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Samui Airport reopened
SAMUI / PHUKET: Samui Airport resumed operations at 2 pm today, Bangkok Airways announced in a press release. The first departing flight was Bangkok Airways PG100, which took off at 2 pm, bound for Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. The co-pilot of the Bangkok Airways flight that crashed into an abandoned control tower yesterday afternoon remains in critical condition at Bangkok Hospital in the…
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Blood urgently needed for Samui air crash victims
PHUKET / SAMUI: Bangkok Airways is calling for blood donations of all blood types, especially from foreigners, following the crash at Samui Airport this afternoon of Bangkok Airways flight PG 266 from Krabi to Samui.The pilot was killed and a total of 34 people were seriously injured in the accident.Samui Airport has been closed following the accident. All flights to…
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Plane crash at Samui Airport
PHUKET CITY: A Bangkok Airways aircraft skidded off the runway at Samui Airport and crashed into an aviation control tower earlier this afternoon.The accident took place at about 2.30pm.The pilot, Chartchai Punsuwan, was killed in the accident.Rescue teams and workers rushed to the scene to evacuate the passengers.Initial reports said the 75-seat aircraft, arriving from Krabi, slid off the runway because…
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Two more tourists drown in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The official death toll from drowning in Phuket since the beginning of the year now stands at 33, following the two most recent cases – both foreign tourists. Ukrainian Viktor Pravoyuk, 59, got into trouble at the stretch of Patong Beach in front of Loma Park in Patong in the early afternoon last Friday and was pronounced dead…
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Dasta seeks listing for all of Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The agency pushing to develop the Ao Phuket mega-project off Saphan Hin has finished holding public hearings and says it has overwhelming support for listing all of Phuket as a special administrative zone for sustainable tourism development. Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta) held the first in a series of public hearings with representatives from Phuket’s Muang,…
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Phuket FC lose at home again
WICHIT, PHUKET: A heartbreaking last-minute goal gave a 10-man Phatthalung side a shock 1-0 win at Surakul Stadium on Saturday, consigning the hapless Phuket Sea Dragons to their sixth straight home defeat. The defeat sees Phatthalung leapfrog Phuket FC in the table, leaving Somsak Waijerean’s men firmly rooted at the foot of the table in the eight team league. The…
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Lucky license plates up for auction
PHUKET: Lucky license plates will be up for grabs in Phuket later this month at the Phuket Department of Land Transport’s 5th Annual License Plate Auction. A total of 301 license plates will go under the hammer in the Prapitak Grand Ballroom at the Metropol Hotel Phuket between August 12 and 13. Some of the ‘lucky’ plates are expected to…
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Lottery players punt on one-eyed pussy
AYUDHAYA: Gamblers have been rushing to get lucky omens from the corpse of a one-eyed kitten which refuses to rot. The cat’s owner, 60-year-old Wichian Sangchai, said the kitten was the last of a litter of three born early in July in Ayudhaya, but died within minutes of being born. Mr Wichian said the kitten had only one eye and…
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Mystery motorcyclist blamed for Phuket pile-up
PHUKET: The erratic behavior of a mystery motorcyclist was the reason the driver of a souped-up Ford Sierra gave for wrecking his car, flattening vegetation and slamming into a pick-up truck in Phuket yesterday. The sporty-looking Sierra spun across two lanes on the road to Patong Hill, slid across the central reservation, collided with an expat-owned pick-up truck heading in…
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Phuket FC determined to win tonight’s game
PHUKET CITY: Phuket FC return to action tonight, determined to get their first-ever home win against last-place Phattalung. In their last match at Yala, the Sea Dragons appeared on course for a second successive away point until Yala pounced in the 88th minute to complete home and away victories against Phuket. According to Phuket FC coach Somsak Waijeran, the two-week…
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Freedom for giant turtle captured off Phuket
PHUKET: A green sea turtle rescued near Phuket in April this year has finally been given its freedom. The turtle, thought to be about 50 years old, was almost a meter long and weighed a massive 120kg. It was rescued off Koh Bon during an early morning raid by Phuket-based marine inspectors who had been tipped off about an illegal…
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Fuel slick havoc on Phuket road
PHUKET: Motorbike riders found Phuket’s busy Thepkrasattri Road even more treacherous than usual this afternoon after a truck crane left a three-kilometer fuel slick down the southbound lane. Several riders crashed and fell off their bikes, although none were seriously injured. The 19-year-old truck driver didn’t notice there was diesel leaking from the truck until it ran out of fuel…
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Townhouse demolition goes ahead for Phuket road expansion
PHUKET: Two townhouses which have been at the center of a court battle for 20 years are finally being torn down to allow road expansion in Phuket City to go ahead.The townhouses, located on a 500 meter stretch of Phunpol Road, have held up expansion of the road from two lanes to four.A number of restaurants, houses and businesses that line the…
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New tsunami buoys on the Phuket horizon
PHUKET CITY: Phuket could soon get more tsunami direct detection buoys similar to those installed along the Indian coastline earlier this year. The president of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), Surawong Tientong, was on the island this week and met with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop to discuss the proposal. The first tsunami direct detection buoy in the Indian Ocean, funded by the US government’s USAID…
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Logging destroys 18 rai of Phuket forest
PHUKET: Illegal loggers got away with clearing a huge swathe of pristine national park forest on Kamala Hill near the west coast of Phuket for more than two weeks before officials moved in to stop them. Acting on a tip-off, Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop led a team of Royal Forest Department officials and more than 30 forest preservation volunteers to…
