-minute goal in a do-or-die match against promotion contenders Rayong FC last night. In front of a standing-room-only crowd at Krabi Provincial Stadium last night, the Andaman Eagle’s equalizer came only moments after Rayong FC scored the game’s first goal – at…
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