News

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  • Newcastle lead the Premier League jet-setters | Thaiger

    Newcastle lead the Premier League jet-setters

    PHUKET: By the time Newcastle United kick off their Premier League campaign at home to champions Manchester City in little less than a month’s time the squad would have clocked up an astonishing 24,687 pre-season air miles. Globe-trotting West Ham United will not be far behind while five other clubs would have covered distances in excess of 12,000 miles as…

  • Gaza bloodshed deepens as airlines shun Israel | Thaiger

    Gaza bloodshed deepens as airlines shun Israel

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gaza bloodshed deepens as airlines shun Israel Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Gaza fighting raged on Wednesday, displacing thousands more Palestinians in the battered territory as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas had made some progress.…

  • Dutch mourn as first MH17 bodies arrive in Netherlands | Thaiger

    Dutch mourn as first MH17 bodies arrive in Netherlands

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dutch mourn as first MH17 bodies arrive in Netherlands Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The bodies of the first victims from a Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine last week arrived on Wednesday at a military base in the Netherlands – a nation in shock and…

  • Dozens of Phuket officials under fire for allegedly issuing illegal land documents | Thaiger

    Dozens of Phuket officials under fire for allegedly issuing illegal land documents

    PHUKET: At least 30 officials in Phuket are under investigation for their alleged involvement in illegally issuing land documents for plots in Sirinath National Park. Tawichat Nillakan, chief of the Phuket office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), told the Phuket Gazette that his office had received at least 77 formal complaints against local officials for abusing their positions of…

  • ITF Pro Circuit winners rejoice | Thaiger

    ITF Pro Circuit winners rejoice

    PHUKET: WITH the Chang SAT International Tennis Federation (ITF) Pro Circuit doubles event at Phuket’s Thanyapura half way through, the first winners are celebrating their results. Ya-Fan Wang of China played from the qualifying round to win the Women’s Singles event. In the final round Wang survived five match points to come back to defeat Yi-Fan Xu 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.…

  • Phuket lifeguards issue no-jeans warning after near-drowning | Thaiger

    Phuket lifeguards issue no-jeans warning after near-drowning

    PHUKET: Lifeguards at Phuket’s Nai Harn Beach have called for swimmers to not wear jeans in the surf after a tourist wearing them nearly drowned there late yesterday afternoon. Lifeguards pulled Kammapol Suyapiew, 40, unconscious from the heavy surf after he went swimming with friends in an area marked by red flags. “We tried to warn them when we saw…

  • Thalang open their account with a win over Laguna | Thaiger

    Thalang open their account with a win over Laguna

    With both teams chasing their first points of the Outrigger Twenty20 season, last year’s premiers Laguna were pitted against Thalang, recent winners of the 35 over league. The coin fell Thalang’s way and Captain Craig Murphy elected to bat. Manish Sadarangani did what Laguna couldn’t do in the recent grand final when he picked up Andrew McMillan’s wicket in the…

  • State oil PTT sued for B350mn for Samet oil spill | Thaiger

    State oil PTT sued for B350mn for Samet oil spill

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six businesses file Bt350m lawsuit against PTT The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Tourism operators filed a lawsuit at the Rayong Provincial Court yesterday demanding Bt350 million in compensation from PTT Global Chemical PCL (PTTGC) for the July 27, 2013, oil spill off the coast of…

  • His Majesty endorses provisional constitution | Thaiger

    His Majesty endorses provisional constitution

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO chief gets full control of security The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: His Majesty The King has endorsed a provisional charter that puts the chief of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in charge of national security, allowing him to suppress any action both…

  • Boy, 4, dies after being left in car by school driver | Thaiger

    Boy, 4, dies after being left in car by school driver

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Boy, 4, dies after being left in car by school driver The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Another child has died in tragic circumstances after being left in a car – in Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday – by the driver of a school vehicle. Driver Anusorn…

  • Indonesian president-elect Jokowi calls for unity after bitter election | Thaiger

    Indonesian president-elect Jokowi calls for unity after bitter election

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indonesian president-elect Jokowi calls for unity after bitter election Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was declared the winner of Indonesia’s presidential election on Tuesday, bringing the promise of major reforms to the world’s third largest democracy. The Elections Commission, known as KPU, said…