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Trash not welcome on Phuket’s walking street
PATONG / PHUKET: The eyesore of trash in Patong, particularly Soi Bangla, has prompted a new zero-tolerance clean up policy.A ‘clean up or pay the price’ message has been sent out to Patong businesses, with hotels, bars and restaurants coming under fire for allowing garbage to pile up outside their premises.Patong Mayor Pian Keesin is working with Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnnark…
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Phuket to host shuttle launch
PHUKET: Phuket is set to give badminton a boost next month when it hosts the first Dunlop Phuket Open at the Saphan Hin sports center from August 5 to 9.The event is expected to attract Thailand’s top badminton players, who will battle it out with their rackets and shuttlecocks for prize money totaling 750,000 baht.The five-day event has been jointly…
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Missing American could be in Phuket
PHUKET: Police throughout the country have been asked to help find a 29-year-old American university student who is missing in Thailand.The student, Michael Griffin Harrie, 29, a second year veterinary medicine student who was studying for a month at Iwate University in Morioka, Japan, was last seen on July 14 while on a sightseeing trip in Thailand.He traveled to Bangkok…
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Phuket celebrates National Thai Language Day
PHUKET: Today, July 29, is marked by Thais as National Thai Language Day, and was celebrated in Phuket earlier this week with ceremonies involving more than 1,000 students, historians and prestigious scholars. The celebrations at Rajaphat University Phuket on Monday included a writing contest, a Thai folk song contest, traditional dancing and speeches by leading scholars on the importance of…
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Phuket rescuers recover body of drowning victim
PHUKET: Rescuers this morning recovered the body of a 15-year-old boy who on Sunday became caught in an undertow at Karon Beach and drowned. The rescue volunteers from the Phuket Ruamjai Foundation discovered the body of Pattharadanai ‘Ooad’ Kampong at 4am, less than one kilometer from the spot the boy was last seen. The boy’s father said on Monday that…
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Water World set to make waves in Phuket
West Sands Water World in Mai Khao is the latest tourist attraction currently under construction in Phuket.Construction began last year and is expected to be complete by December.The water park is part of the West Sands five-star resort complex and was designed by Whitewater Industries, a world leader in water park design and a major player in the US water…
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Flower power for Phuket
PHUKET: Flowers of all kinds and colors have temporarily taken root at Saphan Hin in Phuket for the 17th Annual Ornamental Plants & Flowers Fair Phuket, which began on Friday and runs until Sunday.The flower fair’s covered market-stall area boasts more than 130 stalls of colorful flora and other ornamental items for gardens of any size.Among the items on offer…
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Search continues for missing teenager
PHUKET: Rescue teams have spent the day searching in vain for a 15-year-old boy who became caught in an undertow at Karon Beach and is feared drowned.The boy, Pattharadanai ‘Ooad’ Kampong, was last seen waving for help in heavy surf about 6pm on Sunday.Lifesavers saw him in trouble, and tried to save him, but were unable to battle through the…
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Boy missing, feared drowned
A 16-year-old boy is missing, feared drowned, after disappearing from Karon Beach about 6pm last night (Sunday night).The teenager, from Pijit Province, is a Phuket resident and went swimming with friends who said he went into the water about 6pm, but did not return.Chalong police and rescue teams using a jet boat searched for him, but have so far been unable to…
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Phuket Tourism: Patong performs best
PHUKET CITY: Patong is outperforming the rest of Phuket in a low-season that many local hotel industry experts describe as dismal.Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Somboon Jirayus said current average occupancy rates are about 30-40% in most parts of the island, down about 30% year-on-year, on average.Revenue is down even further because of all the discounts and promotions hotels are…
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Asean ends, troops leave Phuket
PHUKET: As of midnight last night, the tight security surrounding the Asean venue for the past two weeks in Phuket was relaxed.Troops began packing up at midnight last night as the Asean Foreign Ministers Meetings officially ended and the Internal Security Act was lifted.The Internal Security Act was enforced for the very first time in Phuket from July 10 to 24…
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Three out of three for Evolution Sails
SIX SENSES PHUKET RACEWEEK, DAY 2: Ray Roberts’ boat Evolution Sails made it three out of three with a third consecutive victory in the morning race to put him in pole position in the Racing class.However, Roberts did not have it all his own way, as Neil Prydes’ Hi Fi broke Evolution Sails‘ monopoly, to win the afternoon race. Hi…
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June tourist arrivals down almost 22.9%
PHUKET CITY: The number of international tourists arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in June was down almost 23% year-on-year, according to the Thai Immigration Bureau. Figures for June arrivals into Phuket from abroad are not yet available. June’s international arrivals into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport were 642,732, down 29.7% from the 833,678 arrivals in June 2008. Arrivals from East Asian countries…
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Good gusts on first day of Six Senses Phuket Raceweek
PHUKET SIX SENSES RACEWEEK: Ray Roberts drew first blood in the race to become the 2009-10 Asian Yachting Grand Prix Champion.Racing on Evolution Sails, formerly known as Quantum Racing, he claimed first place in both races in the IRC Racing class.The 2008-09 winner, Neil Pryde, finished second and third on Hi Fi with Peter Ahern on Yo! 2, also securing…
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Heavy rains in Phuket cause landslide
PHUKET/PATONG: Torrential rain last night caused a massive landslide in Patong which left 200 meters of Sirirat Road covered in thick mud and debris.The road blockage and flood waters caused traffic jams and long delays.The landslide started from a construction site on Petchakut Road, 150 meters above Sirirat road, opposite Simon Cabaret.Patong Deputy Mayor, Prasarn Yordtor said water from a…
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