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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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A Decade Ago: The wheels on the bus go round and round
PHUKET: Much like 2015, the island was battling a flagging tourism industry and scrambling for solutions in 2005. Though Airports of Thailand (AoT) said it couldn’t bring tourists back ‘alone’, it was looking to slash landing fees for both domestic and international flights to woo crowds to the island – little did they know that the time would come… and…
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Opinion: The lay of the land
Dr Sangdao Wongsai, 35, from Bangkok, is a professor at Prince of Songkhla University’s Phuket campus. She graduated with a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the King Mongkut University of Techonology in Thonburi, before earning a Doctorate in Applied Statistics from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She now teaches statistics and researches geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.…
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Meth smuggler packs vagina
PHUKET: A woman was arrested in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, following the discovery of 760 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine) hidden inside her vagina. “The pills were packed into three plastic bags before being nestled into two condoms and inserted into the suspect’s vagina,” Takua Pa Police Deputy Superintendent Worawit Yamaree revealed today. The 33-year-old Laos national named by…
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Phuket police arrest member of Navy for drug running
PHUKET: Police arrested a member of the Royal Thai Navy and his companion after the two allegedly attempted to smuggle 120 kilograms of kratom leaves into Patong early this morning. Petty Officer First Class Jamnian Samorhom, 33, and Noppadol Wisetrat, 21, were moving the drugs into Phuket’s party town by using a ‘well-known’ convenience store truck, confirmed Lt Col Sutthichai…
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Opinion: Traffic bubble buster
PHUKET: There is a social glue that seems to be forcing more and more drivers to a complete standstill at red lights in Phuket than ever before. However, it only takes one weak link in the proverbial chain for old habits to kick in, along with first gear. Depending on how long ago you arrived on the island, the significant…
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Finance: Millennium in a league of its own
PHUKET: I have been asked quite a few times by my readers for some of my advice that I actually follow myself, since I often tend to focus in my articles on warnings to stay away from certain asset classes or at least temper exposure to them. With that in mind, I have chosen to write about a few funds…
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Successful fundraiser for Kiwi in coma
PHUKET: The friends and family of 28-year-old New Zealander Paul ‘PJ’ Lupi, who was seriously injured in an accident on Patong Hill, have now received adequate donations from generous helpers willing to fund Mr Lupi’s fight back to health. Mr Lupi was driving over the notorious hill at about 12:30am on July 6 when he fell off his motorbike and…
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Lay Pang Beach getting bike lane, sidewalk
PHUKET: An ocean-view sidewalk and cycling path have been tabled to run along the once encroached-upon Lay Pang Beach, it was announced yesterday by Somchai Chanrod, chief inspector-general of the Ministry of Transport. The paths will run about three kilometers, with the bike lane being three meters wide and the sidewalk four meters wide. “If we receive positive feedback about…
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Rescued boatman rushed to hospital
PHUKET: The fourth survivor of a barge that sank between Koh Racha Yai and Koh Phi Phi on Tuesday is being transferred from Koh Ngai, where he was found this morning in weak condition, to Koh Lanta Hospital. Myanmar national Thar Hlaing, 46, was plucked from the sea and brought to Koh Ngai, southeast of Phuket, by a transport ship…
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Ace condo developers face more charges
PHUKET: The developers behind the unfinished Ace 1 condominium project in Phuket are facing multiple charges after dozens of buyers filed complaints seeking compensation for down payments on the project, which was scheduled to be complete in April this year. The company behind the project, Nine Property (Patong), was given two weeks from June 15 to address compensation to pre-build…
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Special Delivery: Drug network uses social media, post office
PHUKET: Enormous quantities of drugs are being shipped to Phuket through the Thai Postal system as island dealers buy in bulk through online social media platforms. “It has become more difficult catching drug dealers after they started using social media applications such as LINE and Facebook to buy and sell their products,” Director of the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) Sithisak…
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Business Buzz: Peer into the phones of others with Periscope
PHUKET: Welcome to Periscope, the latest craze to hit the online world. Periscope is an addition to the Twitter stable, with huge information sharing possibilities. This is an app that allows you to ‘discover the world through somebody else’s eyes’. Users can download it and then choose from a multitude of people and experiences that they want to be a…
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Silent alleged killer out on 500k baht bail
PHUKET: A second man wanted for the murder of a SuperCheap store manager turned himself in to Phuket City Police on Wednesday. Nattapong Thongsirthong, 24, arrived at the station with his lawyer after a warrant for his arrest was issued. “Mr Nattapong refused to answer any of our questions, saying that he would make his statements in front of the…
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Opinion: Thailand’s embarassing ‘war on drugs’
PHUKET: The recent revelation that the Thai Postal Service is being used to transship large quantities of illicit drugs is just the latest in a long list of embarrassments in our country’s effort to combat recreational drug use. As far back as 1943, the government passed the Krathom Act in a bid to halt declining revenues from the government-taxed opium…
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Breaking News: Fourth survivor of sunken barge rescued
PHUKET: A fourth survivor from a barge that sank between Koh Racha Yai and Koh Phi Phi on Tuesday was found this morning by locals on Koh Ngai, southeast of Phuket. A naval rescue team is en route to the island in Trang province. The survivor, Myanmar national named only as Thar Hliang, 46,* is said by locals at the…