  • Police save Phuket van driver from mob after collision kills woman two days before her 24th birthday | Thaiger

    Police save Phuket van driver from mob after collision kills woman two days before her 24th birthday

    PHUKET: Police quickly removed a Phuket van driver from the scene of a fatal accident in Koh Kaew this afternoon that killed a woman two days before her 24th birthday. According to witnesses, Jantima Srilertchalalai was riding her motorbike about one kilometer from British International School Phuket when she braked suddenly while crossing a small bridge. “The van driver [travelling…

  • Breaking News: Police bust Phuket drug dealer found with B3.5mn worth of ya ice | Thaiger

    Breaking News: Police bust Phuket drug dealer found with B3.5mn worth of ya ice

    PHUKET: Police nabbed a big-time Phuket drug dealer yesterday afternoon with 3.5* million baht worth of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) stashed away in his house in Rawai. “Suphap Somphak, 30, was wanted for his involvement in an island drug network. Investigators were able to gather enough information about him to secure a search warrant for his house in Soi Sarika…

  • No life-time ban for overstays | Thaiger

    No life-time ban for overstays

    PHUKET: Thailand’s Immigration Bureau has dropped its proposal for a lifetime ban on foreigners re-entering the country if they are caught overstaying their permits-to-stay by 10 years or more. The Immigration Division 1 in Bangkok announced the news by posting a special notice on its website this morning (click here). Under the new proposed rules, there is no re-entry ban…

  • Pinot plays down Bardet rivalry ahead of Pyrenees | Thaiger

    Pinot plays down Bardet rivalry ahead of Pyrenees

    THIBAUT Pinot has played down an all-French rivalry with fellow youngster Romain Bardet by saying his compatriot is not his biggest threat for a rare home podium finish on the Tour de France. Pinot, who is fourth just behind third-placed Bardet, believes Spain’s second-placed Alejandro Valverde, American Tejay van Garderen in fifth and France’s Jean-Christophe Peraud have greater time-trial prowess…

  • One man killed, one injured in two fruit-picking accidents on Phuket | Thaiger

    One man killed, one injured in two fruit-picking accidents on Phuket

    PHUKET: One fruit harvester was injured and another killed yesterday in separate accidents on northern Phuket. At about 4:30pm, a Myanmar national named only as Maen fell from a tree to his death at a west coast resort while harvesting coconuts. The tree was situated on the edge of a cliff, and Mr Maen, 32, fell 30 meters before striking…

  • Media groups call on junta to repeal ban threat | Thaiger

    Media groups call on junta to repeal ban threat

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Media groups call on junta to repeal ban threat The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Media groups have called on the National Council for Peace and Order to revoke or change its latest announcement on control measures over the industry. Of particular concern is the immediate…

  • Bodies, black boxes handed over from Ukraine crash site | Thaiger

    Bodies, black boxes handed over from Ukraine crash site

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bodies, black boxes handed over from Ukraine crash site Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The remains of some of the nearly 300 victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane downed over Ukraine were making their way to the Netherlands on Tuesday as a senior Ukrainian separatist leader…

  • Gaza death toll tops 500 as U.S. steps up ceasefire efforts | Thaiger

    Gaza death toll tops 500 as U.S. steps up ceasefire efforts

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gaza death toll tops 500 as U.S. steps up ceasefire efforts Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Palestinian death toll in an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip jumped to more than 500 on Monday, as the United States, alarmed by escalating civilian bloodshed, took a…

  • Land Dept explains legal loophole to owning park land | Thaiger

    Land Dept explains legal loophole to owning park land

    PHUKET: A legal loophole dating back more than 50 years may be just what those accused of encroaching on Phuket’s Sirinath National Park need to legally claim privately owned plots within the park’s boundaries. The surprise was delivered to Governor Maitri Inthusut this afternoon by a Deputy Director-General of the Land Department, Thammasak Chana, accompanied by Phuket Land Office chief…

