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5 best wine bars in Bangkok offering rich and quality wine
It’s wine o’clock! Whether you’re all about fruity reds, sweet whites, or funky naturals, Bangkok has many great spots to sip your favourite varieties. But with an array of options to choose from, and the constant rise and fall of...
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Finance: Bullish biotech breaks previous highs
PHUKET: As of early June, the US S&P 500, Nasdaq and the Dow are all at critical turning points because after a two-year long correction, the market is tightly compressed and sitting only a few points from a new all-time high – or making new highs such as with the Dow and S&P500. The big picture is this: The last…
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PM Prayuth set to visit Phuket
PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who is scheduled to visit Phuket next Friday, has a number of items on his agenda, including the grand opening of the new airport terminal and the regional launch of Startup Thailand. The following is the itinerary for his visit (some details subject to change): 8:30-9:30am: Grand opening ceremony of the new terminal at…
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Tranlee asset auction hailed “success’ with B166mn in bids
PHUKET: The auctioning of assets seized from defunct Tranlee Travel Co by the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) raised more than 166 million baht, it was revealed today. AMLO Auctioneer Col Kovit Piromwong announced this afternoon that three days of auctions at Phuket City Hall from September 6 to 8 saw bidding on 34 boats and 83 tour buses for a…
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Opinion: Addressing road safety in Phuket
PHUKET: A proposal under consideration by the Department of Land Transport that would privatize driver education nationwide correctly recognizes and attempts to address the horrific state of road safety in the Kingdom. Unfortunately, the root causes of the problem run at a far deeper level than any bureaucratic reform could ever hope to reach, let alone rectify. It seems that…
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Video: Chao Fa black spot claims American motorcyclist
PHUKET: Chalong Municipality released video footage on Tuesday of collisions between cars and motorbikes at an accident black spot on Chao Fah East Road in Chalong, including that of a smash that killed an American motorcyclist on September 5. Municipality spokesperson Suphawattakan Kunlak said the footage of the fatal accident and other serious smashes involving motorcycles, where Soi Thanuthep opens…
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Local vendors cash in on Pokemon trend
PHUKET: Local vendors at popular Pokemon catching spots in Phuket have experienced a boost in income since the launch of Pokemon GO in Thailand. However, some vendors expect this spike to be short lived. For those who are wondering what Pokemon GO is, it is Nintendo Company’s mobile phone game which marries a classic 20-year-old franchise with augmented reality, and…
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On Deck: A look inside the Royal Pavilion
PHUKET: I recently attended the National Science and Technology Fair in Bangkok at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani. The attraction for me was a Royal Pavilion that included boats made by His Majesty the King of Thailand. Many will know that His Majesty has built a number of boats in his time. Twenty-five to be precise, all dinghies. His first was…
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Flood, landslide warnings for Phuket, Phang Nga and Ranong
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has repeated warnings of possible flash floods and landslides as monsoon rains continue to inundate Phuket and surrounding provinces. “Parts of Phuket, Phang Nga and Ranong could well be hit with flash floods this week and there is a high probability of landslides in these areas,” NDWC chief Chayasarn Tonanon told the Phuket…
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Phuket Sea Gypsy sued again in new land dispute case
PHUKET: Rawai Sea Gypsies are facing yet another fight over their right to remain in their century-old village, which offers splendid views across the Andaman Sea. Rawai local Bancha Hatsaithong is being sued over allegedly encroaching on land owned by Jindarak Thammajak. This latest Sea Gypsy land dispute came to Phuket Provincial Court on Monday for its initial assessment, with…
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Boisterous bidding raises over B102.7mn at Tranlee auction
PHUKET: More than 150 assets seized from embattled Tranlee Travel Co fetched 102,742,000 baht at auction today. The auction to sell off boats, buses and other assets once owned by the now defunct travel company began at 10am today and is set to continue over the next few days until all of the assets have been sold off. The assets…
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Paralyzed American fall victim responsive after spine surgery
KRABI: An American teacher who was critically injured when she fell down a 45-meter-high cliff at Railay Bay in Krabi is conscious and responsive after being rescued on Friday, but still cannot move her legs. Hannah Michel Gavios, 23, is being treated at Bangkok Hospital Phuket after falling down the rock face while fleeing a would-be molester on Thursday night.…
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Muslim Cleric shooting investigations may reveal local guns-for-hire network
PHUKET: Police are hunting for one man while another has surrendered himself, both allegedly involved in a ‘network’ that ordered an attack on a Muslim cleric in Koh Kaew last month. The cleric, Weerachat Kahapana, chased down and injured his shooters after getting shot at (story here). Two suspects, Thanachai Choothong, 24, and Wisuth Yokyong, 23, were apprehended after the…
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Still no leads on fake bombs in Krabi
KRABI: Two devices, similar in design to the ones used in last month’s bombings (story here), were found in Krabi Town last week. Authorities believe that the devices, which consisted of wires connected to an electronic circuit board, were left to scare passersby and to test the emergency response capabilities of police. Police currently do not have any leads after…
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Tourists flee stinking trash on Koh Tao
KOH TAO: Tourists are checking out of their hotels on Koh Tao in droves – fleeing the stink of a 45,000-ton mountain of garbage that is growing by the day after the island’s incinerator broke down three weeks ago. With trash piling up at a rate of 30 to 40 tons a day on the island off Surat Thani, and…
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Phuket Old Town’s overhead power lines gone for good