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Marine Office on lookout for boats defying warning
PHUKET: The local Marine Office chief has confirmed that captains taking boats under 12-meters long out from Phuket will be charged for disobeying the small-boat warning issued this week. The order is now for boats of 12 meters or less, down from the 24-meter-long boat order issued earlier this week (story here). However, Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut said…
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A Decade Ago: Dog food in short supply
PHUKET: Pups found themselves on page one of the July 2, 2005, issue of the Phuket Gazette: food supplies were dwindling at the Mid Road Dog Shelter in Thalang, leaving some 300 dogs to subsist on rations of cat food donated after the tsunami. The humiliation of having to eat cat food aside, it was not a good situation. The…
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Bungy-jump firm keeps quiet on compensation
PHUKET: World Bungy Jump in Patong has declined to confirm rumors that it has offered the family of a Kuwaiti tourist, who recently plunged to his death during a jump, compensation of up to 300,000 baht. However, the company’s representative Kullanan Samnuk revealed yesterday that negotiations are in fact being held with the family of the victim, 25-year-old Abdullah Adel…
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Three of six missing crew found alive
PHUKET: Three crew members of a barge that sank between Koh Racha Yai and Koh Phi Phi on Tuesday were found by locals and rescued from the sea off Koh Lanta yesterday and early this morning. The 30-meter barge Sintu Phuket 1 was transporting construction materials and a backhoe from Ao Makham to Koh Racha Yai when it sank in…
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Schools of Phuket fishermen scramble to get legal
PHUKET: The flood gates opened yesterday as hundreds of employers and migrant workers in the fishing industry queued up at Phuket’s newly-opened one-stop service center designed to get fishing boats and their crews legal. “I couldn’t believe there were that many people who needed to be taken care of,” said Capt Preecha Tuntiruk of the Third Naval Area Command, who…
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Tourists stranded as fierce storm rolls in
PHUKET: Hoteliers on Koh Phi Phi, Koh Racha Yai and other islands in the Phuket region have requested that the Navy and Marine Police assist in transporting tourists back to Phuket following a ban on any boats smaller than 24 meters going out to sea. The Phuket Marine Office’s ban on small boats comes as the Thai Meteorological Department issued…
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Three in Phuket arrested for involvement in UFUN pyramid scheme
PHUKET: Three suspects have been apprehended in Phuket for their alleged involvement in the international 10-billion-baht UFUN pyramid-scheme. Police first arrested Natthinont Puttathammarong, 42, yesterday afternoon at his car shop, NN Used Car, in front of the new bus terminal in Rassada. During the raid police seized a Mercedes-Benz E 250 8 and an Audi A7, together worth more than…
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Breaking News: One more boat sinks, one wrecked off Phuket
PHUKET: One boat sank and another was beached this morning off Phuket in the rough southwest monsoon seas, confirmed Phuket Marine Police Chief Panya Chaichana. “There were six people on the fishing trawler that sank at about 8:15am. There are 10 people on the other boat, which is currently wrecked on Koh Hei [Coral Island] and taking in water,” Mr…
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Phuket allocated B3.5bn for infrastructure upgrades
PHUKET: Road projects will make up half of the 3.5 billion baht worth of projects approved to make much-needed changes on the island, said Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong last week. The Highways Department has been awarded 1.75bn baht to improve the island’s infrastructure through four projects, confirmed Samak Luedwonghad, director of the Phuket Highways Office. First is a 550-million-baht underpass…
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Governor backs GrabTaxi push into Phuket
PHUKET: GrabTaxi is preparing to push into Phuket, following the attempt of similar service provider Uber, which has sliced off a piece of the island’s taxi-service market since it arrived here in November last year (story here). Unlike Uber, which was originally declared illegal by local government officers as they wrangled with exactly what the business model was (story here),…
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Two meth dealers busted in Phuket
PHUKET: Police arrested two dealers and seized more than 2 million baht in assets over the weekend. Police first apprehended 41-year-old Jaruek Sittisak, also known as ‘Bang Dam Koh Kaew’, in Soi Koh Kaew 24 on Friday in possession of 200 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine). “After we arrested him, we accompanied him to a shack where he kept his…
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Cash out Phuket: Kbank to close services for 48 hours
PHUKET: Kasikorn Bank (Kbank) has advised all bank customers on Phuket to plan ahead as it will be closing all banking services, including ATMs, for 48 hours next week. Customers will be unable to use Kbank services from 10pm on Friday, July 17 to 10pm on Sunday, July 19. “We are aware that this will affect a lot of our…
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Six missing as ship sinks between Koh Racha and Phi Phi
PHUKET: Six people remain missing after a boat sank between Koh Racha Yai and Koh Phi Phi at about 3:55am today. The Navy was informed of the sinking and immediately dispatched a search team for those on board the vessel, which was carrying construction materials and a backhoe from Ao Makham to Koh Racha Yai. “We were first alerted by…
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Phuket Governor pushes green plan on Koh Racha
PHUKET: Phuket officials moved to ensure the environmental sustainability and the growth of the tourism industry on Racha Island with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with local hotels and restaurants on Saturday. Governor Nisit Jansomwong signed the MoU on proper trash and wastewater disposal during his visit to the island, while also underscoring that all segments, including…
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Phuket native headed to Miss Universe Thailand 2015 final
PHUKET: Phuket native Chavika Watsang, 19, is asking island residents to vote for her as ‘Miss Popular 2015’ as she awaits the final round of the Miss Universe Thailand competition. Ms Chavika attended Plukpanya School before graduating and going to Srinagarindra the Princess Mother School in Phuket, her father, Chairat Watsang, told the Phuket Gazette today. “Now she is in…
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