  • Phuket teen confesses to fatal stabbing | Thaiger

    Phuket teen confesses to fatal stabbing

    PHUKET: A Phuket teen turned in to police by his parents has confessed to the fatal stabbing of another young man in the heat of a fistfight early yesterday morning. “The parents of Suppachai Mattanung, 19, called me this morning and told me they were bringing their son to the station, as he had confessed to them that he had…

  • Soi Paradise staff tested for drugs in police sweep | Thaiger

    Soi Paradise staff tested for drugs in police sweep

    PHUKET: An 88-strong brigade of Phuket police, military officers and local officials took to the streets of Patong’s gay quarter last night to conduct random drugs tests on Soi Paradise bar staffers. “We arrived at Soi Paradise at about 9pm and were finished by about 10pm,” Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Khunnadet Nanongkhai told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “During the…

  • Woman shot dead in Phuket Town | Thaiger

    Woman shot dead in Phuket Town

    PHUKET: Police are hunting for the suspect of a shooting on the east side of Phuket Town last night that ended in the death of a woman from Trang. Local residents who heard the sounds of gunfire in Soi Hatchananivet, near the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) Hospital in Rassada, notified Phuket City Police of the incident by at about…

  • Phuket visa runs surge as expats scurry for legitimate stays | Thaiger

    Phuket visa runs surge as expats scurry for legitimate stays

    PHUKET: The ongoing crackdown on foreigners staying in Thailand by doing visa runs to re-enter the country on visa-exemption status has sparked a surge in the number of foreigners in Phuket travelling to Penang to obtain visas issued by the Royal Thai Consulate there. Preeyapan Adithepwarangkul, owner of KBV Visa Run, told the Phuket Gazette that demand for the Penang…

  • First Hole-in-One at Laguna Phuket Golf Club new course | Thaiger

    First Hole-in-One at Laguna Phuket Golf Club new course

    PHUKET: Soon after Laguna Phuket Golf Club unveiled the first half of their completely redesigned golf course, a new opportunity to celebrate presented itself. This time it was thanks to German golf player Juergen John who scored a hole-in-one on July 9 – both his and the course’s first. Stepping onto the Blue Tee, Juergen flushed an 8 iron on…

  • Call from abroad leads to discovery of Australian tourist’s body in Phuket | Thaiger

    Call from abroad leads to discovery of Australian tourist’s body in Phuket

    PHUKET: An international phone call led Phuket hotel staff to find an Australian guest dead in his room yesterday afternoon. The phone call was from a friend who said he had been unable to contact Adam Arthur Sahyoun, 31, said Lert Paiboon, an employee at the Happy Cottages Phuket resort in Chalong. Hotel staff checked the room of Mr Sahyoun,…

  • Bosnia buries 284 war victims unearthed from gruesome death pit | Thaiger

    Bosnia buries 284 war victims unearthed from gruesome death pit

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bosnia buries 284 war victims unearthed from gruesome death pit Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The remains of 284 victims of the Bosnian war were laid to rest on Sunday having been unearthed from what is believed to be the largest mass grave of Europe’s worst…

  • Mcllroy joins greats after repelling Garcia charge | Thaiger

    Mcllroy joins greats after repelling Garcia charge

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rory McIlroy suffered several anxious moments but kept the jitters in check to rubber-stamp his status as the newest golfing great by landing the first British Open title of his career on Sunday. The 25-year-old Northern Irishman watched Sergio Garcia (66) cut his overnight lead from six…

  • Israel shells Gaza militants as death toll climbs | Thaiger

    Israel shells Gaza militants as death toll climbs

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel shells Gaza militants as death toll climbs Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israeli tanks shelled militant targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and a woman died in an air strike after the bloodiest day for both sides of a nearly two-week military offensive that…

  • Nakhon Ratchasima tackles underprivileged kids’ issues | Thaiger

    Nakhon Ratchasima tackles underprivileged kids’ issues

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nakhon Ratchasima tackles underprivileged kids’ issues The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Six-year-old Yot (not his real name) was described by his scavenger mum as a problem child. He hated going to school and was so addicted to computer games he began begging to cover the…