PHUKET: The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) announced on Saturday that it had finally completed a three-phase project to bury electric cables in the center of Phuket Town. The beautifying of Phuket Old Town by burying power cables began in 2010 along Thalang Road. The second phase saw the removal of overhead cables along parts of Dibuk Road, Krabi Road and…
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First Mother’s Day bombings suspect arrested
BANGKOK: Police today confirmed the arrest of a suspect linked to the wave of bombings in tourist towns last month that killed four people and wounded dozens, including foreigners. The bombs and arson attacks August 11-12 in various towns south of Bangkok including Hua Hin, Surat Thani and in Phuket raised fears that a Muslim separatist insurgency, for years largely…
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Blaze guts Phuket Town home
PHUKET: It took five fire trucks about 40 minutes to extinguish a second-storey blaze in Phuket Town yesterday. Emergency services received a report of the house fire at 9:20am at number 44/2 on Patiphat Road. The second floor bedroom and prayer room in the two-storey house, named ‘Baan Thamrongpornsawat,’ were ablaze when firefighters arrived,” said Phuket City Police Lt Thaksin…
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Motorcyclist killed as CRV driver runs light
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed in Chalong on Saturday when a CRV driver ran a red light and crashed into him. CCTV footage from Chalong Municipality shows the CRV crashing into the motorbike at the T-junction in front of Baan Chalong School on Cha Fa West Road. The bike rider, Wattana Enkbuth, was thrown off and his head hit the…
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Phuket blood center needs AB supplies
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) is holding blood donation sessions across Phuket throughout September to replenish blood stocks, especially AB blood types. Under the banner ‘Give Blood to Fellowmen’, the September blood donation drive is in honor of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s 84th birthday anniversary and His Majesty the King’s 70th anniversary of his accession to the throne.…
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Train bombing may derail peace talks
THAILAND: Thais in the deep South continue to endure regular violent attacks, despite ongoing peace talks in Malaysia. Trains operating in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have been suspended for 10 days after another bomb exploded on the railway line on Friday. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) ordered the temporary suspension of train services to the three southernmost provinces in…
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Prime Minister to visit Phuket this month
PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-o-cha is to visit Phuket on September 16 for the regional launch of a new nationwide initiative aimed at helping budding local businesses get off the ground and into the international arena of digital commerce. The Startup Thailand 2016 campaign was launched by the prime minister in Bangkok in April as a joint government and…
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2,700 tonnes of frozen fish moved off detained vessel
PHUKET: Officials from Department of Fisheries are removing about 2,700 tonnes of frozen tuna from two fishing vessels that were detained under suspicion of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing seven months ago. The fish will be transferred from the Deep Sea Port, where the vessels are located, to cold storage at the Fish Marketing Organization in Rassada. The transfer…
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American woman falls off cliff while fleeing assaulter
PHUKET: An American tourist fell into a crevice off a 45-meter-high cliff at Railay Bay, Krabi while trying to save herself from sexual assault late Thursday night. The suspect, named Apai Ruangwong, 28, admitted to the attempted assault when police questioned him. He was also the one who notified the authorities for help. The 23-year-old woman, whose name is being…
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Medical schools join forensic probe into land suspect’s death
PHUKET: Forensic teams from medical schools have joined the investigation into the mysterious death of a former land department official – a major suspect in an illegal land-title registration case – while in police custody. Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya said yesterday that to ensure transparency in the case, forensic teams from Chulalongkorn University, Ramathibodi Medical School, and Siriraj Medical…
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Island View: Retail Goliaths killing the local community
PHUKET: Unemployment in Thailand is practically zero. The official unemployment rate is around the one per cent mark. Compare that to somewhere like the UK where unemployment figures over the past decade have fluctuated wildly between 12 and seven per cent, and one has to ask why a developed nation has an unemployment problem with millions dependent on government handouts.…
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Municipality springs to action as social media complaint goes viral
PHUKET: A Phuket woman turned to social media for help after her complaints about an injury from a hanging wire allegedly went unheeded. Facebook user Fern A Romdee shared her complaints on a public Facebook group on Wednesday. She said the incident occurred as she was driving past Supercheap at Naka market. “At about 7pm on August 31, I was…
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New e-payment service aims to ease fund transfers
PHUKET: A new payment method designed to ease bank transfers, backed by the central bank of Thailand, was announced at a press conference held in Phuket last week. Saowapa Limsila, chief of the Phuket Office of the Comptroller General, and Jongrak Angtanya, vice president of the ‘Phuket Bankers Club’, jointly chaired the meeting held at Phuket Provincial Hall. The new…
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Tranlee assets go up for auction
PHUKET: More than 150 assets of the embattled Tranlee Travel Co are to be auctioned off on September 6, Phuket’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) announced yesterday. The assets – 33 boats, 57 buses, parcels of land and millions of baht – were seized after investigators declared that the Phuket-based tour operator had been established illegally (story here). AMLO Secretary General…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Attracting the worst people
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Darasamuth Underpass southbound lane closed
PHUKET: The southbound lanes of the Darasamuth Underpass have been temporarily closed and the traffic light system shut down. “We found out about a problem with the lane indicators this afternoon so we shut down the lanes to prevent any confusion that could lead to accidents,” Patiwetwottisak Sookhii, director of the Phuket Highways Office, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon.…
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